All language subtitles for [English] La derrota alemana en Francia _ La caída de Rommel y la liberación de París - 1944 [DownSub.com].English

af Afrikaans
ak Akan
sq Albanian
am Amharic
ar Arabic
hy Armenian
az Azerbaijani
eu Basque
be Belarusian
bem Bemba
bn Bengali
bh Bihari
bs Bosnian
br Breton
bg Bulgarian
km Cambodian
ca Catalan
ceb Cebuano
chr Cherokee
ny Chichewa
zh-CN Chinese (Simplified)
zh-TW Chinese (Traditional) Download
co Corsican
hr Croatian
cs Czech
da Danish
nl Dutch
en English
eo Esperanto
et Estonian
ee Ewe
fo Faroese
tl Filipino
fi Finnish
fr French
fy Frisian
gaa Ga
gl Galician
ka Georgian
de German
el Greek
gn Guarani
gu Gujarati
ht Haitian Creole
ha Hausa
haw Hawaiian
iw Hebrew
hi Hindi
hmn Hmong
hu Hungarian
is Icelandic
ig Igbo
id Indonesian
ia Interlingua
ga Irish
it Italian
ja Japanese
jw Javanese
kn Kannada
kk Kazakh
rw Kinyarwanda
rn Kirundi
kg Kongo
ko Korean
kri Krio (Sierra Leone)
ku Kurdish
ckb Kurdish (Soranî)
ky Kyrgyz
lo Laothian
la Latin
lv Latvian
ln Lingala
lt Lithuanian
loz Lozi
lg Luganda
ach Luo
lb Luxembourgish
mk Macedonian
mg Malagasy
ms Malay
ml Malayalam
mt Maltese
mi Maori
mr Marathi
mfe Mauritian Creole
mo Moldavian
mn Mongolian
my Myanmar (Burmese)
sr-ME Montenegrin
ne Nepali
pcm Nigerian Pidgin
nso Northern Sotho
no Norwegian
nn Norwegian (Nynorsk)
oc Occitan
or Oriya
om Oromo
ps Pashto
fa Persian
pl Polish
pt-BR Portuguese (Brazil)
pt Portuguese (Portugal)
pa Punjabi
qu Quechua
ro Romanian
rm Romansh
nyn Runyakitara
ru Russian
sm Samoan
gd Scots Gaelic
sr Serbian
sh Serbo-Croatian
st Sesotho
tn Setswana
crs Seychellois Creole
sn Shona
sd Sindhi
si Sinhalese
sk Slovak
sl Slovenian
so Somali
es Spanish
es-419 Spanish (Latin American)
su Sundanese
sw Swahili
sv Swedish
tg Tajik
ta Tamil
tt Tatar
te Telugu
th Thai
ti Tigrinya
to Tonga
lua Tshiluba
tum Tumbuka
tr Turkish
tk Turkmen
tw Twi
ug Uighur
uk Ukrainian
ur Urdu
uz Uzbek
vi Vietnamese
cy Welsh
wo Wolof
xh Xhosa
yi Yiddish
yo Yoruba
zu Zulu
Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:11,680 June 6, 1944. 2 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:16,920 As Germans and Soviets fight fiercely in Eastern Europe, the Allies launch their 3 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:24,560 attack on Hitler-occupied France. In a few hours they manage to take over the beaches 4 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:32,200 and by the end of the day thousands of soldiers have disembarked. But the story doesn't end there. 5 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:36,360 In the coming weeks there would be one of the toughest battles of the entire war 6 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:42,160 for control of France. And the Germans, despite fighting 7 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:46,720 the Soviets in the east, were able to mount a more than respectable defense 8 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:52,520 in the French countryside. This is the story of the German defeat in 9 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:59,920 France after the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris around 1944. 10 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:18,040 During the day of June 6, the allies managed to take the beaches of Normandy and disembark 11 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:23,480 about 160 thousand by the end of the day. soldiers, who are preparing to liberate France from German occupation 12 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:29,920 . Canadians, Americans, English, Australians, Poles and others 13 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:35,880 are ready to march towards Paris with an overwhelming superiority of resources. 14 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:40,720 The Germans now face a massive landing, although the high command still 15 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:47,360 believes that Normandy is a farce, and that the main attack would come through the Pas de Calais. 16 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:52,440 In the afternoon hours of June 6, and in the face of countless demands from von Rundstedt, 17 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,960 the high command released the two panzer divisions that had been held for more than 10 hours 18 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:03,520 in the Paris area. These are the 12 SS and the Lehr panzer, which arrive on the 19 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:09,120 coast between June 7 and 9, when it is too late to turn the invasion around. 20 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:16,400 With this delay the Germans lose the only chance to stop the Allied attack. 21 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:21,160 Initial Allied plans aim to capture Saint-Lô, 22 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:26,440 Caen and Bayú on the first day. They are not available. But the beachheads are 23 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:32,960 established. There are almost 100 km of front and the casualties are less than expected. 24 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:39,520 Once Caen and Bayeux are occupied, the Allied objective is to establish themselves between the Loire and the Seine. Take 25 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:46,760 Cherbourg and Brest, then liberate Paris and the rest of France, then march towards Germany. 26 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:52,800 Given the success of Normandy, Yosef Stalin sent a congratulatory telegram to Winston Churchill: 27 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:57,800 “Hitler, who boasted for two years that he would force the English Channel, 28 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,640 was unable to bring himself to even hint that he would try to carry out 29 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:09,120 his threat. History will record this fact as an achievement of the highest order.” 30 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:09,320 Stalin sarcastically refers to the frustrated “Operation Sea Lion” planned by Hitler to invade the British Isles and frustrated by the defeat in the Air Battle of Britain. 31 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:14,000 Returning to the front, the Americans target the port of Cherbourg 32 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:20,000 on the Cotentin Peninsula, located northeast of Utah and Omaha. For this mission, 33 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:26,200 two elite North American divisions had been parachuted in. The 101st led 34 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:33,113 by Maxwell Taylor and the 82nd led by Matthew Ridway, both of enormous caliber. 35 00:03:33,113 --> 00:03:33,308 Ridway, about 10 years later, will be the commander in chief of the US army in the Korean War. Taylor, on the other hand, will be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and also the main 36 00:03:33,308 --> 00:03:38,000 military advisor to President John Kennedy in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The capture of Cherbourg is a key and difficult objective from the beginning. 37 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,600 General Matthew Ridway sums up the spirit in one sentence: 38 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:46,320 “You never give up gained ground.” 39 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:51,240 The British, Canadians and other allies focus on taking the city of Caen, 40 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:57,280 across from Sword, Gold and Juno beaches. For June 7, Normandy, which was a 41 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:03,480 dream place since the Middle Ages, is about to become a nightmare place. 