He sent scouting parties to probe the outskirts of Paris, to determine that there would be indeed no resistance. On 14 June, he was informed that Paris had been declared an open city and that all French forces had been evacuated from it. The plan of General von Briesen, the commander of the Sixth Army, was to bypass Paris, since he did not wish his troops to get bogged down in fighting in the city streets with the French garrison. At that time, units of the German Sixth Army were near Paris, pursuing the French forces which were retreating to the south. The French Government had evacuated Paris and declared it an open city. The background to the events of 14 June is this. The march through Paris occurred before the French surrender, which occurred on 22 June. The film footage that is often presented as such a victory march actually shows units of the German Sixth Army under the command of General Kurt von Briesen marching through Paris on 14 June 1940 on their southward advance in pursuit of the retreating French forces. There was no German victory march in Paris.
Noon March.jpg (78.97 KiB) Viewed 12257 times Noon March 2.jpg (51.99 KiB) Viewed 12257 times I've added a related picture for you below, one of my favorite postcards. And since his visit was kept quiet and was conducted early in the morning, I'd guess that was more the reason for there being no military parade during his visit, rather than any respect for the feelings of the French. It is referring to his not allowing a military parade for his own visit to Paris, and the poster doesn't cite a source for the information. Of his opinions on the matter, I've only seen one reference, in one of the threads above.
AHF has an excellent search engine, and with just a quick search I located these topics, which may interest you for information and photos: The parade route ran from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde, and in agreement with what murx says, as opposed to the original victory parade, all of the photos I've seen of the daily march were of a German military band. Sumner Jackson, chief surgeon of the American Hospital in Paris). The Germans' daily parade down the Champs Élysées every day at noon is well-known and cited by many witnesses in Paris, including the quote above by Graham Clayton (which I believe is from Dr. Hello UserVonWerra, welcome to the Forum!
0 kommentar(er)
