France fought on the side of Nazi Germany in World War II. "long-suffering" France. paris under occupation france under german occupation

The 20th century in world history was marked by important discoveries in the field of technology and art, but at the same time it was the time of two World Wars that claimed the lives of several tens of millions of people in most countries of the world. The decisive role in the Victory was played by such states as the USA, the USSR, Great Britain and France. During World War II, they defeated world fascism. France was forced to capitulate, but then revived and continued to fight against Germany and its allies.

France in the prewar years

In the last pre-war years, France experienced serious economic difficulties. At that time, the People's Front was at the helm of the state. However, after Blum's resignation, the new government was headed by Shotan. His policy began to deviate from the program of the Popular Front. Taxes were raised, the 40-hour work week was abolished, and industrialists had the opportunity to increase the duration of the latter. A strike movement immediately swept across the country, however, to pacify the dissatisfied, the government sent police detachments. France before the Second World War pursued an anti-social policy and every day had less and less support among the people.

By this time, the military-political bloc "Berlin-Rome Axis" had been formed. In 1938, Germany invaded Austria. Two days later, her Anschluss took place. This event dramatically changed the state of affairs in Europe. A threat loomed over the Old World, and first of all it concerned Great Britain and France. The population of France demanded that the government take decisive action against Germany, especially since the USSR also expressed such ideas, offering to join forces and stifle the growing fascism in the bud. However, the government still continued to follow the so-called. "appeasement", believing that if Germany was given everything she asked for, war could be avoided.

The authority of the Popular Front was fading before our eyes. Unable to cope with economic problems, Shotan resigned. After that, the second Blum government was installed, which lasted less than a month until its next resignation.

Daladier government

France during the Second World War could have appeared in a different, more attractive light, if not for some actions of the new chairman of the Council of Ministers, Edouard Daladier.

The new government was formed exclusively from the composition of democratic and right-wing forces, without communists and socialists, however, Daladier needed the support of the latter two in the elections. Therefore, he designated his activities as a sequence of actions of the Popular Front, as a result he received the support of both the communists and the socialists. However, immediately after coming to power, everything changed dramatically.

The first steps were aimed at "improving the economy." Taxes were raised and another devaluation was carried out, which eventually gave its negative results. But this is not the most important thing in the activities of Daladier of that period. Foreign policy in Europe was at that time at the limit - one spark, and the war would have begun. France in World War II did not want to take the side of the defeatists. Inside the country there were several opinions: some wanted a close alliance with Britain and the United States; others did not rule out the possibility of an alliance with the USSR; still others strongly opposed the Popular Front, proclaiming the slogan "Better Hitler than the Popular Front." Separate from those listed were the pro-German circles of the bourgeoisie, who believed that even if they managed to defeat Germany, the revolution that would come with the USSR to Western Europe would not spare anyone. They offered to pacify Germany in every possible way, giving her freedom of action in an easterly direction.

A black spot in the history of French diplomacy

After the easy accession of Austria, Germany is increasing its appetites. Now she swung at the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. Hitler made the mostly German-populated area fight for autonomy and virtual separation from Czechoslovakia. When the country's government gave a categorical rebuff to the fascist tricks, Hitler began to act as a savior of the "infringed" Germans. He threatened the government of Beneš that he could bring in his troops and take the region by force. In turn, France and Great Britain supported Czechoslovakia in words, while the USSR offered real military assistance if Beneš applied to the League of Nations and officially appealed to the USSR for help. Beneš, however, could not take a step without the instructions of the French and British, who did not want to quarrel with Hitler. The international diplomatic events that followed after that could greatly reduce France's losses in World War II, which was already inevitable, but history and politicians decreed differently, strengthening the main fascist many times over with military factories in Czechoslovakia.

