The liberation of Nice took place on August 28, 1944, following an armed insurrection decided by the Resistance. At the beginning of the day on August 28, the insurgents were only about a hundred, but by the end of the day, the scale of the uprising forced the German occupier to evacuate the city. The Allies were unaware of the insurrection and thus did not aid the insurgents. Warned by the Resistance, a few American soldiers arrived from Saint-Laurent-du-Var on the evening of August 29. An American armored column finally arrived on August 30, 1944. Nice was definitively liberated.
After fierce fighting in the city center, all the strategic positions fell into the hands of the Resistance. Unable to contain the Nice insurgents, the German demolition experts blew up the port of Nice and the lighthouse, and then sank several ships at dock. The next day, Nice was free.
A few months later, on April 9, 1945, in a speech delivered on Place Masséna in front of 100,000 jubilant people, General de Gaulle said: “Nice liberated, Nice proud, Nice glorious! Nice never gave up on itself, nor gave up on France.”
Nice is celebrating the 77th anniversary of its Liberation with the traditional Circuit of Remembrance starting at 8 a.m., a journey through Nice visiting the commemorative plaques of the Nice Resistance fighters who fell under enemy fire (with the participation of children from the Leisure Centers of the City of Nice who performed the Marseillaise and the Song of the Partisans).
A commemorative ceremony, attended by officials, was held at the Monument to the Dead in the morning.
A concert took place in the late afternoon on the forecourt of the Raoul Mille Library.
Finally, this day of tribute to the liberation of Nice concluded with a fireworks display in the evening.
