2 thoughts on “French Resistance fighter taking a break, WWII”
Dear Matt, greetings from Paris !
Nice pic from Robert Doisneau. It was shot during the Paris uprising of August 1944 which saw the reddition of the german guarrison after a few days of fighting and entry of the famous US 2nd armor division (the french allied forces). A great move underlining the cleverness of the allied command. This averted a civil war in France and allowed to transfer the power to De Gaulle who could thus give its famous speech in Notre-Dame de Paris: “Paris, outragé, mais Paris libéré !”. A great example of political intelligence in an uncertain and very difficult but hopeful period.
This great event was well depicted in the famous movie “Is Paris burning ?”:
My grandparents saw it, and my grand father even served as a sergeant in the FFI company of the 17th arrondissement of Paris. He led the men of his section in the assault of the Mairie of the 17th arrondissement where a german detachment was based. The fighting lasted a few days and was very violent, it is described here:
I even have a photograph from my grandfather of the whole FFI company posing in front of a buildging in mid-september 1944. If you want I can send you a copy, that would make a nice post. To my knowledge it is a unique photograph that has not been published anywhere. I look at it often as I have it displayed in my salon.
Thanks for all the information, Franck! I look forward to having the opportunity to look at your references – The World War II era in France is of special interest to me. And I’d love to see/post that photograph of your grandfather and others!
MATTHEW'S ISLAND 
Dear Matt, greetings from Paris !
Nice pic from Robert Doisneau. It was shot during the Paris uprising of August 1944 which saw the reddition of the german guarrison after a few days of fighting and entry of the famous US 2nd armor division (the french allied forces). A great move underlining the cleverness of the allied command. This averted a civil war in France and allowed to transfer the power to De Gaulle who could thus give its famous speech in Notre-Dame de Paris: “Paris, outragé, mais Paris libéré !”. A great example of political intelligence in an uncertain and very difficult but hopeful period.
This great event was well depicted in the famous movie “Is Paris burning ?”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_Paris_Burning%3F
My grandparents saw it, and my grand father even served as a sergeant in the FFI company of the 17th arrondissement of Paris. He led the men of his section in the assault of the Mairie of the 17th arrondissement where a german detachment was based. The fighting lasted a few days and was very violent, it is described here:
http://www.mairie17.paris.fr/mairie17/jsp/site/Portal.jsp?page_id=1269
I live at 5 minutes on foot from the place now.
I even have a photograph from my grandfather of the whole FFI company posing in front of a buildging in mid-september 1944. If you want I can send you a copy, that would make a nice post. To my knowledge it is a unique photograph that has not been published anywhere. I look at it often as I have it displayed in my salon.
Very Nice pic.
All the best.
Franck.
Thanks for all the information, Franck! I look forward to having the opportunity to look at your references – The World War II era in France is of special interest to me. And I’d love to see/post that photograph of your grandfather and others!