He served as the first President of the National Council of the Resistance from 27 May until his death less than two months later. A prefect in the Aveyron — and Eure-et-Loir — departments , he is remembered today as one of the main heroes of the French Resistance and for his efforts to unify it under Charles de Gaulle.
He was tortured by German officer Klaus Barbie while in Gestapo custody. His death was registered at Metz railway station. He spent an uneventful childhood in the company of his brother, Joseph, and his sister, Laure. Joseph died of acute peritonitis in In , he enrolled at the Faculty of Law of Montpellier, where he was not a brilliant student though he did finish his legal studies with a diploma.
Moulin was mobilised on 17 April as part of the age class of , the last class to be mobilised in France. He was assigned to the 2nd Engineer Regiment of Montpellier. He did not At the beginning of September, after an accelerated training, he headed with his regiment to the front in the Vosges, where he was posted in the village of Socourt. His regiment was preparing to go to the front lines as part of the attack planned by Foch for 13 November, but the Armistice was signed on 11 November.
Although Moulin did not fight directly on the front lines, he was nevertheless in a position to observe the horrors of war. He saw its aftermath on the battle fields and the devastation of villages. He helped to bury the war dead in the region around Metz.
He worked as a carpenter, a digger and later a telephonist for the 7th and 9th Engineer Regiments. After World War I , Moulin resumed his studies of law. He obtained his law degree in July [ 7 ] After his proposal of marriage to Jeanette Auran was rejected, Moulin, then aged 27, married a year-old professional singer, Marguerite Cerruti, in the town of Betton-Bettonet in September The marriage did not last long.