On September 28, a conference of France, England, Italy and Germany was held in Munich. Here the fate of Czechoslovakia was decided, and neither Czechoslovakia nor Soviet Union who expressed a desire to help were not invited. As a result, the next day, Mussolini, Hitler, Chamberlain and Daladier signed the protocols of the Munich Agreements, according to which the Sudetenland was now the territory of Germany, and the areas dominated by Hungarians and Poles were also to be separated from Czechoslovakia and become the lands of the titular countries.

Daladier and Chamberlain guaranteed the inviolability of the new frontiers and peace in Europe for "an entire generation" of returning national heroes.

In principle, this was, so to speak, the first capitulation of France in World War II to the main aggressor in the history of mankind.

The beginning of World War II and the entry of France into it

According to the strategy of the attack on Poland, Germany crossed the border in the early morning of the year. The Second World War! with the support of its aviation and having a numerical superiority, it immediately took the initiative into its own hands and quickly captured Polish territory.

France in World War II, as well as England, declared war on Germany only after two days of active hostilities - September 3, still dreaming of appeasing or "pacifying" Hitler. In principle, historians have reason to believe that if there had not been an agreement, according to which the main patron of Poland after the First World War was France, which, in the event of open aggression against the Poles, was obliged to send its troops and provide military support, most likely, there would be no declaration of war did not follow either two days later or later.

A strange war, or how France fought without fighting

France's involvement in World War II can be divided into several phases. The first is called "The Strange War". It lasted about 9 months - from September 1939 to May 1940. It is named so because in the conditions of the war by France and England against Germany, no military operations were carried out. That is, the war was declared, but no one fought. The agreement under which France was obliged to organize an offensive against Germany within 15 days was not fulfilled. the machine calmly "dealt" with Poland, without looking back at its western borders, where only 23 divisions were concentrated against 110 French and English divisions, which could dramatically change the course of events at the beginning of the war and put Germany in a difficult position, if not lead to its defeat at all. Meanwhile, in the east, beyond Poland, Germany had no rival, it had an ally - the USSR. Stalin, without waiting for an alliance with England and France, concluded it with Germany, securing his lands for some time from the onset of the Nazis, which is quite logical. But England and France in the Second World War, and specifically at its beginning, behaved rather strangely.

The Soviet Union at that time occupied the eastern part of Poland and the Baltic states, presented an ultimatum to Finland on the exchange of territories of the Karelian Peninsula. The Finns opposed this, after which the USSR unleashed a war. France and England reacted sharply to this, and preparing for war with him.

A completely strange situation has developed: in the center of Europe, at the very border of France, there is a world aggressor that threatens all of Europe and, first of all, France itself, and she declares war on the USSR, which simply wants to secure its borders, and offers an exchange of territories, and not perfidious capture. This state of affairs continued until the Benelux countries and France suffered from Germany. The period of the Second World War, marked by oddities, ended there, and the real war began.

At this time in the country ...

Immediately after the outbreak of war in France, a state of siege was introduced. All strikes and demonstrations were banned, and the media were subject to strict wartime censorship. With regard to labor relations, wages were frozen at pre-war levels, strikes were banned, vacations were not granted, and the law on the 40-hour work week was repealed.

During the Second World War, France pursued a rather tough policy within the country, especially with regard to the PCF (French communist party). The communists were declared practically outlaws. Their mass arrests began. The deputies were deprived of immunity and were put on trial. But the apogee of the "fight against aggressors" was the document dated November 18, 1939 - "Decree on Suspicious". According to this document, the government could imprison almost any person in a concentration camp, considering him suspicious and dangerous to the state and society. In less than two months of this decree, more than 15,000 communists found themselves in concentration camps. And in April of the following year, another decree was adopted, which equated communist activity with treason, and citizens convicted of this were punished by death.

German invasion of France

After the defeat of Poland and Scandinavia, Germany began the transfer of the main forces to the Western Front. By May 1940, there was no longer the advantage that countries such as England and France had. World War II was destined to move to the lands of "peacekeepers" who wanted to appease Hitler by giving him everything he asked for.

