Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura

The maquis of Ain and Haut-Jura are groups of French resistance fighters and foreigners who operated and found refuge in the mountains and forests of Bugey and Haut-Jura during World War II.

These groups began to form as early as the beginning of 1943, when unpopularity towards the Vichy regime increased due to the forced requisition of workers for the compulsory work service. The organization in the form of camps is the work of Henri Romans-Petit who distributed these people in different isolated farms on the reliefs of Haut-Bugey. A military organization is set up, notably thanks to the creation of a cadre school in Montgriffon, in June 1943.

Several notable actions are carried out during the history of the maquis. The first large-scale ones are the seizures of the supply depots of the Youth Work Camps in Artemare then the Army supply in Bourg-en-Bresse in September 1943. The landmark event of the maquis of Ain and Haut-Jura is the organization of a parade on 11 November 1943 in Oyonnax by a troop of about two hundred maquisards, on the day marking the anniversary of the Armistice of 1918. The event is reported in the clandestine press as well as on London radio, offering the Resistance a concrete existence in the eyes of the French population and the Allies.

Considered terrorists, these groups are the target of strong repression. Initially, the objective of destroying the maquis is entrusted to Vichy forces: punctual and targeted operations take place regularly. In a second phase, from the end of 1943, faced with the growing power of the maquis, the Wehrmacht attempts to annihilate the maquisard camps. Several operations are carried out by the Germans in February, April and July 1944. Despite human and material losses, the resistance holds and sabotage takes place on road and rail communication axes to slow down the advance of German convoys. The department of Ain is liberated in September 1944, putting an end to the armed struggle of the department's maquisards.