The liberation of Paris 80 years on: courage and cowardice in a city ‘morally disembowelled’ by Nazis

Paris ’44: The Shame and the Glory by Patrick Bishop shows a wartime city divided: while many residents suffered hardship, elite restaurants and brothels did good business A Nazi parade on the Champs-Elysées, Paris, during the city's occupation during World War II. Photo: Albert Harlingue/Roger Viollet via Getty Images The story of the occupation of Paris by the Nazis and its liberation 80 years ago in August 1944 is a tale of courage or ­collaboration or careful equivocation on the part of the city’s residents. From the time the Germans marched into the French capital in 1940, thousands of Parisians were prepared to do the bidding of the invaders.

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