Mémorial de la Résistance en Vercors

The Mémorial de la Résistance en Vercors (Memorial of Resistance in Vercors) commemorates the actions and the fallen of the French Resistance, notably the Maquis, in the region of the Vercors Massif during the Second World War. A geographically imposing and fairly remote plateau populated by scattered villages, the Vercors Massif provided an opportunity for members of the French Resistance to evade German and Vichy authorities and to organize unmolested. Initial, informal resistance was present in the region immediately following occupation: while a German garrison was stationed in Grenoble no troops were present further onto the Massif, allowing some refugees to be taken in and hidden from authorities.

From December 1942 onwards, Resistance leaders began to develop organized plans for the use of Vercors as a base from which to harass German forces. The region became particularly active following the introduction by the Vichy Regime in February 1943 of the Service du Travail Obligatoire (Compulsory Work Service) in which men generally between the ages of 20 and 23 were conscripted for labour in French or German industry; largely unpopular, the orders inspired tens of thousands of young men to escape into rural areas such as the Massif and join the guerilla resistance of the Maquis. Maquis fighters in Vercors numbered in the hundreds, but were largely untrained and inexperienced in combat and guerilla warfare; camps were set up near villages and farms including Ambel, and leadership hierarchies were established.  

Collaboration with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) began in 1943, with the journey of SOE agent Francis Cammaerts to Vercors; the first parachute airdrop of supplies to the Vercors Maquis occurred on November 13, 1943. In January 1944, a three-person team representing SOE as well as the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and de Gaulle’s Free French arrived to provide training and support in preparation for the planned Allied landing later that year; weapons and supply drops continued, and the Maquis engaged in several raids and acts of sabotage throughout the Massif. These were met with reprisals by German forces stationed in Grenoble, including attacks on the villages of Échevis and Vassieux; some reprisal actions were carried out by the Millice, a French paramilitary force under Vichy.

With the Allied landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the Vercors Maquis mobilised. There was some confusion over exactly what resistance action should be taken openly, and at what time. German forces reacted by advancing onto the Massif to occupy the town of Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte, and further attacking organized Maquis resistance. The Maquis were supported by further weapons and supply drops and the arrival of a small number of SOE and French agents. On July 3, the Free Republic of Vercors (République Libre de Vercors) was officially declared. On July 14, a large Allied weapons drop in support of the Maquis provoked German bombings of the landing sites and Vassieux; attacks continued, and German forces numbering 8 000 to 10 000 ultimately surrounded the Massif. On July 21, these troops advanced onto the Massif and forcibly disbanded all organized resistance; an estimated 659 Maquis and 201 civilians were killed in the fighting. Surviving Maquis resumed gureilla tactics until the Allied landing in southern France the next month, and the liberation of Vercors. 

The Mémorial de la Résistance en Vercors presents this history and commemorates those who died in these engagements through an exploration of the lives of the French citizens during the ‘Dark Years’ (1940-1944), motivations for resistance, and the lives and experiences of the Maquis of Vercors. There are three main components: a series of historical displays explaining life in France and motivations for joining the Maquis, a film documentary (“La Forteresse Sacrifiée”) on the role of the Vercors Massif, and a collection of audio recordings and testimonials from former Maquis and witnesses to those events. Beyond the site itself, the Memorial offers visitors a pamphlet detailing trails and hikes in the region which pass by significant locations including villages, battle sites, and locations of executions and graves.

The Mémorial de la Résistance en Vercors was inaugurated on July 21, 1994; this was the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Vercors. Today, the memorial invites visitors “to remember, feel, and understand the spirit of these struggles for liberty, as did the Maquis of Vercors.”