The Paris Commune. The Bloody Week. Wednesday, May 24, 1871. The fighting and fires in Paris continue. The latter are numerous, caused by the incendiary shells of the attacking troops and by the Communards to stop or slow down the enemy advance. The Hôtel de Ville (the central City Hall of Paris) and the police prefecture are burning. The Latin Quarter falls into the hands of the Versailles army and the number of summary executions increases: if the captured Parisian insurgents number more than ten, machine guns are used to execute them on the spot. In retaliation, six hostages held by the Communards are shot, among them the Archbishop of Paris, Georges Darboy. The Parisian resistance also loses control of the Louvre, the Palais-Royal, and the Panthéon. Around noon, Dr. Faneau, responsible for the ambulance set up in the Saint-Sulpice seminary, is executed along with 80 wounded Federates. On the Left Bank, the 13th district resists tenaciously, where the Butte-aux-Cailles, under the command of Walery Wroblewski, with 16 cannons faces more than 80 Versailles cannons scattered on the highest points already conquered: Panthéon, Montagne Sainte Geneviève, Montsouris, place d'Enfer. Fighting is hand-to-hand and with bayonets.
