| Parisian children help build barricades of street cobblestones, an old French tradition. The Forces Françaises de L’Intérieur (“French Forces of the Interior”) rose up, attempting to liberate the city from the Germans before the Allies arrived. Fighting broke out on August 19, 1944. On August 20, as barricades began to appear, Resistance fighters organized themselves to sustain a siege. Trucks were positioned, trees cut down and trenches were dug in the pavement to free paving stones for consolidating the barricades. The materials were transported by men, women and children using wooden carts. Fuel trucks were attacked and captured. Civilian vehicles were commandeered, painted with camouflage, and marked with the FFI emblem. The Resistance used them to transport ammunition and orders from 1 barricade to another. Führer und Reichskanzler (“Leader and Reich Chancellor”) Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) demanded that the Paris garrison commander, General der Infanterie Dietrich von Choltitz (November 9, 1894 – November 5, 1966) fire the city. On August 23, Hitler gave the order to destroy the city by cable: “Paris must not pass into the enemy’s hands, except as a field of ruins.” But Choltitz, who was meeting with the Parisian council and Swedish Consul Raoul Nordling (November 11, 1882 – 1 October 1, 1962), who advocated that he ignore Hitler’s orders, could neither effectively control his command nor order a scorched earth defense. While individual Nazi zealots sniped at the Free French 2nd Armored Division as it entered Paris, others fled. Choltitz met their officers at his Headquarters and entered captivity. In his memoir Brennt Paris? (“Is Paris Burning?”), 1st published in 1950, Choltitz describes himself as the savior of Paris, but some historians opine that it was more the case that he had lost control of the city and had no means to carry out Hitler’s orders. No specific charges were ever filed against him, and he was released from captivity in 1947. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2063.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.16 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 4162 x 2698 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Forces Françaises de L’Intérieur |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 20, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Paris |
| State or Province | Île-de-France |
| Country | France |
| Archive | Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris |
| Record Number | PH11030 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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