On May 10, 1940, Germany launched an invasion of the West. In less than a month, the Wehrmacht managed to break Belgium, Holland, the British Expeditionary Force, as well as the most combat-ready French forces. All Northern France and Flanders were occupied. The morale of the French soldiers was low, while the Germans believed even more in their invincibility. The matter remained small. In ruling circles, as well as in the army, fermentation began. On June 14, Paris was surrendered to the Nazis, and the government fled to the city of Bordeaux.

Mussolini also did not want to miss the division of trophies. And on June 10, believing that France no longer poses a threat, he invaded the territory of the state. However, the Italian troops, almost twice as numerous, were not successful in the fight against the French. France in World War II managed to show what she is capable of. And even on June 21, on the eve of the signing of the surrender, 32 Italian divisions were stopped by the French. It was a complete failure of the Italians.

French surrender in World War II

After England, fearing that the French fleet would fall into the hands of the Germans, scuttled most of it, France severed all diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom. On June 17, 1940, her government rejected the British offer of an inviolable alliance and the need to continue the struggle to the last.

On June 22, in the forest of Compiègne, in the carriage of Marshal Foch, an armistice was signed between France and Germany. France, it promised serious consequences, primarily economic. Two-thirds of the country became German territory, while the southern part was declared independent, but obliged to pay 400 million francs a day! Most of the raw materials and finished products went to support the German economy, and primarily the army. More than 1 million French citizens were sent as labor force to Germany. The country's economy and economy suffered huge losses, which would subsequently have an impact on the industrial and agricultural development of France after the Second World War.

Vichy mode

After the capture of northern France in the resort town of Vichy, it was decided to transfer the authoritarian supreme power in southern "independent" France to Philippe Pétain. This marked the end of the Third Republic and the establishment of the Vichy government (from location). France in the Second World War showed itself not from the best side, especially during the years of the Vichy regime.

At first, the regime found support among the population. However, it was a fascist government. Communist ideas were banned, Jews, just like in all the territories occupied by the Nazis, were driven to death camps. For one killed German soldier, death overtook 50-100 ordinary citizens. The Vichy government itself did not have a regular army. There were few armed forces necessary to maintain order and obedience, while the soldiers did not have any serious military weapons.

The regime existed for quite a long time - from July 1940 to the end of April 1945.

Liberation of France

On June 6, 1944, one of the largest military-strategic operations started - the opening of the Second Front, which began with the landing of the Anglo-American allied forces in Normandy. Fierce battles began on the territory of France for its liberation, together with the allies, the French themselves carried out actions to liberate the country as part of the Resistance movement.

France in World War II dishonored itself in two ways: firstly, by being defeated, and secondly, by collaborating with the Nazis for almost 4 years. Although General de Gaulle tried with all his might to create a myth that the entire French people as a whole fought for the country's independence, not helping Germany in anything, but only weakening it with various sorties and sabotage. "Paris has been liberated by French hands," de Gaulle asserted confidently and solemnly.

The surrender of the occupying troops took place in Paris on August 25, 1944. The Vichy government then existed in exile until the end of April 1945.

After that, something unimaginable began in the country. Face to face met those who were declared bandits under the Nazis, that is, partisans, and those who lived happily under the Nazis. Often there was a public lynching of the henchmen of Hitler and Pétain. The Anglo-American allies, who saw this with their own eyes, did not understand what was happening, and urged the French partisans to come to their senses, but they were simply furious, believing that their time had come. A large number of French women, declared fascist whores, were publicly disgraced. They were dragged out of their houses, dragged to the square, where they were shaved and led along the main streets so that everyone could see, often while all their clothes were torn off. The first years of France after the Second World War, in short, experienced remnants of that recent, but such a sad past, when social tension and at the same time the revival of the national spirit intertwined, creating an uncertain situation.

End of the war. Outcomes for France

The role of France in World War II was not decisive for its entire course, but there was still a certain contribution, at the same time there were negative consequences for it.

The French economy was practically destroyed. Industry, for example, produced only 38% of the output of the pre-war level. About 100 thousand French did not return from the battlefields, about two million were held captive until the end of the war. Military equipment was mostly destroyed, the fleet was sunk.

