The photograph of Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS and Police, on the French-Swiss border of Verrières-de-Joux, has crossed the ages as much as the name of the sad character it depicts. present. This historical episode is not the most important of the Second World War but it left a strong impression on the minds of the inhabitants of Haut-Doubs at the time.
This happened just some time after the Armistice of June 22, 1940. France was then occupied by the Germans who were enjoying their victory. If Himmler's smiling face was immortalized in this place, it is simply because senior Nazi dignitaries took pleasure in visiting occupied countries. Such as Heinrich Himmler, therefore, Reichsführer-SS of the Third Reich, head of the Gestapo, minister and main instigator of the Final Solution, on July 15, 1940, was on the border between France and Switzerland at Verrières-de-Joux in within the framework of the Burgund project (population displacement plan).
Leaning with other officers on the barrier which marks the Franco-Swiss border at Verrières, he looks ironically at Switzerland and the village of Verrières. His dream then, probably, being to invade this neutral country with his powerful army.
This happened just some time after the Armistice of June 22, 1940. France was then occupied by the Germans who were enjoying their victory. If Himmler's smiling face was immortalized in this place, it is simply because senior Nazi dignitaries took pleasure in visiting occupied countries. Such as Heinrich Himmler, therefore, Reichsführer-SS of the Third Reich, head of the Gestapo, minister and main instigator of the Final Solution, on July 15, 1940, was on the border between France and Switzerland at Verrières-de-Joux in within the framework of the Burgund project (population displacement plan).
Leaning with other officers on the barrier which marks the Franco-Swiss border at Verrières, he looks ironically at Switzerland and the village of Verrières. His dream then, probably, being to invade this neutral country with his powerful army.
From left to right: SS-Hauptsturmführer Joachim "Jochen" Peiper (1. Adjutant Reichsführer-SS), SS-Obergruppenführer Werner Lorenz (Reichskommissar für die Festigung deutschen Volkstums), SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Karl Wolff (Chef des Hauptamtes Persönlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS), SS-Brigadeführer Ulrich Greifelt (Chef des Generalstabes Reichskommissar für die Festigung deutschen Volkstums), Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (Chef der SS und deutschen Polizei), and Oberst Ferdinand Schörner (Führer 6. Gebirgs-Division). The picture was taken on 15 July 1940 at Verrières-de-Joux, on the border between France and Switzerland, during personal inspection by Reichsführer-SS Himmler. In this picture, Himmler is in conversation with the Swiss Border Guard.
Source :
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek photo archive (Image-No.: 50134384)
https://www.ashsm.ch/CMS/fr/item/221-resume-la-suisse-son-service-de-renseignement-et-la-ss
https://www.estrepublicain.fr/societe/2021/01/29/savez-vous-pourquoi-le-chef-de-la-gestapo-s-est-fait-photographier-aux-verrieres-de-joux
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=94182&hilit=ferdinand+sch%C3%B6rner&start=15
https://www.watson.ch/schweiz/wissen/842190908-die-schweiz-im-krieg-diese-alten-fotos-treffen-mitten-ins-herz
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