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Execution of Pietro Koch, Nazi collaborator, June 1945

Execution of Pietro Koch, Nazi collaborator, June 1945


Official caption: Koch, who deserted the Italian Army to aid the German SS, is tied to the death chair with his back to the firing squad. He is neatly dressed in a light tan suit. Near Rome, Italy. June 1945

1. Receiving last rites

2-3. Tied to the chair

4. Dead

5. Burning the chair

About 2.2 million troops fought against the axis before France fell in 1940. After that, the Free French Army fought on the allies' side. In 1944 there were about 400 000 free french troops (many of them, around one third or perhaps more, were from France's colonial empire, but in some divisions colonial troops made up to two thirds of the total force). By the end of the war, the size of the FFA had risen to 1.3 million, making it the fourth largest allied force. Concerning the french forces of the interior (FFI, or "the resistance"), it's hard to give a definite figure, but 400 000 by 1944 is a common estimate.

Compare these numbers to 300 000 soldiers in the Vichy army at its height, and to the roughly 10 000 men who served in the SS.

Sources: François Marcot, La Résistance et les Français : lutte armée et maquis,

Jean-François Muracciole, La France pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale: De la défaite à la Libération,

Sumner, Ian. The French Army 1939–45

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