Paris will always be Paris,
the most beautiful city in the world, sang Meurice Chevalier in 1939. History until today has proven him right, yet Paris shouldn't have survived the war. Hitler had ordered, yelled,
and screamed repeatedly that Paris must be wiped off the map. This is what we avoided. Paris was reduced to ashes and rubble, a tragedy that was announced
and yet which never happened. During the 16 fateful days in which the City of Light freed itself
from the Nazi yoke, a handful of men on various sides refused
to accept the inevitable. Resistance, communists or Gaullists,
Allied German officers disobeyed to save Paris. In Paris in early August 1944, the situation is tenser
than at any point during the occupation. The front is getting inexorably closer,
and the Wehrmacht soldiers are on edge. Apart from collaborationist circles, the Parisians have mostly stayed away
from the Germans, who parade through the city
as if they own it. They avoid them, and if forced to approach them,
pretend not to see them. To the extent
that the Wehrmacht soldiers call Paris die Stadt ohne oblique, "the city with no regard". Every evening, ears are pressed to radios where Radio Londres broadcasts
coded personal messages to the resistance. Andrea Mac uses lavender perfume,
we say it twice. Frederick was king of Prussia. The elephant has broken a tusk. Italy is in ecstasy. We repeat, Italy… What do these strange phrases mean? Religiously recited day after day
for four years. Increasingly so since the D-Day landings. What do they foretell
if not the German's imminent defeat? After all, they're preceded by four notes
taken from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Three dots and a dash in Morse code
representing a V for victory. There is no doubt the resistance
will soon rise from the shadows. For now, the Parisians continue to do
what they've been doing for four years. Wait. However, not everyone is content to wait. Raoul Nordling
is the Swedish consul in Paris. Sweden has been neutral
throughout the war, enabling Nordling
to maintain normal diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany. However, Consul Nordling has no sympathy
for the Germans. He is Swedish but he was born in Paris
where he has always lived. Nordling is French in his heart,
a humanist, and a fervent pacifist. Since the beginning of the occupation, he has constantly intervened
with the German authorities for the release of prisoners
with little success. Most of his dealings are with Otto Abetz,
Russia's ambassador in occupied France. He's an intellectual. He speaks perfect French
and collects works of art, many of which belonged
to now-deported French Jews. Mr. Ambassador,
"You cannot continue to do nothing." We both know
in what condition civilians are being held in Razzi,
in France, in the La Santé prison. At least do it in your interest. It will soon be your turn to ask
for humane and dignified treatment. Believe me, it's over. You must understand, Council, that I'm not rejecting your demand
nor I'm accepting it. Get in touch with Secretary Hoffman, he will handle the case. As he leaves Otto Abetz, Raoul Nordling crosses paths
with a general he doesn't yet know. Dietrich von Schultz
has just arrived in Paris. Two days previously,
von Schultz had taken a train to Berlin. He was summoned by Adolf Hitler
who wanted to meet him personally before entrusting him
with a mission of the highest importance. Since the D-Day landings two months ago, the general has been
on the Normandy front. He's convinced the German army
won't be able to hold out much longer against the formidable onslaught
inflicted by the Anglo-American Allies, yet the general is a hardened veteran,
one of the toughest and most resolute. He's seen every campaign
since Czechoslovakia was annexed in 1938. In May 1940,
he seized control of Rotterdam after aerial bombardments
of unprecedented intensity, killing 800 civilians
and making 80,000 more homeless. In 1941, he was at Sebastopol. He ordered the city to be bombed, showing no pity whatsoever
for its inhabitants. In February 1944,
it was in Italy at Monte Cassino. In June in Normandy, and on August 7th in a Polish bunker, face to face with Adolf Hitler. In his memoirs, he wrote: "I saw an old man stooped and bloated. His hair was gray and thinning,
