Friday, June 28, 2024, the students of the CM2 class of the Saint-Pierre de Gourin school went to the Palais des arts in Vannes to receive their diploma for their participation in the departmental Resistance competition, organized by the Souvenir Français. “They finished in fourth place,” says Pierre-Marie Quesseveur, president of the Pays du Roi Morvan committee of the Souvenir Français. “Eleven Morbihan classes competed this year.”
The young people worked on the Gourin resistance network Turma Vengeance, whose leader, Jean Bariou, was a preparer at the Fiche pharmacy in Gourin. He notably organised the transport to England of American pilots whose planes had been shot down by German anti-aircraft defences.
Vintage objects
“The schoolchildren notably reconstructed Jean Bariou’s suitcase with period objects and souvenirs retracing the lives of the resistance fighters during the occupation,” explains Annie Quinio, a teacher. “We also talked about his son, Jean-Pierre Bariou, who accompanied the passengers to their embarkation point for England, in the Douarnenez region.” The latter was arrested in May 1944 and deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp.
The students then attended the theater show by the Sans Lézard company, “L’Ombre des Roses, la Résistance en chantant”, before leaving for Sainte-Anne d’Auray for a commemoration at the memorial. During the ceremony, one of them, Pablo, read an extract from the poem “Liberty” by Paul Eluard, published in 1942. The day ended with a visit to the monument dedicated to those who died for France during the global conflicts.
