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Klaus Barbie

German SS officer, head of the Gestapo in Lyon and convicted war criminal (1913-1991) · Germany · Historical Figures · Died at 77 · also Bolivia

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Head of the Gestapo in Lyon during World War II, he tortured Jews and Resistance members with such brutality that the label "Butcher of Lyon" stuck. After the war, U.S. intelligence smuggled him to Bolivia rather than let France try him - a decision that took four decades to undo.

Historical FiguresOtherGermanyEurope20th Century

A life in dates

1991Died25 September 19911987“I admire you, but in the end everybody talks.”In their words23 March 1987To Lise Lesevre during interrogation, from the Saturday, March 23, 1987 issue of "The Philadelphia Inquirer"

1984“If I think of all those homosexuals in Germany today, I think I'd hand my German passport back, if I had one.”In their wordsQuoted in "Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyons" - Page 23 - by Tom Bower - Biography & Autobiography - 1984

“Don't worry. Your friends are dead and you are going to join them.”In their wordsTo Blandon from "Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyons" - Page 63 - by Tom Bower - Biography & Autobiography - 1984

1983“Perhaps you think that any fool could become a member of the SS. Do you really know what an SS soldier is? He is a superman. He is a professional chosen personally by Hitler.”In their wordsQuoted in "The Butcher of Lyon: The Story of Infamous Nazi Klaus Barbie" - Page 140 - by Brendan Murphy - History - 1983

1913Born25 October 1913

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Klaus BarbieKlaus BarbieAltmann LimaAltmann LimaExposition Mémoires d'un procès, Klaus Barbie 1987Exposition Mémoires d'un procès, Klaus Barbie 1987Gedenktafel Schloßstr 1 (Charl) Schloss NachbarnGedenktafel Schloßstr 1 (Charl) Schloss NachbarnJacques Vergès et Klaus Barbie lors de son procès. Lyon 1987 (dessin de Calvi)Jacques Vergès et Klaus Barbie lors de son procès. Lyon 1987 (dessin de Calvi)Klaus Altmann El ComercioKlaus Altmann El ComercioKlaus Altmann Plaza San Martín 01Klaus Altmann Plaza San Martín 01Klaus Barbie in uniformKlaus Barbie in uniform

In their own words 6

,
Klaus Barbie
,
6 statements, newest first

  1. I admire you, but in the end everybody talks.

    Mar 23, 1987, To Lise Lesevre during interrogation, from the Saturday, March 23, 1987 issue of "The Philadelphia Inquirer", Own words

  2. If I think of all those homosexuals in Germany today, I think I'd hand my German passport back, if I had one.

    1984, Quoted in "Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyons" - Page 23 - by Tom Bower - Biography & Autobiography - 1984, Own words

  3. Don't worry. Your friends are dead and you are going to join them.

    1984, To Blandon from "Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyons" - Page 63 - by Tom Bower - Biography & Autobiography - 1984, Own words

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Awards

Iron Cross
War Merit Cross

About this person

Born Niklaus Barbie on 25 October 1913, he rose through the Schutzstaffel and Sicherheitsdienst to command the Gestapo in Lyon, where he personally administered torture to prisoners. When the war ended, American counterintelligence recruited him for anti-communist work and helped him escape to Bolivia, evading French arrest warrants and death sentences issued in absentia in 1947 and 1954. In Bolivia he advised the dictatorship on suppression tactics and was later recruited by West German intelligence; he is suspected of involvement in the 1980 coup by Luis García Meza. Discovered in 1972, he remained protected until the regime fell. Extradited to France in 1983, he was convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life - capital punishment having been abolished two years earlier. He died of cancer in his Lyon prison cell on 25 September 1991, at seventy-seven.

Country
Germany
Category
Historical Figures
Type
Historical Figure
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1913 to 1991 · aged 77

Historical Figures from Germany 6

Christian IX of Denmark64.2Albert, Prince Consort63.8Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz64.2Friedrich Paulus63.0Ludwig II of Bavaria64.2Dietrich von Choltitz62.3

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