trembling a physical ruin. I'd been told
I shouldn't shake his hand too vigorously. It was hurting him
after a wound incurred during the attack. I carefully placed my right hand in his. The kindly regard he gave me
was the only sign of humanity at this grave hour". [German spoken audio] Hitler embarks on a hysterical monologue. For 45 minutes, he describes the thousand-year Reich
that he has wanted to build for Germany. He speaks to an imaginary crowd,
haranguing them from his pulpit. He talks of the natural superiority
of the German soldier. He outlines his great counter-offensive, which will repel the Russia's enemies
beyond the seas. He then reflects
on the attack he's just survived. He's screaming and ranting now, his eyes bulging,
literally foaming at the mouth. There was no longer any doubt
that I was in the presence of a madman. The awareness that our people's existence
was in the hands of a lunatic incapable of mastering the situation, merely yielding to his deluded inspiration
weighed on me unbearably. Up to that point, not a single word
had been said about my future mission. The mission orders
that Hitler finally gave von Schulz authority not only over
all the German soldiers stationed in Paris but also over the SS, the Gestapo, the Nazi Party representatives,
and the civil authorities. In his madness
what fate is Hitler reserving for the City of Light? General von Schultz knows none
of the men in his staff who have set up camp
in the Hotel Meurice or Neruda. Reveille. Wilfred, how is life in Paris? His men, for the most part,
have no real experience of war. The Wehrmacht has no more
than 2,000 soldiers to defend Paris. They're badly armed,
undertrained, and have little motivation. Old timers called up
to guard munitions dumps or youngsters barely out of school. As for their weapons, there are a few anti-aircraft batteries,
17 armored cars, and a cannon dating from the Great War
with just 68 shells. Paradoxically,
Paris is filled with Germans. There are the SS and Gestapo troops and hordes of soldiers whose units
have been routed by the Allies, wandering around the capital. Looking for any way they can
to head east and go home. Von Schultz is convinced
that the Allies' next objective is Paris, if not in the next few days,
then within a week at most. They're already in Le Monde. After an intrepid breakthrough
by the Second Armored Division led by General Leclerc. Leclerc, a familiar name
in occupied France for the past two years. His division is still a part
of Patton's Third Army, but he has promised, he and his men would be the first
to enter Paris. Eight days previously
on landing in France, he recorded this brief declaration
for the BBC. The hour of liberation is approaching. I've returned to French soil at the head
of an armored division to take part in it. I promise you that the tricolor flag
will once again fly over Paris. Le Monde to Paris is 185 kilometers, and practically no serious German defenses
between the two. Having taken stock of the situation, the general goes to the headquarters
of the SS Group and Führer obeys again, the avenue Froch. Karl Oberg, the Butcher of Paris, is a supreme chief
of the German police force of France. The fanatical SS and the sinister Gestapo. The full force of German repression
is at his command. What von Schultz wants
is to integrate the SS into the Wehrmacht combat units,
which will soon have to defend Paris. I was in Berlin until yesterday. What can I do for you? As you can see in my orders, as of today,
the Führer grants me the prerogatives of the commander
of a stronghold under siege. Yes, I can see that. Which is indeed our situation. We are a stronghold under siege. I have nothing to defend it with. You, on the other hand,
have men who are armed, experienced, and determined. The equivalent of four regiments. I want them to fight
under the orders of the Wehrmacht immediately. The answer is no, General. The SS is the only effective force
against traitors and defeatists hiding
among the ranks of our army. There is no authority superior to the SS. I imagine there's a group in Florida. -That is your final decision.
-Final. All that von Schulz can hope for
is that Oberg and his SS men can prevent acts
of sabotage by the resistance. The resistance, for the general,
they're a bunch of terrorists. A gang of assassins
with no sense of honor. This is a mistake. In four years of occupation, the resistance has become
a veritable shadow army made up of many different groups
called Liberation Combat Frontieres, the National Resistance Front
or the National Liberation Front. They don't know one another
and come from all political horizons. From the revolutionary right left
to the Bonaparte east right. In 1943, despite their differences, together, they created
the Conseil Nationale de la résistance, the CNR. With the CNR, the resistance becomes
a real military force. It coordinates movements,
organizes underground activity, Marquis, and provides London
with vital information. In early 1944, the CNR has a clandestine army
of up to 100,000 men under the common banner of the FFI,
Force Francaise de la Interieur. With the prospect
of victory comes political rivalries that affect the resistance's actions. A new republic
will soon have to be constructed, which force will impose its views
over the others? The Gaullists at the helm
of the provisional government in Algiers, or the communists
who are largely dominant within the FFI. For the moment, however,
Germany is still very present and the FFI forces are champing
at the bit, waiting for the order
for a general insurrection. De Gaulle sends a military delegate
to the CNR in Paris to cool things down. He is just 29 years old
but is already a brigadier general, the youngest since the First Empire. His name is Jacques Delmas,
known as Chaban. Chaban is convinced that a premature uprising
will lead to a bloodbath, and that generalized insurrection
would play into the Communist hands as they would be at the forefront
and have power within their reach. His opposite number is a communist ardently advocating
just such immediate insurrection. Colonel Rol, real name Henri Tanguy. A former metalworker, he joined the Communist Party
at the age of 17. In June 1944, the CNR made him a colonel and appointed him as commander
of the FFI forces in the Paris area. He's a powerful man. It is whispered that he could raise
more than 20,000 men in just a few hours. Chaban is aware that he cannot contain
the clandestine army's desire for open warfare for much longer. On July 27th, he leaves Paris for Lyon, but he takes a plane
from a secret airstrip heading for London. In England,
Chaban repeats to anyone who listens that the Allies must lead
an urgent offensive against Paris. No one hears him. For Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme commander
of the Allied forces on the Western Front, the primary objective is not to free Paris
but to crush Nazi Germany. He wants to reach the Rhine
as soon as possible before winter and speed on towards Berlin. On the Normandy front, the Allies succeeded
in encircling the Seventh German Army within a 20 by 40 kilometer area
south of Kong. The Wehrmacht counterattacks. Fighting is brutal and violent. Liberators' advance is temporarily halted. Von Schultz profits
from the respite to reorganize his forces. He integrates his administrative staff
into his combat units. He requisitions all soldiers returning
from Normandy without a unit, and 17 panzers heading for the front. He now has almost 20,000 men
prepared for battle. Rol-Tanguy is organizing his forces. He has some 42,000 men in the capital
and the same number in the suburbs. What he's lacking is weapons. Since July,
sabotage operations have intensified, disrupting the Germans' communications
and supplies. Execution is targeting members
of the Middle East or collaborators
have also become more widespread. His general order number three,
Colonel Rol writes. Department and sector heads
should consider themselves mobilized at every hour of the day and night. It is possible that popular
insurrection movements break out. The FFI should support them
with all their might. Raoul Nordling has been in touch
with the resistance for some time. He believes the Nazis will be defeated, and he too wants to prepare
for post-war peace. His contacts have revealed that among the prisoners held
in the French prison are many of the leading resistance members that the Germans
have so far not identified, and whom the CNR would like
to see released before insurrection. They have to act very quickly. The Paris railway workers are on strike. Rail traffic is disrupted. The German soldiers' nervousness
is increasingly palpable. The Parisians' hostility
is more and more evident. Insurrection is imminent,
with or without the Allies. This morning, General Von Schultz has an appointment
with SS Standard and Führer. I find the Gestapo chief torturer. Rumor has it
that the Allies will soon be in Paris. Do you want to know if this is true? I'd tell you that the valiant soldiers
of the Wehrmacht will repel the invaders
with no difficulty, as they're vastly superior to them
in every way. Would you believe me? I don't know, General. No, you wouldn't believe me. I shall tell you the truth. In a few days,
perhaps a few hours. Paris will be surrounded. We can fight and die,
or we can surrender. The result will be the same. The Allies will take the city. In that case, I must leave the city
as soon as possible. Why? Are the SS not supposed to fight? It's not that, General,
