Klaus Altmann has confessed to Bolivian authorities that he is Klaus Barbie, the Gestapo “Butcher of Lyons” who is wanted in France on war crimes charges it was reported here.
The report from La Paz, by Agence France Presse, said that Barbie, alias Altmann was taken into custody because Bolivian authorities feared he might try to leave the country. He faces extradition to France where he has already been tried and sentenced to death in absentia for the murder of a French resistance leader and the deportation of hundreds of Frenchmen, including Jews, to Nazi death camps.
The 59-year-old Barbie was traced to Bolivia a year ago but authorities there refused to extradite him because there is no extradition treaty between Bolivia and France. The Bolivians, however, agreed to reopen the case after a direct appeal by French President Georges Pompidou to President Hugo Banzer of Bolivia.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
