IN IMAGES, IN PICTURES. Symbol of the Resistance, the forest house of Lorris has partly collapsed

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She had stood firm against the Nazi armed forces during World War II. It was ultimately the wind that got the better of her. The Lorris’ forest house has partly collapsed, at the beginning of October, following a gust of wind.

Since the wall collapsed, Lorris’ forest house has been surrounded by a security cordon. The remaining three walls could be unstable. © Radio France
– Cecile Da Costa

A place of memory

Located in the maquis de Lorris, one of the largest in the department, in the forest of Orleans, this the house had served as an infirmary for the resistance. But in 1944, the SS who searched the maquis in search of weapons and documents set fire to these forest houses, before shooting 60 resistance fighters on the spot on August 14. The Carrefour de la Résistance is now the symbol of this tragic episode, and the two forest houses, from Lorris and from Bordes, have been preserved as they are.

For nearly 80 years, the National Forestry Office and the association of elders and families of the Lorris maquis work for the preservation of these places of memory. But these houses have never been restored. “It gives an important picture of the fighting and the atrocities that were committed in 1944”, estimates Denis Godeau, president of the association. “Like the Oradour-sur-Glane site [en Haute-Vienne] where the whole village had been set on fire and the inhabitants shot by the SS. “

In the forest of Orleans, two remains of forest houses are preserved in memory of the resistance fighters of the Lorris maquis. In the photo, the Bordes forest house did not waver in the wind.
In the forest of Orleans, two remains of forest houses are preserved in memory of the resistance fighters of the Lorris maquis. In the photo, the Bordes forest house did not waver in the wind. © Radio France
– Cecile Da Costa
At the Carrefour de la Résistance, the forest houses are not the only ones to be the symbol of this episode in history. A plaque commemorates the engagement of resistance fighters shot in Lorris.
At the Carrefour de la Résistance, forest houses are not the only ones to be the symbol of this episode in history. A plaque commemorates the engagement of resistance fighters shot in Lorris. © Radio France
– Irina Cazan

Secure buildings

A collapse was therefore inevitable. “The stones in this section of wall were no longer welded together. The lime plaster was dissolved by precipitation over the decades.”, notes Gilles Deboisse, in charge of the management of the Lorris massif at the National Forestry Office. “With the fall of the wall, the stones were thrown up to 20 or 30 meters. You can see the danger that represents.”

Stones were thrown several meters when the wall fell. Lorris' house, although well maintained, was damaged by time.
Stones were thrown several meters when the wall fell. Lorris’ house, although well maintained, was damaged by time. © Radio France
– Cecile Da Costa
The associations regularly maintain the forest houses, in particular by removing vegetation. But some plants have made their place and still degrade the building.
The associations regularly maintain the forest houses, in particular by removing vegetation. But some plants have made their place and still degrade the building. © Radio France
– Cecile Da Costa

All the same, there was no question of rebuilding Lorris’ forest house. The challenge for the ONF and the association is to secure the premises, to avoid an accident if another wall collapses. A perennial fence will therefore be installed around the two forest houses. des Bordes and Lorris. In the long term, the ONF and the association of elders and families of the maquis also hope to be able to secure the two buildings, to prevent them from deteriorating further.


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