Klaus Barbie, declaring himself “illegally kidnapped and illegally brought to France,” asked the Lyon criminal court Wednesday to be returned to St. Joseph Prison and to be excused from attending the remainder of his trial for crimes against humanity. The request by the former Gestapo chief, known as “the butcher of Lyon,” was granted by the President of the court, Andre Cerdini, despite fierce protests by attorneys for individual plaintiffs as pandemonium broke out in the packed courtroom on the second day of the trial.
Chief Prosecutor Andre Truche raised no objections. He reminded the jury, however, that “Barbie’s victims at the time he used to question them, never had the option to say, as he does today, ‘take me back to my cell, I don’t want to answer questions’.”
But “such is our law and this is a victory of democracy over Nazism,” said Truche.
Yet many observers could not help but see it as a personal triumph for Barbie, at 73 an arrogant, unrepentant Nazi who spoke with pride of his service to the Third Reich, his many decorations, his war wounds and the personal letter of commendation he received from SS Reichfuhrer Heinrich Himmler.
SAYS HE WAS JUST CARRYING OUT ORDERS
As countless other Nazi war criminals before him, Barbie denied he was involved in atrocities and insisted he was just a soldier carrying out the orders of his superiors. He also denied any taint of racism.
Asked by the court President how he felt about Nazi racial theories, he stated: “All this happened over 40 years ago. I worked in the SS under the orders of my superior officers and till war broke out I had nothing to do with the minorities issue and no opportunity to express my opinion.”
As to his attitudes now, Barbie replied, “I harbor no hate toward these minorities. I never did. I don’t know the meaning of hatred.” He mentioned that his first employers when he arrived in Bolivia were “two German Jews.”
BARBIE SURPRISES MANY
Barbie’s performance at the trial surprised many inasmuch as he, rather than his maverick lawyer, Jacques Verges, held the spotlight and provided the only drama of the occasion. He showed a talent for sensing the optimum moment to make his statements. At the opening session of the trial Tuesday, Barbie sat expressionless and seemingly unconcerned for the three hours it took for the court clerk to read the charges against him.
The principal charges are the mass arrests carried out at the Lyon Jewish community center in February 1943, the arrest and deportation of 44 Jewish children from a home in Izieu village near Lyon in April 1944 and the organization of the last convoy of deportees to Auchwitz in August 1944.
When, after the charges were read, the court asked the defendant if he wished to comment, Barbie rose and cried out in an accusatory tone, “After listening to the accusation I feel as if they tried to depict me as some sort of madman, as if I had run amok in Lyon machine-gunning everyone to death, chasing after every Jew.”
EXTOLS NATIONAL SOCIALISM
On Wednesday, questioned with inordinate politeness by Cerdini, Barbie took the opportunity to lecture the court and extol National Socialism, though he spoke harshly of some of the “Nazi bosses” who “wanted power, position and personal wealth.”
“I felt, like many of my SS comrades that the Nazi ideal was betrayed by the Nazi bosses,” said Barbie.
When he was excused from the trial, he ostentatiously held out his hands for the manacles. Surprisingly, he was allowed a brief interview by French television as he was escorted from the courtroom. He reportedly decided to boycott the trial because after consultation with his attorney he was convinced he would be found guilty and sentenced to the maximum penalty, life imprisonment. There was no confirmation of this.
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.
