Professional Documents
Culture Documents
08 02 83barbie RPT
08 02 83barbie RPT
Department of Justice
Criminal Division
Submitted by:
Allan A. Ryan, Jr.
Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General
Criminal Division
United States Department of Justice
Klaus Barbie and the
United States Government
A Report to the
Attorney General
of the United States
Submitted by:
Allan A. Ryan, Jr,
Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General
Criminal Division
United States Department of Justice
Ii'or lillIe by tbe SUllerilltenoent of UoC'ulDents, U.S. Government IJrintillJ; OItice. Washington, D.C. 20402
US. Department of Justice
Criminal Division
August 2, 1983
Z;;:::ZZ77
Allan A. Ryan, ~
Special Assistant to the
Assistant Attorney General
Criminal Division
United States Department of Justice
-i-
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • •• iv
SECTION I. KLAUS BARBIE
A. Introd uction 1
B. Early Career 3
C. Barbie in France • • • • 8
D. Sources of Information 9
1. The Personnel File • 10
2. Operational Records 11
3. Postwar Evidence •• 12
E. Barbie in Lyon, 1942-1943 • 14
F. Barbie in Lyon, 1943-1944 19
G. Conclusion •• • • • 20
H. The Listing of Barbie in CROWCASS • 22
AP.E.ENDICES
-ii-
APPENDICES
-iii-
List of Abbreviations
INTRODUCTION
A. The Reason for This Report
On February 4, 1983, Klaus Barbie was expelled from
Bolivia, where he had been living for 32 years, to
France, where he was under indictment for crimes he
allegedly committed during World War II as chief of the
Gestapo in Lyon.
Within a few days of his arrival in France, charges
were raised both in the United States and France that
Barbie had been employed by United States intelligence
in Germany after the war, and that the United States had
arranged Barbie's escape to South America in 1951 after
France had requested his extradition. In view of the
seriousness of these charges, on February 11 Assistant
Attorney General D. Lowell Jensen directed the Office of
Special Investigations, Criminal Division, to conduct a
preliminary inquiry to determine whether there was any
substance to the allegations and, if so, to recommend
whether further action by the Department of Justice would
be appropriate.
As Director of the Office of Special Investigations,
I reviewed records of the United States Army and the
Department of State and reported to Assistant Attorney
General Jensen that the charges appeared to have merit.
In light of the preliminary determination, and the
-v-
negative results.
ago.
-------~~~
-x-
D. Conclusion
Attorney General.
A. Introduction
who was Klaus Barbie, and what did he do during the war?
Barbie after the war know about him and his record?
What could they have known from the resources that were
available to them?
those who dealt with Barbie after the war must have
occupation.
-3-
B. Early Career
Nazi movement.
espionage agency. ~/
authorities. ***/
-6-
and informants.
executive agency. */
-8-
post-war years.
between July 1941 and May 1942, the date that Barbie
C. Barbie in France
-9-
1940 the Germans captured Lyon, and two days later the
RSHA in Berlin.
Gestapo.
O. Sources of Information
-10-
also for the fact that it was available after the war to
-11-
2. Operational Records
investigators.
•
-12-
3. Postwar Evidence
in Lyon.
-------
tI
-13-
-14-
forced to work for the German war effort and joining the
as his deputy. ~/
'.
In the summer of 1943, Hollert was replaced as
under Knab.
Section IV chief.
headquarters.
Lyon.
time he left Lyon and the end of the war ten months
later.
G. Conclusion
Gestapo.
Intelligence Corps.
-23-
SECTION II
See Appendix 3.
time, the regions each had one or two. One of the most
information.
in this investigation.
-27-
Holabird, Maryland.
Tab 4.
Tab 3.
Tab 5. ~/
-33-
Tab 7.
in Stuttgart. ~/ Tab 9.
Tab 9.
-36-
-37-
Board.
April 18, 1947 and the deal was agreed to. Barbie was
Tab 14. ~/
-39-
th e U. S. Zone.
-40-
(Tab 14):
tions, the request was simply ignored. See Tab 57, ,5.
Merk's net, found the net far too large and gradually
1. Arrest
Barbie
ment * * *."
-47-
officers.
-49-
activities."
-51-
Tab 20.
former sources.
2. Interrogation
affiliations, however.
1937 to 1945 spent his entire time with Section VI, the
Gestapo.
Memmingen.
Tab 29.
observed:
Tab 27.
any internment.
from EUCOM that the French wanted Merk for "war crimes"
Stuttgart. Tab 23. But that was not the only problem.
Hajdu, who had taken over the net from Taylor in 1947,
Merk, who had been close to Taylor, was unhappy with the
Zone. And Merk had apparently sent one of the net mem-
Merk net. ~/
for a detailed plan for use of Merk and Barbie and made
recalled in 1950:
Hajdu, who had reduced and restricted the net, had been
the fact that Merk was being sought by the French -- but
of the net members lived in the French Zone and had "a
Tab 32.
Tab 31.
=
-62-
-64-
[footnote continued]
-------------------- .......
