As soon as they entered Paris in June 1940, the Germans hurried to raise the Nazi flag on the Eiffel Tower. As a symbol of the conquest of Paris, a photo of Hitler in front of the tower was widely distributed by Nazi propaganda. On 25 August 1944, while Paris had not yet been liberated and street fighting was raging around the Ecole Militaire, Paris firefighters raised the tricolour flag to the top of the tower. A flag made in secret by firemen’s wives from white sheets sewn together and dyed blue and red. A plaque on the third floor of the Eiffel Tower recalls the episode and pays tribute to the Paris firefighters.