By Mark Schulte
Wednesday, 24 September 2025 04:33 PM EDT
Ambassador Charles Kushner’s recent open letter to French President Emmanuel Macron criticized the French leader for failing to address rising antisemitism in France following the Islamic genocidal attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Published in The Wall Street Journal on Aug. 25, the letter noted the significance of the “81st anniversary of the Allied Liberation of Paris,” a date marking the city’s liberation by Allied forces in 1944.
The liberation of Paris on August 25, 1944, was achieved primarily by the French Second Armored Division and U.S. 4th Infantry Division. While British and Canadian troops fought during the Normandy Campaign between June 6 and Aug. 25, 1944, they remained stalled by German forces 50 miles west of Paris on Liberation Day, as evidenced by historical military maps.
Ambassador Kushner’s critique pales in comparison to the misinformation spread by Gen. Charles De Gaulle during a pivotal speech in Paris on that day. The Free French leader falsely claimed that Paris was “liberated by itself, liberated by its people with the help of the French armies.” This assertion ignores two critical facts:
1. There were no “French armies” fighting in France in 1944, as Germany held up to two million French POWs between 1940 and 1945, many captured during the Nazi blitzkrieg across northern France and its Atlantic coast in 1940.
2. Only Gen. Philippe Leclerc’s Second Armored Division—equipped with 38 Allied divisions—fought in the summer of 1944. These included 22 American, 12 British, three Canadian, and one Polish division.
Of the approximately 230,000 Allied casualties in the Normandy Campaign, 135,000 were Americans, including 29,000 killed. The UK suffered 65,000 casualties, with 11,000 deaths, while Canada incurred 18,000 casualties, including 5,000 fatalities. France reported roughly 1,000 casualties in two weeks of combat.
Leclerc’s Second Armored Division did not land in Normandy until Aug. 1, nearly two months after D-Day. On that day, Gen. George Patton’s Fourth and Sixth Armored divisions spearheaded the breakout from Normandy through Avranches, as shown on official U.S. Army maps.
By August 1944, American forces had liberated not only Normandy but also Brittany, the Land of the Loire, the Central Loire Valley, and the Isle of France. Meanwhile, De Gaulle’s claims about “French armies” and “anonymous allies” overlooked the overwhelming role of U.S. troops.
On Aug. 22, 1944, six American divisions stood at Paris’ outskirts, prompting Gen. Dwight Eisenhower to abandon plans to bypass the city after meeting with De Gaulle. The decision was critical: leaving a German-occupied Paris in Allied rear areas or allowing its destruction, as seen in Warsaw that month, risked further chaos.
De Gaulle’s errors extended to his August 25 speech, where he falsely claimed French forces had “freed” the country with minimal aid. His narrative ignored the U.S.-led Operation Dragoon, which saw American troops storm ashore on Aug. 15, 1944, advancing 70 miles up the Rhone Valley by late August.
By mid-September 1944, these American divisions had pushed 450 miles from the French Riviera to Germany’s southwest border near Mulhouse.
The article underscores the need for historical accuracy, emphasizing that approximately 90% of France was liberated in 1944 by Allied forces, particularly Americans. Mark Schulte, a retired New York City schoolteacher and mathematician, has written extensively on science and history.
