Stèle commandant Valin

HISTORY OF THE HAUT-JURA

STELE COMMANDANT VALLIN

Discover the Commandant Vallin stele in Viry.

Explore the Haut-Jura and let yourself be seduced by its traditional architecture, rural heritage and monuments. On foot, by bike or on a trail, you can explore these treasures of the past, combining discovery, sport and culture.

Stele erected on the site where two members of the Haut-Jura Resistance were shot dead by German forces on 13 April 1944: Jean Duhail, "Vallin", leader of the Haut-Jura maquis, and René Mermet, a young man of 20 who spoke out against the torture inflicted on Commandant Vallin. Strapped to a self-propelled gun, Mermet was taken by the Germans to Viry, the commune where weapons had been parachuted on 11 March. To protect the population from reprisals, Commandant Vallin took full responsibility for the parachute drop, which had been obtained by his predecessor, thus saving the inhabitants.