Lyon

The esplanade in front of the Centre d'Histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation - Center for the HIstory of Resistance and Deportation in Lyon was named after General Pierre-Robert de Saint-Vincent.

In 1942, General Pierre-Robert de Saint-Vincent was the military governor of Lyon. From the beginning, he was also one of he pillars of the Christian Friendship, an association based in Lyon to help Jews persecuted by the Vichy regime; among its members were high-ranking personalities such as Cardinal Gerlier or Pasteur Boegner. He was also a member of the undercover Secret Army; as such he helped General Giraud escape after he escaped from the prison where the Germans had held him: he was sought by the Germans as well as by Vichy, who accused him of treason. Pierre-Robert de Saint-Vincent helped him to hide outl till he was able to get out of France and make his way to North Africa. On August 29, 1942, the General was ordered to to send a detachmant to Perrache station to prevent disturbances as 550 Jews boarded trains to Drancy, from whence the would be deported to the death camps. He refused categorically, and said that his men would never participate in such an operation. As a result, the departure had to be delayed till the next day, which allowed some of the Jews to get away and thus avoid deporation. The Vichy authorities immediately retired the General. When the Germans occupied the southern zone in November 1942, he had to go into hiding to avoid them. He found refuge under an assumed name in Grenoble, then in Nice.

On June 24, 1993, the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalemk awarded the title of Righteous among Nations to Pierre-Robert de Saint-Vincent

Source: Yad Vashem France