6.5.1 “ The Germans had reached Lans.”
—Janina Lamenta, student. Polish Resistance fighters in the Vercors. PUG, 2011.
The gunfire, at first distant, became increasingly close. The Germans had reached Lans. Once in the village square, they set up a cannon opposite the Col de l ‘Arc hotel. The girls ‘ rooms in the hotel were inspected by soldiers. Among them were some Poles from Upper Silesia who had been conscripted into the Wehrmacht stationed in Grenoble. They heard our questions in Polish and reassured us.
- Maria Czarlinska, student – Polish Resistance fighters in the Vercors. PUG, 2011
We could hear gun shots, the sky was ablaze in the distance, everything was burning. The villagers led animals along the road, disaster victims arrived with their bundles and, in the village square, the maquisards (resistance fighters) were recruiting volunteers to leave immediately for the nearby front. A makeshift hospital has been set up in the primary school and we, the local girls, washed the floors and worked with the maquisards to prepare bedding for the wounded. Shortly afterwards, they started to arrive. I only saw a few of them because someone noticed that I was very young, I was really still a child, and they told me to leave.
