Barbie Is Convicted of War Crimes : Nazi Known as ‘Butcher of Lyon’ Gets Life Sentence

Klaus Barbie, the Nazi Gestapo chief known as the “Butcher of Lyon,” was convicted Friday of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison.

A French court returned the verdict and maximum sentence of life, despite Barbie’s denials during his 8-week trial that he ordered more than 800 Jews and resistance fighters deported to face death or torture in World War II Nazi camps.

Before the jury began its nearly seven hours of deliberations, presiding Judge Andre Cerdini asked Barbie whether he had anything to say in his defense.

Denied Charges

Saying that “the war is over,” Barbie specifically denied ordering the deportation of 44 Jewish children ages 5 to 17 on April 6, 1944, from a farmhouse in the village of Izieu east of Lyon, the most emotionally charged accusation against him.

“I have several words to say in French,” Barbie said in the sweltering courtroom packed with about 800 people.

“I did not authorize the roundup at Izieu,” he said. “I never had the power to decide deportations.

“I fought the resistance, which I respect, with toughness. That was yesterday, and that was the war, and the war is over. Thank you,” he said and sat down.

“Thank you,” Cerdini replied and began reading a list of 341 specific charges for the jurors.

The prosecution demanded the maximum sentence of life in prison. Barbie’s lawyer, Jacques Verges, urged acquittal.

It was Barbie’s first appearance at his trial since June 5. He began a boycott of the proceedings May 13 after protesting what he called his illegal 1983 expulsion from Bolivia to France. He also made an appearance May 26.

France’s Role Cited

Verges, in a bitter 2 1/2-hour attack on France, appealed to the jury to free Barbie as a sign that France has come to grips with the ignoble role it played in its capitulation to Germany and its collaboration with Nazi occupiers.

“In the name of humanity, of law, of right and of France, acquit without delay Klaus Barbie, victim of vengeance,” Verges said.

“France, humanity expects something from you that is an act of age, of truth. Answer no to all the questions that you have been asked,” he said.

Like Barbie, he said the accused “Butcher of Lyon” was not in charge of deportations and did not know that the trains were taking the victims to death camps.

The prosecution said Barbie was fully aware of the destination of the deportees, often telling them, “Where you are going is worse than death.”

Verges challenged the testimony of several of the 105 witnesses, many of whom have watched the trial from the front rows of the spectators’ seats.

One man yelled, “He’s lying,” and a woman, Simone La Grange, stood up to interrupt Verges but was asked to sit down. She began weeping and hugging a grandson sitting next to her.

When Verges shouted against “the absurdity” of the trial, several people in the front rows moaned and said, “No.”

Verges called a “crude forgery” a Telex message signed by Barbie that reported the Izieu roundup to the Paris Gestapo. It was the most damaging evidence against him.

Verges said witnesses who identified Barbie as having tortured them suffered from “a failing memory.”

“The only eyewitness to Barbie’s presence at the house of Izieu, Julien Favet, cannot be retained because he is very sick in the head . . . who remembered 40 years later what he had never said until now,” Verges said, referring to a witness who suffered serious head injuries in an industrial accident.

Barbie’s daughter, Ute Messner, 46, was at the trial for the first time. The colonnaded courthouse was under particularly heavy security, with police sharpshooters on the roof.