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The Butcher of Lyon

Lyon became a hotbed of French resistance activity during World War II. So, when the Germans invaded the occupied zone (i.e., “free zone,” or zone libre) in November 1942, it was no wonder Himmler sent SS-Untersturmführer (second lieutenant) Klaus Barbie to Lyon with orders to eliminate the French Resistance. Barbie excelled at carrying out his orders and enjoyed using barbaric and sadistic methods of torture. But unlike many other Gestapo interrogators who used others to do their dirty work, Barbie personally participated in torturing men, women, and even children.  Klaus Barbie’s brutality earned him the infamous moniker, “The Butcher of Lyon.”

Klaus Barbie in his SS uniform. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Klaus Barbie in his SS uniform. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Click here to watch the video Crimes of the Nazi “Butcher of Lyon”.


“Ill-understood history could, if care were not taken, drag better-understood history down into discredit in its wake.”

⏤ Marc Bloch (1886−1944)

      French historian and résistant

      Executed by the Nazis

Marc Bloch. Photo by anonymous (c. 1944). PD-Franc; author died more than 70 years ago. Wikimedia Commons.
Marc Bloch. Photo by anonymous (c. 1944). PD-Franc; author died more than 70 years ago. Wikimedia Commons.

Did You Know?

Did you know that I normally try and have a blog or at the very least, a comment on a topic that fits with Halloween? In past years, we’ve posted The Ghost Army (click here to read) and The Night Witches (click here to read), to name several blogs published on or just before Halloween. Although we are a couple of days past Halloween, I wanted to try and continue the tradition. So, did you know about “The Witches of Bucha”? Yep, that’s what this all-female volunteer air defense unit calls itself. They are Ukrainian women devoted to protecting the skies of Ukraine from Russian missile strikes and drone attacks.

The women work normal jobs during the day and at night, they report for their military shifts. With their hand-held machine-guns (from 1939) as well as truck mounted guns, the women fight from the front lines and go into action when the air alert is sounded. Almost every night the Russian drones loaded with explosives appear in the sky. If the drones are determined to be of imminent danger for the city of Bucha, the machine guns are ready to shoot them down.

Bucha’s air defense was once comprised of men but as the war has progressed, they were needed at the front. There were very few options for replacing these men and initially, there was not much trust in using women as replacements. However, that has completely changed as the “Witches” have proven themselves time and time again. The women take great pride in learning to defend themselves, their family, and Ukraine. One woman said, “I won’t ever sit like a victim again and be so very afraid.”

Since we are on the topic of witches, did you know the last surviving Soviet “Night Witch” died several months ago? Galina Brok-Beltsova (1925−2024) was a navigator who flew 36 missions during World War II as one of the all-women volunteer combat unit known as “The Night Witches.” I refer you to the October 2021 blog for the complete story of the Soviet night witches (see above for the link). The link to Galina’s obituary is listed below in the recommended reading section.

Galina Brok-Beltsova soon after she volunteered for combat duty with the Soviet army during World War II. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). The Times, 16 October 2024. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/galina-brok-beltsova-obituary-last-survivor-of-the-soviet-night-witches-9jnm1db8t
Galina Brok-Beltsova soon after she volunteered for combat duty with the Soviet army during World War II. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). The Times, 16 October 2024.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/galina-brok-beltsova-obituary-last-survivor-of-the-soviet-night-witches-9jnm1db8t

Lyon and Vichy France 

The city of Lyon can trace its existence to the Roman Empire in 43 B.C. (The city’s Roman name was Lugdunum.) It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, about 243 miles southeast of Paris. The city population is more than a half million with the metropolitan area home to about 2.3 million people. Lyon is the second largest French city and is well-known for its tradition of culinary and gastronomical cuisine. (It was once the capital of the silk industry.) However, our story today revolves around the city’s role during its occupation between 19 June 1940 (five days after the Germans marched into Paris) and 3 September 1944 (Lyon’s liberation day).

As part of the 1940 armistice with Nazi Germany, about one-third of France was designated as the unoccupied zone, or free zone while the remainder was occupied by the German military. The new French government, “Vichy France” (Régime de Vichy) took up residence in the small town of Vichy and began its collaboration with the Germans.

