August 25th 1944: Paris is liberated as Germans surrender

After four years under German occupation, Paris is now free. Last night, the French 2nd Armoured Division under General Philippe Leclerc was the first Allied force to enter the city, greeted by loud cheers from Parisians after many days of fighting between the Resistance and the German occupiers. The new Free French wireless station reported 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, commander of the Forces Francaises de l'Interieur (FFI) in the Paris region. Colonel Rol praised the Resistance forces that fought the occupying Germans and opened the way for the Allies to enter the capital. At 1900 local time, General Charles de Gaulle -- leader of the Free French who has been living in exile in London since the Fall of France in 1940 -- entered the city.