but we must, in no case, reveal what happened here
over the past four years. The torturer fears torture. My dear,
and I find I can do nothing for you. I think you will have to deal
with the Americans or present your excuses
to the French Communists. During the night,
following this edifying discussion, Nefyn slips away
like a thief towards Germany, taking 1,200 members
of the Paris Gestapo with him. In the afternoon of August 14th, General von Schultz parades his men
around Paris to a musical fanfare. A demonstration of force designed
to quell the population's growing unrest. In the crowd of bystanders,
jeers and mocking can be heard. Insults even here and there. Von Schultz observes the scene from the windows
of his HQ at the Hotel in Meurice. They're not afraid anymore. As the Germans parade,
Colonel Rol-Tonguy meets the leaders of the three main resistance movements
in the Paris police in the backroom
of a cafe in La Valua, Paris. They've had enough
of the German authorities' bullying. They want to go on strike. They want to be the first Parisians
to openly rebel. Rol-Tanguy now knows the 7,000 Paris police officers
will join the insurrection. It's 7,000 armed men. When the FFI desperately needs weapons,
it's un-hoped for. Here, in the backroom of a suburban cafe, he draws up the tract
that will at last tip Paris over the edge into armed revolt. Appeal to the Paris police,
the hour of liberation has sounded. You must take part
in no further operations to maintain order for the enemy. You will refuse to participate
in the arrest of patriots in searches, roadblocks,
identity checks, prison surveillance, etc. You will help the FFI eliminate all those who continue
to serve the enemy in this manner. Signed commander
of the Paris region for the FFI. On the 14th, von Schultz received new orders
from the Führer himself. All Paris industrial installations
have to be destroyed. An explosives commando
has been sent from Berlin to organize the operations. Technical advisers who inform von Schultz of the imminent arrival
of his old friend Karl. Karl was the nickname
for a giant self-propelled mortar, the biggest ever built. There were just six of them, capable of firing shells loaded
with 2,200 kilos of explosives over six kilometers. With each shot, a whole neighborhood
could be reduced to rubble. Von Schultz at that very moment
is faced with the most dramatic decision in his whole career. Should he obey? In military terms, the destruction ordered
by Hitler will change nothing but it will only push the population
into outright rebellion. Should he disobey, he will be shot and his family will be deported,
perhaps executed. Whatever he does,
he knows the war will be lost for Germany. He has to save himself
and his loved ones honorably, if possible. Time is running against him. During the night of the 14th
to the 15th of August 1944, the FFI and three American divisions
landed in Provence. In just a few hours,
the German defenses collapse. On the morning of the 15th, almost all the law and order forces
in Paris are on strike. Police and gendarmes show up
at work in civilian clothes. They occupy the premises and wait. Insurrection is imminent,
everyone can feel it. That morning,
von Schultz had received orders to destroy the aqueducts
carrying drinking water, and blow up
the region's electric power stations. The aim being
to slow down the Allied advance. At midday, he receives further orders
directly from Hitler, transmitted by radio from Berlin. All the bridges in Paris
are to be destroyed, as well as around 40 more in the suburbs. How can you defend the city
if you can't cross the river Seine? Three hundred men assigned to him
are expert in sabotage and demolition. For the moment,
these men are holding stocks of explosives in the National Assembly. If he is to apply these orders, the general will be guilty
of a despicable war crime. If he doesn't apply them,
he's condemning his own family to death. At the Hotel at Meurice,
the technical team leader is optimistic. He assures the general he is in a position
to destroy all of Paris. Not only the industrial facilities
and the bridges, but also the stations, the ministries,
the monuments, the museums, and churches. Everything that embodies the history
of the city of France and its past glory annihilated. Why? Do you think there are factories hidden
beneath Notre Dame? Or a power station concealed
under the Louvre Museum? Just do what you're here to do. I'm in command. You follow orders, and take no unwarranted initiatives. The Allies' encirclement operation
launched in Normandy a few days earlier is taking effect. Falaise has already fallen. The vice is tightening. The German troops are fleeing,
reeling in panic with the Americans hot on their heels. Raoul Nordling has a meeting with a man
his contacts have defined as the chief. He's about to meet Cerat,
alias Alexandre Parodi. He's the metropolitan delegate
for the government in Algiers, appointed this very morning
by General de Gaulle himself. Parody is not a soldier. He's an intellectual, a politician. De Gaulle entrusted him
with imagining a new state organization after the liberation. Nordling tells him of his attempts to free civilians imprisoned
by the Germans. He fears that if insurrection breaks out, the SS will massacre
all the political prisoners being held in the local prisons. Can the resistance help?
Can they free them using armed force? "No," says Parodi,
"We don't have the resources." Nordling has to continue his negotiations
with the Germans. At that moment, a train carrying
Parisian deportees leave for Germany, the last of a long series. Jack Siobhan Delmas has returned
from London. He informs the CNR members
of de Gaulle's latest instructions. A general uprising
in Paris should not be triggered until the Allies attack the city, which should occur at best in three weeks, but he's been told
the people won't hold back that long. Parodi pleads for patience. It's finally decided
not to decide anything. Chabon draws up a report sent
by radio to de Gaulle in London. He found the situation in Paris
to be tense. Police disappearance through strike
will only facilitate insurrection. Personal impression,
the atmosphere is very heavy. Consequently, military context permitting intervention
with Allies necessary to demand swift occupation of Paris. At the same time, Consul Nordling
is with the German forces commander, Dietrich von Shultz. Nordling notes that the general appears
to be rather less haughty. He looks worried and tormented. General, you have to release
all the civilian prisoners. Six thousand people imprisoned in Rossy, French, La santé,
and TVA are innocent. The prisoners we're talking about
were not caught with guns in their hands. They were denounced or arrested
in roundups and have never been tried. Civilian prisoners
are of no concern to me. -I'm not interested.
-General. No. No, I can't. General? Consul. General, I will have left the city
by tomorrow morning. The righteous greater cause
summons me back to Berlin. From now on, you're on your own
to maintain order in Paris. The righteous greater cause. Then go, Oberg. We shall die very well without you. Oberg, one moment, if you please. Do you see any objection to me releasing
the political prisoners held in Paris? I really don't care. Very well. If nothing in the righteous
greater cause stands in the way of it, you can go to the devil. Consul, as I was saying, I'm a soldier, and a soldier does not imprison civilians. I shall, therefore, draw up
a release order for you, which will enable you to negotiate with those responsible
for holding the prisoners. I trust you will act with all due haste. I fear that the major
to whom you must transmit this letter may also be called upon to decamp in the name
of the righteous greater cause. All political prisoners,
both in Paris and the surrounding area, as well as all evacuation trains
with no exceptions, are to be on the authority of the Consul General of Sweden,
Mr. Raoul Nordling, and entrusted to the surveillance
of the French Red Cross. The Swedish Consul needed
all his powers of diplomacy to convince the jailers
at French La Santé, and particularly in France
to apply the order. Ultimately,
thanks to Raoul Nordling's determination, almost 4,000 people avoided deportation. On the morning of August 18th,
Paris wakes up to a strange atmosphere. On the walls around the city, the first posters
of a new type are appearing. Order for general mobilization. In every company, street,
quarter, district, and arrondissement, men must organize eight-man combat groups
and appoint a sergeant. Capture weapons
from the Germans and Dalan's melis. Use any means available to hurt the enemy. Knives, incendiary bombs, tire slashing,
stretched cables, fallen trees, shears, spanners, et cetra. Commander of the FFI for the Seine, Sine-et-Oise,
and Seine-et-Marne departments. Signed by Colonel Rol. Twenty-six meters below
the bronze lion statue in the place HQ, Colonel Rol-Tanguy sets up
his operational HQ in an anti-aircraft shelter built
before the war. It's a vast complex
of rooms connected to the catacombs, the sewers, and the metro. With the luxury
of being linked with other shelters via an independent telephone network,
the Germans cannot tamp. The Dunford HQ will be the nerve center
for insurrection. The uprising has already begun. That morning, 2,000 police officers
took over the prefecture building and the weapons held there. They raised a French flag on the roof, and resolutely sang the Marseillaise
in 2000 part harmony. Rol-Tanguy arrived
at nine o'clock in uniform. In fact, a simple jacket left over
from the war in Spain on which his wife
has sewn five gold braids. From a vehicle parked
in the prefecture courtyard, he informs the policeman, "In the name of the Provisional Government
of the French Republic, I am taking command of operations." He sends 1,500 men to take possession
of the local police stations. With the 500 remaining, he barricades the windows
and improvises roadblocks at the gates. He places snipers on the roof. From this point on, any German venturing