42 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:09,000 The Allies launch “Operation Perch” to surround and take the city of Caen. But they do not 43 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:17,000 succeed due to fierce German resistance. The allied attempt fails 3 times. The obstacle 44 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:23,240 is none other than the 12th Panzer Division HitlerJugend of the Waffen SS, with its four 45 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:29,720 H variant panzer tanks, which have 75 millimeter guns. The HitlerJugend troops, 46 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:38,040 made up of young people of 17 or 18 years old, fight with fanaticism and ferocity. They are the toughest troops 47 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:43,000 that the allies face in France and at the time of their withdrawal the casualties would reach 60%. 48 00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:48,680 Lieutenant Walter Kruger of the 12th Division comments on the sentiment of: 49 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:53,520 “Absolute confidence in victory from start to finish. They had received 50 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:59,640 proper training. “They had an absolute sense of order and discipline.” 51 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:06,280 The 21st Panzer Division also participates, whose commander in chief is the Obergruppenführer or 52 00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:13,320 general of the Waffen SS, Sepp Dietrich. Dietrich was, along with Paul Hausser, the highest- 53 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:19,880 ranking officer within the Waffen SS, having fought in Poland, Holland, France, Greece and the 54 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:27,560 Russian front. Without a doubt, extensive experience that is worth a lot when fighting with numerical inferiority. 55 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:32,600 The Germans considered the Caen area the base of their position in Normandy and were 56 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:37,280 determined to maintain a defensive arc from the English Channel to the western bank 57 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:46,200 of the River Orne. Within the 21st panzer division, the 503rd heavy panzer battalion had its place, 58 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:53,000 composed among others of 10 King Taigers weighing 69 tons. These beasts could withstand 59 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,280 fire from any Allied tank and had an outstanding range of more than 60 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:03,800 2 and a half kilometers thanks to their 88 millimeter cannon. Movements, 61 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:09,040 however, were not his forte due to his low speed of 38 kilometers per hour on the 62 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:14,600 road and 20 in the open field. Due to this and the Allied air superiority, 63 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:20,720 position changes were usually carried out at night when it was more difficult to be seen. 64 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,760 Faced with stiff resistance from the panzer divisions, 65 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:28,280 the British bombed the city, destroying 70% of it and causing the 66 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:35,040 death of 400 civilians. In addition to lives and property, irrecoverable artistic treasures are lost. 67 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:42,560 The battle for Caen would take several British operations to win, with Operation 68 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:49,560 Godwud being the last of all, which occurred on July 18. In this operation the Germans sold 69 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:55,920 their retreat very dearly, causing between 4,000 and 5,000 casualties for the Allies and between 200 and 400 70 00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:03,080 tanks out of action. The Germans would lose around 100 tanks and about 2 thousand soldiers. 71 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:08,080 Despite having a preponderant force and air superiority, British progress 72 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:13,520 ended up being slow and disorderly and ultimately failed to break the front forcefully. 73 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:19,920 Caen would finally fall on July 20, but not in the way the Allies expected. 74 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:25,680 From the Allied side, General Patton questions Montgomery: 75 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:29,640 “Monty has been too slow in attacking and thus has allowed 76 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:36,040 the Germans to consolidate in fixed positions and have had time to bring in reinforcements.” 77 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:41,600 Churchill himself is worried. He believes that if there is not a rapid breakup of the 78 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:47,600 front it will take a year to reach the Seine and the Rhine. He is sincere with Supreme Commander Eisenhower, 79 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:52,000 telling him: “You only have to express your dissatisfaction with any 80 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,320 British officer regardless of his rank for "He is 81 00:07:55,320 --> 00:08:03,200 relieved of his position." Monty is included, or Churchill refers to him specifically. 82 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:08,200 From the German side, the arrival of reinforcements to Normandy, as General Heinz 83 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:13,560 Guderian states, is practically impossible. Allied bombing and resistance sabotage 84 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:19,800 have blocked access to the region. The delays are endless. 85 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:23,280 Once again, Rommel's theory of keeping panzer divisions 86 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,440 close to the coast demonstrates its strong support. 87 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,560 With the gradual advance of the allies, little by little there would begin to be cases 88 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:36,039 of rape of French women and also robberies on public roads. The 89 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:40,039 American soldiers sometimes drank too much and attacked 90 00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:44,920 the French women or attacked the French by stealing objects from them. 91 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:49,640 The American military courts installed on French territory would try 92 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:56,720 139 soldiers for rape. Of them, 68 were sentenced to life imprisonment 93 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:02,520 and 22 to the death penalty, but many other victims never filed a complaint. 