- Title: Eiffel Tower dons French flag to mark 75th year of Paris liberation from Nazis
- Date: 25th August 2019
- Summary: DAUGHTER OF MAN WHO HUNG FRENCH ON EIFFEL TOWER IN 1944, JEANNE-MARIE BADOCHE, SEATED ON WHEEL CHAIR DURING CEREMONY (SOUNDBITE) (French) 92-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER OF MAN WHO HUNG FRENCH ON EIFFEL TOWER IN 1944, JEANNE-MARIE BADOCHE, SAYING: "As a French officer, this (Nazi rule in Paris) has been so hard to swallow, and during four years of occupation, he only had one thing in mind: 'I'll put back the (French) flag.' He thought about it all the time, he talked about it all the time. And when the day came, everything was ready. The flag has been made and sent to the free zone so that the Germans won't find it, it returned and crossed the demarcation line in a gas tube within a car that was still functioning with gas. The Germans didn't find it. They searched the car, but they didn't find it. And on August 17 (1944), the flag arrived, and he (father) was waiting for the right moment. The fight for liberation was going on, there was fighting everywhere, the Germans were everywhere. He waited for the time when he could approach the Eiffel Tower, and on the morning of August 25, he arrived right here." FRENCH FLAG FIREFIGHTER HOLDING FRENCH FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (French) 92-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER OF MAN WHO HUNG FRENCH ON EIFFEL TOWER IN 1944, JEANNE-MARIE BADOCHE, SAYING: "They (French officers) arrived. They surveyed around a bit to see if the Germans could see them around the Eiffel Tower. Since they saw no one, they climbed through the stairs of course, since the elevators weren't working yet, I mean, Germans were controlling the elevators, and they couldn't use them. It's rather that. So, they walked up, and he (father) put up the flag. That night when he got home - we hadn't seen him for three days since he has been deployed to one of the fire stations because of the circumstances - he just told us, 'I did it, I put the flag back up.' He was happy, but that's it, no further comments. And he hadn't talked about it all these years." PARIS MAYOR, ANNE HIDALGO, SHAKING HANDS WITH FIREFIGHTERS HIDALGO SHAKING HANDS WITH WWII VETERAN VETERAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMERICAN WORLD WAR TWO VETERAN FROM PENNSYLVANIA, HAROLD ANGLE, SAYING: "Well, I'm honoured to be here for this event, and I'm physically able to be here. A lot of our veterans are not able to be, and would like to be, but it's my pleasure to be here as a guest and participate in your celebration of the liberation of Paris." PEOPLE GATHERED AT FOOT OF EIFFEL TOWER / FIREFIGHTERS BACK OF T-SHIRT WITH PICTURE OF ARC DE TRIOMPHE READING (French): "75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF PARIS 25 AUGUST 1944" FRENCH FLAG HANGING ON EIFFEL TOWER
- Embargoed: 8th September 2019 14:04
- Keywords: World War Two 75th anniversary veterans eyewitness Eiffel Tower Paris liberation Nazis France
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA003ATPUKHZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CAN BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH EDITS 5066-WW2-ANNIVERSARY/PARIS-LIBERATION-FILE, 6089-WW2-ANNIVERSARY/PARIS-LIBERATION-EYEWITNESS, 6088-WW2-ANNIVERSARY/PARIS-LIBERATION-PRESENT DAY AND 4148-WW2-ANNIVERSARY/PARIS-LIBERATION
French firefighters hung a French flag on Paris' Eiffel Tower on Sunday (August 25), reminiscent of the moment the flag was flown on the iconic monument after the end of Nazi rule in the French capital 75 years ago.
The re-enactment was part of a series of events organised by the city of Paris on Sunday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the city's liberation from the Nazis.
The liberation of Paris consisted of six days of fighting between French Resistance forces - both military and civilian - and the German army, who occupied the city for four years until August 1944.
Jeanne-Marie Badoche, the daughter of the man who sneaked around the Eiffel Tower in 1944 to fly the French flag, said her father had always been determined to reclaim Paris' symbolic monument.
"As a French officer, this (Nazi rule in Paris) has been so hard to swallow, and during four years of occupation, he only had one thing in mind: 'I'll put back the flag,'" she said. "He thought about it all the time, he talked about it all the time."
Officers had to hide the fabrication of the flag from the Germans during wartime, then concealed it in a tube of a gas-powered car to transport it into Paris, Badoche recalled.
On Aug. 25, 1944, Badoche's father and other firefighters had to wait for the right moment to climb the tower by foot, unseen by the Nazis.
"That night when he got home … he just told us, 'I did it, I put the flag back up,'" Badoche said.
A public parade in 1940s dress is slated to follow the re-enactment later on Sunday as part of the Paris liberation celebrations.
(Production: Clotaire Achi, Kathryn Carlson, Ardee Napolitano) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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