European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 24, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse ,. Ii if it i a Ift ump. In " " so american soldiers join in a Victory March Down the champs Elyses after entering Paris. 50 years later the debate goes on who saved Paris by Christopher Burns the associated Pressa t a time when the Allied and nazi War machines Laid waste to cities in their paths Paris was liberated with monuments intact. Fifty years later debate continues on who = deserves the thanks. It s the americans who liberated Paris said Chantal Leger 48, who owns the Rose cafe on a Street in Central Paris where some of the heaviest fighting took place. Many american veterans agree. But a former resistance fighter or Veteran of the French 2nd army div who fought to redeem four years of humiliating occupation will claim the most credit. Hundreds of resistance fighters and French soldiers died in the Battle for Paris. On thursday officials will Mark the German surrender of Paris on aug. 25, 1944, with a dramatic procession by 2,000 actors fireworks and a dance on the place de la concorde. On Friday 8,000 schoolchildren from across France will re enact the historic walk by Gen. Charles de Gaulle Down the liberated champs Elysee. The liberation was an almost comic Wii and nearly tragic combination of insubordination by germans and French alike a race Between Allied and German reinforcements approaching the City an orgy of Celebration during and after the Battle. It was Rich in political intrigue de Gaulle elbowed past communist resistance leaders and collaborationist Vichy rulers seeking to establish himself As the Leader of postwar France and win Over sceptics in Washington. . Reluctance to recognize de Gaulle called an egoist by president Franklin Roosevelt and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower s decision to delay the liberation of Paris helped set the tone of relations that still remain testy. By August 1944, two months after the landings in Normandy the allies were. About 60 Miles from Paris. Eisenhower chose a pincer like strategy to encircle the capital and Force a German surrender without the costly Urban warfare that had levelled Saint to Cherbourg and Caen. But the people grew impatient in Paris where butter Cost $10 a Pound electricity was on Only two hours a Day and a Day had raised Hopes. The germans had Goose stepped Down the champs Fly sees More than 1,500 Days. On the Eiffel Tower Hung a huge a sign the nazis borrowed from the allies accompanied by the declaration that deutschland siege auf alien Bronfen Gerna Msj All fronts. On aug. 19, resistance fighters armed with guns and gasoline bombs launched their uprising. They took a beating from German tanks. Hitler ordered Gen. Dietrich von Cholitz the Paris commander to mine Bridges and other Sites. He was quoted As ordering the general to leave nothing but ruins As Allied bombers were doing to German cities. Von Cholitz refused because he knew that the War was lost and realized that Hitler was a very sick Man his widow Uberta said from her Home in Baden Baden Germany. De Gaulle afraid a resistance Victory in Paris would freeze him out sent a note to Eisenhower threatening to Send in the French 2nd army whether he allies agreed or not. On that ultimatum Eisenhower is said to have scribbled it looks now As continued on Page 18 closer look Paris sacred to French to the French it s at least As important As a Day and More celebrated than the Day Germany surrendered. It Vyas the fight to rid themselves of four years of humiliating nazi occupation. The liberation of Paris nine months before Germany raised the White Flag was the major Symbol. It was the end of the third Reich said history professor Rene Raymond a former resistance fighter now at the prestigious Institute of political studies in Paris. Raymond who was 25 when he reconnoitre a German positions to the French military said the Battle for Paris was one of feat and Celebration. There was Relief and affirmation to erase the defeat of 1940." there was a risk it could have gone wrong Raymond said. It was possible the insurrection could have been the French May not consider the liberation of Paris on aug. 25,1944, a bigger event than a Day on june 6, but it is More important parisians cheer the arrival of liberators. File than the end of the War he said. It is striking to see that what is More celebrated is not the Victory but the liberation in each town in. France. Never mind that the germans were invited to this year s Bastille Day Parade on july 14, the first time German soldiers marched Down the champs ulysees since 1944. A German officials Are on the guest list for this week s liberation Celebration. It s one of the great dates of history,." said Julien Girardin a 60-year-old antique dealer. It was to rediscover Freedom. It was a rebirth. We weren t hiding for jewish friends they could find their identity for a kid like Girardin the first american tanks meant having chocolate and chewing he Learned about a Day later. On aug. 26, Charles de Gaulle said for everyone to go to the h6tel de Ville or City Hall recalled Colette Gerard Burns 71, who saw her first Liberator an american Soldier while she and her father were looking for German snipers. It was de Gaulle who beamed his message of a free France Over the bbl As she and her family listened in their basement during the War s darkest Days. Everybody was crying and screaming and laughing. It was like a Surprise she know you wait for something for so Long and when it finally happens you re in Shock. You could t believe the associated press the stars and Stripe wednesday August 24, 1994 17