The policy of France after the Second World War is associated with the name of the military and political figure Charles de Gaulle. First post-war years were aimed at restoring the economy and social welfare of French citizens. The losses of France in World War II could have been much lower, or perhaps they would not have happened at all if, on the eve of the war, the governments of England and France had not tried to “appease” Hitler, but would have immediately dealt with the not yet strong German army with one hard blow. a fascist monster that almost swallowed the whole world.

After the previous entry about the Parisian Immortal regiment a discussion arose: are they celebrating the Victory here, what was the occupation and liberation for the Parisians? I do not want to give unambiguous answers, as well as draw any conclusions. But I propose to listen to the eyewitnesses, to look through their eyes, to think over a few figures.

German soldiers look at Paris from the Eiffel Tower, 1940

Robert Capa. Parisians at the victory parade, 1944

Here are some dry numbers.
- France was defeated by the Germans in a month and a half. She fought in World War I for 4 years.
- During the war, 600 thousand Frenchmen died. In World War I, there were one and a half million dead.
- 40 thousand people participated in the resistance movement (of which about half were French)
- De Gaulle's troops " Free France"numbered up to 80 thousand people (of which about 40 thousand French)
- Up to 300,000 Frenchmen served in the German Wehrmacht (23,000 of them were captured by us).
- 600 thousand French were deported to Germany for forced labor. Of these, 60,000 died, 50,000 went missing, and 15,000 were executed.

And any big whole is better perceived through the prism of small events. I will give two stories of my good friends who were children in occupied Paris.

Alexander Andreevsky, son of a white emigrant.
Alexander's mother was Jewish. With the arrival of the Germans, the French began to extradite the Jews or point out to the Germans people who were suspected of being Jews. “Mother saw how the neighbors began to look askance at her, she was afraid that they would inform her soon. She went to the old rabbi and asked what she should do. He gave unusual advice: go to Germany, work there for several months and return with documents that the Germans will issue "But so that when entering Germany, my mother's passport would not be checked, the rabbi told her to knock over a jar of honey in her bag. She did so, and the German officer at the border disdained to pick up documents soiled and stuck together with honey. For four months I lived with friends, and then the mother returned from Germany and no one else had any suspicions towards her."

Francoise d'Origny, hereditary aristocrat.
“During the occupation, we lived in the suburbs, but my mother sometimes took me to the city with her. In Paris, she always walked hunched over, quietly, like a mouse, looking at the ground and not raising her eyes to anyone. And she also made me walk. But one day I saw a young German officer looking at me and smiled back at him - I was 10 or 11 then. My mother instantly gave me such a slap in the face that I almost fell. I never looked at Germans again. And another time we we were riding in the subway and there were a lot of Germans around. Suddenly, a tall man called out to my mother, she was very happy, she straightened up and seemed to look younger. The car was crowded, but it was as if an empty space appeared around us, such a breath of strength and independence. I then asked, who was this man. Mother answered - Prince Yusupov. "

Look at some photos about life during the occupation and liberation of Paris, I think they give food for thought.

1. German victory parade at the Arc de Triomphe in June 1940

2. Installation of German signs on Concord Square.

3. Palace of Chaillot. The oath of civil servants and the police of the new government

4. Champs Elysees, "new life", 1940

5. German propaganda truck in Montmartre. Broadcast music to commemorate the 30 days of the capture of Paris. July 1940

6. German soldier with a Frenchwoman on the Trocadero

7. In the Paris subway

8. Saleswoman of German newspapers

9. Andre Zucca. Hot day, Seine embankment

10. André Zucca. Parisian fashionistas. 1942

11. Tuileries Garden, 1943

12. Return to horse traction. There was almost no fuel in the city

13. Wedding in Montmartre

14. Pierre Jean. Remelting of monuments into metal. 1941

15. Sending workers to Germany.

16. Deportation of Jews, 1941

17. "Departure from Bobigny". From this station, trains went straight to the death camps.

18. At the walls of the Louvre. Products were distributed according to cards, so many planted vegetable gardens.

19. The queue at the bakery on the Champs Elysees

20. Giving away free soup

21. Entrance to the Paris metro - air raid alert

22. Legionnaires of the Anti-Bolshevik Corps

23. Volunteer French Legion goes to the Eastern Front

24. Parisians spit on captured British paratroopers, whom the Germans are leading through the city.

25. Torture of a member of the Resistance in the German police

26. Captured members of the resistance movement are led to execution

27. Robert Capa. German paratrooper caught by resistance partisans

28. At the barricade in Paris in August 1944

29. Street fighting in Paris. In the center is Simon Seguan, an 18-year-old partisan from Dunkirk.

30. Robert Capa. Resistance fighters during the liberation of Paris

31. Skirmish with German snipers

32. Pierre Jamet. Procession of the Leclerc Division, Avenue du Maine. Liberation of Paris, August 1944

33. Robert Capa. Resistance fighters and French soldiers celebrate the liberation of Paris, August 1944

34. Parisian with allies

35. Robert Capa. Mother and daughter, who were shaved for cooperation with the invaders.

36. Robert Capa. Paris welcomes General De Gaulle, August 1944

On the eve of World War II, the French army was considered one of the most powerful in the world. But in a direct clash with Germany in May 1940, the French were enough for a few weeks of resistance.

Useless superiority

By the beginning of World War II, France had the 3rd largest army in the world in terms of the number of tanks and aircraft, second only to the USSR and Germany, as well as the 4th navy after Britain, the USA and Japan. The total number of French troops numbered more than 2 million people.
The superiority of the French army in manpower and equipment over the forces of the Wehrmacht on the Western Front was undeniable. For example, the French Air Force included about 3,300 aircraft, of which half were the latest combat vehicles. The Luftwaffe could only count on 1,186 aircraft.
With the arrival of reinforcements from the British Isles - an expeditionary force in the amount of 9 divisions, as well as air units, including 1,500 combat vehicles - the advantage over the German troops became more than obvious. However, in a matter of months, there was no trace of the former superiority of the allied forces - the well-trained and tactically superior army of the Wehrmacht forced France to capitulate in the end.

The line that didn't defend

The French command assumed that the German army would act as it had during the First World War - that is, it would launch an attack on France from the northeast from Belgium. The entire load in this case was to fall on the defensive redoubts of the Maginot Line, which France began to build in 1929 and improved until 1940.

For the construction of the Maginot Line, which stretches for 400 km, the French spent a fabulous amount - about 3 billion francs (or 1 billion dollars). The massive fortifications included multi-level underground forts with living quarters, ventilation systems and elevators, electrical and telephone stations, hospitals, and narrow gauge railways. Gun casemates from air bombs were supposed to be protected by a concrete wall 4 meters thick.

The personnel of the French troops on the Maginot Line reached 300 thousand people.
According to military historians, the Maginot Line, in principle, coped with its task. There were no breakthroughs of German troops on its most fortified sections. But the German army group "B", having bypassed the line of fortifications from the north, threw the main forces into its new sections, which were built on swampy terrain, and where the construction of underground structures was difficult. There to hold back the pressure german troops the French couldn't.

Surrender in 10 minutes

On June 17, 1940, the first meeting of the collaborationist government of France, headed by Marshal Henri Petain, took place. It lasted only 10 minutes. During this time, the ministers unanimously voted for the decision to turn to the German command and ask him to end the war on French territory.

For these purposes, the services of an intermediary were used. The new Minister of Foreign Affairs, P. Baudouin, through the Spanish Ambassador Lekeric, transmitted a note in which the French government asked Spain to turn to the German leadership with a request to stop hostilities in France, and also to find out the terms of the armistice. At the same time, a proposal for a truce was sent to Italy through the papal nuncio. On the same day, Petain turned on the radio to the people and the army, urging them to "stop the fight."

