History 52'

Hitler and Paris, the untold story

23 June 1940: following France's defeat by Nazi Germany, Hitler makes a whirlwind visit to Paris. As a failed architect, he had always dreamed of discovering this city as a simple tourist.

His visits to the Opera, the Concorde, the Champs-Élysées and the Trocadéro amazed and impressed him. He even calls this day "the greatest and most beautiful moment of my life". For if Hitler despised the French, he was strangely fascinated by their capital, the source of inspiration for his project Germania, the future capital of the world, which was supposed to surpass Paris.

Thanks to the large number of archive footage available, this film follows Hitler step by step as he crosses Paris, and reveals the dictator's ambiguous relationship with the City of Light, between fascination and repulsion.

Direction: Juliette Desbois

Production: CAPA for RMC Découverte

Languages: French, English

Watch the film

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