Analyse média

La photo de Marcel Bernard montrant Jean Moulin coiffé d'un chapeau, d'une écharpe camouflant sa gorge, vêtu d'un pardessus, a contribué à nourrir la légende de ce héros de la Résistance. D'aucuns l'on datée postérieurement à sa tentative de suicide du 17 juin 1940, pour expliquer que son écharpe aurait dissimulé sa vilaine cicatrice. Il n'en est rien. Elle a été prise au cours de l'hiver 1939, près de la promenade du Peyrou, aux Arceaux à Montpellier. Il est alors préfet d'Eure-et-Loir. Comme la plupart des méridionaux, Jean Moulin est frileux et se couvre. Le feutre, le pardessus et l'écharpe sont les attributs de la mode masculine de l'époque. La physionomie de " Max " dans la clandestinité est bien différente de celle de l'hiver 1939-1940. Les résistants qui l'ont côtoyé comme Daniel Cordier, son secrétaire, soulignent ses traits creusés, fatigués et amaigris par la dure vie de résistant traqué.

The photo of Jean Moulin taken by Marcel Bernard, depicts him wearing a hat, a scarf camouflaging his throat and wearing an overcoat, all of which lends itself to the image of Resistance hero. Subsequently, historians have dated this picture after his suicide attempt of June 17^th 1940, explaining that his use of a scarf disguised his ugly scar. This is not the case. The picture was taken over the course of the 1939 winter, close to the Peyrou walkway at Arceaux in Montpellier. At the time, he was also prefect of Eure-et-Loir. Like the majority of southern Frenchmen, Jean Moulin was sensitive to the cold and as a result, he dressed warmly. The fedora, overcoat and scarf were the trend in men’s fashion at the time. The “Max” look in the Resistance is very different from the one appearing in the winter of 1939-1940. The Resistance fighters that knew him well such as his secretary, Daniel Cordier, stressed how the hard life of a hunted  Resistance fighter had made him gaunt, fatigued and emaciated.