Les Invalides in Paris France was occupied by German forces during World War II, serving as a site for administrative purposes and military control from 1940 to 1944. Following the 1940 defeat, the Germans took over the complex, which even included a visit from Adolf Hitler to Napoleon’s tomb in June 1940.
When it seemed clear that the city would be captured by the Germans, curators at the Louvre, summoned back from summer vacation, began cataloging and packing the major works of art, which were put into crates and labeled only with numbers to disguise their contents. The Winged Victory of Samothrace statue was carefully wheeled down the long stairway on a wooden ramp to be put on a truck for its departure to the Château de Valençay with the hope that the Germans could not find her.
Iconic hotels and buildings were requisitioned by the Nazis, turning the “City of Light” into a somber, occupied, and often hungry city. Parisian had to endure the humiliation of being second-class citizens in their own city. Living in German-occupied Paris from June 1940 to August 1944 was characterized by severe food shortages, strict curfews, fear, and a loss of freedom, with the city’s atmosphere defined by the Nazi flag atop the Eiffel Tower. Parisians lived under constant rationing. Food was scarce, leading to long lines and, for many, severe malnutrition. Adults were limited to 2.5 ounces of meat per week. Essential items like coal, soap, and clothes were strictly rationed, leading to a flourishing black market where goods were expensive.
Private cars were reserved for the occupiers, forcing Parisians to rely on crowded buses, the metro, or bicycles. Strict curfews, often starting around 9 p.m., meant being confined to homes, and nightlife ceased to exist as it once did.
The presence of the Gestapo and German soldiers created an atmosphere of fear, with frequent identity checks, searches, and the threat of arrest. The architectural landmarks of the city were protected by sandbags.
The Jewish population suffered immense persecution, including mandatory wearing of the yellow star, and exclusion from public life. On July 16-17 1942, French police, on orders of the Germans rounded up 13,152 Jews, including 4,115 children, who were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp where they were murdered on mass.
Thousands of Frenchmen were conscripted for mandatory forced labor in Germany to make munitions for the war effort. Parisian had to endure the humiliation of being second-class citizens in their own city. While many citizens quietly tried to survive, some collaborated with the Germans, while others joined the French Resistance, risking death to fight back. After the city was liberated, the collaborators would be publicly humiliated. Particularly women who dated German officers would be striped and have their hair cut off publicly by the angry mob.
The French Resistance in Paris launched an uprising on August 19, 1944 seizing the police headquarters and other government buildings. Resistance fighters and everyday citizens including children blockaded streets by cutting down trees and removing cobblestones. The week between August 19 and the 25th the city saw the resistance fighters and any citizen with a firearm fighting to free their city from German oppression. The city was liberated by French and American troops on August 25, 1944, the next day, General De Gaulle led a triumphant parade down the Champs-Élysée and organized a new government.
As Allied troops along with my father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken who was leading C-Company of the 1st Battalion of the 75th Infantry Division, were attacking Dortmund Germany and moving south, the German Gestapo were looking to hide atrocities before they retreated.
Hundreds of thousands of forced laborers were exploited in the armament factories and coal mines around the Ruhr River during the Second Word War. An estimated 30,000 forced laborers were deployed in Dortmund during the Second World War. They were accommodated in about 300 camps, one of those being a branch of the Buchenwald concentration camp.