"The Valley of Tears", portfolio in M Le Magazine du Monde, France | Mathias Zwick

For the French magazine M le Magazine du Monde, Mathias Zwick joined journalist Benoît Hopquin to photograph the Rabodeau Valley in the Vosges, where the Resistance was highly active during World War II, and where over 1,000 men were deported to Nazi camps, with more than 700 never returning. In “The Valley of Tears” (La Vallée des Larmes), local residents shared their stories eighty years after this massive deportation.

On the picture, Régine Thomas, in the café-restaurant “Le Raybois” she runs with her sister Françoise. Régine is also the mayor of Le Puid. She poses in front of a family photo album. Her grandfather, Gaston Thomas, welcomed Alsatians and escaped prisoners during the Second World War (France, Le Puid, September 27, 2024).

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