The Children of Château de la Hille

The story of how young volunteers from the Swiss Red Cross--Aid to Children (Croix Rouge Suisse--Secours aux Enfants) took over an abandoned Château and gave a refuge to the children during the German occupation of France.

A few of the survivors have written their story as adults, as have some of the adults who protected the children. However the most detailed account of the children's time at the Château de La Hille, by their school teacher Sebastian Steiger, The Children of Château de La Hille, has not been available in English until now.

Sebastian Steiger was born on October 14, 1918 in Oltingen, a small village in the Swiss canton Basel-Campagne. His father, Walter Steiger, was a Reformed pastor in the parishes of Oltingen, Wenslingen and Anwil. Sebastian lived in Oltingen with his four brothers and sisters while attending primary school. When his father was appointed pastor in Binningen, a suburb of Basel, Sebastian attended lycée there. In Schiers, he completed his higher education in teaching. In 1940 he received his teaching certificate and worked as a substitute teacher until 1943 while he was continuing course work for a semester at the University of Zürich. From 1943 to 1945 Sebastian Steiger served in the Children s Aid program of the Swiss Red Cross in occupied France. In 1946 he completed his studies at the University of Zürich earning an advanced degree in health education. In the same year he was appointed instructor at the primary school in Arlesheim, and in 1947 at a girls school in Basel.