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Hitler's Nazi army was kicked out of Paris 72 years ago today
Bundesarchiv
"That was the greatest and finest moment of my life," one of the world's most brutal tyrants reportedly said after touring the newly Nazi-occupied French capital.
The day after Germany signed an armistice with France, Hitler and his cronies toured the Dôme des Invalides, which holds Napoleon's tomb; the Paris opera house; the Champs-Elysees; the Arc de Triomphe; Sacre-Coeur; and the Eiffel Tower on June 23, 1940.
Hitler spent just three hours in the "City of Light," but his forces occupied northern France for four years until the Allied forces liberated Paris on August 25, 1944, 72 years ago on Thursday.
"The Germans were driven from many strategic parts of the city by the combined onslaught of the French military and the fury of citizens fighting for their liberties," the Associated Press reports.
During Hitler's brief tour, he instructed friend and architect Albert Speer to take note of the city's design to recreate similar yet superior German buildings.
"Wasn't Paris beautiful?" Hitler reportedly asked Speer.
"But Berlin must be far more beautiful. When we are finished in Berlin, Paris will only be a shadow."
While sightseeing, Hitler also ordered the destruction of two French World War I monuments that reminded him of Germany's bitter defeat.
Bundesarchiv
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