Map of occupied France during World War II. Illustration by Eric Gaba (blank map) and Rama (zones) (c. 2008). PD-GNU Free Documentation License v.1.2 or later. Wikimedia Commons.
Map of occupied France during World War II. Illustration by Eric Gaba (blank map) and Rama (zones) (c. 2008). PD-GNU Free Documentation License v.1.2 or later. Wikimedia Commons.

On 8 November 1942, British and American troops landed in North Africa as part of “Operation Torch.” In retaliation, Hitler’s “Operation Anton” began with the German Wehrmacht forces entering the free zone three days later. At this point, France was completely occupied, and Vichy France was exposed for what it was: a false government. For the preceding two years, the free zone had been spared many of the Nazi atrocities that were committed in the occupied zone. However, after November 1942, the Germans imported their brutal methods to suppress the citizens and in particular, résistants and Jews. Nowhere was this felt more than in Lyon.

Lyon Gestapo

Almost immediately, Gestapo leaders in Paris sent six Einsatzkommandos into the former free zone and established six regional “branches” in the cities of Lyon, Limoges, Marseilles, Montpellier, Toulouse, and Vichy. Each became the hub and regional headquarters for the Gestapo and the S.D., or Sicherheitsdienst (the intelligence arm of the Nazi party). SS-Untersturmführer Klaus Barbie was appointed as the Lyon chief of Amt IV, the Gestapo section responsible for searching out and the repression of Third Reich opponents. For Klaus Barbie, this meant his responsibilities were two-fold: the destruction of French Resistance forces using any methods he deemed necessary and secondly, hunt down and deport Jews to KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

Barbie’s first headquarters in Lyon was in the Hotel Terminus (November 1942 to June 1943). He moved his offices in June to 14, ave. Berthelot. The massive building, built in 1894, was once the French army’s medical school (École de santé militaire) and during World War I, it was used as a hospital. Originally, the Germans occupied the Larrey and Percy wings of the building but in February 1943, the French medical students were evicted, and the entire building was occupied by German units, including Amt IV. (The basement of the Larrey wing was converted to cells and execution chambers.) The building was severely damaged by Allied bombs on 26 May 1944. For the third time, Barbie relocated his men to 33, place Bellecour and remained there before fleeing to Germany in August 1944.

Hôtel Terminus, site of the first headquarters for Lyon Gestapo. Original photo by anonymous (c. 1940). Posted by Niko fr. PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.
Hôtel Terminus, site of the first headquarters for Lyon Gestapo. Original photo by anonymous (c. 1940). Posted by Niko fr. PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.
Former Hôtel Terminus. Today it is the “Grand Hôtel Mercure Château Perrache. Photo by Sebleouf (7 September 2012). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Wikimedia Commons.
Former Hôtel Terminus. Today it is the “Grand Hôtel Mercure Château Perrache. Photo by Sebleouf (7 September 2012). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Wikimedia Commons.
Exterior of the former Lyon Gestapo headquarters at 14, ave. Berthelot, the former medical school for the French army. The entrance to the resistance museum can be seen on the right. Photo by Sandy Ross (14 September 2024).
Exterior of the former Lyon Gestapo headquarters at 14, ave. Berthelot, the former medical school for the French army. The entrance to the resistance museum can be seen on the right. Photo by Sandy Ross (14 September 2024).
Memorial plaque on the exterior wall of the former Lyon Gestapo headquarters at 14, ave. Berthelot. “Tribute to the thousands of Jews from the Rhône tortured and executed, deported and exterminated in 1942, 1943 and 1944. May the places of their martyrdom remain grave in our memory: May those who, at the risk of their lives, tried to help them, be forever thanked.” Photo by Sandy Ross (14 September 2024).
Memorial plaque on the exterior wall of the former Lyon Gestapo headquarters at 14, ave. Berthelot. “Tribute to the thousands of Jews from the Rhône tortured and executed, deported and exterminated in 1942, 1943 and 1944. May the places of their martyrdom remain grave in our memory: May those who, at the risk of their lives, tried to help them, be forever thanked.” Photo by Sandy Ross (14 September 2024).
Exterior view of former Gestapo headquarters (May 1944 to August 1944) located at 33, place Bellecour, Lyon. Google Maps.
Exterior view of former Gestapo headquarters (May 1944 to August 1944) located at 33, place Bellecour, Lyon. Google Maps.

