Jean Barbier, one of this country’s last unarrested war criminals, who had been sentenced to death in absentia after France’s liberation following World War II, was arrested in Marseilles today on charges of murdering Jews.
Among the charges are the murder of three Jewish children, the brothers Cohen, whom he threw into the Iser River from a bridge in the center of Grenoble, only a few days before the city was liberated from the German occupationarmy. He is also accused of having per sonally shot 12 Jews whom he had found hiding on the outskirts of Grenoble.
A member of the Gestapo, although a Frenchman, Barbier disappeared after the libera tion, apparently hiding among the retreating Germans. It has been discovered, however, that he returned to Grenoble about 10 years ago, hiding under a false name, and has been living there since.
Satisfaction over his apprehension was expressed here today, especially since, had he been free two years longer, his arrest would have been impossible. The statute of limitation concerning war criminals will go into effect in 1965.
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