At the beginning of the Occupation, French leaders expected to pay a price for France’s defeat and accepted German measures with a degree of resignation. The annexation of Alsace and Lorraine surprised few observers. French policemen turned over common enemies and undesirable refugees to Himmler’s ϟϟ. Laval passed legislation that sent hundreds of thousands of French workers to Germany in exchange for a few prisoners of war and short-lived exemptions for select Vichy supporters.
Rethondes
France surrendered on June 22 in a humiliating ceremony in the very same railroad car that they had made Germany sign the armistice November 11, 1918.
From William L. Shirer's account in Berlin Diary (419–25):
On the exact spot in the little clearing in the Forest of Compiègne where at five a.m. on November 11, 1918 the armistice which ended the World War was signed, Adolf Hitler today handed his armistice terms to France. To make German revenge complete, the meeting of the German and French plenipotentiaries took place in Marshal Foch’s private car, in which Foch laid down the armistice terms to Germany twenty-two years ago. Even the same table in the rickety old wagon-lit car was used. And through the windows we saw Hitler occupying the very seat on which Foch had sat at that table when he dictated the other armistice.

... The armistice negotiations began at three fifteen p.m. A warm June sun beat down on the great elm and pine trees, and cast pleasant shadows on the wooded avenues as Hitler, with the German plenipotentiaries at his side, appeared. He alighted from his car in front of the French monument to Alsace-Lorraine which stands at the end of an avenue about two hundred yards from the clearing where the armistice car waits on exactly the same spot it occupied twenty-two years ago. The Alsace-Lorraine statue, I noted, was covered with German war flags so that you could not see its sculptured work nor read its inscription. But I had seen it some years before – the large sword representing the sword of the Allies, and its point sticking into a large, limp eagle, representing the old Empire of the Kaiser. And the inscription underneath in French saying: “TO THE HEROIC SOLDIERS OF FRANCE ... DEFENDERS OF THE COUNTRY AND OF RIGHT ... GLORIOUS LIBERATORS OF ALSACE-LORRAINE.”
I saw the Führer stop, glance at the monument, observe the Reich flags with their big Swastikas in the centre. Then he strode slowly towards us, towards the little clearing in the woods. I observed his face. It was grave, solemn, yet brimming with revenge. There was also in it, as in his springy step, a note of the triumphant conqueror, the defier of the world. There was something else, difficult to describe, in his expression, a sort of scornful, inner joy at being present at this great reversal of fate – a reversal he himself had wrought.
Now here aches the little opening in the woods. He pauses and looks slowly around. The clearing is in the form of a circle some two hundred yards in diameter and laid out like a park. Cypress trees line it all round – and behind them, the great elms and oaks of the forest. This has been one of France’s national shrines for twenty-two years. From a discreet position on the perimeter of the circle we watch...The time is now three eighteen p.m. Hitler’s personal flag is run up on a small standard in the centre of the opening. Also in the centre is a great granite block which stands some three feet above the ground. Hitler, followed by the others, walks slowly over to it, steps up, and reads the inscription engraved in great high letters on that block. It says: “HERE ON THE ELEVENTH OF NOVEMBER 1918 SUCCUMBED THE CRIMINAL PRIDE OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE ... VANQUISHED BY THE FREE PEOPLES WHICH IT TRIED TO ENSLAVE.”

Now we get our picture through the dusty windows of that old wagon-lit car. Hitler and the other German leaders rise as the French enter the drawing-room. Hitler gives the Nazi salute, the arm raised. Ribbentrop and Hess do the same. I cannot see M. Noël to notice whether he salutes or not. Hitler, as far as we can see through the windows, does not say a word to the French or to anybody else. He nods to General Keitel at his side. We see General Keitel adjusting his papers. Then he starts to read. He is reading the preamble to the German armistice terms. The French sit there with marble-like faces and listen intently. Hitler and Goering glance at the green table-top.
The reading of the preamble lasts but a few minutes. Hitler, we soon observe, has no intention of remaining very long, of listening to the reading of the armistice terms themselves. At three
forty-two p.m., twelve minutes after the French arrive, we see Hitler stand up, salute stiffly, and then stride out of the drawing-room, followed by Goering, Brauchitsch, Raeder, Hess, and Ribbentrop.
Hitler and his aides stride down the avenue towards the Alsace-Lorraine monument, where their cars are waiting. As they pass the guard of honour, the German band strikes up the two national anthems, Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles and the Horst Wessel song. The whole ceremony in which Hitler has reached a new pinnacle in his meteoric career and Germany avenged the 1918 defeat is over in a quarter of an hour.
Strasbourg