94 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,720 General Eisenhower himself ordered that the executions be public, 95 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:12,680 at the scene and with the assistance of the victims, relatives and neighbors. He thus sought 96 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:18,800 to calm the wave of protests that began to flood the press of the time. Despite this, 97 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:23,400 in German territory the violations by the United States would continue and reach 98 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:29,480 eleven thousand according to researcher Robert Lily. On the eastern side, the Soviets 99 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:34,360 would rape at least a million German women as they moved deeper into 100 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:42,520 in German territory. East Prussia, Silesia, Pomerania and Berlin would bear the brunt. 101 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:48,760 On the German side, around June 10, the “Oradour Massacre” took place. This was German retaliation 102 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:55,720 for the murder of an officer by the resistance. In it, the SS Das 103 00:09:55,720 --> 00:10:02,600 Reich division burned the town of Oradour, killing 600 people. Faced with this event, Rommel complains 104 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:08,480 to Hitler but the Führer's response is blunt: “Don't get involved in that. Resisting the 105 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:15,720 invasion is your only job.” The distance between Rommel and Hitler was beginning to become evident. 106 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:19,360 The Germans would have similar actions in several other towns, 107 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:24,400 also including mass shootings in other parts of France. 108 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:30,920 By June 11, five days before the invasion, Rommel sees the worst coming. He tells Admiral 109 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:35,760 Friederich Ruge: “Even if the British dominate us, it is better to end the war 110 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:42,360 now than to see Germany completely ruined. “I know Hitler and he will not commit suicide as long as there is 111 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:48,960 one house left standing in Germany, without caring in the least about the German people.” 112 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:53,720 The next day Rommel informed his superiors: “ 113 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:59,400 Our enemy's ground power is growing at a speed much faster than our reserves to reach the front. 114 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,200 Our operations in Normandy will be made exceptionally difficult, 115 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:07,720 and even particularly impossible, by the overwhelming superiority of the 116 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:12,840 Allied air forces and the effects of heavy naval artillery. 117 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:19,560 Sergeant Helmut Gunther of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division sees it his way: 118 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:22,280 “We no longer expected to achieve total victory, 119 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:27,320 but we still had an absolute sense of loyalty. In Russia we had fought 120 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:33,440 men against men. “We knew that in Normandy it would be men against machines.” 121 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:37,560 That June 12, 122 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:38,080 the head of the 12th Panzer Division HitlerJugend of the Waffen SS that does so much work in 123 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,685 Caen, Brigandeführer (or brigadier general) Fritz Witt, dies from fire from an English ship. 124 00:11:41,685 --> 00:11:42,677 Witt's superior, Waffen SS General Sepp Dietrich, confesses: “One of the best is 125 00:11:42,677 --> 00:11:47,560 gone. Witt was a great soldier who could not survive long.” 126 00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:55,040 Replacing Witt comes the young 33-year-old Brigandeführer Kurt Meyer. Nicknamed “panzer Meyer”, he is 127 00:11:55,040 --> 00:12:00,480 the youngest to hold that rank and upon assuming office he is already famous among his troops and also his enemies, 128 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:06,520 for his exploits in France, Greece and Russia. Meyer is a convinced National Socialist, 129 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:11,480 and has a very risky combat style, always being close to danger and leading 130 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:17,360 by example. Upon assuming command of the Hitler division, Jugend comments: 131 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:24,800 “I have received the order to defend Caen. Our men are 17 or 18 years old, weeks ago 132 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:31,560 they had entered combat with fresh and flourishing faces. But now their muddy hooves 133 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:40,360 cast a shadow on their faces, whose eyes have looked into another world. They stagger sleepily with 134 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:46,520 ammunition strips around their necks. We all know that the fight will end with death or being 135 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:57,160 captured. But no one is willing to stop fighting, we will continue fighting for our country.” 136 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:02,320 The fanatical 12th SS division led by Meyer would continue fighting in France 137 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:07,360 until it was reduced to a group of just over a thousand men. Meyer himself 138 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:12,880 would be captured in September 1944 and as a prisoner of war would declare: 139 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:17,280 “You will hear many things against Adolf Hitler in this camp, but never from my 140 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:25,320 mouth. As far as I'm concerned, it was and remains the best thing that happened to Germany.” 141 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:30,760 By mid-June, the Allies use the artificial concrete ports built at 142 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:37,440 Churchill's initiative. Nicknamed Mulberry, it is a feat of engineering. Cement blocks 143 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:42,960 that are driven to their location and sunk. These allow thousands of 144 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:48,160 men and tons to be unloaded every day to swell the allied army. 145 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,040 On those same dates, General Dietrich of 146 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:55,600 the Waffen SS confesses to his superior Marshal Rommel that: 147 00:13:55,600 --> 00:14:01,400 “I am bleeding to death and I am getting nowhere. We need another eight or ten divisions 148 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:08,480 in a day or two, or we will be finished.” Just a few days later and as we already reported, 149 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:12,960 the divisions of the first SS corps under Dietrich withdrew from Caen 150 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:19,680 on June 20, handing the city over to the British after a month and a half of fighting. 