Klaus Barbie

1913-91, Nazi war criminal known as the Butcher of Lyons. Gestapo chief in Lyons, France (1942-44), he was responsible for the deaths of French Resistance members and thousands of Jews. After the war he secretly served as a U.S. army agent in Germany. In 1951, he fled Europe for Bolivia with U.S. help. Identified by Nazi-hunters in the early 1970s, he was expelled from Bolivia in 1983 after a civilian government came to power. He was tried in France, found guilty of crimes against humanity, and sentenced to life imprisonment.



World War 2 Online Biography: Klaus Barbie 1913-91, Nazi war criminal known as the Butcher of Lyons. Gestapo chief in Lyons, France (1942-44), he was responsible for the deaths of French Resistance members and thousands of Jews. After the war he secretly served as a U.S. army agent in Germany. In 1951, he fled Europe for Bolivia with U.S. help. Identified by Nazi-hunters in the early 1970s, he was expelled from Bolivia in 1983 after a civilian government came to power. He was tried in France, found guilty of crimes against humanity, and sentenced to life imprisonment.