In September 1940 the first Alsatian resistance movement led by Marcel Weinum called La main noire (The black hand) was created. It was composed by a group of 25 young men aged from 14 to 18 years old who led several attacks against the German occupation. The actions culminated with the attack of the Gauleiter Robert Wagner, the highest commander of Alsace directly under the order of Hitler. In March 1942, Marcel Weinum was prosecuted by the Gestapo and sentenced to be beheaded at the age of 18 in April 1942 in Stuttgart, Germany, his last words being "If I have to die, I shall die but with a pure heart". From 1943 the city was bombarded by Allied aircraft. Whilst the First World War had not notably damaged the city, Anglo-American bombing caused extensive destruction in raids of which at least one was allegedly carried out by mistake. In August 1944, several buildings in the Old Town were damaged by bombs, particularly the Palais Rohan, the Old Customs House (Ancienne Douane) and the Cathedral.

The University Palace of Strasbourg in 1941 during the annexation
Molsheim
The staircase of the Metzig, Nazi headquarters in annexed Molsheim, adorned with swastikas and Nazi eagle during the Kreistage of October 20, 1941 and today. Here a speech in front of the Metzig was delivered to arouse enthusiasm towards the annexation.
Mulhouse
Adolf-Hitler-Platz then and now
After the Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian War Mulhouse was annexed to the German Empire as part of the territory of Alsace-Lorraine (1871–1918). The city was briefly occupied by French troops on 8 August 1914 at the start of World War I, but they were forced to withdraw two days later in the Battle of Mulhouse. The citizens of Alsace who unwisely celebrated the appearance of the French army, were left to face German reprisals. Alsace-Lorraine was invaded and annexed by France after World War I. Although never formally restored to Germany after the Battle of France in 1940, it was occupied by German forces until returned to French control at the end of the war in May 1945.

The corner of Rue Kleber and Boulevard du Champ de Mars in 1940.

On the bridge at the Château de Kaysersberg with an American cavalryman


Beside the church with an M4 Sherman Tank accompanied by soldiers of the CC5 in the Grand'Rue - Today incongruously Rue de General de Gaulle
Ammerschwihr
La Tour de Fripons - Then and Now. Ammerschwihr has undergone numerous invasions throughout its history beginning with those of the Armagnacs in 1444, the Peasants' War in 1525, the Thirty Years' War, and then the invasion of the Lorrains in 1652. During the Second World War Ammerschwihr was burned down by the bombings of December 1944 and January 1945 during the Battle of Alsace. 85% of the village was destroyed during the liberation by French and American troops. The town hall, the old houses in the Place du Marché and the Grand'Rue were destroyed. Only the relatively undeveloped Church of St. Martin, the high door and two towers of the fortifications still bear witness to the picturesque interest which this little town was once known for. It was after particularly bitter fighting that the city became French again on December 18, 1944. The commune was decorated on February 12, 1949, with the Croix de guerre 1939-1945.
The fountain before the war and today
Riquewihr
A M4 Sherman next to the Catholic church
1942
Allied cars on Rue de la Gen de Gaulle. Unlike other villages in the region (such as Mittelwihr, Bennwihr or Sigolsheim), Riquewihr miraculously escaped the destruction of the Second World War because of its cul-de-sac position. This preservation of its ancient heritage makes it one of the most visited villages of Alsace.
German troops in front of the Obertor




German PoWs in today's Rue de la 1ere Armee
US Stuart tanks in today's rue de la 1ere Armee
The Altes Fachwerkhaus


Bergheim German Cemetery
Kientzheim
Rue principale with the Hôtel de Ville on the left
The town church with the plaque commemorating 51 of its citizens who were apparently press-ganged into the Wehrmacht
Maison Rittimann then and now


The M4 Sherman "Renard" then-and-now
Le Bonhomme
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The rue du 3eme Spahis Algeriens then and now |
Illhäusern
The bridge over the Ill, since rebuilt after the war