-67-
[footnote continued]
crimes.
needs." ::.../
time on the part of the French Surete and BDOC had been
-70-
Vidal and Kolb were correct -- that the French had given
i~e~.
-71-
SECTION III
-72-
continued:
Kolb's reply: ~/
just because Barbie had been in the Gestapo did not make
"drop[ped] * * * as an informant."
eight months.
by subject."
his relationship with CIC would have run the risk that
tion."
tive in early 1950 about Barbie, but the matter did not
the u.s. zone did not fade away in 1949. They precipi-
were not drawn into the picture until a year after the
exchanges began.
Barbie had been in the employ of CIC for more than two
-86-
not having been filed" before the deadline and then only
-87-
-88-
48.
requests.
so that HICOG did not know that the CIC had Barbie, and
CIC did not know that the French were seeking Barbie as
50.
to the Munich and Bavarian police, and the dead end that
52. ~/
public for the first time the fact that Barbie was not
-95-
Barbier * * *." !./ Tab 55. CI C 's use and protect ion of
eye.
-96-
-98-
Tab 57.
made at Headquarters.
59. ~/
-102-
62.
did not know until the following day, May 4, that Barbie
on April 28, the day the Whiteway deal fell through, and
which time EUCOM and CIC told HICOG that Barbie had not
See Tabs 79, 80, 81, 82, 84. HICOG and State
-105-
63.
Dear M. Lebegue:
-107-
nued:
nued: "One can punish assassins; one must also have the
-110-
Tab 72.
-111-
-112-
Ibid.
Dear Woody:
-114-
when this letter was written on June 14, only the Public
EUCOM had not told HICOG on May 3 that Barbie was still
that the situation was not "dying down" and would not so
Barbie.
not want him at all, and were only going through the
I
-117-
-118-
-119-
Tab 80. ~/
stated, "CIC has not been in touch with him since late
Tab 81.
**/ This is not the CIC agent Robert Taylor who had
recruited Barbie for CIe in 1947.
I ------------------..........
-120-
nor did CIC lose touch with him in late April 1950. CIC
CIC knew where Barbie was at all times. CIC employed him
**/ Both Taylor and Wilson are deceased. Shute did not
recall his meeting with them.
I --------------------.........
-122-
and about our loss of contact with him and take a chance
that the German police will not pick him up even though
82.
-125-
operations.
is extrad i ted.
Tab 84.
-126-
But HICOG had already taken its cue from State and
Tab 86.
-128-
reveals that eIe's real concern was that the request for
were doing. What eIe did not know was that the extradi-
CIC and EUCOM had told Shute on June 16. The problem
that any such step would have been taken, that he would
-131-
it expedient to do so again. 2/
In any event, EUCOM apparently passed the statement
-132-
along with many others. Tab 90. And CIC and EUCOM
SECTION IV
priesthood.
[footnote continued]
I ------------------.........
-137-
Tab 94.
Although Lyon is dead, the agent who took over the rat
line for the 430th CIC in 1949 stated that he dealt only
actually materialized.
1. Preparation
follows:
resettlement is to be initiated."
-143-
memo that the rat line was operating, if not outside the
obtained" in Vienna.
that the 430th was not "budgeted" beyond June, 1951, and
2. Decision
problem."
a position to:
-148-
South America. ~/
This memo would likely have been the request from the
line.
66th.
-151-
was clean.
Tab 98.
-153-
-155-
101) •
Dragonovic apparently accompanied Altmann and his
Dragonovic.
D. Epilogue
above, the rat line did not come to the attention of the
Tab 106.
agency.
follows.
with the local WDD and it was decided that the informa-
-160-
-161-
that respect.
credible evidence.
statement. ~/
operation.
this report.
SECTION V
BARBIE IN BOLIVIA
present time.
section B, below).
France.
Bolivia in 1983. ~/
ject."
-168-
"traces" on Altmann.
Javits as follows:
response. ~/
Klaus Barbie.
had had "no contact" with Barbie since 1951, the Army's
Barbie."
ed. ~/
Barbie.
planning branch.
indeed the same man who had once worked for the CIC in
Europe.
no "traces" on Barbie.
mant.
officers."
utilization."
to see what the check had shown. CIA replied that its
from the Army until April 1968, nearly a year after the
and the fact that Barbie did not appear to have access
established.
Barbie was paid in any way for it (nor did the Bolivian
government.
Paz.
that time, the name Klaus Altmann was not entered in the
2. Purpose of Visits
in leased ships.
to the F.B.I."
**/ The CIA did not reply to INS with any "derogatory
subversive information," nor did DCII. The FBI files do
not contain the I-57 forms or any other pertinent infor-
mation on Barbie/Altmann.
-185-
crimes in France.
1. Drug Trafficking
himself.
2. Weapons Trade
United States.
--------------------.......
-190-
F. Conclusion
I. CONCLUSIONS
the war.
loyal and reliable -- and those who worked with him found
his trial in France -- but he was not known far and wide
had, with its allies, spent nearly four years waging war
American lives had been lost. The enemy was the most
were Jews.
beyond the death camps none was as dreaded, and with good
opposing conviction.
defensible one depends upon the fact that the persons who
least May 1949, some two years after Barbie was first
following facts:
was not offered to, and was not reasonably available to,
existed.
had its officers been aware that Barbie was wanted for
war crimes.
had not been accused of war crimes at all and who were
report useless."
then.
