Is Paris Burning?

Quick answer: Why wasn't Paris destroyed in August 1944?

Hitler ordered Paris left as a field of ruins, and explosives were laid, but military governor Dietrich von Choltitz never gave the signal. John argues the city was also saved by the Resistance, Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, de Gaulle, and the soldiers fighting toward it, who pushed hard against its destruction.

By August 1944 the Germans had held Paris for more than four years and were about to lose it. Hitler had already decided how: if Paris couldn't be held, the city was to reach the enemy only as a field of ruins. Bridges, monuments, water, and power were all to go. The man chosen was General Dietrich von Choltitz, a hard Eastern Front soldier with a reputation for carrying out orders. The charges were laid. He had only to give the word. He didn't. We still don't know exactly why. John doesn't settle the argument. He widens it. The Resistance rose and wouldn't accept defeat. Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling crossed the lines day after day, handing the general reasons and cover. De Gaulle insisted France take its capital back with its own hands, and soldiers fought their way in. The man with the detonators was one piece, but he was ringed by people who loved Paris more than he did, and who pushed. Hard.

Why it matters for leaders: The irreplaceable things survive because people who love them push back against those who would destroy them.

Q: Who was Raoul Nordling?

A: A Swedish diplomat who crossed the lines day after day, working on von Choltitz and giving him reasons and cover to spare the city.

Q: Do historians know exactly why von Choltitz didn't destroy Paris?

A: No. The essay notes we still don't know exactly why he refused.

Read the full essay on Substack → https://heroespath.substack.com/p/is-paris-burning

By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation