French Resistance Medley - Le Chant des Partisans / Ceux du Maquis (Yugoslav Choir)

(Pierre) Laval was a French collaborator within the French State / Vichy France, a Nazi German puppet state established after the fall of France. He led fascist paramilitaries and served in high positions in the government.
The maquis were French resistance guerrillas.

This is a rare recording from the Trieste Partisan Choir (Tržaški Partizanski Pevski Zbor / Coro Partigiano Triestino) combining the two French resistance songs "Le Chant des Partisans" (The Song of the Partisans) and "Ceux du Maquis" (The Ones of the Maquis) into one medley. Information on both songs below.
"Le Chant des Partisans" (The Song of the Partisans), also called "Le Chant de la Libération" (The Song of Liberation), is a 1943 French resistance song that became the unofficial anthem of the Free French Forces from 1943-1945. It was originally composed by Anna Marly after she heard the Soviet partisan song "По долинам и по взгорьям" (Through Valleys and over Hills), which you may recognize as the Yugoslav partisan anthem "Po šumama i gorama." It was originally written in Russian, but French lyrics were provided to Marly's melody by Joseph Kessel and Maurice Druon and Marly performed the song over BBC radio for the first time in 1943. After the proclamation of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (the predecessor to the French Fourth Republic), it was proposed as national anthem to replace "La Marseillaise", but this offer was rejected.
"Ceux du maquis" (The Ones of the Maquis) is a French Resistance song composed in 1944 by Maurice Van Moppès and Francis Chagrin. The song became emblematic of the resistance efforts against the German occupation of France during World War II. Originally conceived in London by two Free Frenchmen, illustrator and journalist Maurice Van Moppès and musician Francis Chagrin, it was broadcast on the BBC's program "Les Français parlent aux Français" (The French Speak to the French). The song was also a part of the “war of the airwaves,” a battle for influence on the radio against Radio-Paris, a station controlled by German occupiers that vilified the resistance fighters. Early in 1944, a documentary bearing the same name "Ceux du maquis" was shot in the Ain region of France and sent to London. The purpose was to persuade the Allies to arm these poorly equipped resistance fighters. The song was also spread through the dropping of its sheet music by the Royal Air Force over French territories, so it could reach those under the Nazi boot.



Montez de la mine, descendez des collines, camarades !
Sortez de la paille les fusils, la mitraille, les grenades.
Ohé, les tueurs à la balle et au couteau, tuez vite,
Ohé, saboteur, attention à ton fardeau, dynamite...

Ohé !


Ce sont ceux du maquis,
Ceux de la Résistance !
Ce sont ceux du maquis,
Combattant pour la France !

Bravant le froid, bravant la faim,
Défiant l'horrible esclavage,
Bravant Laval, bravant ses chiens,
Sans jamais perdre courage.

Ce sont ceux du maquis,
Ceux de la Résistance !
Ce sont ceux du maquis,
Combattant pour la France !


Ce sont ceux du maquis,
Ceux de la Résistance !
Ce sont ceux du maquis,
Combattant pour la France !

Bravant le froid, bravant la faim,
Défiant l'horrible esclavage,
Bravant Laval, bravant ses chiens,
Sans jamais perdre courage.

Ce sont ceux du maquis,
Ceux de la Résistance !
Ce sont ceux du maquis,
Combattant pour la France !


Montez de la mine, descendez des collines, camarades !
Sortez de la paille les fusils, la mitraille, les grenades.
Ohé, les tueurs à la balle et au couteau, tuez vite,
Ohé, saboteur, attention à ton fardeau, dynamite.

Ohé !



00:00 Song intro
01:04 Song with lyrics