The hotel is used as accommodation for German officers.
The German flag flies over the Naval Ministry and the Hôtel Crillon in the Place de la Concorde
Cité internationale universitaire
17, boulevard Jourdan, Paris 14e arr.
The cité universitaire (university campus) is occupied by the German authorities, who use its sports facilities and accommodation for their officers and airmen.
Cité Universitaire
Sipo-SD (Gestapo)
72, avenue Foch, Paris 16e arr.
The Hôtel de Lyon-Boussac houses the headquarters of the German security services (Sipo-SD): the Gestapo.
Hôtel Meurice
228, rue de Rivoli, Paris 1er arr.
The hotel is the headquarters of the military command for Greater Paris.
Nazi flag and German soldier in front of the Hotel Meurice. 1941
Chamber of Deputies
Palais-Bourbon, Paris 7e arr.
The services of the Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich, or MBF (German military command in France), occupy the Chamber of Deputies.
V for victory and ‘Germany is winning on all fronts’ banner, July 1941
Sipo-SD (Gestapo)
A Sipo-SD (Sicherheitspolitzei und Sicherheitsdenst - aka Gestapo) team arrives in Paris during the summer of 1940 to hunt down the enemies of Nazism. At the specific request of Adolf Hitler, Carl Oberg, the Supreme Commander of the SS and police in occupied France, gives the Sipo-SD the authority to lead the repression and deportation of French Jews from summer 1942 onwards. Pierre Laval - now back at the head of the Vichy government - and René Bousquet, Secretary General of the Police, now facilitates collaboration by the French police in tracking down and repressing resistance fighters and organising the round-up of Jews in the northern and southern zones.
ERR Rosenberg
The Möbel Aktion (Operation Furniture) is the official name given to the process of looting Jewish homes
The Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR), which has responsibility for the seizure of works of art in France, stores the looted works at the Musée du Jeu de Paume before sending them to Germany
Compulsory Work
The Third Reich needs labour to fuel its economy, and so offers high pay to French workers who agreed to work in Germany. When the response falls short of expectations, it turns to the Vichy government and its head Pierre Laval, which introduces the ‘Relève’ system which exchanges one prisoner of war for every three workers agreeing to work in Germany, and later introduces the Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO) forced labour scheme for younger French nationals.
German Embassy
While the MBF is responsible for the practical aspects of the Occupation, it is the German Embassy, headed by Ambassador Otto Abetz, that provides the political vision. Its goal is to extend German influence in France. The policy of collaboration is designed to relegate the country to its secondary role in Europe ruled by the Third Reich.
German propaganda
Propaganda posters, 1941-1942
All information is totally controlled by the Occupying power. Highly effective, German propaganda operates on many fronts. It targets intellectuals by promoting German culture. Propaganda-Abteilung Frankreich monitors the press, and censors and controls cinema newsreels. It provides direct funding for collaborationist publications and exhibitions. In June 1942, a Franco-German company called France Actualités becomes the only broadcaster in the country. Set up by Propaganda-Abteilung Frankreich, Radio-Paris is run by French collaborationist journalists.
Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich
Headed by Otto von Stülpnagel, the German Military Command in France (MBF) arrives in Paris in 1940. It has responsibility for ensuring the security of German troops, maintaining order and exploiting the French economy for the benefit of the Reich. Collaboration by the Vichy government leaves it free to focus on supervisory administration. At Hitler's request, Otto von Stülpnagel enacts the hostage policy in September 1941, following the communist attack on the Barbès metro station on 21 August. Mass executions of hostages follow in retaliation for the attacks by the Resistance. In spring 1942, the MBF is succeeded by the Sipo-SD as the prime organisation for state security and repression.
Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel1886-1944
Otto von Stülpnagel's cousin General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel (1886-1944) succeeds him in February 1942. Recalled to Germany, he is sentenced to death and executed at the end of August for his part in the failed assassination attempt on Hitler in July 1944.
Dietrich von Choltitz1894-1966
On 7 August 1944, General von Choltitz is given military command of Greater Paris by Adolf Hitler himself. He replaces General von Boineburg-Lengsfeld. The new military governor has a distinguished service record in Russia and Italy. In Paris, the occupying troops are now under his command, as well as those in the suburbs who form a defensive ring around the city. Although responsible for defending German positions in the city and suppressing any attempt at insurrection, he knows that despite being heavily armed, the forces under his command could not withstand an Allied offensive. But the Resistance and the Allies fear that he will follow orders and destroy Paris. On 25 August 1944, the troops of the French 2nd Armoured Division attack the headquarters of the military governor of Greater Paris in the Hotel Meurice. Von Choltitz surrenders. He is taken to Police Headquarters to sign his surrender and then to Montparnasse station to sign the ceasefire order. Now a prisoner of war, he is finally released in 1947. He is today remembered by some as the ‘Saviour of Paris’. He died in Baden-Baden (Germany) in 1966.
Otto von Stülpnagel1878-1948
German army General Otto von Stülpnagel is military commander of occupied France (Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich or MBF) from 25 October 1940 to 16 February 1942. In August 1941, he introduces the ‘hostage policy’ under the terms of which hostages are taken and executed in retaliation for attacks against the German authorities.
Helmut Knochen1910-2003
Nazi party member since 1932, Helmut Knochen is responsible for organising the Nazi security police (SiPo-SD) in occupied France in the summer of 1940. Leading a commando of about twenty men, he hunts down opponents, Jews, communists and Freemasons. Reporting to Carl Oberg from May 1942 onwards, he helps to introduce the ‘final solution’ into France. He is sentenced to death in 1954 and later pardoned.
Julius Ritter1893?-1943
In March 1942, Hitler orders Fritz Sauckel to recruit a workforce; in other words to organise forced labour to be sent to Germany. His appointed deputy in France is Julius Ritter. He supervises the Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO) forced labour organisation adopted in September 1942 and introduced early in 1943. He is shot dead outside his home in the Rue Pétrarque (16th arrondissement) on 28 September 1943 by an MOI (Immigrant Labour Force) commando of the FTP (Francs-Tireurs et Partisans).
Otto Abetz1903-1958
In June 1940, Otto Abetz is appointed the Reich’s Ambassador to occupied France. He knows the country well and his mission is a political one. He is determined to deepen collaboration with the Vichy government. He has many contacts with political leaders, especially Pierre Laval, and the collaborationist parties. Arrested in 1945 and sentenced in 1949 to 20 years' hard labour, he is released in 1954 and dies four years later.
Carl Oberg1897-1965
Nazi party member Carl Oberg is appointed Higher SS and Police Leader of France in May 1942. As such, he has responsibility for the policy of repression and implementation of the ‘final solution’. He is supported in his work by the government and police of France under the terms of agreements signed with the Vichy government in summer 1942. Sentenced to death in 1954 and later pardoned, he is released in 1962, three years before his death.
Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel
Dietrich von Choltitz
Otto von Stülpnagel
Julius Ritter
Otto Abetz
Carl Oberg
