8 Friday, October 26, 1919
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
The Butcher of Lyon Lives Freely in Bolivia
By JAIME REIBEL
FORESTS
that bear your natne
Long after you have gone, forests in Israel
renewing themselves in the cycle of sea-
sons, will keep your memory ever green.
When making your Will, provide that a
forest in Israel be planted in your name or
in that of someone dear to you, handing
down your last wish from generation to
generation.
A bequest to the J.N.F. is a bequest to the
entire Jewish people, linking the name
of the Testator with Israel in perpetuity.
For information and advice
in strict confidence apply to
JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
27308 Southfield Southfield, Mi. 48076
557-6644
LA PAZ, Bolivia (JTA) —
Klaus Barbi, alias Klaus
Altman, better known as
"The Butcher of Lyon," lives
a secure, respected life here.
Barbi, the gestapo chief of
France in 1943 and 1944,
surfaced in Bolivia shortly
after World War II, as did
many other Nazis of lesser
rank and lower profile.
Bolivia, after the war and
since, has traditionally
been a country of right-wing
military dictatorships with
a notable lack of interest in
the backgrounds of wealthy
European emigres.
After Germany occupied
all of France in November
1942, the gestapo was or-
dered to pacify the local
population. Barbi was the
Nazi officer chosen for the
job. He immediately estab-
lished his headquarters in
Lyon, the third largest city
in France and nascent cen-
ter of French partisan ac-
tivity.
It was from his base in
Lyon that Barbi shipped
thousands of French
Jews east to their even-
tual deaths in German
concentration camps. It
was in Lyon that he per-
.
sonally ordered the as-
sassination of Jean
Moulin, French partisan
leader and head of inter-
nal resistance, after
Moulin was betrayed to
the gestapo by a French
informer.
For his ruthless suppres-
sion of partisan activity,
Barbi acquired the
nickname of "The Butcher
of Lyon." He is responsible
for the deaths of hundreds,
possibly thousands of Fren-
chmen.
The French Armed Forces
Tribunal, a war crimes in-
vestigatory and judicial
agency, has twice con-
demned Barbi to death in
absentia. His whereabouts
were unknown until the
late 1960s, when he was
identified in Bolivia using a
German passport under the
name of Altman. In 1970 he
took Bolivian citizenship
with that assumed name.
One of his closest friends
and backers throughout the
almost 35-year period after
the collapse of the Third
Reich has been Gen. Juan
Pareda Aspun. During the
Banzer regime of 1973-1978
.Pareda was Commander-
in-Chief of the Bolivian Air
Force and concomitantly
Minister of the Interior. For
these five years Barbi was
an "official adviser" to the
ministry, the equivalent of
the U.S. State Department
and FBI rolled into one
massive, intimidating unit.
In 1978, Pareda over-
threw Banzer in a bloodless,
internally-executed coup
d'etat.
The French govern-
ment through its em-
bassy in La Paz pre-
sented documents to the
Bolivian government on
Feb. 1, 1972, asking for
Barbi's extradition. The
Supreme Court of Sucre
turned down the extradi-
tion process on Dec. 6,
1974, for lack of an exist-
ing treaty between the
two nations.
Informed diplomatic
sources claim that Barbi's
well-placed friends in gov-
ernment (that hand-pick
the Supreme Court) were
too powerful for the French.
_ In 1975, the French gov-
ernment officially asked for
Barbi's expulsion from
Bolivia. Again, no results.
Over the past five years the
French through private
contacts have continued to
pressure for an executive .
decree ruling in their favor
on the extradition demand.
But according to the French
Embassy in La Paz, "the
Bolivian authorities are not.
very interested."
Recently through unoffi-
cial channels France at-
tempted to get West Ger-
many involved in the x-
tradition process.
many's response was
the crimes Barbi committed
did not take place on Ger-
man soil, therefore the
Germans have no basis
upon which to involve
themselves in the question.
