en: vincent-pascucci: chapter-7: c: 7 title: "Liberation; Exchange of prisoners" subtitles: sequence-1: s: 1 from: "00:00:00,20" to: "00:00:07,27" text: "Nanterre was liberated on the following day, August 21st, 1944." sequence-2: s: 2 from: "00:00:07,27" to: "00:00:19,10" text: "The German officers all left for Mont Valérien, the only place they felt safe." sequence-3: s: 3 from: "00:00:19,10" to: "00:00:22,10" text: ~ sequence-4: s: 4 from: "00:00:22,10" to: "00:00:30,02" text: "The Liberation Committee was installed." sequence-5: s: 5 from: "00:00:30,02" to: "00:00:40,08" text: ~ sequence-6: s: 6 from: "00:00:40,08" to: "00:00:52,26" text: "Mont Valérien is a fort from the time before the Paris Commune." sequence-7: s: 7 from: "00:00:52,26" to: "00:00:55,13" text: ~ sequence-8: s: 8 from: "00:00:55,13" to: "00:01:09,03" text: "There the resistance fighters were shot. Each time the resistance attacked the German troops." sequence-9: s: 9 from: "00:01:09,03" to: "00:01:24,16" text: "General Stüplinen ordered for every killed German, one hundred resistance fighters should be executed." sequence-10: s: 10 from: "00:01:24,16" to: "00:01:42,05" text: "We identified 1015 corpses of people who had been shot between 1941 and 1944." sequence-11: s: 11 from: "00:01:42,05" to: "00:01:43,18" text: ~ sequence-12: s: 12 from: "00:01:43,18" to: "00:01:47,08" text: "It was an execution place." sequence-13: s: 13 from: "00:01:47,08" to: "00:01:58,00" text: ~ sequence-14: s: 14 from: "00:01:58,00" to: "00:02:12,14" text: "The Germans couldn’t move anymore, as all the streets leading there were barricaded by the resistance." sequence-15: s: 15 from: "00:02:12,14" to: "00:02:26,15" text: "Some Germans were in the Paris water works. They had intended to blow up the water basins, but they were caught." sequence-16: s: 16 from: "00:02:26,15" to: "00:02:34,15" text: "So there was a prisoner exchange between those Germans" sequence-17: s: 17 from: "00:02:34,15" to: "00:02:43,06" text: "and the last prisoners the Germans had taken, and had no nerve to shoot." sequence-18: s: 18 from: "00:02:43,06" to: "00:02:49,19" text: "That is how we found out exactly what had happened to Louis Meunier." sequence-19: s: 19 from: "00:02:49,19" to: "00:03:00,09" text: "Back to the Nazis in Mont Valérien: They refused to give themselves up to the resistance." sequence-20: s: 20 from: "00:03:00,09" to: "00:03:09,05" text: "One of them said they would only give themselves up to the regular army." sequence-21: s: 21 from: "00:03:09,05" to: "00:03:17,12" text: "Our commander went to see Colonel Rémy from the Leclerc Division," sequence-22: s: 22 from: "00:03:17,12" to: "00:03:24,25" text: "who had been quarantined in the Bois de Boulogne with his brigade." sequence-23: s: 23 from: "00:03:24,25" to: "00:03:31,21" text: "Colonel Rémy went up to the fort and they gave themselves in." sequence-24: s: 24 from: "00:03:31,21" to: "00:03:33,16" text: ~ sequence-25: s: 25 from: "00:03:33,16" to: "00:03:40,04" text: "I didn’t have much time to enjoy the liberation." sequence-26: s: 26 from: "00:03:40,04" to: "00:03:48,25" text: "During the transition period, I was responsible for the security of Raymond Barbet," sequence-27: s: 27 from: "00:03:48,25" to: "00:03:55,22" text: "who was responsible for the resistance of the railroad workers." sequence-28: s: 28 from: "00:03:55,22" to: "00:04:08,06" text: "He had organized the insurrection-strike of the railroad workers on August 10th, 1944, sparking the nation-wide insurrection." sequence-29: s: 29 from: "00:04:08,06" to: "00:04:21,20" text: "I was responsible for his safety, as still collaborators and other dangers were lurking." sequence-30: s: 30 from: "00:04:21,20" to: "00:04:23,03" text: ~ sequence-31: s: 31 from: "00:04:23,03" to: "00:04:37,25" text: "I myself went up to the fort on August 28th, August 29th." sequence-32: s: 32 from: "00:04:37,25" to: "00:04:39,15" text: ~ sequence-33: s: 33 from: "00:04:39,15" to: "00:04:43,23" text: "We were organized militarily" sequence-34: s: 34 from: "00:04:43,23" to: "00:05:00,21" text: "and I had obtained the rank of lieutenant in the resistance and was given a section of 50 resistance fighters." sequence-35: s: 35 from: "00:05:00,21" to: "00:05:06,05" text: "We called it the Louis Meunier section in his memory." sequence-36: s: 36 from: "00:05:06,05" to: "00:05:13,29" text: ~ sequence-37: s: 37 from: "00:05:13,29" to: "00:05:20,01" text: "What I felt at the liberation? Well, a lot of joy!" sequence-38: s: 38 from: "00:05:20,01" to: "00:05:24,21" text: "It was like a big party." sequence-39: s: 39 from: "00:05:24,21" to: "00:05:36,10" text: "Even those who hadn’t done anything or maybe taken advantage of the situation now called themselves resistance fighters." sequence-40: s: 40 from: "00:05:36,10" to: "00:05:49,29" text: "It was a huge joy to have liberated France, even though it wasn’t quite over." sequence-41: s: 41 from: "00:05:49,29" to: "00:05:52,12" text: ~ sequence-42: s: 42 from: "00:05:52,12" to: "00:06:05,29" text: "Alsace-Lorraine was still occupied; there was still the submarine basis in the enclave of La Rochelle." sequence-43: s: 43 from: "00:06:05,29" to: "00:06:10,26" text: ~ sequence-44: s: 44 from: "00:06:10,26" to: "00:06:15,07" text: "But really it was liberation." sequence-45: s: 45 from: "00:06:15,07" to: "00:06:21,04" text: ~ sequence-46: s: 46 from: "00:06:21,04" to: "00:06:30,18" text: "We had the satisfaction of saying that we had won." sequence-47: s: 47 from: "00:06:30,18" to: "00:06:42,20" text: "Not all of the comrades that had been in the group with us joined the army afterwards." sequence-48: s: 48 from: "00:06:42,20" to: "00:06:52,13" text: "But we had committed ourselves through the entire war." sequence-49: s: 49 from: "00:06:52,13" to: "00:06:58,05" text: ~ sequence-50: s: 50 from: "00:06:58,05" to: "00:07:06,24" text: "I continued because I wanted to avenge Louis. At his funeral we had sworn that we would avenge him." sequence-51: s: 51 from: "00:07:06,24" to: "00:07:15,27" text: "That meant to fight the Nazis until the end."