151 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:24,640 As if the situation in the West were not enough, the largest operation of the Red Army was about to take place on the Russian front 152 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:31,200 . Around June 22, just 16 days after D-Day, 153 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:36,760 Stalin launches Operation Bagration in central Belarus. This 154 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:41,840 attack composed of 2 million Soviet soldiers devastates the central German army, 155 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:51,440 generating 400 thousand casualties in a month and a half. The Wehrmacht will never recover from this catastrophe. 156 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:57,520 That June 22, when Bagration begins, the Americans attack the city of Cherbourg, 157 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:02,400 at the tip of the Contentin peninsula. The German defenses are prepared for 158 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:07,800 an attack from the sea, but not from land. Delays in the campaign lead Eisenhower 159 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:12,920 to say angrily: “There are times I wish I had George Patton there.” 160 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,760 The terrain is more complicated for the advance of armor and infantry 161 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:21,760 through the French “Bocage” terrain. Plots separated by dense hedges that 162 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:27,800 are very characteristic of the Norman landscape. The difficulties would be repeated on the route to Paris, 163 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:34,400 but not only for the allies. Also for the German troops in their retreat. 164 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:38,880 US General James Gavin explains the regulated topography, and 165 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:44,480 in particular the access to Cherbourg, very clearly: “None of us had 166 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:50,320 really anticipated the difficulties it would entail. Those enormous walls of earth, lushly covered 167 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:55,840 with trees and bushes, that bordered each field were impenetrable for battle tanks; 168 00:15:55,840 --> 00:16:03,400 each was a natural fortified line. On the Cotentin peninsula, the difficulties 169 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:07,640 of the terrain were aggravated by large areas of wetlands equally impassable 170 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:13,560 for armored vehicles, which were thus restricted to roads.” 171 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:18,480 By June 26, with German armor bogged down in the fighting for Caen, 172 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:22,200 Cherbourg finally falls. The port is occupied on 173 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:27,720 July 1st but is destroyed and will not be used until September. 174 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,800 Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the High Command, 175 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:34,200 calls Marshal von Rundstedt and this conversation takes place: 176 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:38,400 Keitel exclaims in despair: “And what are we going to do now?” 177 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:45,480 Rundstedt replies: “Call for peace, idiots. What else can they do now.” 178 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:50,960 Following this incident, the aristocratic Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, nicknamed "the last Prussian", 179 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:55,560 who privately refers to the Führer as "that Bohemian corporal", is replaced as head 180 00:16:55,560 --> 00:17:02,440 of the Western Front by Field Marshal Günter von Kluge, recently arrived from the Russian front. 181 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:08,079 On June 28, Rommel is recalled to Berlin at the Führer's request. Hitler 182 00:17:08,079 --> 00:17:13,359 wants to motivate him to continue resisting. The Desert Fox, on the other hand, 183 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:17,519 once again presents with crudeness and his usual honesty the reality on the 184 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:23,480 front and the need to evaluate an armistice with the allies. He even (and in reference to 185 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:28,840 Dietrich) tells Himmler to ask his Waffen SS officers their opinion. 186 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:33,760 Hitler's response to the proposal is icy and unexpected. 187 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:39,080 -Rommel: “Mein Führer, I must speak bluntly. “I can’t leave here 188 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:41,831 without talking about the issue of Germany.” (refers to peace with the allies) 189 00:17:41,831 --> 00:17:46,080 -Hitler: “You didn't come here to talk about politics, Marshal” 190 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:49,840 Given Rommel's respectful insistence, the response is unexpected. 191 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:56,760 -Hitler: “Please leave the room. I think it will be better this way.” 192 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:58,840 That would be the last meeting between the two. 193 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:01,160 July 6, 1944: 194 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:07,080 On the morning of July 6, General Patton escorted by 4 P47 Thunderbolt fighters heads 195 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:12,840 by plane to France. He lands in “Omaha”, and cannot help but stand up in the jeep that 196 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:18,760 is going to pick him up to go see Eisenhower and Bradley. He addresses some words to the soldiers present that 197 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:25,120 become iconic: “I feel proud to be here to fight at your side. Now, 198 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:30,600 let's cut the crap out of those Germans and get the hell out of Berlin! And when 199 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:35,920 we get to Berlin, I'm going to shoot that son of a bitch wallpaperer myself.” 200 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:39,840 The applause and excitement are general. Patton 201 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:45,040 will assume control of the US Third Army in early August. 202 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:49,320 From the German side, things look very bleak by mid-August. 203 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:54,760 Rommel obsessed with the destruction of Germany and the advance of the Soviet hordes, 204 00:18:54,760 --> 00:19:00,480 He sounds out officers at the front about an armistice with the Western Allies. 205 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:04,080 His personal aide-de-camp Captain Helmuth Lang declares that 206 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,680 even General Sepp Dietrich at the front shares his opinion: 207 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:13,680 “You are the boss Herr Marshal. “I will only obey you, whatever you are proposing.” 