German French cooperation 1943 policy and propaganda - Molin Rouge Cabaret - Allied bombing in Paris

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Episode 126

This exquisite private footage was taken by a German soldier in occupied Paris in 1943. What makes it special is the footage taken at the famous Molin Rouge during an exotic show which is extremely rare.

In this first video in a series covering the German occupation of France we’ll look at primary source historical material showing propaganda which was used to try to influence the French population.

If you like this kind of content please go ahead and like the video and subscribe to the channel. At the end of the video we’ll see more from the Molin Rouge show so stick around, it’s worth it.

Paris was considered the city of high fashion and sophistication. With the hardships that German soldiers fighting in other theaters were experiencing, especially the Eastern Front, those that were stationed in France were thought to have hit the jackpot.

The dates of that Molin Rouge show were April to June which was just a few months after the German surrender of Stalingrad occured. The soldiers that had survived certainly weren’t watching shows of scantily clad women.

With Albert Speer in charge of the Reich’s armament industry since February of 1942 a heavier focus was put upon arms production in the occupied territories. In response the Allies began bombing the most important industrial zones trying to minimize collateral damage but French casualties were inevitable. The German propaganda took advantage of this. Here we see a newspaper reporting on damage done by allied bombing.

This early 1944 French newsreel was produced by Vichy France which was officially independent but in reality had adopted a policy of collaboration with Nazi Germany. It shows a devastated region stating that allied air bandits were the responsible. With propaganda of this type destroyed churches, schools and other non-military targets are often shown to demonstrate the barbarity of the enemy.

Here in this 1944 German footage we see British and American POWs being paraded through Paris with the French population being allowed to berate and even to a certain extent physically abuse them.

This encouraged mob mentality of civilians was also not uncommon, with scenes of German soldiers for example being paraded through Moscow. On the eastern front these scenes could go much further and develop into full murderous pogroms which also was sometimes filmed. Difficult to watch this film footage is especially historically important.

This is footage from another collection from 1942. I’d be interested in knowing if th salute given by this group of SS in front of the Arc de Triumph was a sign of respect to the monument or to an individual out of the shot. Let me know what you think in the comment section.

Showing open respect to a monument dedicated to Napoleon wouldn’t surprise me. The occupational authorities policies intended to encourage mutual respect in the hope of gaining French cooperation. They were careful for example to give appropriate military honor to the French tomb to the unknown soldier.

Occupation policy came from the German Headquarters that was situated at the Hotel Meurice on Rue de Rivoli.

Anti semitism which had been bubbling up since the French defeat deflected blame for the debacle and became a gateway to collaboration with the Germans. It was a sociopath litmus test which allowed the occupiers to see who could be considered a likely reliable partner.

And now, let’s get back to the show at the Molin Rouge. I’d like to take a moment to thank my patron supporters. Without their help producing these videos would not be possible. Patreon supporters get access to exclusive footage. Open a free account on Military1945.com to see some example footage.