LE CHAMBON-SUR-LIGNON, France An Austrian man who died in December has left an undisclosed fortune to the French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon to thank residents for hiding his family from Nazis during World War II.
Erich Schwam, a Jewish refugee who arrived in the village with his mother and father in 1943, bequeathed a sum thought to be at least a few hundred thousand euro to the commune in south-central France, according to the notary in charge of his will. We are extremely honored and we will use the sum according to Mr. Schwam s will, the town s deputy mayor, Denise Vallat, told CNN on Saturday.