The courtyard of honor at Lalande has always been a place of commemoration and ceremony. In order to understand the heavy atmosphere that appears in France, here are some insights into the daily life of the students.

From the time when students return to school in 1940, they are subjected to the propaganda of the Vichy regime. Each day, and then each week, they have to attend the raising of the flag in the school

courtyard of honor and sing a hymn in honor of Marshal Pétain, "Maréchal nous voilà". The headmaster, Mr. Maurer, a notorious Pétainist, often delivers speeches glorifying the National Revolution implemented by Pétain and illustrated by the new slogan "Work, Family, Country".

In every classroom, a portrait of the Marshal is hung. The headmaster regularly visits the classes to remind them of the regime's new directives. Additionally, he officially assigns a teacher to provide ideological education to the students for one hour per week. Antisemitic and anticommunist films are also screened, such as "Le Juif Süss" or "Français, vous avez la mémoire courte". In 1941, the regime imposes a list of rules for the students. Textbooks are censored, and Jewish students and teachers, or those considered disorderly, are expelled.

Lycée Lalande

The classrooms, where students spend the most important part of their days, are naturally the places where ideas are spread. Confronted with the propaganda from the Vichy regime that was disseminated by the head teacher Monsieur Maurer, students attempt to promote alternative ideas.

Flyers and posters circulate discreetly during lessons. Some students get portraits of General Charles de Gaulle, or pictures illustrating the Cross of Lorraine. A decisive meeting sparks the movement in the autumn of 1941. Marcel Thenon and Paul Morin, originally humble students, meet Paul Pioda, a salesman who also sells school books at the back of his shop on Rue du Gouvernement (now Rue Victor Basch), close to the high school. After several visits, they realize they share the same desire to continue the fight. The salesman then provides them with clandestine journals and photos of General Charles de Gaulle. Back at the high school, the students pass them on to trusted friends. This action caused a student, Paul Millet, to be expelled. This provoked an outcry, so that he was eventually reintegrated.

As for Roger Page, he expresses hostility to Vichy policies through his poems.

One night, during spring 1943, some students replace all the portraits of Marshal Pétain in the classrooms with those of General Charles de Gaulle.

The schoolyard of Lalande High School witnesses acts of Resistance: leaflets, newspapers, and photographs of De Gaulle are secretly passed out to the students Marcel Thenon and Paul Morin by Paul Pioda. The newspapers distributed at the school are Libération, Combat, Franc-Tireur, and also Bir Hakeim (printed at the Michallat press near the school). They are also distributed in the town of Bourg-en-Bresse.

In 1941, the first typewritten leaflets appear, which a student called Lucien Dupont witnesses.

Graffitis are quickly drawn on the walls, especially the V for victory with the Cross of Lorraine inside of it. Some of these inscriptions are still visible in the attics.

However, there remain Vichy sympathizers and antisemitic students. One day, three of them attack Cerf, a Jewish student. He is violently beaten in the face, but several students, including François-Yves Guillin, defend him.

A5 - The playground: resistance begins to get organized

Different actions are being carried out, but they remain isolated. In order to be more effective, high school students decide to organize themselves. At the instigation of Paul Pioda, Marcel Thenon, and Paul Morin, a group of six is formed at the end of 1941 with four trusted classmates. As these groups multiply, a group of thirty is established by 1942. By early 1943, two groups of thirty exist within the school.

In 1943, FUJ groups (United Youth Forces), a national synthesis of various youth resistance movements, are established at Lalande. They are supervised by Hugues Barange, the regional leader of the FUJ and a tutor at the school. The head supervisor, Pierre Schmidt, an Alsatian disguised under the pseudonym "Bourgeois," ensures the transportation of most newspapers and leaflets from Lyon. The students do not limit themselves to distributing materials within the school; they also take on the responsibility of distributing bundles of newspapers to their social circles during their weekly visits home to their families. Weapons and explosives are smuggled into the school.

Here is the students' cafeteria. On several occasions, the students express their discontent with the Vichy regime's policies.

Due to shortages, rationing comes into effect in September 1940. Like everywhere else, the school struggles during the war with shortages of food, heating, and supplies: notebooks, books, paper, ink, pencils... In early 1943, the rations served in the cafeteria deteriorate significantly both in quantity and in quality. The students, frustrated by this situation, organize a riot. The headmaster tries in vain to calm their anger.

That same year, the cafeteria is also the site of a patriotic demonstration prohibited by the Vichy regime during the commemoration of the First World War dead. On November 11th, 1943, simple instructions are given to everyone. At the discreet whistle of Jean MARINET, a senior student and a resistance member, all the Lalande students rise and observe a minute of silence.

Jean MARINET

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Tuesday, March 16th, 1943, students from Lalande High School are having a physical education class on the pitch known as the "lawn." German soldiers, marching along Boulevard Paul Bert which adjoins their field, suddenly pass by singing a military song. Feeling provoked by the soldiers, some students throw rocks at them over the wall. Enraged, the Germans storm into the school and complain to the headmaster. All the students involved are immediately summoned to the main courtyard at noon. The headmaster demands that the perpetrators confess, under the threat of a general expulsion. Faced with the silence of all, the students remain standing for a long time without food or water.

One student eventually confesses. The headmaster decides to expel him permanently even before holding a disciplinary hearing. Fortunately, he was neither imprisoned nor deported, thanks to the intervention of the prefect who pleaded his case.