Remains of an anti-tank emplacement
Remains of an anti-tank emplacement
Haguenau
In the Second World War, Germany retook the town in 1940. In November 1944 the area surrounding Haguenau was under the control of the 256th Volksgrenadier Division under the command of General Gerhard Franz. On 1 December 1944, the 314th Infantry Regiment of the 79th Division, XV Corps, 7th U.S. Army, moved into the area near Haguenau, and on 7 December the regiment was given the assignment to take it and the town forest just north that included German ammunition dumps. The attack began at 0645, December 9, and sometime during the night of 10 December and the early morning of December 11 the Germans withdrew under the cover of darkness leaving the town proper largely under American control. Before they withdrew, the Germans demolished bridges, useful buildings, and even the town park. However, as experienced by Haguenau throughout its history, the Germans came back and retook the town in late January. Most of the inhabitants fled with the assistance of the U.S. Army. The Americans launched an immediate counterattack to retake the town. The 313th Infantry Regiment of the 79th Division was relieved by the 101st Airborne Division on 5 February 1945. The 36th Infantry Division would relieve the 101st on 23 February 1945. On March 15 the Allied Operation Undertone, a combined effort of the U.S. Seventh and French 1st Armies of the U.S. Sixth Army Group was launched to drive the Germans back along a 75 km line from Saarbrücken to Haguenau. The last German soldier was not cleared out of the town until March 19, 1945, after house-to-house fighting. Much of the town had been destroyed despite the Allied reluctance to use artillery to clear out the Germans. Technical Sergeant Morris E. Crain, Company E, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for providing covering fire for his men on 13 March 1945.
Sigolsheim
The liberation of Sigolsheim was particularly dramatic on December 19, 1944 when the village was conquered by the five tanks of 1st Platoon, 2nd Squadron of the RCA first under the command of Camille Girard. But the American infantry had not followed, three tanks were destroyed and 25 men, three were wounded, six captured and mortally wounding Girard.
The church of Sts. Peter and Paul after the battle and today


Sigolsheim today as seen from Hill 351, known also as Bloody Hill. Atop Mont de Sigolsheim is this monument honouring the American soldiers who fought for the liberation of Alsace
Jebsheim
The residence at 7 Grand Rue further up the road that had served as the German Field Hospital.
For the Americans, the capture of Jebsheim was necessary to protect the north flank of the 3rd Division's advance. With the 3rd Division advancing ahead of the French 1 March Infantry Division on the 3rd Division's north flank, General O'Daniel committed the U.S. 254th Infantry Regiment (part of the U.S. 63rd Infantry Division but attached to the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division for the duration of operations in the Colmar Pocket) to capture Jebsheim. On 26–27 January, troops of the German 136th Mountain Infantry Regiment defended Jebsheim against the advance of the 254th Infantry. On 28–29 January, Jebsheim was taken by the 254th Infantry, French tanks of Combat Command 6 (French 5th Armoured Division), and a battalion of the French 1st Parachute Regiment.
For the Americans, the capture of Jebsheim was necessary to protect the north flank of the 3rd Division's advance. With the 3rd Division advancing ahead of the French 1 March Infantry Division on the 3rd Division's north flank, General O'Daniel committed the U.S. 254th Infantry Regiment (part of the U.S. 63rd Infantry Division but attached to the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division for the duration of operations in the Colmar Pocket) to capture Jebsheim. On 26–27 January, troops of the German 136th Mountain Infantry Regiment defended Jebsheim against the advance of the 254th Infantry. On 28–29 January, Jebsheim was taken by the 254th Infantry, French tanks of Combat Command 6 (French 5th Armoured Division), and a battalion of the French 1st Parachute Regiment.
St. Martin's church in Jebsheim January 1945


The intersection of Rue des Vosges and Grand Rue where the Germans had established a roadblock and, right, a dead German soldier at that same roadblock
Riedwihr
The main road into town with some of the houses still recognisable today such as that directly behind my bike. The Second World War caused considerable damage in the village and the bombing of the liberating American army had left a lasting impression on the population which had been forced to take refuge in the bunkers at the entrance of the village. Located on the bank of Wickerschwihr, these bunkers are still visible.
A German anti-tank gun January 23, 1945 beside the river outside the town
Ostheim
World War II was disastrous for Ostheim. Located in the “Colmar Pocket” (“Poche de Colmar”) and shelled for almost two months, from November 1944 to January 1945 in order to free the passage over the River Fecht (bitterly defended by the Germans), Ostheim was totally destroyed and its inhabitants evacuated to the surrounding area. The village was awarded the 1939-1945 Military Cross (Croix de Guerre).
The houses built since the war now obscure the church, the ruins of which are shown behind the tank.
The ruins of the church serve as a memorial to the town's liberators. As with the next photo, a stork's nest continues to be enjoy the same location then and now.
Rouffach
A light tank of the 12th Armoured Division in what's now the Place de la République February 5, 1945 and today. The Witch's Tower, built in the 13th to the 15th centuries to serve as a gaol sports a stork's nest in both photos. During the time of Nazi annexation, a Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt (National Political Institute of Education, NEPA, popularly known as Napola) was housed in a former sanatorium of the city from October 1940.