Nikolaus ‘Klaus” Barbie

Nikolaus ‘Klaus’ Barbie (1913−1991) was born in what is today part of Bonn, Germany. Abused by his father, the young Barbie was sent to a boarding school where he was considered a below average student. In 1933, the year Hitler took power, his father and younger brother died. Barbie was unemployed and went to work in the Reich Labor Service, a paramilitary organization established to fight unemployment and indoctrinate its members in Nazi ideology. Two years later, Barbie joined the Schutzstaffel, or SS and was assigned to the S.D., the party’s intelligence gathering service. In 1937, Barbie officially joined the Nazi Party.

Klaus Barbie. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Archives du department du Rhǒne et de la métropole de Lyon. PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Klaus Barbie. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Archives du department du Rhǒne et de la métropole de Lyon. PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Barbie began his career in Berlin where he developed his skills as an interrogator and investigator. His first major assignment was with Adolf Eichmann’s Amt IV-B4 in Amsterdam. (click here to read the blog, The Argentina Papers) The Gestapo section’s responsibilities were identification, roundup, and deportation of Dutch Jews, Freemasons, and Communists. SS-Untersturmführer Barbie was so efficient and brutal that he was awarded the Iron Cross. By the end of May 1942, Barbie had been promoted to Obersturmführer and assigned as an investigator to a Gestapo branch on the border of France and Switzerland. Five months later, it was a short trip to Lyon to take up his new assignment as head of Lyon’s Gestapo.

Lyon Resistance

After the war, Gen. Charles de Gaulle declared Lyon to be France’s “Capital of Resistance.” As an aside, five cities were awarded the Ordre de la liberation, or the Order of Liberation, an honor bestowed on the “heroes of the French liberation.” Lyon was not one of the five cities. I wonder why Lyon wasn’t honored considering Gen. de Gaulle’s proclamation. Anyway, just a thought.

Barbie was faced with hunting down two primary resistance foes. The first was the Maquis, or guerilla fighters. These were men and women who hid in the forests and hit the enemy in spontaneous raids and sabotage. They were people evading the Service du travail obligatoire, a joint French-German edict forcing French citizens to enlist as laborers in Germany.

Barbie’s second resistance target were the multiple groups operating in the former free zone. Many of these networks had their headquarters in Lyon but were never united. That is, until Gen. de Gaulle sent Jean Moulin (1899−1943) in March 1943 to unify the major resistance networks under an umbrella organization called the Conseil national de la Résistance, or “National Resistance Council.” Moulin had earlier formed the Armée secrete, led by Charles Delestraint (1879−1945), but Gen. Delestraint was arrested on 9 June 1943 (he was executed at KZ Dachau days before its liberation). Faced with having to replace Delestraint, Moulin set up a meeting of resistance leaders at a house in the suburbs of Lyon. Betrayed by an insider, Moulin and the others (including Raymond Aubrac) were arrested by Barbie’s men and sent to Fort Montluc Prison in Lyon. Moulin was severely tortured by Barbie to the point where eyewitnesses later said they could not recognize him. Moulin reportedly died in early July on a train taking him to Berlin.

Jean Moulin near the Promenade du Peyrou in Montpellier, France. Photo by Marcel Bernard (c. 1940). Musée de la liberation de Paris and the musée Jean-Moulin. Christine Levisse-Touzé. “Jean Moulin,” L’Histoire Par l’Image, January 2015. https://histoire-image.org/etudes/jean-moulin
Jean Moulin near the Promenade du Peyrou in Montpellier, France. Photo by Marcel Bernard (c. 1940). Musée de la liberation de Paris and the musée Jean-Moulin. Christine Levisse-Touzé. “Jean Moulin,” L’Histoire Par l’Image, January 2015.
https://histoire-image.org/etudes/jean-moulin

Montluc Prison was used by the Gestapo as a place for internment, interrogation, torture, and executions ⏤ similar to Fresnes Prison in Paris. More than 15,000 people were held in the prison with about 900 executed within its walls. As liberating forces were headed for Lyon in August 1944, Barbie authorized two massacres of Montluc prisoners. The action, Le Charnier de Bron, or “The Charnel House of Bron,” saw 109 prisoners taken to the Bron Airfield and murdered. Days later, about 120 prisoners were driven to Fort de Cǒte-Lorette and shot. Notable Montluc prisoners include Jean Moulin (cell #130), Marc Bloch, Raymond Aubrac and finally about 40-years later, Klaus Barbie (cell #136). The prison was closed in 1997 and today is designated as a monument historique.

