Klaus Barbie

German Nazi war criminal, known as the Butcher of Lyon. Head of the Gestapo from 1942 to 1944, he went on trial in France on 11 May 1987, unrepentant and proud of his service with the Nazis during World War II. Convicted of "crimes against humanity," and sentenced to life imprisonment, the notorious Barbie died of cancer on 25 September 1991 in Lyon, France.

The son of a school teacher, Barbie was born in the village of Bad Godesberg, near Bonn, Germany. While completing his studies at the Friedrich-Wilhelm Institute, he became a member of Hitler’s youth brigades. The year after receiving his degree in 1934, he joined the Security Service, a special branch of the SS under Himmler, the head of the Gestapo. In 1937 Barbie became a member of the Nazi party.

After noteworthy service in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Barbie was made chief of the Gestapo, Department Four, in Lyon, France in 1942, which became the scene of his most horrible crimes. A dedicated sadist who personally tortured those prisoners who came under his interrogation, Barbie was charged with ordering the arrest and torture of the French Resistance leader, Jean Moulin, which resulted in Moulin’s death.

Barbie was also responsible for arranging the capture of 44 Jewish children and their five teachers, which ultimately resulted in their deportation to the Auschwitz extermination camp. Hitler himself awarded Barbie the "First Class Iron Cross with Swords" in recognition of his cruel, merciless treatment of the French partisans and the Jewish people.

When the war ended, Barbie escaped capture and went underground. Although wanted by the authorities in France, he was quickly recruited by the American Intelligence Service, which wanted to make use of his special "police skills" and his extreme zeal against anti-Communists.