Ritz Hotel Paris 1939-1946

[lucchesa]

Hi, I am a professor doing research on the Occupation and particularly the Ritz Hotel Paris during the war. I've hunted down everything I can think of in the National Archives Berlin, Paris, London, Washington and have exhausted obvious secondary sources, and at this point it's just needle in haystack work, but basically I am interested in anything--however minor--about the Ritz in Paris during those years. If anyone has any ideas, remembers an odd detail, etc. I'd love to hear about it. Especially interested in connections to anyone whose relatives might have stayed at the Ritz before/during the war and might have recollections, memorabilia, photos etc. Know it's kind of an open-ended question here, but would really appreciate anything that comes to mind from the experts out there!

[Humfrey]

HR&IM Dr Otto von Habsburg rightful Emperor of Austria Hungary dined with an American journalist at the Ritz on the night before Axis forces entered Paris as an act of defiance. He escaped the next morning. At the time he was under sentence of death by the Nazis. He later sailed to the USA.

[FortWorthGuy]

Did not Coco Channel live at the Ritz during the war? And have an SS lover? You should have some great stories about this!

[Humfrey]

What you need is the hotel register/guest list for 1940 in particular showing who were staying in what rooms before and after occupation, and another list of residents immediately before and following liberation. Does the register survive and have you been in direct contact with the hotel and/or surviving staff?

[Humfrey]

I have contacted the Ritz with a request for this information. I shall let you know what I find out.

[lucchesa]

Hello again, thanks for the responses. Yes, Coco did live at the Ritz during the war with a German lover--Hans von Dincklage. But finding out more about him has been tricky, because there's some suggestion (unsubstantiated as far as I know, but occasionally published) that he was working in British intelligence. I have found a guest list from 1942, but I haven't been able to locate such lists in any of the major national archives. The Prefecture of Police in Paris tell me that they existed until the 1970s and then were destroyed in their archives. So the only source would likely be the Ritz, and I haven't made any headway in getting access to whatever archives they might have. If you have any luck, please do let me know, as you're right--those registers are exactly what are needed. But my assumption at this point is that I won't get access to those, if they exist; so if anyone has any further leads (and thanks for the one re: Otto von Hapsburg, which I didn't know about and will follow up on) about other ways to learn what was happening at the Ritz during the Occupation, much appreciated.

[Humfrey]

The clue may be in the 'von' - Take a look at a list of those caught up in the aftermath of the 20 July Plot and see all the 'vons' and the prefix count. The aristocracy were not generally keen on the Nazis.

[lucchesa]

Thanks--good point.

[randwick]

.
Ernest Hemingway , then a war correspondent , freed the wine cellar of the Ritz armed with a pistol and threw a party
while some shooting was still going on

[Hautpoul]

Like many other parisian hotels, the Ritz hotel doesn't like to talk about the WWII period. They are not very proud to have been Luftwafe headquarters (Ritz), Kommandantur (Meurice) or Abwehr headquarters (Lutetia) during WWII and to find internal archives is very difficult.

[randwick]

.
The Parisian brothels had so many German customers that they got closed after the war as payback
the underworld also was collaborating closely with the German for all sorts of traffic
and some Gestapo auxiliary tasks
the same gangsters preyed later on U.S. supply with gusto , including scarce gasoline from the "red ball express"
supply line
to be fair , some gangster were good French and ended up in Dachau camp ,
one of them Jo Atias ,taught a weedy young political how to survive by keeping pride
the young man eventually became justice minister and went to visit his old friend , locked up at the "sante "prison for carrying on in his old ways .

[collabo-searcher]

Dear Luchessa,
I have a lot of well-documented information about the Ritz Hotel in WW2 Paris. Please contact me at [email protected]
Yours, Alan Marty

[lebel]

[quote="randwick"].
The Parisian brothels had so many German customers that they got closed after the war as payback
/quote]
Yes , the most famous , where Elite congregated , was the " i22" at 122 rue de Provence ( 9è )
If this " bordel " was closed after war ,like other brothels , that was not a payback ............but in accordance with anti prostitution law , la Loi " Marthe Richard " of 1946

[randwick]

.
Marthe Richard was a stainless steel patriot decorated for her spying effort during WW1
her name and reputation was used to close down an allowed institution , the French brothels ,
they were tolerated since the 1888 laws on the perfectly acceptable ground that it provided some safety for the women
and the police had a quite tight grip on the going on , it was a rich source of information
street canvassing was strictly forbidden , the women had an health card , medical visits were compulsory
a brothel had to check their women were up to date with the health checks or suffer the consequences

much to the chagrin of the U.S. troops this comfort was removed ,
I persist in affirming there was a vengeful streak in the law , superficial morality is hardly a French characteristic
most of the member of parliament would have used those services
as a consequence , as could be foreseen , the women were forced to work in the street

[Humfrey]

Hello Luchessa. Any more news? I'd really like to see the 1942 guest list.