Dietrich von Choltitz " General der Infanterie " Dietrich Hugo Hermann von Choltitz ( 9 November 1894 < nowiki > < / nowiki > – 4 November 1966 ) was the German military governor of Paris during the closing days of the German occupation of that city during World War II . He claimed to have disobeyed Hitler ' s order to leave Paris in rubble during this last stage of the war , although this is disputed . Career . In World War I , von Choltitz served as infantry lieutenant with the Saxon Army on the Western Front . He remained in the Reichswehr during the Weimar Republic , becoming a cavalry captain in 1929 . Later he became commander of the 3rd battalion of the Luftlande - Infanterieregiment 16 , first as a major , and from 1938 as a lieutenant - colonel . In World War II , von Choltitz ' s battalion was engaged in the occupation of Rotterdam via air landings in 1940 ( earning him a Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross ) . In September 1940 he became commander of the whole regiment and from 1941 as a full colonel . In the war against the Soviet Union , von Choltitz ' s regiment was engaged in the siege of the city of Sevastopol in June 1942 . In the same year he became a major - general , and in 1943 a lieutenant - general . His command posts included assistant commander of the 260th Infantry Division and commander of the 48th Panzer Corps . From March 1944 , he served in Italy , and from June 1944 on the Western Front . Later , as an Allied prisoner at Trent Park in England , he admitted in a conversation with fellow prisoners ( recorded by the British unknown to him or his fellow inmates ) to " executing the most difficult order of my life in Russia , ( . . . ) liquidation of the Jews . I have executed this order in its entirety nonetheless . . . " ( recorded on 29 August 1944 ) . Governor of Paris . On 1 August 1944 von Choltitz was promoted to the rank of general of infantry , and on August 7 , he became the military governor of Paris . He arrived at Paris on 9 August . In the following 16 days , he claimed to have disobeyed several direct orders from Adolf Hitler to destroy the city . Hitler ' s order from 23 August said : " The city must not fall into the enemy ' s hand except lying in complete debris . " A common account holds that Hitler phoned him in a rage , screaming , " Brennt Paris ? " ( " Is Paris burning ? " ) [ According to Col . Genl Jodl , Hitler ' s chief of staff , the question " Is Paris burning ? " was apparently addressed to him in the room . He continued : " Jodl , I want to know . . . is Paris burning ? Is Paris burning right now , Jodl ? " Von Choltitz claimed to have prevented a complete uprising of the city ' s inhabitants and direct battles within the city by a mix of active contact with his enemies , negotiation with the Resistance , and demonstrations of power , ultimately preventing any major damage to the famous city . He and 17 , 000 men under his command surrendered to French general Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque and the Resistance leader Henri Rol - Tanguy at the Gare Montparnasse on 25 August 1944 . For preventing a second Stalingrad , von Choltitz was regarded as " saviour of Paris " by some . Captivity and after . He was held for a while at Trent Park in North London , a prison camp for senior German officers . Unbeknownst to the inmates , many of their conversations were recorded . Selected transcripts were dramatized in the 2008 History Channel 5 - part series " The Wehrmacht " . In the episode " The Crimes " , General von Choltitz is quoted as saying in October 1944 : After a spell in Camp Clinton , Mississippi , he was released from Allied captivity in 1947 . In 1956 he quietly revisited his wartime HQ at the Hotel Meurice in Paris . Reportedly the long time head barman of the hotel recognized the short , rotund man with " impossibly correct posture " wandering around the bar as if in a daze . After the manager of the hotel met him in the bar , he asked to see his old room . After seeing his old quarters for no more than fifteen minutes , the old General declined the manager ' s offer of champagne and left the hotel . Dietrich von Choltitz died in November 1966 from a longstanding war illness in the city hospital of Baden - Baden . He was buried at the city cemetery of Baden - Baden in the presence of high - ranking French officers . Baden - Baden was the post - World War II French headquarters in Germany . His Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross was presented and is registered by the " Luftwaffe " - " Personalamt " ( LWA — Air Force Staff Office ) . The " Heerespersonalamt " ( HPA — Army Staff Office ) received an Oak Leaves to his Knight ' s Cross nomination for " Generalmajor " Von Choltitz on 19 January 1943 for his leadership of the XVII . Armee - Korps . The HPA did not approved the nomination on 27 January 1943 .