80: Paris Remembers

From Le Monde:

“Paris celebrates 80th anniversary of liberation during World War II”

( France's outgoing Secretary of State for Veterans and Memory Patricia Miralles stands on a World War II-era jeep during a reenactment marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Paris from the Germans during World War II, in Paris on August 25, 2024.)

Paris on Sunday, August 25 celebrated the 80th anniversary of its liberation from German troops in World War II with tributes, military marches and the hoisting of a flag at the Eiffel Tower. On August 25, 1944, the 2nd French Armoured Division entered the capital under the command of General Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, ending 1,500 days of German occupation. Their triumphant arrival followed a tumultuous week of strikes, combat at barricades and street battles between French Resistance fighters and occupying forces.

On Sunday, a parade, which organizers said was both "military and popular," was to follow one of the itineraries of the French division from the south of the capital to its center. President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to speak at a ceremony at the end of the march before an audience with prominent cultural figures, including American actor Jodie Foster and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo. A torch for the Paris Paralympics, which open on Wednesday, will be lit, followed by a flyover by the Patrouille de France, a unit of French air force fighter planes.

Earlier Sunday, the French flag was raised under the Eiffel Tower in memory of firefighters who at midday 80 years ago took down the Nazi flag that had been flying there for four years, replacing it with the tricolor. Sunday's events were the culmination of a week of festivities in and around the capital. On Saturday, there was a tribute to the 160 men of "La Nueve," mostly made up of Spanish republican forces, who were the first to enter Paris on the evening of August 24. On Saturday night, Paris City Hall was the venue for a brass band performance, a concert and a dance.

^ It is important for both the French People and for Europeans in General to remember events like the 80^th Anniversary of the Liberation of Paris by the Americans.

For Decades after World War 2 the French and other Europeans have treated Americans with distain (mainly because they are jealous at our success in being of of 2 Super Powers from 1945-1991 and then the only Super Power since 1991.)

It’s also important for the French to know that France during World War 2 officially collaborated with Nazi Germany and that Vichy France carried out the Holocaust and other War Crimes with more enthusiasm than the Nazis did themselves.

The Americans not only liberated Paris, but also liberated France from itself. ^

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/08/25/paris-celebrates-80th-anniversary-of-liberation-during-world-war-ii_6721469_7.html