Ephemeris of August 16 in Paris: Resistance fighters ambushed in the Bois de Boulogne

On August 16, 1944, with the Liberation of Paris well underway, 35 young Resistance fighters from Paris, Chelles and Montfermeil were ambushed by the Germans and shot at the foot of the Bois de Boulogne waterfall.

In the weeks leading up to this tragic event, tens of thousands of French people were engaged in open and widespread resistance, responding to the calls of the National Resistance Council and the Paris Liberation Committee . Their hopes were boosted by news of the landing in Provence on August 15 and thearrival of Allied forces at the gates of the Ile-de-France region.

The insurgency escalated with a general strike by railway workers on August 10, following a call by the underground CGT, closely followed by metalworkers, postal workers, telecommunications workers, then gendarmes on August 13 and Paris police officers on August 15. An insurrectionary general strike took place throughout France.

In such an effervescent climate, groups of resistance fighters set out in search of arms and ammunition, which were in short supply. Among these Resistance fighters, the Jeunes Chrétiens Combattants (Young Christian Fighters ) were particularly active, especially the group from the Saint-Marcel parish in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.

These Jeunes Chrétiens Combattants involve friends from other resistance organizations in Paris and the suburbs in their quest. As a result, the Jeunes de l'Organisation Civile et Militaire, the Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur and the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans agreed to help receive and share the weapons.

However, two agents from the Wehrmacht's intelligence service, the Abwehr, were infiltrated into the network leaders, who had to supply them with arms quickly and in abundance, posing as two British agents.

• To be read
• Ephemeris for August 13 in Paris: Eugène Delacroix's death, rue de Furstemberg
• Ephemeris for August 14th in Paris: Willy Ronis' birth at the foot of the Butte Montmartre
• Ephemeris for August 15 in Paris: Laying the foundation stone of the Arc de Triomphe

On August 16, 1944, the three groups of resistance fighters gathered at three rendezvous points near Porte Maillot. Captured on their way by agents of the SD, the SS intelligence and law enforcement service, and by agents of the French Gestapo, 35 Resistance fighters were taken that evening to the Cascade du Bois de Boulogne and shot. 7 Resistance fighters, members of the FFI, were also shot on August 16, in front of the Gestapo headquarters on rue Leroux in the 16th arrondissement.

On July 6, 1946, a monument was erected on the site where the bodies of the victims were found. The monument bears the 35 names of the martyrs. A commemorative plaque bearing the inscription "Passant, respect ce chêne: il porte les traces de balles qui ont tué nos martyrs" (Passers-by, respect this oak tree: it bears the bullet marks that killed our martyrs) is also affixed to an oak tree bearing the bullet marks that killed the 35 Resistance fighters.