Von Choltitz, an army general, was the German military commander of
Paris, France, when it was attacked by American and French forces in
1944. When it became obvious that the Germans could no longer hold
Paris, von Choltitz was ordered by
Adolf Hitler to destroy as much of the
city as he could rather than let it fall intact into Allied hands.
However, von Choltitz could not bring himself to do so, and against
Hitler's orders surrendered the city--intact--and its garrison to the
Allied army.