Josette Molland, a 20-year-old art student in 1943, joined the Resistance against the Germans who occupied France during WWII. She fabricated false papers and was subsequently captured by the Gestapo, enduring the horrors of Nazi deportation and camps for women. Despite severe beatings and near-starvation, she survived to return to France.
Molland lived a happy life for 50 years after the war, but never forgot her harrowing experiences. She used her paintings of her time in the camps to educate students about the atrocities of the Holocaust and the importance of vigilance and action.
Her involvement in the Resistance began when she was approached by a-then-stranger who recruited her to smuggle Jews, Resistance members, and Allied airmen across the border. This led to her capture, torture, and deportation to Ravensbrück and Holleischen camps.
Molland organized a rebellion in Holleischen, faced torture, and endless forced labor until liberation by Polish resistance members just before the German surrender. She returned to France after the war, becoming an artist and business owner before settling in Nice.
In 2016, she published an autobiography “Soif de Vivre” recounting her survival through the Resistance and the Holocaust. Molland died at 100 on February 17, 2023, and was buried with full military honors in Nice. She leaves a legacy of resilience, strength, and a commitment to educating future generations about the horrors of war.
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