During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Balard shooting range (''stand de tir de Balard'') was the site of Nazi torture and executions. It disappeared with the construction of the Boulevard périphérique de Paris.

Location

It was situated on the training area at

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cath ...

(now situated with Paris in the 15e arrondissement). The Air Ministry now occupies the site, and it also forms part of the parc

Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (; 24 May 1899 – 4 July 1938) was a French tennis player. She was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926, winning eight Grand Slam titles in singles and twenty-one in total. She was also a four-time World ...

situated on the old héliport de Paris, opened in 1957. It was bounded by the quai d’Issy, the boulevard Victor, the rue de la porte d’Issy in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

15ème, and by the , the , the boulevard Gambetta and the boulevard Gallieni in

. It was here that the first French attempts at powered flight occurred in 1905, which in 1911 accidentally killed Maurice Berteaux, minister for war.

History

200m and 50m firing ranges were created here in 1938 for police training, and taken over by the German Geheime Feld Polizei (GFP) after the defeat of France in the 1940

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

Victims

The first massacre occurred on 6 July 1942, with the Kommando für Kapital Verbrechen charged with "managing" the firing range, on the orders of Karl Oberg, chief of SS and police. 143 people were tortured then shot here, including : *The five lycéens of the

lycée Buffon The Lycée Buffon is a secondary school in the XVe arrondissement of Paris, bordered by boulevard Pasteur, the rue de Vaugirard and the rue de Staël. Its nearest métro station is Pasteur. It is named for Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buf ...

, *Robert Beck's network *French members of the

Francs-Tireurs et Partisans The ''Francs-tireurs et partisans français'' (FTPF), or commonly the ''Francs-tireurs et partisans'' (FTP), was an armed resistance organization created by leaders of the French Communist Party during World War II (1939–45). The communist p ...

*Members of the colonial

FTP-MOI The Francs-tireurs et partisans – main-d'œuvre immigrée (FTP-MOI) were a sub-group of the '' Francs-tireurs et partisans'' (FTP) organization, a component of the French Resistance. A wing composed mostly of foreigners, the MOI maintained an a ...

*Some

Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle wi ...

s *Unidentified arrested under the

Nacht und Nebel ''Nacht und Nebel'' (German: ), meaning Night and Fog, was a directive issued by Adolf Hitler on 7 December 1941 targeting political activists and resistance "helpers" in the territories occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II, who were to ...

decree A plaque commemorating the names of the 143 people executed here was unveiled on 23 April 1961 on the wall of the air ministry (BA 117) on the range's exact site.

Filmography

* The stand de tir de Balard appears in some scenes of

Jean-Pierre Melville Jean-Pierre Melville (; born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973) was a French filmmaker and actor. Among his films are '' Le Silence de la mer'' (1949), '' Bob le flambeur'' (1956), ''Le Doulos'' (1962), '' Le Samouraï'' (1 ...

's film '' Army of Shadows'', 'played' by the firing range at the

Satory Satory is an area south of Versailles in France. It is mostly known for its military camp, housing: * Weapon-testing facilities of Nexter Systems * Barracks and facilities for Gendarmerie including the GIGN headquarters and the Mobile Ge ...

military camp.

External links

Document edited on the Ville de Paris site
by Adam Rayski

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balard Shooting Range Vichy France French Resistance