Professor Delpal, Dieulefit renowned historian for the period under the occupation confirmed that the Buckmaster network was the most active around the village. He said that ninety percent of the airdrops were done by this network (59).

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Dieulefit’s mayor, Christine Priotto, wrote to me by email:

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            It is possible that Mr. Inayat-Khan belonged to this network.

            From our analysis, Mr. Khan must have established himself in the Montelimar free zone to work in the resistance since this was a busy city for traffic between the north and south zones. An important passage for Spain.

              In 1942 the first German arrived in Montelimar, the Italian occupation was still happening (Until September 1943). This early German’s presence since 1942 is certainly linked to the fact that this place was considered strategically important for the resistance.

Mr. Inayat-Kkan sought certainly a safer place. In 1942, Dieulefit was known to be a refuge only 17 miles from Montelimar.

                During that same period, Mrs. Meyer, Cedric Klapisch’s mother (film’s director) was hidden in Dieulefit because his parents, Jewish resistants working for the secret army, were arrested in Montelimar in October 1943.

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Initially, there was passive resistance by the all Dieulefit’s village, inspired by Marguerite Soubeyran’s actions hiding Jewish children in the Beauvallon school and Jewish adults in the Beauvallon boarding house, the February 16, 1943’s law for the STO (obligatory work service in Germany) for men at least twenty years old pushed many men to hide around Dieulefit’s mountains and motivated Marguerite Soubeyran to initiate active and armed resistance. 

However, there was no denunciation from the village. First a Free zone, then occupied by the Italian army that were not as strict as the German, the geographical place in a valley, not strategically positioned for attack or withdraw, there will never be any Italian or German permanent base in the village. In the north, a village of that size had its Kommandantur (German army command post).

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Since 1936, Dieulefit’s population has been sensitive to the Spanish war and the townhouse helped to receive twenty Spanish refugees in 1939. May 25, 1940, a welcoming committee for all European refugees is created. Anti-Nazi and Anti-Fascist German, Jewish, British (they were assigned to reside in this zone), Spanish republicans, Alsatians, communists, people running away from the North or East and later on “legal” refugees from the south zone, sent by the Var’s prefect, out of fear that the German will land from Mediterranean sea, all were welcomed in Dieulefit.

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The protestants, without been organized as one group, were first to act in helping refugees. As they did not forget their own persecution by Louis XIV’s dragons. Louis XIV’s dragons were foot soldiers traveling on horseback which were assigned to Huguenot’s home to harass them to convert or migrate (60). Pastor Eberhard, Marchand and also Debu-Bridel at Poet-Laval, four miles west of Dieulefit on the road to Montelimar, were active members of LICRA (61), International League against Racism and anti-Semitism, that was one of the resistance pillars, joining General De Gaulle since the signing of the Armistice. Historians have debated if the resistance was organized or not as the village was half protestant and the other half catholic, initially it was found that individuals made their own decision and Protestants were the first to help. We can say that with Hidayat Inayat-Khan Dieulefit had at least one Sufi (Muslim by family tradition but not practicing) helping Jewish refugees as well.

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The Catholic clergy reacted later on, however individual Catholics got also involved as the Poet-Laval Magnet abbot organized the maquis with men escaping the STO and this with the help of Beauvallon. He also participated in receiving airdrops and gave false baptism certificates to Jewish people. The journal “Esprit” founded by Emmanuel Mounier (62), Dieulefit’s refugee, teaching mathematics and philosophy as the Roseraie secondary school in Dieulefit is known for its refusal of any Catholic Church compromising or to be subjected to any blackmail by the occupation forces.