| Original caption: “In this Paris where so often he made the heavy noise of his boots resound, here he is overwhelmed. Until the end, he wanted to keep his country as beautiful as its conquests: Paris. End of the occupation of the Opera.” Forces Françaises de L’Intérieur or FFI (“French Forces of the Interior”) captured the Kommandantur in the Place de l’Opéra, the German Headquarters in Paris since 1940. A German Oberfeldwebel (“Staff Sergeant”), captured by the FFI in the fighting outside the Place de l’Opéra, leans on an American-made M3 half-track named “Djebel Guerba” of the Deuxième Division Blindée (“French Second Armored Division”). He wears a World War I wound badge and a memorial bar above his left breast pocket. Exhausted and defeated, he realizes he is about to be shot. Subsequent photographs showed the Oberfeldwebel on the ground bleeding after execution. Paris was regained by the Allies the same day. German holdouts and FFI operatives conducted summary executions across Paris, and hundreds died. This image appeared in the book A Paris Sous La Botte Des Nazis (“In Paris Under the Boot of the Nazis”) by Jean Eparvier; Raymond Schall, publishers, 1944. The book was prepared clandestinely during the German occupation and was conceived as a testament to the spirit of defiance prevalent in Paris during those years. After World War II the street was renamed rue Daunou. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2064.jpg |
| Image Size | 922.78 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2700 x 3503 |
| Photographer | Pierre Vals |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 25, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Paris |
| State or Province | Île-de-France |
| Country | France |
| Archive | A Paris Sous La Botte Des Nazis |
| Record Number | Jean Eparvier |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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