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Remarkable Heroes and Heroines of the French Resistance in World War II

Khalid Elhassan May 12, 2025 18 min

Resistance - Women and men of the French Resistance — Women and men of the French Resistance. Pegasus Battlefield Tours

1. Segouin After the War

Resistance - Simone Segouin during the liberation of Paris in 1944 — Simone Segouin during the liberation of Paris in 1944. Rare Historical Photos

Segouin was with the Resistance fighters of the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans when they helped liberate Charters on August 23^rd, 1944. She helped capture 25 Germans, and shepherded them to POW pens. She and her comrades then linked up with the French 2^nd Armored Division as it headed out to liberate Paris. She was in the thick of the fighting that freed the French capital on August 25^th.

For her performance, she was promoted to lieutenant, and awarded a Croix de Guerre. After the war, she became a pediatric nurse, and in 2017, a street in Courville-sur-Eure, a small town near Charters in which she lived, was named in her honor. In 2021, she was appointed a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest and most prestigious order of merit. Simone Segouin passed away in 2023, at age 97.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Accidental Talmudist – Girl With a Gun: Simone Segouin

BBC – Jean Moulin (1899 – 1943)

Chemins de Memoire – Henri Frenay

Clinton, Alan – Jean Moulin, 1899-1943: The French Resistance and the Republic (2001)

Daily Mail, August 29^th, 2015 – The Hotpants Hotshot: Formidable Derring-do of the Nazi Hunting, Gun Toting Pin Up Teen of the French Resistance

Find a Grave – Georges Blind

Forward – True History of an Unknown Hero of the French Jewish Resistance

History Collection – 10 Amazing Facts About the Polish Resistance in World War II

History Network – The French Resistance’s Secret Weapon? The Mime Marcel Marceau

Kaminsky, Sarah – Adolfo Kaminsky: A Forger’s Life (2016)

Life Magazine, September 4^th, 1944 – The Girl Partisan of Chartres

New York Times, August 9^th, 1988 – Henri Frenay, Resistance Fighter, 82

New York Times – Adolfo Kaminsky Dies at 97; His Forgeries Saved Thousands of Jews

Times, The, September 24^th, 2007 – Marcel Marceau, Celebrated French Mime Artist Whose Clowning Dramas Eloquently Expressed the Wonder and Terror Existence

Washington Jewish Week – Charlotte Sorkine: Unknown Hero of the French Resistance

WWII Forums – Georges Blind, the Man Who Smiled at His Firing Squad

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.