Barbie was put to work for CIC, and that if CIC had any
[footnote continued]
-201-
patriots.
charges.
was wanted for war crimes when he was recruited and used
up to May 1949.
3. Conclusion
1. Discussion
HICOG.
order that Region XII should not alert Barbie to the fact
-205-
fact.
But the answer to that question need not detain us, for
deliberate decision.
could not be far off (in fact, it had already been made,
to another.
2. Conclusion
States Government.
-209-
tion yielded no evidence that the 430th ere had used the
criminals.
clear, the 430th ere and its parent command, G-2 united
responsibly.
the rat line and interviewed all persons now alive known
II. RECOMMENDATIONS
A. Criminal Prosecution
of the offense.
Section 1505.
would be violated.
-216-
('
"I
RUN
")
~~~------ "
\
ONANcr
\~
~
ZURICH
US i
5 WI TZERL.ANO
AS OF 31 DECEMBER 1950
HEADQUARTERS
EUROPEAN COMMAND
(EUCOM)
LOCATED
---
IN HEIDELBERG
1
SEVENTH U.S. NAVAL FORCES, U.S. AIR FORCES
MAJOR
U.S. ARMY GERMANY IN EUROPE
COMMANDS (7 TH ARMY) (USNAVFORGER) (USAFE)
--
VAIHINGEN
--
HEIDELBERG
--
WIESBAOEN
I I I I 1
7eee 7966 7756
MILITARY
TECHNICAL AND 66 SPECIAL EUCOM AUDIT
ADMINIST RATIVE CIC DETACHMENT TROOPS DETACHMENT AGENCY
UNITS ANI> POSTS SERVICES - -
HEAOQUARTERS HEADQUARTERS
-
HEADOUARTERS
STUTTGART IN tlEIDELBERG IN PARIS IN FRIEDBERG
AGENCIES
ASSIGNED
TO EUCOM
I I I 1
7155 7893 7792 7791
DEPENDENTS U. S MILITARY LIAISON MISSION OFFICE· OF OFFICE OF
SCHOOLS TO C-IN-C SOVIET OCCUPIED HIGH COMMISSIONER. U. S. COMMANDER,
DETACHMENT ZONE OF GERMANY GERMA'NY. BERLIN
KARLSRUHE
--- --- - - .-
POTSDAM
'-------~---
FRANKFUR T It It
-- -
BERLIN" It ~
Q
....
" US A REUR, fHOUGH STILL IN EXISfENCE, "*BOfH LlNlfS ,ASSIGNEO fO ANO AOMINISfEREO BY .....
wAS NO LONGER OPERATIONAL AS or ELICOM, BLlf REPORTING OIRECfLY fO LIS HIGH
.11 OECEMBER 19'0 COMMISSIONER FOR GERMANY (HICOG J. N
Direotor of Inte11igenoe
Headquarters l!.'UCOM
I I
Control I Analysis Operations Strategic Survey Plana, Policy
& Training
r
negion IV
l
Hegion VII Region X
Region I
stuttgart M1.U1ich Bnyreuth Bad Wildungen
Appendix 3
Source: Annual Narrative Report, 66th ere Detachment, 31 Dec. 49
------------------....................-=111
1 ~ .. '.
LIPPE
LEIPZIG
LIE N Z
I J I
Adj~tan [Inspector S-l S-2/S-3 S-4
I Headquarte rB
Detachment
!
J I I l I
Me~Bage Center Conmunica.tions Civililln Mflit£J.ry
~ersonnel Personnel Assista.nt S-2/S-3 Mess Automotive
I -1 I· I
Technical Screening Case Training Reports Central Services
Specialist Section Section Section Section Registry Section
I I I I 1
Security Counter- Counter Positive Top Drafting Photo
Desk Subversion Espionage Intelligence Secret Section Lab
Desk Desk Desk Control
-
Appendix 5
Source: Annual Narrative Report, 66th ere Detachment, 31 Dec. 49
Regional Organization
I
Regional Elce out ive
I--
Conunander QCfioer
1 I
r
I Adjutant
I
1 I S..2/S-3,
I S...4
I
I I
Message Center Comlllunioat iom MOBS Automotive
I ABBiBtant S-2/S-3
r
1
[ I 1
Regional Visa Training Team. Field Office Oommanders Teohnical
RegistrY1 Off'icor Of'f'icer Cormnanders and/o~ Speoialist
f. Resident Agents
;n
8 I
i
g 1 I f OfI1~eB
Counter Oounter
~ Subvorsion Espiona.ge
General
Investigative
~
§
Team' 'l'eam Team
...
'"
(»
'" L I
f
~
T
.:..
--l
'"
~
...
'"
I llf'O nn ant S
I
'"
Appendix 6
Source: Annual Narrative Report, 66 r h ere Detachment, 31 Dec. 49