This Day In History: April 17

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On April 17, 1942, French General Henri Giraud, who was captured in 1940, escapes from a castle prison at Konigstein by lowering himself down the castle wall and jumping on board a moving train, which takes him to the French border.

Hitler, outraged, ordered Giraud’s assassination upon being caught, but the French general was able to make it to North Africa via a British submarine. Giraud helped establish the French Committee of National Liberation and played a significant role in the restoration and reformation of the French army, charting his own course toward liberating France from German occupation.