The King of Nazi Paris: Henri Lafont and the French Gestapo

Henri Lafont arrived back in Paris after his escape from the prison camp to find the Germans had got there first. Wehrmacht troops paraded down the Champs-Élysées and the swastika flew from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Everywhere were signposts in Gothic German script pointing the way to city landmarks, and sandbags were piled high outside requisitioned buildings. Most Parisians had already fled the metropolis in cars and carts loaded high with furniture. Over at the Hôtel Ritz, waiters were serving poached sole and scalloped eggs to German officers and American war correspondents. Table talk was about the odds of a quick surrender from the British, who were still fighting from across the Channel. It may have looked like defeat for France, but Henri Lafont could smell opportunity. Anyone prepared to work for the Nazis in Paris was about to get the chance to become richer than they could ever have imagined. Book jacket.