Undermining the Nazis: Paris' Secret Tunnels
Buildings and architecture
•
51m
On June 14th, 1940, Paris falls under German occupation. Two doctors, Jean Talairach and René Suttel, discover an entrance to the mines of the city. They start a mapping operation of the catacombs in order to help the Resistance and de Gaulle.
How did two young resistance fighters manage to find their bearings in this dark maze? How did they successfully thwart the traps and the alarms set by the Germans?
Risking their lives and driven by the hope of helping the Resistance, they returned night and night, brushing against enemy bunkers. In record time, the two anonymous heroes mapped out over 300 kilometers of galleries. Thanks to them, Colonel Rol-Tanguy, who led the Resistance, was able to establish an underground headquarter under Place Denfert-Rochereau in the heart of Paris.
This human story is partly narrated by Talairach himself, in a moving posthumous testimony, and by René Suttel’s daughter. It features gripping reenactments, historic archives, and unpublished maps drawn by hand. Follow the underground odyssey of two ordinary men who showed extraordinary courage against the backdrop of this great chapter of the history of Paris under the German occupation.
Up Next in Buildings and architecture
-
A Tudor Wonder - Hardwick Hall - with...
A History Hit treat for the holidays, this special new film reveals an extraordinary Tudor life-story and an amazing creation. We meet the extraordinary Bess of Hardwick and go inside the incredible home she built, a spectacular construction in glass and stone that defined the elegance and grande...
-
Bignor Roman Villa
West Sussex has its fair share of stunning Roman sites: Fishbourne Roman Palace, Stane Street, the Novium, the list goes on. But one of the region's star Roman attractions has to be Bignor Roman Villa. Situated deep in the heart of the Sussex countryside Bignor is home to some of the most impress...
-
Britain's Wild West: Discovering Hay ...
The peaceful South Wales town of Hay-on-Wye offers few clues today of its brutal past on a violent frontier. A monument to this history can be found in Hay Castle. Once right on the border between England and Wales, it sits in a region densely packed with castles that saw border skirmishes and bi...