Version française
 

Wartime Paris

Heroism, compromise and secrets swept under the rug
Anytime after the summer of 1941...

 

We take you to sites related to France's darkest period... that began before the German Occupation. 
to August 19, 1944

 

Our story is of collaborators, Resistances (please notice the plural), D-Day and the Liberation of Paris. We follow the narratives of Brits, Americans, persecuted Jews, Russians on the Eastern front and Germans (Nazi or not), present a few unpublished documents  – and emphasize the time's complexity.

 

 
Resistance, 1943
The Place de l'Opéra during the Battle of Normandy, June 6-August 21, 1944
Hitler's Commander surrenders. "I was a soldier, not a criminal," said the man who eluded the order to blow up Paris.
The Liberation's dark side

 

 

 

  • Sites visited, or viewed using photographs of the time

 

 

• Montparnasse and the Museums of the Liberation of Paris / Jean Moulin

 

• The Hotel Lutétia

 

• The Senate and the Luxembourg gardens

 

• The Place de l'Opéra, the rue de Rivoli and the Place de la Concorde

 

• The Place Dauphine

 

• The Rue des Rosiers in the venerable Jewish quarter (the Marais)

 

 

 

 

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• Costs: please CLICK

 

º The museums charge no fee, except for special exhibits (2-4€)..  

 

 

 
  • Suggested preparation  

 

• Is Paris Burning? by Larry Collins's best-seller, or movie (1966).

 

• Documentary, Weapons of the Spirit (1986), tells the story of Europe's only massive, collective rescue of Jews – which took place in France. People who were directly involved could be interviewed still. We tell this story during the walk, adding unexpected information.

 

• French classics. Hiroshoma Mon Amour (1959) evokes the dark side of the Liberation.. The Army of Shadows (1969) is considered the best film on the Resistance. Lacombe Lucien (1974), equally thoughtful,  has a collaborator as protagonist.

 

º Recent French films: Days of Glory (2006) on Algerians in the Free French forces. L'Armée du crime, on Armenian "terrorists" (2009). La Rafle (2010). evokes the role of the French police in deporting Jews. 

 

 

 

º This well-filled morning or afternoon covers several neighborhoods. We use public transportation, unless you prefer a car and driver.  

 

Photos / in "Paris sous l'Occupation" by Gilles Perrault, 1987, or taken from stacks of old magazine pages at a flea market.

 

 

 

Unexpected Paris guided tours