into the Engular city will be shot. As Rol-Tanguy organizes the defense
of the rebel prefecture, Consul Nordling drives past the building. He sees armed men at the windows. He looks up at the red,
white and blue flag flying above. On his way back to the Swedish consulate, Nordling stops
in front of the Hotel Meurice. He's probably the only man in Paris
to have a view of the full picture. He wants to know
how General Von Schultz is going to react. Nordling senses
that the rather stiff Prussian general has stayed
in straight-laced in his uniform as he is in his soldierly principles
is not a despicable man, and that he will refuse
to apply Hitler's orders. If it doesn't stop, I shall be merciless. I have no choice. I have orders, Nordling. Orders that are terrible. I have to destroy Paris
before we pull out. General, they have the people behind them. Their first target
is the Vichy government. The prefecture is Vichy. In fact, this revolt is almost
an internal French affair. They're shooting at us, Nordling. At my soldiers. Is that your revolt against Vichy? The worst thing is I like the French. They're perfectly likable. Now, here I am in this magnificent city with the likable French citizens
who are killing my soldiers. What's going to happen, Nordling? What will become of us
if I have to destroy Paris? Maybe if there were leaders
among your adversaries with whom you could negotiate. Perhaps, in that case,
we could find some kind of modus vivendi. Do you think so, Nordling? Do your job. You're a diplomat, aren't you? If you don't want me to hit hard, then talk to him. In the late afternoon, Nordling is in contact
with the prefecture. The insurgents
are running out of ammunition. If the Germans attack again,
they'll have to surrender. The situation is desperate. Immediately, the Swedish consul transmits
a truce proposal to von Schultz. Within an hour, he has the general's response
in his hands. The commander-general grants
the insurgents a truce between 2055 and 2150 this evening. He will not commit reprisals
and will agree to evaluate the situation with the resistance authorities
and to envisage a modus vivendi for the days to come. All through the night,
Nordling continues to negotiate. To the resistance leaders, he says the idea
for the truce came from von Schultz. To von Schulz,
that it came from the resistance. Shortly before dawn, Nordling can finally inform von Schultz
of the conditions demanded by the CNR. Captured FFI will be regarded
as prisoners of war. The Germans will not prevent firemen
from putting out fires. In the case of a truce violation
by the French, the general will differentiate between isolated acts
and concerted attacks. A further condition is added. Resistance representatives refuse
any direct contact with the Germans. Nordling will be their intermediary. The weather is overcast
on the morning of Sunday, August 20th when the Parisians wake up. Officially, the truth is now in place. Rol-Tanguy and the military chiefs
have been sidelined from the negotiations. They refused the cease-fire. The CNR no longer controls its troops. Shots are fired,
and skirmishes break out sporadically. Von Schultz is also harried by his forces. SS units pushed back to Paris
by the Allies advance perpetrate atrocities in the suburbs. Despite the truce, 26 FFI combatants
are executed at the Château de Vincennes. During the day, vehicles with loudspeakers broadcast
the announcement in the streets. Due to the promise made
by the German commander not to attack public buildings, the CNR requests that you cease fire
against the Germans until Paris has been completely evacuated. The population should remain calm
and not stay in the streets. The Parisians
can barely believe their ears. The Germans are going to leave. Throughout the city,
French flags appear in windows. The FFI are now operating
everywhere in the city. They've taken control
of the city hall without a fight. Alexandra Parodi sets out
to meet the Paris resistance leaders. At about 3:00 PM, he's arrested at a German checkpoint
in Boulevard Saint-Germain. In the car,
the soldiers discover his FFI armband and track with the cross
of Lorraine on them. After two hours of interrogation,
he's taken to Von Schultz at five o'clock. You travel around by car in Paris with this? Nordling is informed
and hurries to the Hotel Meurice. You are terrorists. Nordling, for heaven's sake, take him with you
before I send him off to the firing squad. Minister, just a moment. Are you an officer? Captain, army reserve. Fine. Between officers, let's shake hands. Parodi is justifiably
both scornful and wary. If the Allies don't arrive soon,
von Schultz will crush the Paris uprising. Rol-Tanguy elicited a solution. He sends a man he can trust,
Major Gaulle to the front. He is certain
