After the liberation on Aug 26, 1944, Parisian women with their children run for cover as remaining German snipers open fire from the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral.

This striking photo, taken on Aug. 26, 1944, during the liberation of Paris and held in the National Archives’ collection of Signal Corps Photographs of American Military Activity, shows Parisians running for cover on the Place de la Concorde as snipers fired on the city’s ongoing celebration. The image shows civilians caught in the crossfire, transitioning quickly from party to self-preservation mode.

While the Germans had officially surrendered the city to Allied forces the day before and citizens were out in the streets in force, pockets of French collaborators and German soldiers remained. French Gen. Charles de Gaulle, who paraded through the streets to the Champs-Élysées on the same day this picture was taken, took fire from snipers several times. Later in the day, de Gaulle famously came under sniper fire inside the Cathedral of Notre Dame. 

(Source)

 

April 17, 2014 | Categories: History, Military History, Modern Warfare, Nightmares of World War II, Photography, Pursuit of Happiness, Weird, World War Two | Tags: Adolf Hitler, Cathedral of Notre Dame, Charles de Gaulle, Death, Europe, European history, France, French, German, Historical, historical document, Historical photo, Historical photography, History, Holocaust, human history, Jewish History, liberation of Paris, Military, Military history, National Archives, Nazi, Nazi Germany, Nazi History, Nazi party, Nazi war crimes, Nazis, Paris, Place de la Concorde, Signal Corps Photographs of American Military Activity, Sniper, Snipers, striking photo, The Nazi Party, War, Warfare, World War two, WW2, wwii | Leave a comment