Paris (AFP)
On August 26, 1944, Paris just released, AFP broadcasts a timeline of eleven days before the capitulation of the Germans, after four years of occupation of the capital.
Here is the almost complete account of the days of 15, 16 and 17 August by AFP journalist Jean Le Quiller, referring in particular to the fate of employees of the Vichy government, led by Pierre Laval, and Marshal Pétain.
Paris, August 26, 1944 -
Tuesday, August 15 - The rumor spreads, moreover exact, that (the former president of the Chamber of Deputies, Edouard) Herriot is in Paris. Naturally, the boldest assumptions are put forward; it seems that Herriot would negotiate about the Paris declaration open city. In truth, he was liberated by the Germans at the request of Laval, and brought by him to the Hotel de Ville. Laval hopes to be able to oppose de Gaulle. But Herriot refused to lend himself to this game. He only wanted to talk with (former Senate President Jules) Jeanneney and the Americans. The last Laval maneuver will therefore fail; he will not be saved by a compromise. Employees have only to leave or to let themselves stop. Many choose to leave. At the Châteaudun crossroads, rue St-Georges, militiamen and LVF (Legion of the French volunteers against Bolshevism, ed) are packing. It's a hasty departure and badly organized. Some of these gentlemen hitchhike, but they put their revolvers under the nose of the drivers, they do not get great success. The sidewalk looks like a big station platform: the militia sit on their suitcases, waiting for a kindly providence to let them go. (...)
Wednesday, August 16 -
It is rumored today that the Laval government is stopped by the Gestapo. Anticipated news, and a little exaggerated. The departure of employees, in any case, accelerates. (...)
Thursday August 17 -
"La Gerbe", which was entitled "Weekly of the French will" (newspaper collaborationist French, ed), publishes today its latest issue. Her readers may not realize it well, but the editorial staff knows it, she admits it between the lines. The editorial of Mr. Jean Lasserre depicts in advance, with a certain spite, what will be the entry of the Allies in Paris. (...)
The appearance of Paris begins that day, to change seriously, one would look in vain for a police officer; they went on strike. You can cycle on the sidewalks, cross off the zebra crossings, hang on to the trucks; there will be no one to make you pay the 15 francs. Place de la Concorde, epic congestion mix cars and bikes. At the corner of Bld Haussmann and Lafayette Street, a German policeman channels the traffic. The railwaymen, too, are beginning to strike. It takes imagination prowess to remove his suitcases from the instructions of the Gare de Lyon. There are already picturesque traces of the Germans' haste to leave Paris; at the Gare de Lyon, they requisition on the spot the bikes that fall to hand; Gare du Nord, on the contrary, Germans are trying to sell theirs at the incredible price of 400 francs to get rid of them. Magenta Boulevard, it is a continuous parade of ambulances: the Wehrmacht evacuates wounded by the station of the East.
On the political side, this day sees the liquidation of the Laval government. In the morning, 3 members of the government, Marcel Déat, Joseph Darnand and Fernand de Brinon spun to the East without even telling Laval. Three other characters mysteriously eclipse: (François) Chasseigne, (Pierre) Cathala and (Raymond) Grasset. The rest of the government receives around 3 pm the order of Otto Abetz (German ambassador in Paris, ed) to leave Paris for Belfort, Laval refuses to surrender to the arguments of the Führer and convenes a Cabinet Council for 18:30. It meets in fact, very limited, of course, by the departures and disappearances that have already occurred. Laval and his last faithful condemn those of their colleagues who left without waiting for them, then decide to resign. (...) Appointment is made with Abetz at the Ministry of Public Works for 21:30. (...) At 22:30 Laval is stopped by candlelight by Abetz and a half-dozen officers of the Gestapo; he declares to his entourage: "There is no longer a French government, it is not the head of the French government who is leaving, it is a new group of prisoners added to so many others". Arrest and declaration that history will interpret. Before resigning, or rather announcing this resignation to Abetz, Laval however took care to delegate its powers to the Prefect of the Seine (René) Bouffet and the Prefect of Police (Amédée) Bussière. This fragile duumvirat does not have a very long time. Already at 10.30 am, there was a significant event: thanks to the complicity of the Health Guards, 553 political prisoners were released by the Resistance. In Paris still crisscrossed with German trucks, 553 men are walking free, who do not believe their eyes. And in the evening, tricolor flags float in St Mandé. Did Mr. Laval see them?
© 2019 AFP