Klaus Barbie trial

Contains original court transcripts from the trial against Klaus Barbie for war crimes. On May 11th, 1987, after 4 years of pre-trial investigation in Lyon, France, Klaus Barbie's trial opened. It was the first case for crimes against humanity tried in France. Pierre Truche was the chief prosecutor, and Jacques Vergès was the defense attorney. The collection includes over 37 court sessions (approximately 185 hour trials) held in Lyon form May 11 to July 3, 1987. Barbie had to answer several charges: the liquidation of the Lyon committee of the L'Union générale des israélites de France (UGIF) following the roundup of February 9th, 1943 (79 concentration camp prisoners, 6 survivors); the arrest of the 44 Izieu children and of the adults in charge of them; the imprisonment in concentration camps of approximately 650 people who were transported in the last convoy to leave Lyon on Aug.11th, 1944; the torture and death of Marcel Gompel, a Jewish member of the Resistance and professor at the Collège de France; and the imprisonment in concentration camps of members of the Resistance. Barbie, who chose not to attend most of the hearings, did not acknowledge any of these crimes. On June 29th, 1987, Public Prosecutor Truche gave his closing speech for the prosecution, asking that the defendant be sentenced to life imprisonment. On July 4th, 1987, the verdict of guilty, with no extenuating circumstances, was given. Barbie was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Organized chronologically by trial date. Reel 1: May 1-May 27, 1987; Reel 2: June 2-June 19, 1987; Reel 3: June 22-July 3, 1987