Last stronghold

At the signing of the armistice (act of surrender) between Germany and France, Hitler was wary of the vast colonies of the latter, many of which were ready to continue resistance. This explains some of the relaxations in the treaty, in particular, the preservation of part of the French navy to maintain "order" in their colonies.

England was also vitally interested in the fate of the French colonies, since the threat of their capture by German forces was highly valued. Churchill hatched plans to create exile government France, which would grant de facto control over the French overseas possessions of Britain.
General Charles de Gaulle, who created a government in opposition to the Vichy regime, directed all his efforts to seizing the colonies.

However, the North African administration turned down an offer to join the Free French. A completely different mood reigned in the colonies of Equatorial Africa - already in August 1940, Chad, Gabon and Cameroon joined de Gaulle, which created the conditions for the general to form the state apparatus.

Fury of Mussolini

Realizing that the defeat of France from Germany was inevitable, Mussolini on June 10, 1940 declared war on her. The Italian Army Group "West" of Prince Umberto of Savoy, with forces of over 300 thousand people, with the support of 3 thousand guns, launched an offensive in the Alps. However, the opposing army of General Aldry successfully repelled these attacks.

By June 20, the offensive of the Italian divisions became more fierce, but they managed to advance only slightly in the Menton area. Mussolini was furious - his plans to seize a large piece of its territory by the time of France's surrender had failed. The Italian dictator has already begun to prepare an airborne assault, but has not received approval for this operation from the German command.
On June 22, an armistice was signed between France and Germany, and two days later a similar agreement was signed between France and Italy. So, with a "victorious embarrassment" Italy entered the Second World War.

Victims

During the active phase of the war, which lasted from May 10 to June 21, 1940, the French army lost about 300 thousand people killed and wounded. Half a million were taken prisoner. The tank corps and the French Air Force were partially destroyed, the other part went to the German armed forces. At the same time, Britain will liquidate the French fleet in order to avoid it falling into the hands of the Wehrmacht.

Despite the fact that the capture of France took place in a short time, its armed forces gave a worthy rebuff to the German and Italian troops. For a month and a half of the war, the Wehrmacht lost more than 45 thousand people killed and missing, about 11 thousand were wounded.
The French sacrifices of German aggression could not have been in vain if the French government had made a series of concessions put forward by Britain in exchange for the entry of the royal armed forces into the war. But France chose to capitulate.

Paris - a place of convergence

According to the armistice agreement, Germany occupied only the western coast of France and the northern regions of the country, where Paris was located. The capital was a kind of place of "French-German" rapprochement. Here, German soldiers and Parisians coexisted peacefully: they went to the cinema together, visited museums, or simply sat in a cafe. After the occupation, theaters also revived - their box office receipts tripled compared to pre-war years.

Paris very quickly became the cultural center of occupied Europe. France lived as before, as if there were no months of desperate resistance and unfulfilled hopes. German propaganda managed to convince many French people that capitulation is not a disgrace to the country, but a road to the "bright future" of a renewed Europe.

The period of occupation in France is preferred to be remembered as a heroic time. Charles de Gaulle, the Resistance… However, the impartial footage of the photo chronicle shows that everything was not quite the way the veterans tell and write in the history books. These photographs were taken by a correspondent for the German magazine Signal in Paris 1942-44. Color film, sunny days, French smiles welcoming the occupiers. 63 years after the war, the selection became the exhibition "Parisians under the Occupation". She caused a huge scandal. The mayor's office of the French capital banned its display in Paris. As a result, permission was achieved, but France saw these shots only once. The second is that public opinion could no longer afford it. The contrast between the heroic legend and the truth turned out to be too striking.

