| Original caption: “High ranking German officers seized by Free French troops which liberated their country’s capital are lodged in the hotel Majestic, headquarters for the Wehrmacht in the days of the Nazi occupation.” A detachment from the 165th Signal Photographic Company accompanied the Deuxième Division Blindée Française (“French Second Armored Division”) into Paris on August 25, 1944. Sergeant Worden F. Lovell (June 12, 1908 – January 15, 1985) took this view of captured Nazi German officers and enlisted men at the Hotel Majestic after their surrender. You can see the standard issue hobnailed M39 Marschstiefel (“Marching Boots”) of the Nazi German Heer (“Army”). The Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich (MBF – “Military High Commander in France”) was commanded by Nazi German Heer General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel (January 2, 1886 – August 30, 1944) until he participated in the July 20, 1944, plot to overthrow Führer und Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) and shot himself in the head in Verdun when he was recalled. After a show trial at the Volksgerichtshof (“People’s Court”) in Berlin, he was hanged. Nazi German Luftwaffe (“German Air Force”) General der Flieger Karl Kitzinger (April 18, 1886 – April 14, 1962) was appointed Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich on July 23, 1944. He would abandon Paris on August 17. Nazi German Heer General der Infanterie Dietrich von Choltitz (November 9, 1894 – November 5, 1966) was placed in command of the Paris garrison on August 7, 1944. He set up his Headquarters in the Hotel Meurice. Most of his 20,000 men were not combat soldiers, but were administrative clerks and recent conscripts hastily sent to the front. Additionally, German civilians worked at Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich at the Hotel Majestic. Fighting had broken out across the city in mid-August, and Hitler had ordered the destruction of Paris. But von Choltitz, while reporting strong resistance to Berlin, ordered his garrison to lay down their arms after negotiations. As the German garrison faltered in its opposition to the uprising by the Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur (FFI – “French Forces of the Interior”), Nazi units reacted to von Choltitz’s orders differently. Some Nazis pulled explosives from bridges and infrastructure; some brave Frenchmen held Nazis in place until they removed timers to save their own lives. Some Nazis fought while others surrendered immediately. Deuxième Division Blindée Française Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Jacques Massu (May 5, 1908 – October 26, 2002) approached the Hotel Majestic to find heavy resistance from some Nazi German units and reduced a blockhouse and 3 Nazi German tanks on the Rue de Presbourg by direct fire from M4A2 Sherman tanks and M10 Tank Destroyers. Reaching the main concrete blockhouse on rue La Pérouse near the Hotel Majestic, Massu found that the garrison refused to surrender to the FFI. Taking Sergeant Rene Dannic (September 3, 1906 – August 25, 1944), and a film team from the 165th Signal Company, Massu begins negotiations but Dannic was shot dead by a Nazi sniper. Remaining calm, Massu entered the Hotel Majestic blockhouse. He found 50 officers, including 2 Colonels, in the hall. Securing their surrender with bellicose voice, the Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich detachment capitulated to Massu. Some 300 Nazi German soldiers and civilians passed into the hands of the Deuxième Division Blindée Française and the FFI. They were herded from the blockhouse into the Hotel Majestic’s ballroom. While the blockhouse was being evacuated, Parisians heckled the prisoners. 1 Frenchwoman wanted to gouge out the eyes of a German. Scared, a Nazi threw a grenade, wounding 2 men of the Deuxième Division Blindée Française. Another smoke grenade accidentally exploded, wounding another French soldier, and the French armored troopers cut down 7 Nazi German prisoners without much thought after the murders of their comrades. The 1st and largest stronghold in Paris had fallen. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0439.jpg |
| Image Size | 784.69 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2924 x 2311 |
| Photographer | Worden F. Lovell |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 26, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Paris |
| State or Province | Île-de-France |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-193010 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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