On August 25, France commemorates the liberation of Paris every year. This year, for its 77th birthday, the city of Paris offered a show on the forecourt of the Hôtel de Ville in the presence of the Mayor of Paris, the Secretary of State in charge of veterans, Geneviève Darrieussecq, former fighters and many guests.
A tribute show
« Everything begins in Paris » is the theatrical evocation of the Liberation. It was a reading of poems by 3 actors: Philippe Torrenton, Marion Isvi and Nicolas Evrard, accompanied by musicians. The aim was to pay homage to the women and men who sacrificed themselves for Freedom.
The show consisted of 7 episodes relating to the Liberation. Archive images and current photos accompanied the texts to the delight of the spectators gathered at the place where General de Gaulle made his speech when he entered the capital. It was at the Hôtel de Ville that he chanted his famous sentence: … « Paris outraged! And Paris broken! – Paris martyred! – but Paris liberated! » … August 25, 1944, calling for unity national.
How the show unfolds
After taking up arms, Pierrick Barbier performed « In Memoriam » on the bagpipe before the start of the show.
This historical and musical evocation takes place between 1941, the beginning of the exodus and the liberation in 1944.
– Prologue
Philippe Torreton read the first 2 stanzas of the poem « La Rose et le Réséda » by Louis Aragon. The episodes then followed.
– Episode 1: 1940 The Exodus
Nicolas Evrard declaimed « War Pilot », an excerpt from Antoine de St Exupéry’s novel. Accompanied by « Forbidden Games », romance attributed to Fernando Sor but rather Antonio Rubira.
– Episode 2: « The Paris of Vichy »
Marion Isvi recounted « the Metamorphosis », preface to the book « Le silence de la mer » by Jean Bruller known as « Vercors » (Editions de Minuit). Accompanied by « Nuit de Brouillard » by Jean Ferrat.
– Episode 3: « The executed in 1941 »
Philippe Torreton recited « Les fusillé de Chateaubriand », a poem by René-Guy Cadiou. Accompanied by the « Chant des Partisans » by Anna Marly, Joseph Kessel and Maurice Druon by the French Army choir.
– Episode 4: « From Veld’Hiv to Camp »
Marion Isvi read the poem « Give me the memory », a poem by Isae Spiegel. Accompanied by « Chant des marais » by Johann Esser, Wolfgang Langhoff and Rudi Goguel by the French Army choir.
– Episode 5: « Deceive boredom, Deceive the enemy »
Philippe Torreton read a compilation of texts and biographies on « Le Jazz sous l’occupation ». Accompanied by « Swing 42 » by Djngo Reinhardt.
– Episode 6: « Symphony in the basement »
« The Parisian insurrection » described by Nicolas Evrard, from several texts and testimonies. Accompanied by the overture to « La Force du Destin » by Giuseppe Verdi, by the Music of the Republican Guard.
– Episode 7: « The Entry into Paris »
Philppe Torreton takes up « The entry to Paris », the speech of Victor Hugo on his return from exile on September 5, 1870, the day after the proclamation of the Third Republic. Accompanied by the Walk of the 2ndDB of Victor Clowez by the Music of the Guardians of the Peace.
– Epilogue
The 3 actors have taken over stanzas 3 to 5 of « La Rose et le Réséda » by Louis Aragon. The show ended with the « Marseillaise » by Rouget-de-Lisle, orchestrated by Berlioz by the Music of the Republican Guard.
France from 1939 to 1945
France and Germany entered the war on September 3, 1939. At the end of the Battle of France, Marshal Pétain asked the Germans for an armistice on June 17, 1940. It was signed in the clearing of Rethondes, in the forest of Compiègne, Saturday June 22, 1940 at 6:50 p.m. – German summer time. A great exodus begins: Dutch, Belgians, Luxembourgers and French flee the Nazi regime.
After his meeting in Montoire with Hitler in October 1940, Pétain’s regime set in, as did the measures against the Jewish population. In France, the roundups began, starting with that of the « Green Ticket » in May 1941. It was also the beginning of the « Resistance » which enlisted artists who lived in hiding to continue their work of struggle. As a result, the German repression is increasing, arrests are on the rise with hostage taking and prisoners. There are executions in Chateaubriand and Mont Valérien.
The liberation of Paris
The Resistance fighters organized themselves and allowed the Axis to be defeated in 1943 thanks to the Allied landings in Normandy or Provence. The Parisian insurrection began on August 13, 1944. After the fall of the administrations on August 19, General Leclerc and the 2nd Armored Division entered the capital on August 24 through the Porte d’Orléans. The soldiers of the « Nueve », a company of Spanish republicans were the first in front of the Town Hall on August 24, 1944. The next day, General de Gaulle, then head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, arrived at the Hotel de City, where he delivers his famous speech.
The war continued until September 2, 1945, when Japan surrendered.
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