Last modified: 2005-04-02 by ivan sache
Keywords: cross: lorraine (blue) | resistance | forces francaises de l'interieur | vercors | letters: ffi (blue) | armband |
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Vercors is a limestone massif located in the French Alps. Vercors has a triangular shape, limited by the rivers Rhône (west), Drac (east) and Drôme (south). It stretches over the departments of Isère and Drôme. Vercors remained an extremely isolated area until the building of the 'vertigo roads' (routes du vertige), which were necessary for the exploitation of the forests of Vercors.
In 1942, French franc tireurs went underground and hid in the Vercors. When the STO (Service du travail obligatoire) was set up by the French government (16 February 1943) in order to provide workers for the German industry, the so-called réfractaires refused to obey and several of them joined the resistance movements, especially in Vercors. Resistance camps were established in the massif, which were not really attacked by the Italian occupation troops. When the Germans took the control of the zone formerly under Italian control, the situation hardly changed and the Resistance movements were able to