208 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:20,040 But on July 17, the Allied aircraft accidentally attacked Rommel's car in a bombing raid. 209 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:26,320 He is seriously injured and miraculously survives. Rommel, despite his wounds, prepared a 210 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:31,240 complete report for his new Chief of the Western Front, Marshal von Kluge, in which, 211 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:37,200 among other things, he pointed out that: “Our aviation has hardly taken part in the combat. 212 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:42,200 Our troops fight heroically but the end of this battle leaves no doubt.” 213 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:47,000 Von Kluge makes his own assessment of the situation and sends it to Hitler: 214 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:51,280 “After long discussions with the responsible leaders of the various fronts, 215 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:57,120 in particular with the SS leaders, I have come to the conclusion that, unfortunately, 216 00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:02,560 Marshal Rommel had reason. There is absolutely no possibility of 217 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:09,080 conducting a battle facing such a powerful air force without giving ground.” 218 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:16,520 Precisely what Hitler does not accept under any circumstances. Withdrawals or surrenders. 219 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:21,840 On July 19, the town of Saint Lu is liberated after almost 50 days of 220 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:29,920 fighting. 95% of the city is destroyed and 500 of its 12,000 inhabitants die. For the 221 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:39,000 allies it is a bittersweet victory. Between dead, wounded and missing, the casualties reach 1,200. 222 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:44,960 The next day, July 20, 1944, a powerful bomb explodes in 223 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:52,360 the conference room of the Führer headquarters in East Prussia. Hitler 224 00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:58,600 is meeting with his generals and was waiting for Mussolini that afternoon. Miraculously, 225 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:02,240 he emerges unscathed from the explosion. Just after the explosion, 226 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:07,920 Keitel discovers that Hitler, with his clothes torn, survived the attack; As soon 227 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:14,760 as he got up, she embraced him, exclaiming: "Mein Führer, he's alive, he's alive!" 228 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:21,200 But this is not just another attack. It is Operation Valkyrie, a civil-military plot with wide 229 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:26,640 ramifications in the Army commands. The plan contemplates the assassination of Hitler, 230 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:30,200 and the mobilization of the reserve army to seize power and 231 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:34,040 neutralize Heinrich Himmler's SS. 232 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:38,400 The bomb had been planted by Colonel Claus von Stauffemberg. 233 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,080 Those involved reach all levels of the army and all 234 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:48,560 fronts. And in particular that of Normandy. No less than 7,000 civilians and soldiers are 235 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:53,800 arrested by the Gestapo. Among them the Chief of Army Intelligence, 236 00:21:53,800 --> 00:22:00,320 Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, the Military Commander of Belgium, Baron Alexander von Falkenhausen, 237 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:05,360 the Chief of the General Staff, General Franz Halder, the Head of the General Office of the 238 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:09,960 Army and the General Friederich Olbricht, among them von Stauffemberg. 239 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:16,720 Marshal Erwin von Witzleben, destined to be Chief of the Army, is arrested and sentenced 240 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:22,680 to death. Upon hearing his sentence he told the trial prosecutor Roland Freisler: 241 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:27,760 “You can hand us over to the executioner, but within three months the people, disgusted and vexed, 242 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:34,680 will ask you to account and drag all of you through the filth of the streets.” 243 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:39,360 The ramifications of the plot against Hitler arrive like a blow to the Normandy front. 244 00:22:39,360 --> 00:22:45,560 Rommel knows of the plot from his Chief of Staff, General Hans Speidel, and is willing to 245 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:51,800 collaborate with the new government. But he does not agree to participate, above all he is a loyal soldier. 246 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,800 In the case of von Kluge he is more involved than Rommel. 247 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,480 His Chief of Intelligence Colonel Rudolf von Gerdsorff is arrested 248 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:03,680 and his Chief of Staff General Gunther Blumentritt is implicated. 249 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:07,560 Von Kluge and Rommel are finally forced to swallow a 250 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:16,229 cyanide capsule. Von Kluge on August 19 and Rommel on October 14, 1944. 251 00:23:16,229 --> 00:23:16,400 Both Chiefs of Staff survive. In the case of Speidel, after the war, he would become Supreme Commander of the NATO Land Forces between 1957 and 1963. 252 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:21,000 Returning to the front, once the Contentin peninsula was taken at the end of July, 253 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:23,400 the allies launched Operation Cobra, 254 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:29,840 with the objective of overtaking the German troops retreating from Caen on the southern flank. 255 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:35,080 Along these lines, Patton would lead the Third US Army. 256 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:40,520 Patton's choice is Eisenhower's and he takes it in England a month before the landing. 257 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:46,960 Bradley was previously Patton's subordinate in Africa and Sicily, but is now his superior. 258 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:54,440 They are two opposite personalities. Patton is self-centered, arrogant and impulsive. Bradley 259 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:58,440 has a very low profile and is completely professional. 260 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:02,880 Bradley sees the situation this way: "This is an opportunity that a commander 261 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:08,320 encounters less than once every hundred years. We are about to destroy a 262 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:13,680 hostile army almost in its entirety and advance from here to the German border." 263 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:18,120 To optimize His advance, the meticulous Patton studies 264 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:22,920 William the Conqueror's conquest of Normandy . He says in his memoirs: “I read 265 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:27,760 Freeman's “The Conquest of Normandy” paying attention to the roads used in Normandy and Brittany.” 