photo by Andre Zucca from the exhibition in 2008

2. Orchestra on Republic Square. 1943 or 1944

3. Changing of the guard. 1941

5. The public in the cafe.

6. Beach near the Carruzel Bridge. Summer 1943.

8. Parisian rickshaw.

Regarding the photographs "Parisians during the Occupation". What hypocrisy on the part of the city authorities to condemn this exhibition for the "lack of historical context"! Just the photographs of the journalist-collaborator remarkably complement other photographs on the same topic, telling mainly about the daily life of wartime Paris. At the cost of collaborationism, this city avoided the fate of London, or Dresden, or Leningrad. Carefree Parisians sitting in a cafe or in a park, rollerblading boys and fishermen on the Seine are the same realities of wartime France as the underground activities of the Resistance. For what it was possible to condemn the organizers of the exhibition, it is not clear. And there is no need for the city authorities to become like the ideological commission under the Central Committee of the CPSU.

9. Rue Rivoli.

10. Showcase with a photograph of Collaborator Marshal Pétain.

11. Kiosk on Avenue Gabriel.

12. Metro Marbeuf-Champs Elysees (now - Franklin Roosevelt). 1943

13. Shoes made of fiber with a wooden block. 1940s.

14. Poster for the exhibition at the corner of rue Tilsit and the Champs Elysees. 1942

15. View of the Seine from the St. Bernard embankment, 1942.

16. Famous milliners Rosa Valois, Madame le Monnier and Madame Agnes during Longchamp, August 1943.

17. Weighing jockeys at the racetrack Longshan. August 1943.

18. At the tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe, 1942

19. In the Luxembourg Gardens, May 1942.

20. Nazi propaganda on the Champs Elysees. The text on the poster in the center: "THEY GIVE THEIR BLOOD, GIVE YOUR WORK to save Europe from Bolshevism."

21. Another Nazi propaganda poster, issued after the bombing of Rouen by British aircraft in April 1944. In Rouen, as you know, the French national heroine Joan of Arc was executed by the British. The inscription on the poster: "KILLERS ALWAYS RETURN.. ..TO THE CRIME SCENE."

22. The caption to the picture says that the fuel for this bus was "city gas".

23. Two more automonsters from the time of the Occupation. Both pictures were taken in April 1942. The top picture shows a car fueled by charcoal. The bottom picture shows a car running on compressed gas.

24. In the garden of the Palais Royal.

25. The central market of Paris (Les Halles) in July 1942. The picture clearly shows one of the metal structures (because the pavilions of Baltar) of the era of Napoleon III, which were demolished in 1969.

26. One of the few black and white photographs of Zukka. On it is the national funeral of Philip Enriot, Secretary of State for Information and Propaganda, who advocated full cooperation with the occupiers. On June 28, 1944, Enrio was shot dead by members of the Resistance.

27. Playing cards in the Luxembourg Gardens, May 1942

28. The public in the Luxembourg Gardens, May 1942

29. In the Parisian Central Market (Les Halles, the very "womb of Paris") they were called "meat dressers".

30. Central market, 1942

32. Central Market, 1942

33. Central market, 1942

34. Rue Rivoli, 1942

35. Rue Rosier in the Jewish quarter of the Marais (Jews had to wear a yellow star on their chest). 1942

36. in the Nation quarter. 1941

37. Fair in the Nation quarter. Pay attention to the funny carousel device.

After the previous entry about the Parisian Immortal Regiment, a discussion arose: do they celebrate the Victory here, what was the occupation and liberation for the Parisians? I do not want to give unambiguous answers, as well as draw any conclusions. But I propose to listen to eyewitnesses and see through their eyes.

German soldiers look at Paris from the Eiffel Tower, 1940

Robert Capa. Parisians at the victory parade, 1944

Here are some dry numbers.
- France was defeated by the Germans in a month and a half. She fought in World War I for 4 years.
- During the war, 600 thousand Frenchmen died. In World War I, there were one and a half million dead.
- 40 thousand people participated in the resistance movement (of which about half were French)
- The troops of De Gaulle's "Free France" in 1943 numbered up to 80 thousand people (of which about 40 thousand French), by the time they landed in Normandy, they had reached 400 thousand.
- Up to 300,000 Frenchmen served in the German Wehrmacht (23,000 of them were captured by us).
- 600 thousand French were deported to Germany for forced labor. Of these, 60,000 died, 50,000 went missing, and 15,000 were executed.

