The Liberation of Paris - 1944

August 1944. For four years, the Swastika flag flew at the top of the Eiffel Tower in a time of deprivation, humiliation, and repression. Despite Hitler’s vow to destroy Paris rather than surrender it, Parisians rose up to play a crucial role in driving the Nazis out. General Charles de Gaulle returned to Paris to address the people in a moment of national reconciliation: “We, who have lived the greatest hours of our History, we have nothing else to wish than to show ourselves, up to the end, worthy of France.”