She was only twenty years old when she began forging documents to save Jewish refugees.
She was captured and tortured by Klaus Barbie's Gestapo (commander of the Gestapo in the city of Lyon, known by the nickname "the Butcher of Lyon" due to his cruelty toward Jews and resistance fighters), and ultimately survived the horrors of concentration camps by eating insects and tree bark.
This is the true story of Josette Moulain, a French heroine who died several weeks ago at the age of 100.
In 1943, when Josette was only 20 years old, France was under Nazi occupation. Josette studied art and learned how to draw perfect replicas. She had a sharp eye and steady hands.
She decided to use her skills for good - the French Resistance. They fought the Nazis in secret.
What did they need most of all? Forged identification documents.
Josette became a forger. She carved special rubber stamps that looked exactly like the official Nazi stamps. When she pressed her forged stamps onto a document, it looked authentic.
She forged identity cards, travel permits, and food ration cards. Her forged documents helped more than 1,000 people - Jewish families and Allied pilots - escape from the Nazis to safe countries like Spain and Switzerland.
It was dangerous work. If the Nazis caught someone with her forged documents, that person would be killed. If they caught her, she would be killed immediately.
In March 1944, the Nazis captured Josette.
She was taken to Klaus Barbie's headquarters.
Josette was tortured. The Nazis wanted her to recall the names of her comrades in the Resistance. They wanted to know where the safe houses were where resistance fighters were hiding.
But Josette was stronger than the pain. She was only 20 years old, but she remained silent. She refused to give them names. She protected everyone she worked with and everyone she helped save.
Because she refused to speak, the Nazis sent her to concentration camps.
First, she was sent to Ravensbrück. Then she was sent to Holleischen, where she was forced to work 12 hours a day manufacturing weapons for the German army.
The food was almost nothing - just a little soup and a piece of bread. Josette became skin and bones, weighing only about 27 kg (60 pounds). She watched people die around her every day.
But Josette refused to die.
To stay alive, she ate whatever she could find - insects and tree bark.
She even tried to escape!
Later she said: "I can't even describe what we went through in the camps... Every day we thought would be our last."
On May 5, 1945, American soldiers finally liberated her camp. Josette, age 21, was barely alive, but she survived.
After the war, she slowly recovered, got married, and started a family.
For a long time, the memories were too painful to share.
But as she grew older, she realized she had to tell the world what happened.
For over 60 years, Josette traveled to schools and museums to share her story. She made sure that new generations would never forget the truth about the war.
In 2016, she wrote a book called "Soif de Vivre," which means "Thirst for Life."
March 6, 2024, Josette passed away peacefully at the age of 100.
At her funeral, the government gave her full military honors. Her coffin was covered with the French flag, and the people sang the national anthem and the anthem of the Resistance.
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