Hitler wanted Paris destroyed but the last governor in charge wouldn’t do it. He believed Hitler had gone mad.
On Aug. 25, Gen. von Choltitz surrendered the German garrison of 17,000 men to the Free French, leaving the city largely intact. Because Hitler’s directive was not carried out, Choltitz has been described by some as the “Saviour of Paris.”
Von Choltitz later claimed in his memoir of 1951 that he defied Hitler’s order to destroy Paris because he loved the city and had decided that Hitler was by then insane. It is known that the Swedish consul-general in Paris, Raoul Nordling, and the president of the municipal council, Pierre Taittinger, held several meetings with von Choltitz, during which he negotiated the release of political prisoners. The all-night confrontation between Nordling and von Choltitz on the eve of the surrender, as depicted in the 1965 book and 1966 film, “Is Paris Burning?” and again in the 2014 film “Diplomacy.”
Gordon Martin
Orange