that Leclerc will not let Paris fall, even if he has to disobey orders. At the moment,
de Gaulle leaves the capital. Leclerc is enraged,
frustrated, and impatient. He's still 200 kilometers from Paris while certain American units
are within 20. He's waiting for Eisenhower's order
to advance on the capital but it doesn't come. No matter, if he has to, he'll go without the order. In fact, he's already sent Colonel Biot
on ahead with a detachment of 20 tanks. In the first three newspapers
distributed by the FFI, the Parisians discover a list of the buildings occupied
by the resistance. They anxiously scour
a list of the casualties or study the recipe for a Molotov cocktail
as the best way to build a barricade. With the newspapers, Rol-Tanguy's latest directives
are passed around. All the people of Paris,
men, women, and children are to build barricades
and cut down trees along the avenues. Every small street
must be partially blocked by chicanes. Everyone to the barricades. The order is for everyone to kill a kraut. No quarter for the assassins. Some of the German units retreated
from Normandy have come to reinforce
the garrison in Paris, which now has 50 more tanks. In the early afternoon, Nordling receives a CNR representative
at the Swedish embassy. We have no more ammunition. Leclerc has to come. You're a diplomat. Get us through the German lines. Nordling agrees. Once again,
he heads for the Hotel Meurice. What do you want me to do? This morning, General Speidel communicated
the Führer's latest orders. I have to leave Paris in ruins, his exact words. Carry out pitiless reprisals
against the population. I have to defend the city to the end
and if necessary, perish in the rubble. What did you reply? That I have placed three tons
of explosives beneath Notre-Dame
and five under the Louvre. That the Madeleine, Sacré-Coeur,
and the Palais Royal are ready to be blown up. The Eiffel Tower will make
an excellent anti-tank barrier when demolished. You're not serious, General. Obviously, I'm not serious, but that's the plan that's been concocted
by the specialists from Berlin. They envisage
between 400 and 500,000 civilian victims. They apologize
for the approximate nature of the figures. I'd better stand in the middle of a bridge
when they blow it up. I have a proposition for you. Another truce? Give me a nice voice, and I shall go
and inform the Americans of the situation. You're joking. Not at all. If they come rapidly and in numbers, nobody could reproach you
for not having the time to execute these despicable orders. I shall not surrender without a fight. Obviously. I shall only surrender
to a superior officer from a regular Allied army unit. That goes without saying. Go ahead, Nordling, and may you succeed. As he leaves the meeting with von Shultz, Raoul Nordling suffers a heart attack. Obliged to rest, he sends his brother
to meet General Leclerc. Meet him he will, but Major Gaulle,
sent by Rol-Tanguy two days previously, has beaten him to it. On August 22nd, he's with Leclerc
at an aerodrome in Lemont. Leclerc shows him
the order he has received. Three words De Gaulle convinced Eisenhower
to pronounce, Rush to Paris. In Berlin, patience is running out. A telephone call directly from Hitler's chief of staff catches
Von Schultz unawares. As he replies, he can hear constant gunfire from the elderly city
and around the Louvre. No, he hasn't left the city. Yes, things are calm. Yes, everything is under control. Of course, he will apply
the Führer's orders for destruction. Hitler ordered a deluge of V2 to be fired in addition
to the Luftwaffe's carpet bombing. The V2 is the very first
ballistic missile, a rocket carrying
almost 800 kilos of explosives for more than 300 kilometers
at supersonic speed. Dozens of them are ready to be launched
against London from Belgium and Holland. Hitler in his bunker screams
that they should be aimed at Paris. Von Schultz refuses. He doesn't accept that the German soldiers
still fighting in the city should be sacrificed to Hitler's madness. Hitler himself can rant
into the telephone. Is Paris burning? Once more,
Paris has been saved from annihilation. Leclerc and his troops have waged
a fierce tank battle at the center bounty, and met with diehard German resistance
around the French prison at Ball Arena. In the late afternoon,
they're still fighting close to Antony. The previous evening,
de Gaulle joined Leclerc in Rambouillet as he was preparing the route to Paris
with his officers. He listened as Leclerc gave his orders. Looked at him for a moment
and simply said, "You are lucky." That morning,
Leclerc sent a small reconnaissance plane to fly over the city. The pilots swooped down
over the prefecture and threw a message to the insurgents. General Leclerc told me to tell you