And any big whole is better perceived through the prism of small events. I will give two stories of my good friends who were children in occupied Paris.

Alexander Andreevsky, son of a white emigrant.
Alexander's mother was Jewish. With the arrival of the Germans, the French began to extradite the Jews or point out to the Germans people who were suspected of being Jews. “Mother saw how the neighbors began to look askance at her, she was afraid that they would inform her soon. She went to the old rabbi and asked what she should do. He gave unusual advice: go to Germany, work there for several months and return with documents that the Germans will issue "But so that when entering Germany, my mother's passport would not be checked, the rabbi told her to knock over a jar of honey in her bag. She did so, and the German officer at the border disdained to pick up documents soiled and stuck together with honey. For four months I lived with friends, and then the mother returned from Germany and no one else had any suspicions towards her."

Francoise d'Origny, hereditary aristocrat.
“During the occupation, we lived in the suburbs, but my mother sometimes took me to the city with her. In Paris, she always walked hunched over, quietly, like a mouse, looking at the ground and not raising her eyes to anyone. And she also made me walk. But one day I saw a young German officer looking at me and smiled back at him - I was 10 or 11 then. My mother instantly gave me such a slap in the face that I almost fell. I never looked at the Germans again. And another time we we were riding in the metro and there were a lot of German officers and soldiers around. Suddenly, a tall man called out to my mother, she was very happy, she straightened up and seemed to look younger. The car was crowded, but around us it was as if an empty space arose, such a breath of strength and independence. I then she asked who this man was. Mother answered - Prince Yusupov. "

See some photos of life during the occupation and liberation of Paris. Choosing them, I tried to cover different aspects of the events of that time.

1. German victory parade at the Arc de Triomphe in June 1940

2. Installation of German signs on Concord Square.

3. Palace of Chaillot. The oath of civil servants and the police of the new government

4. Champs Elysees, "new life", 1940

5. German propaganda truck in Montmartre. Broadcast music to commemorate the 30 days of the capture of Paris. July 1940

6. German soldier with a Frenchwoman on the Trocadero

7. In the Paris subway

8. Saleswoman of German newspapers

9. Andre Zucca. Hot day, Seine embankment, 1943

10. André Zucca. Parisian fashionistas. 1942

11. Tuileries Garden, 1943

12. Return to horse traction. There was almost no fuel in the city

13. Wedding in Montmartre

14. Pierre Jean. Remelting of monuments into metal. 1941

15. Sending workers to Germany.

16. Deportation of Jews, 1941

17. "Departure from Bobigny". From this station, trains went straight to the death camps.

18. At the walls of the Louvre. Products were distributed according to cards, so many planted vegetable gardens.

19. The queue at the bakery on the Champs Elysees

20. Giving away free soup

21. Entrance to the Paris metro - air raid alert

22. Legionnaires of the Anti-Bolshevik Corps

23. Volunteer French Legion goes to the Eastern Front

24. Parisians spit on captured British paratroopers, whom the Germans are leading through the city.

25. Torture of a member of the Resistance in the German police

26. Captured members of the resistance movement are led to execution

27. Robert Capa. German paratrooper caught by resistance partisans

28. At the barricade in Paris in August 1944

29. Paris, August 1944. In the center is Simon Seguan, an 18-year-old partisan from Dunkirk.

30. Robert Capa. Resistance fighters during the liberation of Paris

31. Skirmish with German snipers

32. Pierre Jamet. Procession of the Leclerc Division, Avenue du Maine. Liberation of Paris, August 1944

33. Robert Capa. Resistance fighters and French soldiers celebrate the liberation of Paris, August 1944

34. Parisian with allies

35. Robert Capa. Mother and daughter, who were shaved for cooperation with the invaders.

36. Robert Capa. Paris welcomes General De Gaulle, August 1944