European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 24, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse File who saved Paris continued from Page 17 if we d be compelled to go into he sent the French division led by Gen. Philippe Leclerc and the . 4th div As a Reward for its heavy losses since Normandy. Leclerc s Force was held up by heavy German resistance South of Paris and As . It. Gen. Omar Bradley said a gallic Wall As townsfolk along the line of March slowed the French Advance with wine and meanwhile Hitler had dispatched reinforcements from the North that were to arrive within Days. Bradley was quoted As saying he could not wait for the French to dance their Way to Paris. To hell with prestige Tell the 4th to slam on in and take the the French managed to Send a Small group of tanks to City Hall before Midnight aug. 24. The next Day French and . Forces knocked out German posts isolated by resistance which controlled most of the streets. The majority of Paris was liberated by the 2nd division said retired Gen. Jean Compagnon 77, a civilians rip Down barricades to allow French troops to pass through the streets of Paris. At right celebrants gather in front of notre Dame to give thanks for the City s liberation. Former military attache in Washington Russ Meyer 72, disagrees. The american movie maker an army cameraman at the time said from his Home in Palm desert Calif ill Tell you who liberated it. It was the 1st american infantry division and the 4th infantry division. De Gaulle and Vive la France they did t have to liberate France at on aug. 26, de strode Down the champs Elyses to a wild Welcome from parisians the liberation really legitimized him Compagnon said. Three Days later Eisenhower arrived and american troops paraded Down the champs Fly sees before marching off to fight germans North of the City. What i wanted was to see the situation in Paris under control and As far As i was concerned de Gaulle was the Best Man to do that Eisenhower wrote. That s the effect i wanted and that s the effect i i. The War went on far gis and collaborators by Christopher Burns the associated press Arnes Adams got his fill of devastation blasting through Cherbourg and Saint-l6 with the . 5th army div. When he got to Paris he saw what he was fighting for. I was amazed. I saw the Eiffel Tower All the Beautiful things that were built said Adams 74. It really got you wound the party Paris threw to Greet the americans on aug. 29,1944, four Days after the liberation was like a ticker tape Parade Only a thousand times louder he recalled. There was screaming and Yelling. It was just a cacophony of there were millions of parisians on the champs Ety sees he said. They yelled Vive i ame Riquel we would yell Vive la France " but the party was tense As Wei he said because Paris was still full of after we got North of the place de la concorde obelisk it turned into a War again Adams said. We knew where we were headed and we got right Down to later that Day american soldiers who had marched Down the champs Elysee were fighting germans North of Paris. a a three Days earlier Gen. Charles de Gaulle s historic walk from the Arch of Triumph Down the capital s grandest Avenue to notre Darne Cathedral was hampered by snipers believed to be former collaborators. I was around notre Dame when they took some potshots at de Gaulle said Russ Meyer a . Army. French Gen. Charles de Gaulle pays his respects at the Tomb of the unknown Soldier at the arc Detriomphe before heading Down the champs-elys6es. At left . Infantrymen mass in the place de la concorde to the North of which fighting with German snipers continued. Duncan Macelhone of Harry s bar pulls Beers for Harold Stuart right and Friend Marvin Rosvold Center. Stuart participated in the liberation of Paris and returned while attending a Day commemoration activities earlier this year. Cameraman who became a filmmaker. The general who had set himself the Mission of resurrecting a shattered nation did not break stride. De Gaulle was a Cool cat recalled Meyer 72. Being a War cameraman was the Best time i Ever had in my life Meyer said. We were risking our asses and having a Good the party was Short lived for Meyer Adams and other gis whose commanders kept them on the March. After that they said we be got a War to win and we kept on going Meyer said. The liberation also was not the end for some parisians. It was the beginning the beginning of a Nightmare. During four years of German occupation when 2 million frenchmen were shipped off to German factories Many women found companionship and desperately needed financial support with soldiers of the wehrmacht. Many of them were alone their lives in full Bloom said Julien Girardin 60, an Antiques dealer. Some were mothers with for the Farmer or businessman collaborating with the germans often was the Only Way to survive. Many also made handsome profits for militiamen in the collaborationist Vichy regime wearing the uniform was a Way to fight communism and maintain some French control or to Hunt Down jews and Send them to nazi death Camps. I. When Paris was liberated it All ended. Some collaborators were shot. Others were beaten arrested or publicly humiliated /. Militiamen and businessmen who escaped summary Street Justice faced trial. Collaborating businesses were. Seized including the automaker Renault which was nationalized. Many women were victims of brutal humiliation even if they were Only rumoured to have consorted with germans. Their Heads were shaved and swastikas were painted on their Heads or breasts. I saw a convertible coming Down the Street. They stopped and there was a woman with her head shaved and a Swastika on her forehead said Colette Gerard Burns who was 21 and until then rejoicing in the liberation. There was a very distinguished gentleman who lived on the Street and he joined the others spitting on her. I was crying because it was horrible she said breaking Down again from the memory. Roundups became Witch Hunts. For example writer Sacha Guitry arrested and questioned by the resistance spent two months in jail before being released for Lack of evidence. German general refused to Burn Paris by Norbert Hoyer Deutsche Presse Agenter Hen news reached Adolf Hitler that the allies had entered the French capital he was supposed to have yelled to his chief of staff from his Bunker in Eastern Germany Jodl is Paris burning after More than 1,500 Days under German occupation Paris was freed. Hitler s order to destroy the City with its Many monuments was ignored by the City commandant Gen. Dietrich vol Cholitz who. Had just taken charge on aug. 7,1944. Even though the crushing of the Warsaw uprising in which 200,000 poles were killed served As a grim example of How viciously the germans would react to an uprising the French resistance launched a rebellion As Early As aug. 19. They were soon backed by Allied troops including members of the free French army led by Gen Philippe Leclerc. On aug. 25, at around 3 30 p.m., Cho Tilz and Leclerc signed the surrender of nazi occupational forces stationed in Paris. The Days leading up to the surrender recorded in the filmed bestseller is Paris burning by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre were dramatic. Hitler s insistence that Paris not be left to the enemy and Cholitz s pangs of conscience on How far to obey Hitler s order made Rich material for a Book in themselves the defense of the Bridgehead of Paris is of considerable military and political importance read Hitler s order dated aug. 23, its loss would open up the entire coastal front North of the Seine and deprive us of a base for the Battle against England. But history has shown that the fall of Paris has always meant the fall of France he wrote to his generals. Paris cannot fall into the hands of the enemy not even in ruins he ordered. Although Cholitz did not surrender without a fight Paris remained largely undamaged. A general is often required to destroy its Only Seldom that it is within his Power to protect and preserve something the Vichy mayor of Paris Charles Taitinger convinced Cholitz according to is Paris burning the resistance movement s desperate struggle till the arrival of Leclerc s troops and Allied american units in Paris and the last Battle before Cholitz was arrested in his Headquarters in the hotel Meurice facing the Tuil eries by it. Henri Karcher is the stuff of a Best seller. The nazi occupation forces which had Goose stepped Down the champs Elyse is every Day now marched through the same Avenue As prisoners of War spat at and jeered by the population of Paris. On aug. 26-27, Hitler bombed Paris but by then France had its Victory Well within its grasp. Scrupps Howard news service 18 the stars and stripes wednesday August 24,1994 the stars and stripes 19
