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Portrait of Klaus Barbie

Photo: Section de recherche de la Gendarmerie nationale de Lyon · Public domain

Born in Germany · Nationalities Bolivian, German — Gestapo / crimes against humanity / torture / deportations / intelligence

Klaus Barbie

Authoritarian regimes, wars and mass atrocities

Documented profile covering 9 controversies, including “1983–1987: first major French crimes against humanity trial, convicted of 17 crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment” and “1972–1983: publicly identified in Bolivia, French extradition requests long blocked before removal to France”.

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Profile No. 2674 · Updated on 12 October 2026

Portrait of Klaus Barbie

Photo: Section de recherche de la Gendarmerie nationale de Lyon · Public domain
9Documented controversies+ 1 background event
7Sources
1 followed by a conviction

§ Legal statuses reflect the documented sources as of the date shown; they replace neither court decisions nor the presumption of innocence. Counts are not a rating. Methodology

I. Documented controversies

Case · 6 documented stages

1983–1987: first major French crimes against humanity trial, convicted of 17 crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment

Conviction
01

1983–3 July 1987

1983–1987: first major French crimes against humanity trial, convicted of 17 crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment

Conviction

After a lengthy investigation, Barbie was tried in Lyon in 1987. He was found guilty of seventeen crimes against humanity, particularly the rue Sainte-Catherine roundup, Izieu and the 1944 deportations, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in custody in 1991.

State of the evidence
Established by a court
Attribution
Accused

Sources · 3

  1. [1]
    Ministère de la Justice (France)Les archives du procès Barbie sont ouvertes au publicOfficial documentVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    Ministère de la Justice (France)Le procès de Klaus Barbie, le « boucher de Lyon »Official documentVery high reliability
  3. [3]
    United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumNikolaus “Klaus” Barbie: The Butcher of LyonOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

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02

1972–February 1983

1972–1983: publicly identified in Bolivia, French extradition requests long blocked before removal to France

Formally charged

Beate and Serge Klarsfeld helped publicly establish that Klaus Altmann was Klaus Barbie. France requested his extradition, long prevented by political protection in Bolivia. Following political change in Bolivia, he was eventually returned to France in 1983.

State of the evidence
Well documented
Attribution
Directly implicated

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    U.S. National ArchivesAnalysis of the IRR File of Klaus BarbieArchiveVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumNikolaus “Klaus” Barbie: The Butcher of LyonOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

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05

1942–August 1944

1942–1944: heads Gestapo in Lyon, systematic torture, executions and thousands of deportations

Conviction

As head of the Lyon Gestapo, Barbie directed and participated in brutal repression against resistance members and Jews. The USHMM attributes to him responsibility for more than 4,000 executions or murders and the deportation of 7,500 Jews, most of whom perished at Auschwitz.

State of the evidence
Documented
Attribution
Directly implicated

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumNikolaus “Klaus” Barbie: The Butcher of LyonOfficial documentVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    Ministère de la Justice (France)Les archives du procès Barbie sont ouvertes au publicOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

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06

6 April 1944

6 April 1944: Izieu roundup — arrest and deportation of 44 Jewish children and 7 educators

Conviction

The Gestapo arrested the 44 Jewish children and seven educators at the Izieu children's home. They were deported; almost all were murdered. The operation was one of the emblematic cases examined at the 1987 trial.

Attribution
Command responsibility

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    Maison d'IzieuDe la traque au procès de K. BarbieOfficial documentVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    Ministère de la Justice (France)Les archives du procès Barbie sont ouvertes au publicOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

07

August 1944

August 1944: organisation of final major deportation convoy from Lyon to Auschwitz, Dachau and Ravensbrück

Conviction

As Liberation approached, a final mass convoy departed Lyon carrying several hundred Jews, resistance members and hostages to Auschwitz-Birkenau, Dachau or Ravensbrück. Organising this deportation was among the facts established at Barbie's trial.

Attribution
Command responsibility

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    Maison d'IzieuDe la traque au procès de K. BarbieOfficial documentVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    Ministère de la Justice (France)Les archives du procès Barbie sont ouvertes au publicOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

08

9 February 1943

9 February 1943: rue Sainte-Catherine roundup in Lyon — 86 arrested, 84 deported

Conviction

The Lyon Gestapo carried out a roundup at UGIF premises on rue Sainte-Catherine. Eighty-six people were arrested and eighty-four deported. The operation was among the central facts examined at Barbie's trial.

Attribution
Command responsibility

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    Maison d'IzieuDe la traque au procès de K. BarbieOfficial documentVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    Ministère de la Justice (France)Les archives du procès Barbie sont ouvertes au publicOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

03

années 1950–début des années 1980

1950s–1980s: life in Bolivia as Klaus Altmann, links with Bolivian security services and West German intelligence

No legal proceedings

Living in Bolivia under the name Klaus Altmann, Barbie maintained relationships with military authorities, provided information to Bolivian security services and also worked for West German intelligence. His political protection complicated his extradition for many years.

State of the evidence
Documented
Attribution
Directly implicated

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumNikolaus “Klaus” Barbie: The Butcher of LyonOfficial documentVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    U.S. National ArchivesRecords of the Central Intelligence Agency (RG 263)ArchiveVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

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04

1947–1951

1947–1951: recruitment by US Counter Intelligence Corps, protection against French requests and organised escape to South America

No legal proceedings

After the war, Barbie was recruited as an informant by the US Army Counter Intelligence Corps. Despite French requests, the CIC protected him and in 1951 sponsored his escape to South America through a clandestine route via Italy.

State of the evidence
Documented
Attribution
Directly implicated

Sources · 3

  1. [1]
    U.S. National ArchivesAnalysis of the IRR File of Klaus BarbieArchiveVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    U.S. Department of JusticeKlaus Barbie and the United States Government: A Report to the Attorney GeneralOfficial documentVery high reliability
  3. [3]
    U.S. National ArchivesRecords of the Central Intelligence Agency (RG 263)ArchiveVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

09

June–8 July 1943

June–July 1943: Jean Moulin arrested, interrogated and tortured, dying from injuries

No legal proceedings

Jean Moulin, a major figure in the Resistance, was arrested and interrogated by Barbie. The USHMM states that Barbie personally interrogated him for several weeks; Moulin died on 8 July 1943 from injuries sustained under torture.

State of the evidence
Well documented
Attribution
Directly implicated

Sources · 2

  1. [1]
    United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumNikolaus “Klaus” Barbie: The Butcher of LyonOfficial documentVery high reliability
  2. [2]
    Ministère de la Justice (France)Le procès de Klaus Barbie, le « boucher de Lyon »Official documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

II. Documented background

Documented biographical or institutional milestones (elections, appointments, foundings, acquisitions…). These are not controversies and are not counted as such.

  1. 1935–1942

    1935–1942: joins SS and SD, interrogator training and intelligence service in occupied territories

    Barbie joined the SS in 1935, served in the Sicherheitsdienst and received training as an interrogator. Following the invasion of the Netherlands, he was posted to Amsterdam, then transferred to France before assuming major responsibilities in Lyon.

    Sources · 1
    1. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum — Nikolaus “Klaus” Barbie: The Butcher of Lyon

III. Constellation of documented links

No documented link with another published profile for now.

Two profiles are linked when a documented controversy of one names the other. The link points to that controversy and its sources; it does not indicate a personal relationship.

IV. Has something changed?

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