The infamous Nazi Klaus Barbie was tagged 'The Butcher of Lyon' because of his brutality towards resistance fighters during the war. His crimes also included the arrest of 44 Jewish children in an orphanage in 1944, and their subsequent deportation to Auschwitz.
When asked at his trial on July 3, 1987, if he had anything to anything to say in his defence, Barbie replied: 'I fought the Resistance, that I respect, harshly, but it was war and the war is over. Thank you.'
The Butcher was promptly convicted on 17 counts of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison.
However, because he proved useful to the intelligence services in the immediate post-war period, Barbie was actually protected and assisted when he attempted to relocate to South America through something called the 'ratline,' which funnelled cooperative Nazis to safe havens where they could be mined for information.
In exchange for protection against prosecution, Barbie would serve as a special agent against communist infiltrators in South America, where some of the information he provided eventually contributed to the capture of Che Guevara.
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