Paris, August 1944: The Germans have stockpiled food, liquor, cigarettes, and other supplies for their own use, but next to nothing is left for the citizens of Paris. Blackouts are in effect for all but one hour a day. Car and cooking fuel are nonexistent. The three million people of Paris are cold, starving, and growing impatient to oust the occupiers.
Each of the two key factions of the French Resistance (the Gaullists and the Communists) is plotting to position its party as the next French government. The Gaullists' first concern is to prevent the destruction of Paris, but they are also determined to ensure that the Communists do not seize control. The Gaullists want to liberate Paris from the outside, while the Communists are willing to overthrow the occupiers and establish their own regime through any means necessary.
The Allies have no plans to liberate Paris before mid-September. Their scant supplies are slated to support the continuing march to Germany and none are available to aid Parisian civilians.
The commander of the German forces in Paris, General Diedrich von Choltitz, discouraged by his country's escalating defeats, makes a trip to Hitler's headquarters, desperate to have his sagging spirits lifted by his Fⁿhrer. Instead, he is confronted by a man raving and drooling in rage. Still shaken from the recent attempt on his life, Hitler vehemently repeats his orders to Choltitz to utterly destroy Paris, leaving nothing but ruins for the enemy. Choltitz leaves this final meeting with Hitler, his confidence in the military prowess and the sanity of his leader shattered.
In the heart of Paris, while resistance leaders from the two camps hotly debate strategy, an unlikely group takes action on its own. The French police tires of being caught between the Germans and the civilians, so they unite and reclaim the police headquarters from the Germans on August 18. Three thousand strong, they hoist the French flag above the roof of their headquarters.
This initiative catapults the divisive resistance groups into independent action. Both sides move swiftly to install defense leaders and take over as many public buildings as possible. Fighting breaks out in spurts all over Paris. The end of this first day sees 125 resistance members and fifty Germans dead.
Choltitz is caught completely unaware of the uprising. Though he is an honorable soldier with a deep appreciation for Paris, the welfare of his wife and children in Germany depends on his loyalty to the Fⁿhrer. Inquiries from other German officers soon force him to order the destruction of electrical power plants, telephone lines, railway depots, bridges, and famous buildings throughout the city.
Raoul Nordling, the Swedish consulate-general who has lived in Paris most of his adult life and loves the city dearly, contacts Choltitz with an offer to arrange a truce with the resistance. Attempts at a truce, however well intentioned, are not successful. The Parisians, with encouragement from the resistance, build barricades throughout the city to hinder the movement of the German troops.
When de Gaulle learns of the uprising, he meets with Eisenhower to request Allied action, but Eisenhower refuses. Unknown to both de Gaulle and Eisenhower, Leclerc, the French Second Armored Division leader in Argentan (near Paris), has other plans. He has secretly and resourcefully secured enough fuel and munitions to move his division to Paris without relying on Allied supplies.
Desperate, Choltitz contacts Nordling to discuss the situation. From his neutral political perspective, Nordling hesitantly advises Choltitz that de Gaulle is the only person capable of uniting the seething capital.
Choltitz prepares a pass granting Nordling and a small party safe passage through the German lines to reach de Gaulle. Choltitz advises him to make haste; his written orders from Hitler to destroy Paris cannot be held in abeyance forever. The astonished Nordling is stricken with a heart attack before he can leave on his incredible mission and is replaced by his brother, whose initials match those on the pass. The brother and a small group of supporters head out to summon de Gaulle.
At the same time, a Communist military leader and the medical chief for the resistance (an anti-Communist) are undertaking a similar mission. These long-time friends leave Paris to find the Allies and ask for arms for the resistance. That night at their campsite, the medical chief persuades his friend that what is really needed is to convince the Allies to march for Paris with all haste to save the city and its people from destruction.
When their request reaches General Patton, his reaction to the upheaval in Paris is essentially, "You started it, you finish it," but word does reach Eisenhower who is wavering about what to do about France's capital. Can he abandon Paris to inevitable destruction in order to stick to his plans?
Nordling's weary group finally arrives at General Bradley's camp and stresses that the truce is about to end and that Choltitz will indeed crush the resistance and the city. The time has come and Eisenhower issues the order to liberate Paris. Returning to his camp from Bradley's camp later that evening, Leclerc shouts, "Mouvement immediat sur Paris!" (1)
Enroute to Paris early the next morning, fierce rainstorms and walls of cheering French people in the countryside greatly hinder Leclerc's troops' progress. Finally, as his troops make their approach to their darkened City of Lights, they see that Choltitz has positioned great defenses around the perimeter.
That night a small tank detachment from the division is dispatched to find any possible route into the city. Making amazing progress and meeting little fire, at about 1730 they are within a few hundred yards of Choltitz's headquarters.
With the news of their arrival, the bells of Paris begin ringing for the first time since the occupation. Choltitz interrupts a small dinner party he is hosting to call Chief of Staff Speidel, a conspirator in the attempted assassination of Hitler who has managed to cover his tracks. Speidel hears the joyously peeling bells over the phone that Choltitz holds to the open window and gives no further orders.
All night long the people of Paris wait. About 0700 they see tanks with white Allied stars on the fronts approaching. As the soldiers' helmeted heads come into view, the Parisians see their liberators are French! Leclerc and the French Second Armored Division weave into the streets of Paris followed closely by the United States 4th Infantry.
People climb on the tanks in feverish relief and celebration. Soon an ultimatum to surrender reaches Choltitz. He immediately sends word through Nordling that his officer's honor will not allow him to surrender without a fight. Three platoons are dispatched to the H⌠tel Meurice to deliver his fight. Finally, Choltitz is seized and escorted to the Prefecture de Police where Leclerc is starting a late lunch. The two men talk and then sign a typewritten document whereby Choltitz surrenders the German forces of Paris at 1500 on 25 August 1944.
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1. Martin Blumenson and the Editors of Time-Life Books, "World War II: Liberation," (Alexandria: Time-Life Books, 1978).
