Hitler's Third Reich was rapidly crumbling before his very eyes; the vast empire that had once spanned from Tripoli to Rome to Kyiv was now shrinking, drawing ever so close to Berlin. Also, Paris was still under Nazi control, but not for long. By the summer of 1944, Allied forces were advancing through France, and the population in the City of Light was ardently revolting against its Nazi occupiers.
Hitler, by now a mere shell of the man he had been just a few years before, was visibly ill and vehemently paranoiac and was determined to turn Paris into dust before anyone else could have it. The dictator also had the perfect man in mind for such a grim task, and his name was Dietrich von Choltitz.
A soldier from a military family who never questioned orders, von Choltitz was amply experienced with Germany's scorched earth policy, having razed several cities on the Eastern Front.
As such, Hitler appointed von Choltitz as the Military Governor of Paris, and on August 23, he received a terrifying order from the Fuhrer: (QUOTE) "Paris must not pass into the enemies' hands, except as a field of ruins."
The directive was clear: von Choltitz had to bring down the Eiffel Tower, burn Notre Dame and the Invalides, blow up the 65 bridges of Paris, and turn its museums and palaces to rubble before withdrawing from the city.
It is said that as the Allies surrounded the French capital and his men awaited orders to once again raze a city before fleeing, von Choltitz felt overwhelmed with remorse and decided to disobey an order for the first time in his life, even if it came directly from Adolf Hitler…
- As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -
