Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura The Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura were a group of maquis fighters in the French resistance during World War II. On 11 November 1943, the Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura, on orders from Colonel Henri Romans-Petit, took possession of the town of Oyonnax in the Ain departement, and paraded up to the war memorial laying a wreath in the form of the croix de Lorraine with the inscription "Les vainqueurs de demain à ceux de 14–18" (the conquerors of tomorrow to those of 14–18). After a minute of silence and a rendition
Maquis (World War II) in the rural areas of France, resistance had a role and justification in the lives of many people "who had no ambition to hold a gun, or memorize a coded message, though as the occupation grew in its violence the pressure on the French people to defend themselves by force intensified, and the military nature of resistance came to predominate". The connection between the Vichy government and armed resistance paved the way for the eventual formation of the Maquis. The "Service du Travail Obligatoire" (S.T.O.) was enacted on 16 February 1943 but underwent various refinements and classifications. It required young