Before I tell you what she did, think about what you would do. Would you decide to lie? Would you just give up?

Mrs. Pean-Pages did neither, and this took a great deal of courage and faith. She recalls first of all praying–“What can I do to maintain my values in this hopeless situation?”  She knew that the officer was not lying to her–he did have their names. So she decided to do something counterintuitive to her fear: she admitted that it was true, that she was hiding 25 children. “But,” she added with marked anger in her voice (because you can be angry *and* nonviolent), “You knew for some time now that they were here and it is only now that you are coming to take them away. I will tell your superiors about this!” (I mean, wow, this took some guts…) The officer confessed that she was right, and then did something amazing, himself: he asked her not to say anything to anyone about it and turned away and left. And no one returned for the girls, either. She had saved their lives through her audacious, nonviolent courage, and maybe, we can admit, the Gestapo officer also did his part.