In early June 1940 it became clear for Charles de Gaulle and Paul Reynaud that the invasion of Paris was imminent and that fighting for their capital would only delay the inevitable fall of the city. With the city's suburbs already being targeted by the Luftwaffe and fearing to see their historical Capital ending up like Warsaw, which had resisted German invasion in 1939 and ended up heavily destroyed, they made the decision to abandon the city and go South. Their decision left Paris open for the Germans, avoided the great loss of cultural heritage and spared thousands of civilians and military lives.
Millions of people across France were also heading South or West in an attempt to escape German occupation. Paris was no exception, with abandoned cars, empty stores and apartments. A great motivator for the exodus of the local population were fears of massive air raids. How many people left Paris is uncertain but it could be as high as two thirds of the population. Roads became so crowded that the remnants of the French Army had difficulty moving across the country amongst the mass of refugees.
German troops eventually walked into Paris on June 14th 1940.
A known lover of Art and Architecture, Adolf Hitler was pleased and excited to visit Paris himself, even more than when he had visited the fallen Warsaw. Paris was a city he had been reading about since his younger days at Vienna and Munich, even before his fighting in WWI and his involvement with politics. In that triumphant moment for the German Reich, he was not only a conqueror but also a tourist. With that mentality, he formed an entourage composed of not only Military men but also people he deemed would share his appreciation for the City of Lights and its beauties. People like his architect Albert Speer, whom he expected to inspire in his plans for the rebuilding of Berlin, and the sculptor Arno Breker.
On 23 June, Hitler and his entourage left the battle headquarters at Brûly-de-Peche, also known to the Nazis as Wolfsschlucht I, near the Fench-Belgium border at around 3:30 a.m, landed at 5:00 a.m North-East of Paris and entered the city before 6:00 a.m. The Führer had pragmatic reasons for visiting Paris at such early hours. He wanted to keep interactions and contact with locals to a minimum as to reduce the risk of an attempt on his life, to facilitate his movement through the empty streets and to avoid creating any kind of drama by him being there. He proceeded with visiting multiple landmarks, didn't stop to eat or rest and was on his way back to the airfield two and half hours after he entered the city, finally taking off around 9:00 a.m. In that way, the ruler of Nazi Germany managed to visit the conquered city virtually unnoticed.
To summarize, when Adolf Hitler visited Paris in 1940 he didn't concerned himself with setting up a huge security detail because of the following reasons:
His visit was unannounced;
The population of Paris had vastly left the city in fear of air raids and trying to avoid being under German occupation;
Hitler arrived and left within two and a half hours.
His visit occurred before the majority of Paris residents left their houses.
For these reasons, the risk of an attempt on his life was minimal.
Sources and further reading:
Carruthers, B. (2015). Hitlers propaganda pilgrimage.
Kershaw, I. (2010). Hitler.
Hoffmann, P. (2000). Hitler's personal security.
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