There were several well- organised escape lines into Spain in operation throughout WW2.

The Chemin de la Liberte, a 50-mile trek, sets off over the Massif de Couserans in Ariège, one of the most difficult and treacherous escape routes over the Pyrenees, to Esterri d’Aneuset in northern Spain. A high mountain route, chosen to avoid all official checkpoints and German patrols, extreme cold, perilous ledges and steep ravines had to be negotiated, often in pitch black darkness.

Despite the hardship, according to official statistics, there were 33,000 successful escapes across the Pyrenean chain.

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