The Liberation of Paris

On 25 August 1944 the German commander of the Paris region, General Dietrich von Choltitz, signed a surrender at Montparnasse station in front of General Leclerc and Colonel Rol. link

Today, 25 August 2011, a commemoration was held at Place du 18 Juin 1940 (Montparnasse), just below our office windows. A band played La Marseillaise whilst the wind lifted my skirt to somewhere near my ears.....

 
All over town, at Gare de l’Est, at Place de la Bataille de Stalingrad, at Porte d'Orléans and at l'Hôtel de Ville there were events to remember the joy that people must have felt after 5 years of war. link Judging from the number of attendants below our windows most Parisians did not really seem to care, and perhaps the day is just as much a day to remember those who died in the concentration camps and in battle. Can war, even if it is the end of the war, ever be a joyous event?