November 11, 1940: German troops have dimmed the lights of Paris. But 200 students assemble at the Sorbonne University for their traditional march to the tomb of the unknown soldier under the Arc de Triomphe—their annual hommage to their dead. None of the 200 reach the Arch. Nazi soldiers and French collaborators fire on them. The survivors are deported to concentration camps. A few escape. The Nazis rule Paris . . .

November 11, 1948: German Nazis no longer rule Paris. The Federal Union of War Veterans, the Federation of Former Slave Labourers, the combined associations of Resistance Fighters—these and other groups gather to march in their annual salute to those who died in the wars of France . . .