 After the armistice of 1940 the fort was occupied by German forces.On 7 September Heinrich Himmler reviewed the troops of the 1st SS Division (" Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler") in the fort's "place d'armes".The occasion was the presentation of a new standard to the SS formation, organized for the visit of the "Reichsführer" to Metz at the request of General Sepp Dietrich.