Dietrich von Choltitz: Saved of Paris From Destruction During World War II

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Around 4:30 p.m., a three-car procession pulled up in front of the 2nd French Armored’s newly established headquarters at the Hotel de Ville. From the second auto, an open Hotchkiss, stepped General Charles de Gaulle. When Leclerc handed him a copy of Choltitz’s surrender paper, de Gaulle’s face hardened in anger. On the document, which he had had no chance to sign himself, was the signature of his Communist rival, Colonel Rol. However, in the coming victory-liberation parade, the general — his massive frame accentuating his imposing, formidable presence — would read a ‘proclamation of The Republic’ to the cheering masses. That was all it would require from this towering symbol of Free France to ensure that there would be no left-wing coup.

In Germany a military tribunal convened to try Choltitz in absentia for treason. The defendant still had highly placed friends in the military, however, and they managed to delay the trial so that the war came to an end before the court-martial could come to order, thereby saving Choltitz’s wife and children from execution or imprisonment.

Ultimately, the liberation of Paris was to come at a great cost. Allied fuel reserves had been depleted, and those German forces that escaped reached the safety of the Siegfried Line. The Western Front stagnated with the approach of autumn and winter. There would be a great slaughter in the dreary Hurtgen Forest. The British would be crushed at Arnhem. There would be a Battle of the Bulge. Worst by far, innocents beyond counting would continue to die miserably in the death camps of the SS. It was a terrible price to pay for the grandest city in Europe.

This article was written by Kelly Bell and originally appeared in World War II magazine.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Foreign Affairs, Historical Conflicts, Historical Figures, World War II