| Original caption: “A Frenchman weeps as German soldiers march into the French capital, Paris, after the Allied armies had been driven back across France.” Original caption, LIFE Magazine, March 3, 1941: “A Frenchman sheds tears of patriotic grief as flags of his country’s lost regiments are exiled to Africa. The tears coursing down this Frenchman’s cheeks were shed with many others on the streets of Marseille. The sight which caused them was the procession shown below. The flags of defeated French regiments, stranded since last June in Unoccupied France, were being carried down to the docks to be sent to Algeria. Ordinarily these flags would be kept in a Paris museum, as they were after the Franco-Prussian War, but today Paris is occupied territory. Hence the flags were shipped, for safe-keeping, to General Weygand’s colonial army.” Jérôme Barzotti (July 24, 1892 – November 27, 1976) and his wife, Charlotte (in the black hat, left), display emotion as 35 regimental flags of disbanded units and 6 colonial regimental flags are shipped to Algeria to remain in the custody of newly appointed Delegate-General of Colonial French North Africa Maxine Weygand (January 21, 1867 – January 28, 1965). The flags were taken to the docks in a silent procession by a military escort as the citizens of Marseilles watched. Marcel de Renzis (1910 – 1998) journalist and photographer, was covering the event for the newspaper Le Petit Marseillais. His film and photos were circulated to Keystone newsreels; at the time the United States was still neutral, his images were sent to New York. The film is mistakenly attributed to a man watching German troops enter Paris even today; the National Archives and Records Administration still claims that as the event title, although the Modern Museum of Art correctly titles the image. However, many sources incorrectly attribute the image. The Museum of Modern Art credits George Mejat of Movietone News; it has been credited to Movietone News, the Associated Press, June 1940, or February 1941. Barzotti’s own nephew believed until the 21st century that his uncle had been photographed weeping with joy at the parade of Allied soldiers during the Liberation of Marseille. Frank Capra (May 5, 1897 – September 3, 1991) used the motion picture footage in his Why We Fight series to illustrate the fall of Paris, further embellishing the connection with the Fall of France. The image, 1 of the most famous in World War II history, has come to symbolize the anguish of the French during the early part of the conflict. Barzotti was publicly identified in an NBC search in 1949, when documentary producers asked de Renzis to locate the subject of his work. After a public appeal, acquaintances of Barzotti identified him; it had taken less than 24 hours. Barzotti himself never sought to profit from the image. He turned down offers to appear in advertisements and other lucrative proposals. Until his death at age 84, he maintained that everyone in the crowd was crying, and he was just a representative of the collective emotion of all Marseilles. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0373.jpg |
| Image Size | 860.68 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2904 x 2351 |
| Photographer | Marcel de Renzis |
| Photographer Title | Le Petit Marseillais |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 15, 1940 |
| Location | |
| City | Marseilles |
| State or Province | Provence |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-208-PP-10A-3 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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