M. Blardone, Resistance Member, Dies
Mario Blardone, a member of the French Resistance during World War II and a witness at the trial of Lyon Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie, died Thursday. He was 64.
The cause of death was not announced by Voiron Mayor Andre Chaize, who said Blardone had been “tired for several weeks.”
Blardone was a “lieutenant” in the French underground, fighting the Nazis in occupied Vichy, France. He was arrested May 4, 1944, and tortured for 19 days by Barbie, who was known as the “Butcher of Lyon” for his brutal treatment of Resistance fighters and Jews.
Blardone was sent from Lyon to the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, where he was the last prisoner accepted into the camp.
During Barbie’s trial, Blardone identified Barbie as the man who had been responsible for his June 19, 1944, deportation to the death camp--at one point testifying: “Look at that glacial stare, that mouth. I recognize it.”
Barbie, 73, was sentenced to life in prison.
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