Several students extend their engagement beyond Bourg-en-Bresse. Marcel Rosette, a boarder, gathers leaflets and newspapers, which he distributes upon returning to his parents' house in Chavannes-sur-Suran. Since 1943, he has been receiving airdrops of weapons (machine guns, explosives).

He also participates in his first sabotage in February 1943: they destroy an electricity pylon with dynamite on the Cize-Bozolon-Bourg line. He assists in establishing the second maquis of Ain on the Nivignes mountain above his village and leaves the FUJ (Young Resistance Fighters Army) to join the secret army of Chavannes.

From July to August 1943, he serves as the liaison agent for Captain Romans. On August 15th, he takes part in a second airdrop in Chavannes. At the beginning of 1944, he steals cars from the prefecture's garage to equip the Maquisards, followed by two airdrops, on March 3rd and April 9th.

Other students, such as Roger Page, who attends Lalande School from 1942 to 1943, flees from compulsory labor and joins the Maquis in 1943. With the Maquisards, Roger Page participates in a symbolic but impactful action: the November 11th, 1943 parade in the town of Oyonnax. This event greatly impresses the Allies upon hearing about it, motivating them to support the French Resistance. Arrested in February 1944, Roger Page is deported to Mauthausen where he dies on July 5th.

In 1943, Marcel Thenon and Paul Morin, responsible for FUJ, also partake in actions outside Bourg-en-Bresse, such as scouting for suitable airdrop locations in Ain.

Jean Marinet and his friend Roger Guettet carry out various symbolic actions at Marinet's home in Bellegarde, including participating in a banned demonstration on November 11th, 1943. On July 14th, 1943, and again on May 1st, 1944, they replace the French Combatants Legion flag with a flag bearing the "Cross of Lorraine", the symbol of the Resistance, near the war memorial under cover of night. Marinet aids as an agent in delivering information to the Secret Army, carrying the "Green Plan" in his school bag to prepare for the Allied landings. He also smuggles explosives and detonators with Roge.

At Lalande High School, the students are not alone in their resistance. Reflecting the French population, the majority of the staff are rather passive and primarily seek survival. However, some oppose the Vichy regime's policies. Mr. Merle, Mr. Mandouze, and Mr. Audierne vigorously protest against the official propaganda imposed on students during mandatory screenings of anti-Semitic and anti-communist films. Following one of these acts of defiance, some are briefly arrested.

In class, Mr. Merle teaches his students the verses of Schiller:

"Wir wollen frei sein, wie die Väter waren

Eher dem Todt als in der Knechtcheft leben"

which means :

'We want to be free, like our fathers were

Better to die than to live in servitude'

Others actively join the Resistance, such as teachers Mr. Cochet, Mr. Barange, and the supervisor Mr. Schmidt. Thanks to Hugues Barange, they enable the organization of the Resistance. This national leader of the FUJ has recruited several students into his organization. Marcel Cochet, a sports teacher, soon becomes the leader of a 'sizaine' (a group of 6) and then of a 'trentaine' (a group of 30). As for Pierre Schmidt, he ensures the distribution of leaflets from Lyon throughout the town of Bourg-en-Bresse.

It is here, at the beginning of the afternoon on June 5, 1944, that an event of rare violence within a school occurs, while students are taking their final exams. The atmosphere is particularly tense, with gunshots occasionally ringing out in the street. Suddenly, pounding on the entrance door, militiamen burst in, shouting insults. Under the leadership of their chief, Dagostini, they force all the students out of the classrooms, into the rain. The students are terrified. Among the names on Dagostini's arrest list are those of 42 students and 13 teachers. The list was provided to him by an infiltrated student militiaman named DELLANAY. The students listed are beaten, then forced into militia trucks at the entrance of the high school before being taken to St Amour, the militia headquarters. Ultimately, only ten students and the supervisor, M. Schmidt, are interrogated and tortured for their involvement in the resistance. M. Schmidt is released, but the ten students are then taken back to Bourg to the "Hotel de l'Europe", where they are locked up in the cellars for fifteen days before being deported. Only one of them manages to escape during the journey to the camps.

Following various waves of arrests and deportations, some high school students and staff members continue their engagement by participating in the liberation of the Ain department.

Students persist in their resistance activities within the Maquis, FFI units (Interior French Forces), and the FUJ (United Forces of Youth), notably in the 5th Company and Claude’s Group, established in 1943 with the task of aiding in the escape of prisoners and providing cover for those unyielding to the forced labor service (STO).

Other high schools engage in sabotage missions targeting communication routes alongside the FUJ. They also fight alongside American advance units in battles such as those of Valbonne and Meximieux. At the same time, additional students from Lalande High School participate in other resistance operations. They also join the Maquis of Ain, where they suffer heavy losses.

Despite its small size, Lalande High School contributed significantly to the Resistance effort. Thirty-two students were killed or executed, and around twenty of them were deported. Several individuals were decorated for their bravery, and the school was awarded the Resistance Medal by decree on October 3rd, 1946. The Resistance Medal was conferred upon the school in recognition of the numerous sacrifices made by students and staff members.

Lycée Lalande

And a big thank you to our teachers who have worked tirelessly since September, putting in countless hours, day and night, to support our 10th-grade class (2023-24) to the completion of this project.