The general who defied Hitler and saved Paris

Adolf Hitler ordered the destruction of Paris

IN THE weeks after D-Day, with the Allies marching across France and the Russian army advancing in the East, the retreat of the German forces was inevitable.

 

But as Hitler reluctantly abandoned his original vision of racial domination, another similarly horrendous plan came to the fore: scorched earth.

His orders were simple: defend what could be defended to the last man - then destroy everything else. Industrial sites, railways, bridges, water systems, power stations, cultural centres: all were to be bombed, burnt or blown up.
 

It was a policy that was to leave huge swathes of Europe and Russia - as well as areas of Germany itself as the forces moved back towards Berlin - blackened and desolate.

The vast majority of German commanders kept to the orders, killing hundreds of thousands, including women and children, and causing irreparable damage. But a handful of Germans in the final weeks of the Nazi reign stood their ground against the evil of Hitler and his henchmen.

Some are well known, such as Claus von Stauffenberg and his colleagues who tried to assassinate Hitler with a suitcase bomb in July 1944 and Minister of Armaments Albert Speer who worked to sabotage Hitler's Nero Decree, which ordered anything of potential value to the Allies to be destroyed even if it was on German land. However one of the less celebrated but most significant was General Dietrich von Choltitz, a war hero who was the last Nazi governor of Paris.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel himself had warned that the capture of Paris by the Allies would be "operationally, politically, economically and psychologically decisive".

This was a view shared by the Führer and, in a meeting days after his appointment, Hitler made clear to Choltitz what was required: defend Paris to the last bullet or else destroy the city.

His orders were simple: defend what could be defended to the last man - then destroy everything else

Choltitz had seemed the ideal candidate. He had a reputation dating back to the First World War as an accomplished soldier and brutal commander with a blind obedience to orders. But whether it was the military realisation that the war was lost or a dawning appreciation of Hitler's madness, he had different plans for one of Europe's most historic cities. As he said after a later meeting with Hitler: "I cannot implement this insane order."

What followed was a masterclass in deception as he tried to oversee a peaceful and bloodless surrender of Paris while convincing his German masters" What followed was a masterclass in deception as he tried to oversee a peaceful and bloodless surrender of Paris while convincing his German masters that he was doing everything to fight for the city, put down insurrection and act on the scorchedearth policy

ONE of Choltitz's first acts was surreptitiously to organise the release of 3,000 French political prisoners being held by the Germans in the city. It immediately saved hundreds of lives, as did his order to stop a number of trains crammed with French citizens destined for the concentration camps.

Within two weeks of taking over, he had agreed with French officials to have explosives laid by German engineers removed. It meant electricity and gas installations, telephone exchanges and even museums were saved from destruction.

On occasion Choltitz managed to bluff other commanders into saving the city. When General Otto Dessloch, head of Luftwaffe 3, threatened to bomb Paris, Choltitz knew that a night attack by a few hundred planes would decimate the city, particularly if large fires swept through its narrow streets.

He said any attack had to be in daytime to avoid putting his own soldiers at risk, knowing full well that such a mission would be impossible with Allied aircraft controlling the skies. When he threatened to pull out his troops and blame the Luftwaffe, Dessloch backed down.

 

When a Panzer division was offered to him to quell any uprising, Choltitz similarly turned down the help while orders later to blow up 72 key bridges across the Seine were ignored despite easily accessible explosives.

Some of his actions were about more than buildings and infrastructure. When SS officers arrived saying they had come to "secure" the Bayeux Tapestry from the cellars of the Louvre, the keys were conveniently lost. As the soldiers contemplated the situation, rounds of bullets were sprayed from inside the museum. After two hours trying to summon the courage to make their move, the SS declared the tapestry was no longer there and withdrew.

One of the problems Choltitz faced was the increasingly hostile French Resistance. The police, who had helped the Germans run the city, had gone on strike while resistance fighters took control of the Prefecture and the Palais de Justice. As the situation became more volatile - and Parisians saw that the existing protests were not being crushed - barricades were put up across the city.

To Choltitz's frustration, it led to bloodshed on the streets as German soldiers were shot and gun battles raged. But apart from one shell aimed at the doors of the Prefecture, the Prussian general showed remarkable restraint. German tanks did not roll into the city and heavy shells and mortar, which could have killed hundreds and destroyed some of the city's most famous buildings, were not used. The worst atrocities were largely at the hands of the remaining SS, whose marauding units were beyond Choltitz's control.

When a livid Hitler told Choltitz to defend the city "to the utmost" he claimed he was preparing to blow up bridges, the city was alight and there was fighting on every corner. In reality, little could have been further from the truth.

 

General Dietrich von Choltitz signing the Nazi surrender after the liberation of Paris

 

The last thing he did before Allied forces arrived at the hotel he was encamped in was to move 20 secretaries to safety. Hours later on August 25, 1944, German soldiers put up token resistance before surrendering. In later years, Choltitz was feted by French politicians and the public as the saviour of Paris.

In truth, like many others who disobeyed Hitler in those final months of the Second World War, Choltitz was complex and morally ambiguous and no white knight.

He had been a loyal commander who had shown no mercy in battle and who later would be implicated in the extermination of the Jews. But seeing that the war was unwinnable and with a genuine affection for the French and their capital, he bravely and pragmatically used his position to ensure the near-bloodless surrender of one of the world's most beautiful cities.

Whether he had a road-to-Damascus moment and recognised Hitler's evil or it was military reality that made him act as he did remains open to debate. But Choltitz and the others who stood up to Nazism, however belatedly, showed at least some humanity.

General Major Henning von Tresckow, an early resister to Hitler and a plotter in the July 1944 assassination attempt, told his cousin before his death: "God once promised Abraham to spare Sodom should there be found 10 righteous men in the city. He will, I trust, spare Germany because of what we have done and not destroy her."