to hold on, we're on our way. Still held down by German fire, Leclerc orders one of his captains
to speed towards the capital. The Germans have to see their tanks
in Paris to break their morale. The captain's name is Raymond Dronne, one of Leclerc's oldest comrades in arms. He's leading
the Ninth Charge Infantry Company, mostly made up of Spaniards,
largely communists and anarchists, veterans of the Spanish Civil War. They would be the first Allied soldiers
to enter Paris. Dronne has three tanks and 150 men who don't encounter
a single German soldier between Antony and Paris City Hall. As they pass,
the Parisians hit the streets waving flags,
cheering and kissing the men, climbing on their tanks, or bearing a cross of Lorraine
at a French name on the side. Mommy Ray, Romeo, Ciampa Poubelle. The names of three of Napoleon's victories
against the Prussians. Dronne reaches City Hall at 9:22 PM with a young girl
in a traditional Alsatian costume sitting on the bonnet of his jeep. The bells in every church in Paris
are ringing out to welcome Leclerc's men. Leclerc's division is now in the capital. Along with Rol-Tanguy FFI, it is eliminating
the German-armed outposts hidden throughout the city. There's fighting at the National Assembly
in the Senate building. In Avenue Claiborne,
battalion Chief Masu orders cannon fire against the Hotel Majestic where 300 German soldiers
are held up on the roof. In the radios, our chief captain Dronne
in the ninth is caught in the crossfire from machine gun posts,
hidden in apartment buildings. They can't reach
the plaster of la Republique, which is mined. Everywhere, German snipers wreak havoc,
firing down from the rooftops. In the Place de la Concorde, Leclercs Sherman tanks
and the German panzers face off from close range. The Rue de Rivoli sees
the most ferocious fighting. Along the arcades, declares infantrymen make slow progress
from chattel accompanied by the FFI. The Germans have set up barricades
around the Hotel Meurice, and showered the street
in machine gun bullets. At 12:45,
an ultimatum is sent to von Schultz. You have half an hour
to cease all resistance, or the German garrison
will be completely exterminated. The gentleman replied
that he doesn't accept ultimatums. At last,
the French soldiers are in the hotel. A young FFI soldier is first on the scene. Later, in his memoirs,
von Shultz would recount the event. The civilian pointed his gun at me
and repeated several times, Sprechen Deutsch? I calmly replied
that no doubt better than he does. As this occurred,
a French officer entered the room and realized what was happening. He grabbed the civilian by the arm
and dismissed him. He then raised his hand to his cap
and asked me in French, "General,
are you ready to cease fighting?" I replied, "Yes, I am." Von Schultz is taken by a Jeep
to meet Leclerc and sign a surrender. Leclerc asks him tersely,
"Are you General von Schultz?" The General replies that he is. Von Schultz wants his adjutant
to negotiate the terms of surrender. Leclerc refuses. You are the defeated general, you sign. Von Schultz doesn't protest. Colonel Rol-Tanguy demands
that he came to sign the document in the name of the FFI. Leclerc refuses. He alone represents
the Free French Forces. Von Schultz signs the act of surrender. Leclerc signs after him. Rol-Tanguy will finally get his signature
on the document but only the next day. The Battle of Paris is officially over. At the Montparnasse station
a few minutes later, the official act of the German surrender
is in de Gaulle's hands. Around him for the first time are all the leaders
of the Paris insurrection, the CNR members, Leclerc and his officers. The next day, among a delirious crowd, General de Gaulle marches
along the Champs-Élysées, accompanied by Leclerc and members
of the Provisional French government. The communists are well represented. Laval, Peter, and the principal members
of the Vichy government are taken to Germany. The liberation of Paris by the joint efforts
of every Free French movement and by the inhabitants themselves confer de Gaulle
with an incontestable legitimacy. Roosevelt can no longer ignore him, and France will be counted
among the victors. As the parade along the Champs-Élysées, George Bidault whispers
in de Gaulle's ear, "General, what a triumph!" De Gaulle replies,
"Yes, but what a shambles!" The Luftwaffe did finally bomb Paris
randomly on the nights of the 26th and 27th, Three thousand, two hundred Germans
were killed in the Battle of Paris and 14,800 were captured. The Second Armored Division lost
28 officers and 600 soldiers. Estimates of casualties
in the FFI ranks and among civilians range from 1,500 to 7,000. This film is dedicated to their memory.