266 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:34,760 In August 1944, the United States Army advances through the 267 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:39,760 Brittany peninsula with the aim of taking Brest with its important port. 268 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:44,680 The battle of Brest is one of the toughest of the Norman campaign. The city 269 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:50,120 is besieged by the VIII. Army Corps. The German paratroopers put up a 270 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:57,520 tough resistance. They fought house to house. The city would surrender only on September 19, 271 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:02,000 resisting more than Paris. The allies paid another high cost, 272 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:09,680 some 4,000 dead and 38,000 wounded. German prisoners. 273 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:15,000 After this Allied advance, Marshal Von Kluge asks Hitler for permission to withdraw, but 274 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:21,680 in exchange he receives a direct order to counterattack. The Führer orders a desperate counterattack (under 275 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:26,440 the name Operation Lüttich) to contain the Allied advance 276 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:31,680 . Hitler irrationally demands that all available panzer units cooperate in 277 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,320 a concentrated attack aimed at recapturing the Cotentin Peninsula 278 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:39,680 and cutting off the resupply of American forces in the province of Brittany. 279 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:46,520 According to operations officer Bodo Zimmerman, Von Kluge knew "very well that carrying out this 280 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:52,320 order meant the collapse of the Normandy front", but his doubts were ignored. 281 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:56,520 Kluge suggested that there was no chance of success and that the German forces in 282 00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:02,640 Normandy should withdraw to the River Seine, pivoting on the intact defenses south of Caen, 283 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:07,960 but on August 4, Hitler categorically ordered the attack to be launched. 284 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:12,040 It demands that eight of the nine panzer divisions in Normandy be used in the 285 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:18,600 attack and that the Luftwaffe commit its entire reserve, including 1,000 fighter aircraft. 286 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:23,800 Although ordered to wait "until all tanks, guns and aircraft were assembled", 287 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:28,240 Kluge and SS General Paul Hausser decide to attack as soon as possible, 288 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,720 before the overall situation deteriorated further. 289 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:38,000 Instead of eight panzer divisions, only four (and one of them incomplete) could 290 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,120 be relieved of their defensive duties and assembled in time with a total of 291 00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:48,560 300 tanks. These were the 2nd SS Panzer Division and part of the first, 292 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:54,800 along with the 2nd Panzer Division and the 116th Panzer Division of the Army. 293 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,560 The Panzer Corps was supported by two 294 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:04,000 Infantry Divisions and five Kampfgruppen, formed from the remains of other units. 295 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:09,480 The intention was to attack the US 30th Infantry Division east of Mortain, 296 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:14,240 then break through American defenses to reach the coast. 297 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,800 Had surprise been achieved, the attack might well have been successful, 298 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:23,160 but Allied code-breakers had intercepted and deciphered the orders for 299 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:30,160 Operation Lüttich on 4 August, thus managing to warn of the attack in the early hours. 300 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:35,440 At the beginning of the operation, the Germans manage to capture the town of Mortain, while the 301 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:40,280 2nd Panzer Division attacks several hours later, heading southwest towards Avranches. 302 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:46,840 It manages to penetrate several kilometers into the American lines, before being stopped by 303 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:53,520 the 35th Infantry Division and a commando of the 3rd Armored Division just 3 km from Avranches. 304 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:58,840 After these events, by noon the morning fog had dispersed 305 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:02,680 and a large number of Allied aircraft appeared over the battlefield. 306 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:07,320 The Luftwaffe reports that its fighters are attacked by Allied aircraft from the 307 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:12,560 moment they take off and cannot even reach the battlefield. 308 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:17,720 With this, the Germans give orders to go on the defensive along the entire front, 309 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,680 but poorly communicated orders make this impossible to achieve, 310 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:26,240 with some forces withdrawing and others holding their position. 311 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:31,840 By August 13 and after 5 days of fighting, the offensive had completely stopped and the 312 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:38,120 German forces had been expelled from Mortain. The Germans had lost 313 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:44,520 120 tanks and assault guns to Allied counterattacks and air raids. 314 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,480 Hitler, already suspicious of Kluge's involvement 315 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:53,040 in Valkyrie, relieves him and appoints Marshal Walter Model as his replacement. 316 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:57,360 After defeating the German counterattack, the allies gained momentum and launched 317 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:01,840 Operation Tractable to take the town of Falés and surround the German forces that 318 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:07,040 were retreating as best they could. The Canadians and Poles attack from the North towards 319 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:12,600 the South, forming one arm of the pincer, and the French and Americans attack from the South, 320 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:16,720 taking the towns of Alenzón and Argentan towards the North. 