Klaus Barbie: The History of the Lyons Butcher

Klaus Barbie was one of the most cruel figures of the Third Reich. His name still gives fear to the inhabitants of France. Notorious for his inhuman crimes, Klaus has often been the focus of media attention. Biography of the executioner has repeatedly lodged the basis of documentary films. Almost for the capture of a war criminal and the subsequent trial, almost the entire world.

Klaus Barbie: Biography

Klaus was born in 1913 in Bonn. He studied at the secondary school. About this period of his life, almost nothing is known. From the memories of some people it follows that in school Klaus was closed and unsociable. For strange behavior was subjected to oppression by peers. In the 30s, the Nazi party is rapidly gaining popularity in Germany. A lot of people who did not find themselves in society and hated its members, willingly join Hitler. In 1934, the NSDAP creates a special guard service - the SS - out of its most ardent supporters. Initially, it was a small group, designed to protect Hitler. However, over time, its numbers increased to several tens of thousands of people. These soldiers obeyed the Fuhrer personally. Before the war began, the strictest selection in the SS ranks took place.

The Second World War

Klaus Barbie diligently carried out all the instructions of the command. Unprincipled and meanness allowed him to quickly climb the career ladder. A few years later he became Haupsturmfuhrer. In 3 years he became a member of the National Socialist Party Adolf Hitler. With the outbreak of the war, he becomes a permanent member of various occupation administrations. After the occupation, the Netherlands is a member of the special committee "on the Jewish question" in The Hague. There he shows such rigidity and composure, which even surprises his colleagues.

Then Klaus Barbie went to Belgium. Here the resistance movement began to gain strength. Partisans from propaganda went to the shares of direct action. They attacked the Nazis and organized sabotage. Therefore, the SS and the Gestapo began to conduct mass anti-guerrilla operations. Barbie was responsible for the resistance from the ranks of the intelligentsia. One of these people was the Austrian writer Jean Amery. He actively participated in propaganda against the Nazis and in every possible way helped the partisans. He was captured in 1943.

Crimes against humanity

At this time, the Nazis turned Fort Breendok into a concentration camp, where Jews and all the disloyal authorities of the people's invaders were brought. Here they brought Ameri. His interrogation was personally handled by Barbie. He subjected the writer to cruel torture and mocked him. The Nazis wanted to find out information about other participants in the resistance, but Klaus mocked the prisoner and just like that.

After the defeat of France, the Nazis created the puppet regime of Vichy in the south of the country, which clearly followed the instructions from Berlin. However, this was not enough. In 1942, the Wehrmacht occupied this part of France. In the autumn, Klaus Barbie goes there to lead the Gestapo in the city of Lyon. For the atrocities committed there, he will later receive the nickname "Lyonsky butcher". Klaus was in charge of the fourth security section. He continued to search for Jews and members of the resistance.

He personally led the mass executions and executions. In addition to statutory duties, he often overtime personally involved in torture against prisoners. From the concentration camps, thousands of people were sent to the death camps. In 1943, the Gestapo caught a prominent participant in the resistance - Jean Moulin. He worked closely with Charles de Gaulle and directed the guerrillas in Lyons and the surrounding area. After the capture, he was handed over to Barbie. Klaus was tortured for five days by the insurgent, after which he sent him to the camp. Due to the injuries received during torture Moulin died on the train.

After the war

In 1945, Klaus returned to Germany. After the fall of the Third Reich, he began to hide. Presumably at this time, the US intelligence services contacted him. Two years after the end of the war, Klaus Barbi appeared in the archive of the agents of the Counterintelligence Corps. Photo of the Nazi at this time was widely published in the press, as the public became aware of the details of violent crimes. Therefore, with the help of Americans, Klaus is sent to Bolivia. There he becomes an adviser to the neo-fascist regime. Helps the dictatorial government to fight the partisans led by Che Guevara.

Catching

In 1980, under a foreign name Klaus is an adviser close to the president of Bolivia. In free France, there were 2 trials in absentia over the Lyons butcher. On the basis of both, the court sentenced Barbie to death. Shortly before his arrest, the Nazi was discovered by journalists "Klarsfeld", who are considered to be "hunters for the Nazis." In 1983, Barbie was handed over to the French authorities. After 4 years, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment. On September 25, 1991, the administration of the Lyons Prison reported that the war criminal Klaus Barbie had died. The Nazi filmography includes several documentaries.