Two Heroes: Jean Moulin and Marshal Philip Leclerc de Hauteclocque

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France had two heroesmo during WWII whom few in North America know about. One headed the French Resistance and the other led the French 2nd Armored Division into Paris during the Liberation. Conspicuously designated but little marked on the tourist map, the Memorial Museum to Marshal Leclerc and Jean Moulin behind the Montparnasse station chronicles the lives of the two heroes through pictures, letters and documents showing the significant roles these two men played in rousting the German occupiers of France. It was inaugurated in 1994 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris.   Jean Moulin was a leader the French Resistance. Born to a cultured republican family in the south of France, Moulin served his country as a sub-prefect and subsequently, a prefect. As he refused to sign a German document that falsely accused Senegalese troops of massacring civilians, he was booted out of the Vichy Government in November 1940. Soon after, he went south and entered the Resistance movement. In 1941, he went to London to gather forces to unify the Resistance and form a secret army to liberate France. Upon his return to France, Moulin became the first head of the Resistance Council. He was captured and tortured to death in 1943 on a train going to Germany. Moulin thus became the hero of the underground movement against the Germans. He was only 46 when he died.   Years after he died, statues were erected to his memory and fables told about the man who dared stand up to the Germans: Moulin had become a French household name. When Moulin’s remains were taken to the Pantheon in 1964, cultural chief André Malraux—whose remains would also later enter the Pantheon—read his eulogy with Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou in attendance.   Marshal Philip Leclerc de Hauteclocque was from Picardie nobility. A graduate of the Saint-Cyr military academy, he rose from the ranks rapidly and by WWII, was among de Gaulle’s trusted inner circle in London. Leclerc also played key roles in Cameroon and Gabon, won a major victory against Italy between 1941-42 and formed the 2nd Armored Division in Morocco. He then liberated Paris on August 25, 1944. I can imagine the excitement as church bells in Paris pealed all at once to announce Leclerc’s entry. Then in November, he liberated Strasbourg. By May 5, 1945, he reached Hitler’s headquarters at Brechtesgaden.   He was later appointed commander of the French Task Force in Indochina and was the French signatory of the Japanese capitulation on September 2, 1945. He died in an airplane crash in 1947. He was only 45 years old, but he had been the man who had headed the army up from the south and liberated the French capital. Leclerc was laid to rest in Les Invalides with France’s other celebrated generals. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Marshal in 1952.   I can’t express the admiration I felt for these two men who had selflessly dedicated their short but eventful lives to their homeland.  I had enjoyed the quiet afternoon at the museum with few people around.   Practical Information:   The Memorial to Marshal Leclerc and Jean Moulin is located on 23, allée de la 2eme DB, 75015 Paris. It is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-6pm. Entrance is 4 Euros (subject to change).   For Information Tel: 01 40 64 39 44   or Fax: 01 43 21 28 30  
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