The

Maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

des Vosges were groups of

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

fighters in the

Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. They were associated through an amalgamation of different resistance groups roughly when the ''

Conseil national de la Résistance The National Council of the Resistance (also, National Resistance Council; in French: ''Conseil National de la Résistance'' (CNR), was the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance: the press, trade uni ...

'' was created on 27 May 1943.

Maquis shrubland 220px, Low maquis in Corsica 220px, High ''macchia'' in Sardinia ( , , ) or ( , ; often in Italian; hr, makija; ; ) is a shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs. Maquis is char ...

is a Mediterranean

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

of dense scrub, which provided the guerrillas with cover.

Organisation of the resistance in the Vosges

At the beginning of 1943 the principal resistance movements operating in the Vosges were: * ''

Ceux de la Résistance ''Ceux de la Résistance'' ("Those of the Resistance") (CDLR) was a French resistance movement during the German occupation of France in World War II. At first, the members of CDLR distributed copies of the underground newspaper Combat in the nort ...

'', of the Neufchâteau –

Mirecourt Mirecourt () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mirecourt is known for lace-making and the manufacture of musical instruments, particularly those of the Violin family. Inhabitants are called Mirecurtiens. G ...

region. This movement took charge of the ''

Noyautage des administrations publiques Noyautage des administrations publiques, also known by the abbreviation NAP, was an arm of the French Resistance, started by André Plaisantin of the Combat (French Resistance), Combat movement, with the aim of infiltrating the Vichy Government. It ...

''. * Those in touch which the special services of the armistice army in the Saint-Dié region. This movement would later rally to the ''

Organisation de résistance de l'armée The ''Organisation de résistance de l'armée'', ''O.R.A.'' (Fr: resistance organisation of the army) was a French paramilitary resistance organisation during the Second World War. It was created on 31 January 1943, following the November 1942 Ger ...

''. * The '' Organisation civile et militaire'', which was essentially an organisation of officers covering the

Remiremont Remiremont (; german: Romberg or ) is a town and commune in the Vosges department, northeastern France, situated in southern Grand Est. The town has been an abbatial centre since the 7th century, is an economic crossroads of the Moselle and Mosel ...

Plombières Plombières (; german: Bleyberg or ''Bleiberg'', nl, Blieberg; wa, So-on-Mont-d'-Plomb) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2006, Plombières had a total population of 10,401. The total are ...

Bains-les-Bains Bains-les-Bains () is a former commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in eastern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune La Vôge-les-Bains.Nancy, but had put out feelers in the Vosges. This movement would make a secondary military agreement with the

CLDR The Common Locale Data Repository Project, often abbreviated as CLDR, is a project of the Unicode Consortium to provide locale data in XML format for use in computer applications. CLDR contains locale-specific information that an operating syst ...

. * ''

Libération-Nord ''Libération-Nord'' ("Liberation-North") was one of the principal resistance movements in the northern occupied zone of France during the Second World War. It was one of the eight great networks making up the National Council of the Resistance. ...

'', which had charged itself with helping prisoners to escape. * The ''

Front national The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as far-right: Academic: ...

'' which was gradually swallowed up by the '' Francs-tireurs et partisans français''. The resistance reorganised at this time into four groupings: * The first, including the Neufchâteau, Chatenois, Mirecourt and

Vittel Vittel (; archaic ) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mineral water is bottled and sold here by Nestlé Waters France, under the ''Vittel'' brand. History In 1854, after visiting the baths at nearby Contr ...

, was commanded by Grandjean, alias René. This grouping was the source of the first Maquis des Vosges, in the Lamarche forest between

Martigny Martigny (; german: Martinach, ; la, Octodurum) is the capital city of the district of Martigny, canton of Valais, Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of , and its population is approximately 15000 inhabitants (''Martignerains'' or "Octodurie ...

and

Robécourt Robécourt () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. See also *Communes of the Vosges department The following is a list of the 507 communes of the Vosges department of France. The communes cooperate in th ...

, at the place called the ''Camp de la Délivrance'' where the ''francs-tireurs'' had fought in 1870. Arbuger was the local organizer, assisted by the Guinean Adi Ba, the Sudanese Adama and the committed cheesemaker Picard. * The second grouping was directed by Lucien Méline, then by Delafenêtre after Méline's arrest. It oversaw the sectors of

Épinal Épinal (; german: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern France and the prefecture of the Vosges department. Geography The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river Moselle, south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connection ...

Dompaire Dompaire () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. In September 1944 during World War II a detachment of General Philippe Leclerc's French 2nd Armoured Division engaged and defeated a German Panzer brigade ca ...

