Cruel Crossing: Escaping Hitler Across the Pyrenees

A chronicle of the perilous European mountain escape route used during World War II, with epic stories from survivors and their families.

After the Nazi invasion of Belgium in 1940, an underground network was established to help British servicemen escape German-occupied Europe. As the war progressed, others began using the secret route as well, traveling to the south of France, over the Pyrenees mountains, and into neutral Spain.

The Chemin de la Liberté runs forty miles across the central ...