The little-known story of Jean Weidner, an Adventist resistance fighter during the Second World War, is brought to light through an immersive audio series and a comic strip produced by Hope Radio. This project, the result of a collaboration between the radio director, Stéphane Vincent, and the artist, Christian Pierre, will be presented on France Culture on January 9.
Genesis of a multimedia project
The idea germinated in July 2021, during a visit to the new Jean Weidner-named student residence on the Adventist campus of Collonges-sous-Salève. Jean-Philippe Lehmann, director of the campus, talked about Weidner's heroic journey and his desire to make Weidner known to the general public. Stéphane Vincent, director of Hope Radio, was, in turn, inspired by this story and imagined an audio series. In May 2022, the project took shape: to tell the story of Jean Weidner, not in documentary form, but as an immersive audio fiction.
A fruitful collaboration
The only thing left to do was to find the person capable of producing such a series. As luck would have it: a few months earlier, Stéphane Vincent had reconnected with Christian Pierre, an artist-author with whom he had collaborated 25 years earlier. Christian Pierre, a former theology student at Collonges, was immediately won over by Weidner's story. A first audio sample was produced in June 2022, but Stéphane Vincent considered it too narrative. The project evolved. In July 2022, the idea of a comic strip to complement the audio series emerged, with Christian Pierre also being an illustrator. The Franco-Belgian Union decided to support this dual project in 2023.
Jean Weidner, the Passeur: a captivating audio series
After many months of work, the first season of Jean Weidner, the Passeurwill be released in November 2024. Ten episodes, without narration, immerse the listener in the heart of the resistance thanks to an immersive acting. One episode is broadcast each month on Hope Radio.
Jean Weidner: an unsung hero of the Resistance
Born in Brussels, in 1912, Jean Weidner arrived in Collonges-sous-Salève in 1925, when his father was appointed professor at the Adventist Seminary. He spent ten formative years there, acquiring an intimate knowledge of the Salève region, which would be invaluable to him during the war. In 1942, he founded the resistance network “Dutch-Paris”, organizing the clandestine passage of more than 800 Jews, 200 to 300 airmen, resistance fighters and refugees from Holland to Switzerland and Spain. His sister, Gabrielle, paid with her life for her commitment to the resistance, dying in deportation. Jean Weidner, arrested several times by the Gestapo, miraculously escaped death.
A preserved legacy
After the war, having emigrated to the United States, Jean Weidner worked to ensure that his story would not be forgotten. In 1962, the journalist Herbert Ford published his biography, “Flee the Captor”, translated into French under the title “Le passeur”. When he died in 1994, the weekly TIME paid tribute to him. A center and a museum were dedicated to him at the former Atlantic Union College in the United States.
A vibrant tribute to a man of courage
The audio series and the comic strip Jean Weidner, the Passeur are a vibrant tribute to this man of courage, whose story testifies to the values of altruism and resistance dear to the Adventist Church. This innovative project will make his heroic action known to a wide audience and will recall the essential role played by Adventists in the Resistance.
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