### Unveiling Heroism Through The Lens: The Forgotten Photographer of Wartime Paris

An amateur photographer’s clandestine documentation of Nazi-occupied Paris has been brought to light after an 80-year mystery. This compelling story began in the summer of 2020 when documentary producer Stephanie Colaux stumbled upon a battered scrapbook at a flea market in the south of France. Inside, she found a treasure trove of 377 black-and-white photos, taken between 1940 and 1942, capturing the everyday scenes and stark realities of occupation.

These photos, prohibited by the Nazis who ruled Paris at the time, offered a rare, uncensored glimpse into life during the occupation, with civilians and ever-present German soldiers. The discovery prompted Colaux to enlist Philippe Broussard, an investigative journalist from Le Monde, to identify the unknown photographer.

Examining the photos, Broussard noted they were taken by an amateur who likely risked his life to document the period. The photos contained intriguing captions mocking German soldiers, indicating a courageous act of resistance. Multiple sources, including the Museum of National Resistance in Champigny-sur-Marne and a woman who worked at Le Printemps department store during the war, housed similar photos. This connection provided critical leads in Broussard's investigation.

After nearly four years of exhaustive searching through archives and consulting historians, Broussard unearthed the name Raoul Minot. Minot was an employee of Le Printemps who, alongside his wife Marthe, bravely captured and printed these forbidden images, risking severe punishment. In early 1943, their secret was betrayed in an anonymous letter to the authorities. The couple was arrested with Raoul ultimately perishing in a Nazi concentration camp, while Marthe searched for him in vain after the war.

Broussard's findings, published in a five-part series in Le Monde, brought Raoul Minot posthumous recognition by the French government as a resistant who sacrificed his life for France. This rediscovery also connected Minot's face, seen in an ID picture with a proud look and slight smile, to the legacy of witnessing and resisting the brutal occupation.

This story transcends World War II, depicting an ordinary man’s extraordinary courage against a formidable enemy, and the enduring force of love and determination symbolized by his wife’s relentless search for truth.