"Le Chemin de la Liberté" with Discover Adventure
Escaping to Freedom on the Liberté trail - A combination of old and new During the early years of the occupation the Ariège was still in the free zone and although under the control of the Vichy police, many evaders succeeded in reaching Spain by their own means, often following easier routes such as the "Ports" of Aula and Salau which were high above above the villages of Couflens and Seix. These, however, were quickly abandoned after November 1942 and from then on it became imperative to be helped by one of the clandestine escape networks and led over the mountains by local guides. From the 11th of November 1942, the date on which the Germans occupied the free zone following the Allied invasion of North Africa on the 8th of November, the Nazi noose tightened and surveillance increased dramatically. Frontier guards, mainly Austrians, were posted along the whole length of the mountain chain and enemy patrols intensfied. A forbidden zone twenty kilometres deep wa...