, Charmes,

Rambervillers Rambervillers () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Inhabitants are called ''Rambuvetais''. Geography The town is built on the banks of the Mortagne, some to the west of Saint-Dié and to the north-e ...

and Bains. * The third grouping was to the north-east of the department, and covered the region of Saint-Dié, led by the pastor Valet alias "capitaine Jouvet". * The fourth grouping extended from Corcieux to Thillot and from

Docelles Docelles () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. See also *Communes of the Vosges department The following is a list of the 507 communes of the Vosges department of France. The communes cooperate in the ...

Gérardmer Gérardmer (; or archaic ''Geroldsee'', and ''Giraumoué'' in local Vosgian) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Population Culture The Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer (literally ...

, also including the Faucogney zone in

Haute-Saône Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.Thann zone in Alsace. It was led by Commandant Gonand, alias ''Lucien''.

List of maquis in the Vosges department

* First grouping: – Maquis de Bulgnéville: La Vacheresse, Urville, St-Ouen, Robécourt, Contrexéville.
– Maquis de Liffol: Bois de la Vendue, Bazoilles.
– Maquis de Vaudeville: Coussey.
– Maquis de la forêt de Neufeys: Neufchâteau, Bourlémont.
– Maquis de Châtenois.
– Maquis du Mont St-Jean: Vittel.
– Maquis de Mirecourt: « La Chouette », de la ferme de la Malhaye, du Haut de Recon, du Haut du Chia.
– Maquis du Camp de la Délivrance: Lamarche ( 1er maquis vosgien ). * Second grouping: – Maquis de la Cense ( Rambervillers ).
– Maquis de Charmes ( en liaison avec le 1er groupe Lorraine ).
– Maquis de Châtel.
– Maquis de la Forêt du Terne.
– Maquis du Morillon.
– Maquis de Grandrupt.
– Maquis de Xertigny.
– Maquis de St-Nabord.
– Maquis du Haut-du-Bois. * Third grouping: – Maquis de la Charme de l'Ormont ( Tendon ) devenu le maquis de la Chapelotte, en limite du IVème groupement.
– Maquis de la Chapelotte ( la Tête des Hérins et le Jardin David puis replié à Viombois en Meurthe-et-Moselle ).
– Maquis de Chatas qui prendra différents noms: de la Grande Fosse, de Grimaubois, du Col du Las, de Grandrupt, de la Petite Raon, de la Roche Mère Henry.
– Maquis de Lordon ( Lusse ).
– Maquis de Fouchifol ( Coinches) qui se repliera sur le Haut de Steige. * Fourth grouping: – Maquis de la Charme de l'Ormont ( Tendon).
– Maquis de Corcieux, secondairement sur la commune de La Chapelle.
– Maquis de Malanrupt ( Beauménil ).
– Maquis de Noiregoutte ( Rochesson ).
– Maquis de la Piquante Pierre ( Basse-sur-le-Rupt ).
– Maquis du Peut Haut ( Camp Kœnig ).
– Maquis des Roches de Morteville ( Saint-Maurice ).
– Maquis St-Jacques de Gérardmer.
– Maquis du Séchenat ( Camp Louis ).
– Maquis du Haut du Tem ( hors du département, en Haute-Saône ).
– Maquis des Beuchots à Ternuay ( hors du département, en Haute-Saône ).
– Maquis du Pleinet à Ronchamp ( hors du département, en Haute-Saône ).
– Maquis de Beulotte-St-Laurent ( hors du département, en Haute-Saône ). Each maquis used one or several areas allocated for receiving parachute drops, some by day and others by night. These areas were endowed with a codename and a key which was either a phrase or a single letter, so that the maquis could be forewarned of an imminent parachute drop of supplies or men. For example, the maquis de la Piquante Pierre used an area in Basse-sur-le-Rupt with codename ''Coupole'' allocated for nighttime drops. Its radio codes were the phrase ''J'espère vous revoir chérie'' (I hope to see you again, darling) and the letter ''U''. The various maquis awaited the order from the allied forces to enter action. The maquis main strategic role was to prepare the arrival of the allied forces by occupying key positions, particularly bridges, and preventing the Germans from regrouping by undertaking widespread operations throughout the Vosges region. When the American 3rd army began its offensive towards the Vosges, most of the Reich's security forces were gathered in the Vosges, principally at Bruyères; on 5 September

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

made a short visit to Gerardmer to give orders to the officials of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

and the SS and especially to intensify the campaign against the Maquis. This most probably explains the targeted operations against the Maquis thereafter. The Vosges Maquis whose histories have been particularly well documented were the Maquis de Charmes, the Maquis Viombois, the Maquis Noiregotte, and the Maquis de la Piquante Pierre.

Organisation of the resistance in the Vosges

List of maquis in the Vosges department

See also

References