321 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:23,000 The Falaise gap had closed, catching Marshal Model's forces in the act. However 322 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:28,160 , when the encirclement occurred, the 2nd SS Panzer Corps had begun 323 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:36,080 its counterattack against the Polish forces on Hill 262, to reopen the pocket and escape. 324 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:39,360 With American and Canadian forces facing 325 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:43,640 German counterattacks in their sectors, the Poles had to defend against 326 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:48,480 two veteran panzer divisions to keep the gap closed. 327 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:55,560 On the morning of August 20, the 2nd SS Das Reich Division and the 9th SS Hohenstaufen Panzer Division 328 00:29:55,560 --> 00:30:03,240 attacked the Polish positions on Hill 262. The ridge of Mont Ormel, with its commanding view 329 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:08,880 of the area, was the only escape route. which was still open to the Germans. 330 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:14,000 The Poles managed to repel two German attacks, suffering heavy casualties and expending 331 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:19,840 almost all their ammunition. As an example, a German tank, positioned northeast 332 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:25,320 of Mont Ormel, managed to destroy five Yerman tanks in just two minutes. 333 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:27,680 But despite being overwhelmed by counterattacks, 334 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:33,280 the Polish forces continued to hold the high ground on Mont Ormel, which they referred to 335 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:39,200 as the "Mace", inflicting heavy casualties on the German forces through artillery fire. 336 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:43,680 After many hours, the Germans managed to isolate the ridge and force the opening of 337 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,362 a narrow corridor. But lacking the combat power to close the corridor, 338 00:30:46,362 --> 00:30:46,520 the Poles directed constant and accurate artillery fire against German units retreating from the pocket, causing heavy casualties. 339 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:50,960 The next day, less intense attacks continued until noon, 340 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:54,520 when the last German attempt to overrun the position was defeated 341 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:59,880 at close range. After this, the Poles were relieved by the 342 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:05,600 Canadian grenadiers shortly after noon. Their resistance had ensured the closure 343 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:09,040 of the Falaise pocket and the collapse of the German position in Normandy. 344 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:17,240 In the fighting around Hill 262, the Germans lost 2,000 men killed, 345 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:25,600 5,000 prisoners, 55 tanks, 152 more armored vehicles, and 44 guns. 346 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,880 After the stock market closed definitively, the Wehrmacht 347 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:34,680 in France had largely collapsed. The Lehr Panzer Division and the 9th SS Panzer Division 348 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:42,160 existed in name only. The 12th SS Panzer Division had lost 94 percent of its 349 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:49,120 armor and almost all of its field guns. 500 tanks are destroyed and some 40,000 to 350 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:55,800 50,000 men are taken prisoner, for whom the war ends on August 21. 351 00:31:55,800 --> 00:32:01,280 Despite this and due to the effort to endure the siege and then try to 352 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:05,880 escape from it, some 100,000 German soldiers managed to escape from it, 353 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:10,960 which would generate serious criticism of General Montgomery for not closing the pocket forcefully before 354 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:18,240 . By the end of August, by any analysis, the German defense in France had already 355 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:27,040 been defeated and the failed counterattack ordered by Hitler had contributed to this. 356 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:30,600 On those dates, Operation PLUTO is already taking place. 357 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:35,520 which consists of the construction of a 130 kilometer pipeline under the English Channel 358 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:40,480 from the Isle of Wight to Cherbourg to bring fuel to the Allied Army. 359 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,920 Through this energy route, almost 800 million liters of fuel 360 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:49,040 are supplied to the Western allied forces. 361 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:54,280 By mid-August, the Allies also carry out a landing in southern France, 362 00:32:54,280 --> 00:33:00,760 Operation “Dragoon”. 100,000 men land on the coast of Provence near Nice. 363 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:05,560 About 2,000 ships participate and the objective is to occupy the ports of Marseille and Toulon, 364 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:11,240 and then link up with Overlord's troops. It is the final blow for the Axis forces in 365 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:17,000 France, which are already thinking about a defense behind the border of Belgium and Germany. 366 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:22,000 After the landings in the south, the French Resistance rises up against the Germans in 367 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:27,440 Paris. It is not a priority for the allies but Eisenhower makes the decision to help 368 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:32,720 the Resistance. The Americans fear a bloody fight like the one they saw in Brest, 369 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:38,000 Caen or Cherbourg. But in a city of 4 million inhabitants and with an 370 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:43,000 unmatched cultural treasure, entering the city is a danger. 371 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:48,240 Because of this, they plan to overtake the city, advance to Germany and have Paris surrender 372 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:55,400 without a street fight. The plan is carried out by General Patton without any major problems. 373 00:33:55,400 --> 00:34:00,240 Desperate, Hitler wrote an urgent cable to General Dietrich von Choltitz 374 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:04,960 who was governor of Paris: "Paris must not fall into the hands of the enemy except as a 375 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:11,800 field of ruins." The general with great courage ignores the message and pays no attention. 