- Title: Paris celebrates 75th anniversary of liberation from Nazis
- Date: 25th August 2019
- Summary: WOMAN IN 1940S DRESS WAIVING FROM TANK TANK AND MOTORCYCLES DURING PARADE PEOPLE WATCHING PARADE ARMY TRUCK DURING PARADE (SOUNDBITE) (French) 74-YEAR-OLD PARIS RESIDENT WHO ATTENDED PARADE, MARIE BEGHIN, SAYING: "Maybe somehow I owe my life to the American (Normandy) landings and the liberation of Paris even I wasn't a Paris resident at the time. I thought it was really, really great to celebrate these 75 years." VINTAGE CAR AND VINTAGE FIRE TRUCK DURING PARADE (SOUNDBITE) (English) 69-YEAR-OLD PARIS RESIDENT, DOMINIQUE BLOCH-BERTHIE, SAYING: "But the thing which really moved me was the bells, because they start - how we say, the bells are ringing - making the sound at the precise moment they did at the end of the war - well at the end of the occupation of Paris. And that was something, really moving." PARADE ONGOING WITH BELLS RINGING IN BACKGROUND
- Embargoed: 8th September 2019 17:05
- Keywords: World War Two 75th anniversary veterans parade Paris liberation Nazis France
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA002ATPUURR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CAN BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH 5066-WW2-ANNIVERSARY/PARIS-LIBERATION-FILE (SENT ON AUGUST 23, 2019) AND 7108-WW2-ANNIVERSARY/PARIS-LIBERATION-EIFFEL TOWER (SENT ON AUGUST 25, 2019)
Paris celebrated the 75th anniversary of its victory over the rule of the notorious Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on Sunday (August 25) with a parade in 1940s dress, delighting onlookers who took part in the joyous commemoration.
The parade, which began at Porte d'Orleans and ended at Place Denfert-Rochereau, saw men in Allied uniforms driving in tanks and wartime military vehicles to cheers from the surrounding crowds.
French Resistance fighters, American GIs, and Spanish liberation forces, all of whom played a key role in liberating Paris, were represented.
The Museum of the Liberation of Paris, dedicated to the war heroes that led the city to freedom from the Nazis, also open its doors to the public for the occasion.
The liberation of Paris consisted of six days of fighting between French Resistance forces - both military and civilian led by infamous French war hero General Charles de Gaulle - and the German army.
Resistance fighters led by Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy and Philippe de Hautecloque, also known as General Leclerc, built barricades around the city to stifle German movement and firefights erupted sporadically across the city.
The Germans surrendered on August 25 at the Hotel Meurice in central Paris.
Two million Parisians assembled on the Champs-Elysees the same day for a celebration parade with De Gaulle marching in the forefront.
(Production: Clotaire Achi and Kathryn Carlson) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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