| Original Caption: “German troops and columns of vehicles march down the Champs-Élysées in Paris to the front in Normandy. The Parisians give the withdrawing German soldiers, who even now fight for them and their home, flowers along the way.” This is a July, 1944 propaganda photo of French citizens welcoming German soldiers on the Champs-Élysées. The atmosphere in Paris began to change a month before liberation. On Bastille Day, July 14, 1944, there were huge illegal demonstrations to celebrate — over a 100,000 people marched through the city. Although German soldiers fired in the air to disperse the crowds, the French police stood by and did nothing. The apparatus of occupation was cracking. A police report states that around 200 protesters accompanied by “des groupes de protection” managed to gain entry to a cemetery in the Parisian suburb of Ivry, whilst singing the Marseillaise. Around 250 people also gathered at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The report added, “Among the crowd, some people, especially young girls, place small bouquets of tricolor flowers.” United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945) broadcast to the people of France: “Once again I salute, on Bastille Day, the heroic people of France.” “July 14 this year is different, for we hope that it is the last fourteenth of July that France will suffer under German occupation. With full confidence, I look forward that the French people on July 14, 1945, will celebrate their great national fete on French soil, liberated alike from the invader and from the puppets of Vichy.” “For the great battle of liberation is now engaged. It is a battle resolutely waged by the American, British, and Canadian forces, together with the valiant fighters of the home French, who have already contributed so greatly to the success of the operations. At the same time gallant French fighting forces are carrying on the victorious struggle in Italy, joined in traditional unity with their comrades of the American Fifth Army and the British Eighth Army.” “Here, on this side of the Atlantic, the fourteenth of July, 1944, offers an equally great spectacle of the indissoluble unity and the deep friendship of the American and French peoples.” “Together, the French and American peoples stand today, united as they have always been when the cause of freedom was endangered.” “Together, we shall win, and France shall be free!” Paris was liberated on August 25, 1944. The diary of A. Friedrich Kellner (February 1, 1885 – November 4, 1970), entry for August 27, 1944: “The war correspondent Otto Mielke (March 18, 1906 – October 13, 1958) apparently thinks his compatriots are even dumber than he is. He will not convince reasonable people the French population is “enthusiastic” about German troops with such posed photographs. The small detachment of soldiers is not marching to the front lines, as he says, wearing their caps and without their gear. The flower-carrying women and girls, who no doubt were brought in from a nearby market along the way, are not making preparations to give the flowers to the troops. It is extremely sad how the German people allow themselves to be lied to and deceived with such means and by such fumblers. Pitiful swindlers!” | |
| Image Filename | wwii1750.jpg |
| Image Size | 392.19 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2200 x 1466 |
| Photographer | Otto Mielke |
| Photographer Title | Kriegsberichter |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | July 1, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Paris |
| State or Province | Île-de-France |
| Country | France |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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