376 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:16,960 At that time great generals and marshals were being arrested and executed for the 377 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:22,719 July 20 plot. Furthermore, Choltitz has a wife and three children in Germany, 378 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:30,479 but that does not change him. his decision. Under his command, beautiful Paris would not be destroyed. 379 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:36,600 By August 24, Eisenhower was liberated at the request of French General 380 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:42,560 De Gaulle, who was already thinking about the post-war period, allowing French troops to enter Paris first. 381 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:47,320 Under the command of General Leclerc, the second armored division takes the main 382 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:52,560 points and arrests the German general von Choltitz. But within this group, 383 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:59,160 there is also a group of 150 Spaniards who enter the Parisian city before anyone else. 384 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:04,760 of General Franco, his tanks nicknamed “Madrid, Santander or Guernica” 385 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:11,480 travel along the Elysées Avenue. A member of said group named Manuel Fernández comments: 386 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:15,720 “We were volunteers for the defense of freedom, which Franco took from us, 387 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:19,760 always with the. “I thought that this would lead us to cross the Pyrenees and return 388 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:26,920 freedom to Spain, but it was not to be.” Paris is liberated with the French and Spanish 389 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:32,080 at the helm, saving itself from the fire planned by Hitler who had already sent a 390 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:38,960 detailed list of bridges, museums and even the Eiffel Tower to be destroyed. Intrigued by the 391 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:43,920 fate of his plan, the führer often asked. : “Is Paris burning?” 392 00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:50,080 But General Dietrich von Choltitz does not obey and surrenders that same day, signing the capitulation. 393 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:57,640 Less than 3 months before D-Day, Vichy France is dead, and General de Gaulle's France. But 394 00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:05,880 why does von Choltitz disobey Hitler and not burn Paris? His attitude is the product of his 395 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:11,800 last personal meeting with the Führer a few days before. On August 6, he is summoned to the 396 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:17,520 Wolf's Lair in East Prussia before taking over as commander. of the Reich in the Paris region. 397 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:22,480 Until then he had faith in the Fuhrer and had even murdered Jews in the east. 398 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:28,440 But the image he gets of Hitler that afternoon is demoralizing: 399 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:32,400 “An old, stooped and flabby man . , with thinning gray hair: 400 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:36,160 a trembling and physically broken human being. 401 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:39,920 As Hitler ranted about the perfidy of the generals' 402 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:45,920 July 20 plot to kill him, I witnessed the terrible eruption of a hate-filled mind. 403 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:50,560 He spoke in bloodthirsty language with foam literally coming out of his mouth. 404 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:55,440 Sweat ran down his face as he spoke enthusiastically about the hanging 405 00:36:55,440 --> 00:37:01,960 of the generals. I saw in front of me someone who had lost his mind. 406 00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:06,000 The fact that the life of our nation was in the hands of a crazy being who no longer 407 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:14,160 "I couldn't judge the situation or I wasn't willing to really see it, it depressed me immensely." 408 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:19,680 Hitler was clearly no longer in his right mind, and Choltitz as he comments decided to save Paris at the 409 00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:25,240 risk of being executed along with his entire family. After being captured by the Allies, 410 00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:30,880 Choltitz always presented himself, not only as the “savior of Paris,” but as a 411 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:36,680 convinced anti-Nazi despite having acknowledged atrocious crimes. Once in captivity in England 412 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:42,040 he would confess: “The worst task I carried out, although I carried it out with great efficiency, 413 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:49,200 was the liquidation of the Jews. I carried out that order down to the smallest detail.” Despite this, 414 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:57,720 Choltitz would never be taken to a war tribunal and would die in 1966. 415 00:37:57,720 --> 00:38:03,400 With the liberation of Paris, the writer Ernest Hemingway returned and wrote in 1944: 416 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:09,920 ”I had a feeling of suffocation in my throat. I put together the glasses because there now, below us, 417 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:16,440 gray and always beautiful, stretched the city that I love most in the entire world.” 418 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:21,120 After the fall of Paris, the allies would continue advancing, with Montgomery to the 419 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:27,600 north through Belgium and Holland and Patton to the center as the main protagonists. There would still 420 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:32,560 be 8 long months of fighting before the end of the war in Europe. 421 00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:36,000 On the other side of the front, the Soviet Union was pressing 422 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:43,720 forcefully with an army of more than 6 million soldiers. By the end of 1944, 423 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:47,760 the Soviets were already capturing Warsaw and approaching the 424 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:53,880 German border. Stalin's troops would arrive first in Berlin and achieve the German surrender on 425 00:38:53,880 --> 00:39:01,080 May 7, 1945 unconditionally, definitively ending National Socialism. 426 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:06,200 The Allied landing in Normandy had not only served to accelerate Hitler's fall and to 427 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:11,360 save numerous Soviet and German lives. But it allowed 428 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:16,720 the Americans and British to recover France, Belgium and Holland, which otherwise 429 00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:21,560 would have fallen into the hands of the Soviet Union, as happened with half of Germany, 430 00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:31,000 Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland, which from 1945 would be of socialist regime. 49026

Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.