Jean Moulin

The Resistance

In 1939 he was appointed préfet of the Eure-et-Loir region. The Germans arrested him in June 1940 because he refused to sign a German document that wrongly blamed Senegalese French Army troops for civilian massacres. In prison, he attempted suicide by cutting his throat with a piece of broken glass. This left him with a scar that he would often hide with his scarf.

Related Topics:
1939 - ''préfet'' - Eure-et-Loir - 1940 - Senegal - Massacre - Suicide

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In November 1940, the Vichy government ordered all prefects to dismiss left-wing elected mayors of towns and villages. When Moulin refused he was himself removed from office. He then lived in Saint-Andiol (Bouches-du-Rhône), and joined the resistance. He reached London in September 1941 under the name Joseph Jean Mercier, and met General Charles de Gaulle, who asked him to unify the various resistance groups. On January 1, 1942, he was parachuted in the Alpilles. Under the codenames Rex and Max, he met with the leaders of the resistance groups:

Related Topics:
1940 - Vichy government - Prefects - Saint-Andiol - Bouches-du-Rhône - Resistance - London - 1941 - Charles de Gaulle - January 1 - 1942 - Alpilles

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• Henri Frenay (Combat)
• Emmanuel d'Astier (Libération)
• Jean-Pierre Lévy (Francs-Tireur)
• Pierre Villon (Front National, not to be confused with the present-day far-right French political party Front National)
• Pierre Brossolette (Comité d'Action Socialiste)

In February 1943, he went back to London, accompanied by Charles Delestraint, head of the new armée secrète group. He left on March 21, 1943, ordered to form the Conseil National de la Résistance (CNR), a difficult task, since each movement wanted to keep their independence. The first meeting of the CNR took place in Paris, on May 27, 1943.

Related Topics:
1943 - Charles Delestraint - March 21 - Paris - May 27

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Jean Moulin was arrested June 21, 1943 in Caluire-et-Cuire (Rhône), in Doctor Frédéric Dugoujon's house, where a meeting with most of the resistance leaders was taking place. Interrogated in Lyon, and later in Paris, by Klaus Barbie, head of the Gestapo, he never revealed anything to his captors. He eventually died, near Metz, in the Paris-Berlin train which was taking him to the concentration camps.

Related Topics:
June 21 - Rhône - Lyon - Paris - Klaus Barbie - Gestapo - Metz - Berlin - Concentration camps

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