The Birth of WOR, Peyrusse-le-Roc, France

Vicki Chelf, Artist, Writer, & Producer

France is where Women of Resistance—and ultimately WOR2WOW Productions—was born. Now that we live here for part of each year, I find myself continually discovering more about the very real history that inspired our production. Every conversation, every village, every hidden corner reveals another story.

Like many people, I want to believe I would have been brave enough to join the French Resistance. But the more I learn, the more I realize that history is rarely simple.

Some people cooperated with the Nazis to protect themselves or their families. Did they truly have a choice? Did they understand the full extent of the atrocities being committed? Were they persuaded by propaganda, fear, or ideology? Did they simply look away?

And what motivated those who resisted? Was it political conviction? Hatred of the occupiers? Or was it something even deeper—a love of liberty, justice, and the values that define a free society?

Looking back, it's easy to believe we know what we would have done. Living through those choices would have been far more difficult. Villages were divided. Neighbors turned against neighbors. Even today, in small towns here in the Aveyron, memories linger, and some families still remember which side others chose.

Click here to see a short video filmed with Jim Taylor, who owns the brocante in Peyrusse-le-Roc, and his wife Charlotte, who has an art gallery. Hidden within the gallery is a secret room once used by the French Resistance to shelter fighters and conceal weapons.

Standing in that small space makes history feel immediate. It reminds us that extraordinary courage often happens in ordinary places—and that every generation faces moments when fear, propaganda, and division test our humanity.

History doesn't simply ask what happened. It quietly asks each of us: 

What would I have done? And what will I do when conscience calls?

By Vicki Chelf