On August 25, 1944, during World War II, Paris was finally liberated from German control by the Allies after four brutal years of occupation.

On August 25, 1944, during World War II, Paris was finally liberated from German control by the Allies after four brutal years of occupation.

German troops took control of Paris in June 1940, following a stunning blitzkrieg invasion of France.Strict rationing of food and other important supplies began soon after the German take over, and many Parisians began to go hungry. 

By 1942, thousands of the city’s Jewish population were rounded up and sent away, most to the horrific Auschwitz concentration camp. 

Underground groups of French resistance fighters attempted to keep up a constant subversion of the Germans, covertly launching raids, ambushes, and other attacks meant to cause disruption in any way possible. Finally, after four years, the Allies arrived back in France following the D-Day invasion.

Americans, British, French, and others fought their way slowly but surely through the hedgerow country of Normandy, facing camouflaged and entrenched Germans at every turn. By late August, they were on the outskirts of the French capital.

On August 25, troops of the French 2nd Armored Division and the American 4th Infantry Division captured the city after encountering only light resistance from Germans under the command of General Dietrich von Choltitz. 

This was in stark contrast to the orders Choltitz had received from Hitler just days before. The Fuhrer had instructed him to fight to last man, and to leave the Allies only “a field of ruin”. 

Hitler even went so far as to instruct Choltitz to destroy all of the city’s famous landmarks, but this order, too, was not obeyed.

On the 25th, as the city was falling, Choltitz was arrested by the Allies, at which time he promptly signed a document surrendering the city to Charles De Gaulle’s new French government. The City of Lights was finally back under Allied control.