The victory monument in June 1940 draped with the German war ensign and today. In 1916 the
Germans tried to ’bleed the French dry’ in a battle that lasted for 10
months and which brought France to the verge of collapse. Both sides
lost tens of thousands of soldiers. To reduce the pressure on Verdun, a
joint Anglo-French attack was
launched on the Somme. Tanks were employed for the first time but
the offensive was a fiasco. On the first day of the battle alone, the
British
lost 60,000 men, killed, wounded or missing. By the end of 1916,
casualties on both sides were horrendous.
Between them both sides lost half a million men and how many still lie buried in that charnel soil may never be known. Verdun remained in French hands. For the French it was a magnificent victory, but one that had almost shattered their army. For the Germans it was their first undeniable setback, a heavy blow to the morale of both army and people.Howard (77) The First World War


German victory march past the Memorial to Victory in June, 1940 and after the Anglo-American liberation of France


Nearby the Monument Maginot, erected
to the memory of politician and soldier André Maginot and inaugurated
in 1935. Maginot had served in the French army during the Great War and
was badly wounded near Verdun – an event depicted in the sculptured
group placed in front of the central symbolic shield. Maginot served as
Minister of War three times between 1922 and 1932 and was the principal
advocate of a new line of impregnable defences against a future German
invasion, completed after his death and which bore his name. In the
event, of course, the Germans bypassed the Maginot Line in 1940 as shown on the right.


Douaumont
This
nearby village was destroyed during the Great War. It is home to less than a dozen people but is famous for the terrible battle that took place there from March to October 1916 and for its military ossuary of the Great War. It became a target again of the Germans in the Second World War. Today the Douaumont
Ossuary, which contains the remains of more than 100,000 unknown
soldiers of both French and German nationalities found on the
battlefield, stands high above the landscape. It is a monument to the soldiers of the Battle of
Verdun of 1916, designed in the
aftermath of the armistice of 1918 at the initiative of Bishop Charles
Ginisty of Verdun. Inaugurated on August 7, 1932 by the French President, it is made out to be the site of one of the symbols of Franco-German
friendship as symbolised by the handshake of François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl on September 22, 1984. It was classified as an historic monument on May 2, 1996.
Opposite the ossuary, the national necropolis of Douaumont gathers
16,142 graves of French soldiers, mostly Catholic, including a square of
592 stelae of Muslim soldiers.
Munster
President Raymond Poincaré visiting Munster, badly damaged during the Great War, on Tuesday August 19, 1919. The whole region around Munster suffered grievously from the First and Second World Wars; Munster itself had been destroyed by up to 85% during the Great War and
the commune was decorated on November 2, 1921 with the Croix de Guerre
1914-1918, and in July 1948 with the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945. the Anglo-Americans allowed Munster to be liberated by the Zouaves of the 9th regiment on February 5, 1945

Boulay (Bolchen)

German
forces occupied Arles when they took over all of France including its
"free zone" administered by the Vichy Government in November 1942 as a
precaution when the allies invaded North Africa. Within the the months
before the allied landing in Southern France in August 1944 a large
number of bombing raids were carried out by the allies in order to
destroy railway lines and stations and cut the bridges across the Rhone
to hinder the German retreat. Arles had endured eight raids between June 25th and August 15th which inflicted great damage to the buildings and a
considerable number of civilian deaths. Van Gogh's Maison Jaune
was destroyed (see below) as most of the bridges along the Rhone were
bombed. The bombing was actually carried out by groups from the Free
French Airforce - thus ironically by Frenchmen themselves - flying
American B26 Marauder medium bombers. As the Germans retreated up the
west bank of the Rhone this had been quite unnecessary.
One such bridge in Arles which remains destroyed is the so-called Lion Bridge. The plaque on its façade readsThe bridge was built in 1868 to allow trains of the PLM company [Paris-Lyon Marseille] to link Arles to Lunel cross the Rhone river, which is already quite wide at this point. This line in particular was dedicated to dispatch the coal produced in the Cevennes mountains. The bridge was destroyed on the 6th of August 1944, during a bombing. All that remains of the bridge are its pillars and imposing sculptured lions. The lion sculptures are the work of Pierre Louis Rouillard.
The pillars remain standing
Van Gogh's Trinquetaille Bridge 1888, since replaced after being bombed during the war- note the tree in both
The Maison Jaune,
also the subject of Van Gogh, didn't survive the bombing and no longer
exists. The place without the house looks almost the same. Although Van
Gogh's building is gone a placard on the scene commemorates its former
existence.
Marshal
Petain and Admiral Darlan in front of the Town Hall with Petain's
portrait on the façade when France was fighting the British and
Americans in North Africa. By 1945 they had switched sides and Petain
had been replaced with the portraits of Churchill, FDR, Stalin and,
protecting national sensibilities, de Gaulle.Nîmes



Before and after its restoration
Germans
marching past the former theatre which was destroyed by fire in 1952.
Only its remarkable ionic colonnade was preserved and relocated to the
Caissargues rest area on the A54 between Nîmes and Arles.


Frenchmen enthusiastically saluting the occupying Germans in front of the fountain


German soldiers in the Nymphaeum
Aix en Provence
An American signal corps cameraman preparing to film troops