Neither has the Israeli
government pressed pub-
licly for Barbi's extradi-
tion. A highly placed
Bolivian diplomatic fig-
ure, who prefers to re-
main unidentified, main-
tains that,"Israel hasn't
done anything officially
or extra-officially in the
case." This, it was noted,
may be due to Israel's de-
sire not to jeopardize the
fragile position of the
Bolivian Jewish commu-
nity.
Meanwhile, "The Butcher
of Lyon" walks the streets of
La Paz a free man.
dr
0
America Foots the Bill for UN
By DAVID SCHWARTZ
(Copyright 1979, JTA, Inc.)
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The United States, which
is one of the 150 countries in
the United Nations, pays 25
percent of its bills.
What is more, the minor-
ity of 30 democratic coun-
tries provide 70 percent of
the entire UN budget.
It would seem that those
who pay the bills have a
major role in deciding the
policies of the UN, but this
is not the case, according to
Yehuda Blum, the Israel
envoy to the UN. In fact, it is
just the opposite.
The Israeli envoy de-
clares in an article in the
New York Times, that
"the United Nations
today is dominated by an
unholy alliance of dic-
tatorships and totalita-
rian principles." These
dictatorships, he tells us,
"have proceeded to
trample under the foot
every provision designed
to protect the rights of
minorities" and it is be-
cause of this "unrepre-
sentative character" of
the UN "that virtually all
major international is-
sues have been settled
outside of the United Na-
tions — in Berlin, Cuba,
Vietnam, Israel, Egypt."
So what keeps the UN
busy, since all international
issues are settled away from
it? The answer is simple.
The UN keeps itself busy
adopting resolutions con-
demning Zionism as racism.
If the UN cannot be relied
on to settle the major inter-
national issues, it at least
might concern itself with
such matters as the ter-
rorism which has now be-
come a world issue, or with
the Kurdish problem which
is bothering Iraq and Iran.
Then there is the problem
of free song. We have all
known of course of the prob-
lem of free speech, but re-
cently, Iran has also banned
the right of broadcasting
music. They say free song is
dangerous.
None of these matters
seem to bother the UN.
Dag Hammarskjold, the
Secretary General of the
United Nations, visited
Israel and was invited to
dinner by the Ben-Gur-
ions. At dinner, Ham-
marskjold presented his
ideas about Israel's
rights and wrongs. When
he finished, there was a
brief pause, then Paula,
Ben-Gurion's wife, said,
"Mr. Hammarskjold, you
are such a nice looking
man. Why don't you get
married?"
The United Nations at
that time had not yet
reached its present low
state. It was still in some
measure true to the idea of
promoting friendly rela-
tions among all nations in-
stead of strengthening the
bloc of dictatorships and
undemocratic forces. Today
the story is different.
It is too bad. There is
really a need for a UN that
will deal fairly with all
peoples and further demo-
cratic instead of totalitarian
and dictatorship principles.
Perhaps the wrong in it de-
rives from the way it is sup-
ported.
Why should the demo-
cratic countries provide
the great bulk of its sup-
port? The oil rich Arab
countries contribute less
than one percent of the
budget. It is possible that
they are offended by this.
Why shouldn't they be
allowed, to pay more?
According to Blum, Saudi
Arabia contributes only
one-third as much as Israel.
No wonder they do not like
Israel. What right, they say,
has a racist Zionist state to
pay more than it does?
Of course, even if Saudi
Arabia paid more of the
bills, it might not make
them more democratic, but
it should be tried. We
shouldn't make it too hard
but it seems that Saudi
Arabia might make a be-
ginning towards achieving
democracy by paying at
least as much as Israel.
You have to teach democ-
racy like other things — by
beginning with simple
things.
Katsh Prize Set
ABRAHAM KATSH
NEW YORK — Stanley
M. Bogen, president of the _
American Friends of the
Hebrew University, has
announced that the col-
leagues and students of Pro-
fessor Abraham I. Katsh
have established a substan-
tial endowment in his
honor.
Dr. Katsh is the former
president of Dropsie Uni-
versity in Philadelphia. The -
yield on the fund will set up
an annual Professor Ab-
raham I. Katsh Prize at He-
brew University in the field
of Hebrew literature and
Jewish studies.