The Defense Class of Victor Hugo College in Lavelanet explores the work and commitment of the resistant writer Raymond Escholier. Their interactive digital journal is now competing for the prestigious Prix Armées Zone Sud.
This prize was formerly known as the Prix du Gouverneur Militaire de Marseille. After several distinctions in the past (Prize of Excellence, Accessits, 3rd Prize), the students hope to renew the good results – or even surpass them. The theme of this year’s competition is “writers at war”, which led the students to choose to work on Raymond Escholier, a writer with ties to Mirapiciennes involved in both World Wars. The students chose to present their work in the form of an interactive digital journal titled “Le Petit Escholier, the ephemeral journal with a biscuit flavor that must be read”. The first phase of the students’ work was to focus on his literary work, in particular “Le Sel de la Terre” and “Mamadou Fofana”. Escholier is a soldier who experienced the shelling at Verdun. By exploring his novels, the students learned about Mamadou Fofana, who served in the 96th Battalion of Senegalese Riflemen (BTS).
A brotherhood of arms at the heart of the investigation The study of these works highlighted an unexpected brotherhood of arms, dispelling colonialist stereotypes of the time. In the mud and cold, the writer and the rifleman from West Africa become “brothers in misery”. The “salt” they share is that of sweat, tears, and black bread. Faced with the industrial madness and absurdity of this European war, the author poignantly describes the erasure of ranks and origins in favor of a universality of suffering and silent dignity. The appropriation of this complex fate took the form of the “Petit Escholier” imagined by the students at the departmental archives. This investigative work relied on authentic writings preserved in the archives in Foix. On this occasion, it was mainly the Escholier of the Second World War who was highlighted: the protector of artworks by “bringing them down” from Paris to Mirepoix, and the coordinator of the MUR (United Resistance Movements) highlighting the fundamental role of the PTT receiver in Rimont in the Resistance. A key moment in the project preparation was when the students interviewed Georges-Patrick Gleize on Friday, March 13, 2026, about Escholier. This was an opportunity to work on the man and his work. The video of the interview is integrated into the digital journal. Tracing Escholier’s journey from a writer witness of the trenches to a resistant of the “Maquis de Gascogne”, the third-year students understood that the pen and culture constitute ultimate barriers against oppression. The work, now available on the college’s ENT website, continues its course. The results of the Prix Armées Zone Sud are expected by the end of the school year.