Row of cells in Montluc Prison. Photo by anonymous (c. April 2013). France info: Culture, France Télévisions. https://www.francetvinfor.fr/culture/patrimoine/traces-d-histoire-dans-les-cellules-de-la-prison-montluc-a-lyon_3307611.html
Row of cells in Montluc Prison. Photo by anonymous (c. April 2013). France info: Culture, France Télévisions. https://www.francetvinfor.fr/culture/patrimoine/traces-d-histoire-dans-les-cellules-de-la-prison-montluc-a-lyon_3307611.html
The wall within Montluc Prison where executions took place. Photo by Romainbehar (16 September 2018). PD-CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Wikimedia Commons.
The wall within Montluc Prison where executions took place. Photo by Romainbehar (16 September 2018). PD-CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Wikimedia Commons.

Click here to watch the video Klaus Barbie.

Torture and Deportations 

The majority of Barbie’s interrogations and resultant torture of men, women, and children took place in the building on Berthelot Avenue. In addition to “normal” torture methods (e.g., waterboarding, beatings, electroshock, burning with cigarettes, etc.), Barbie tortured his victims with immersing their heads in buckets of ammonia, tore off his victim’s skin, shoved nails under their fingernails, forcibly removed finger and toenails using pliers, broke knuckles and hand bones by placing hands in door frames and slamming the door shut.  Whenever women were interrogated, they were ordered to disrobe. Barbie always had two German shepherds nearby. One was trained to bite and eat the victim’s flesh. The other was trained to mount and rape the naked woman. A common torture method was for the victim to be hung up by handcuffs with spikes inside them and then beaten by Barbie with a rubber bar.

Survivor testimonies from Barbie’s trial included Lise Lesevre (1901−1992) who told about Barbie torturing her for nine days. Barbie savagely beat Lesevre, nearly drowned her in a tub of water, and used a spiked ball to break her vertebrae. Ennat Léger (1895−1993) talked about Barbie breaking her teeth while Simone Lagrange (1930−2016) described Barbie giving her a “smile as thin as a knife blade,” then proceeded to severely beat her in the face. Simone was thirteen at the time. Lesevre testified that Barbie purposely paraded tortured people by the cells and if Barbie believed the victim was Jewish, he would crush their skull with the heel of his boot.

Former resistance member, Lise Lesevre, arriving at the Barbie trial in Lyon to testify against Klaus Barbie. Photo by anonymous (12 May 1987). AFP Correspondent. https://correspondent.afp.com/trial-butcher-lyon
Former resistance member, Lise Lesevre, arriving at the Barbie trial in Lyon to testify against Klaus Barbie. Photo by anonymous (12 May 1987). AFP Correspondent. https://correspondent.afp.com/trial-butcher-lyon

Historians estimate that Barbie was directly responsible for the deportation of 14,000 Jews and resistance fighters. (In total, about 75,000 Jewish men, women, and children were deported from France.) Simone Lagrange was deported along with her mother and father to KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Her mother was immediately sent to the gas chamber. Simone and 25,000 other inmates were eventually marched to KZ Ravensbrück (only 2,000 survived) and along the way, she saw her father in another convoy of prisoners. A German officer told her to go and embrace her father. As she approached, her father was shot in front of her. Simone would later say, “It wasn’t Barbie who pulled the trigger, but it was him who sent us there.”

The Children of Izieu 

On 6 April 1944 at 9:00 am under the orders of Barbie, three vehicles pulled up in front of Maison d’Izieu, a children’s home near Lyon that provided refuge for dozens of Jewish children whose parents had been arrested and deported. A squad of a dozen soldiers with their officers and members of the Milice were there to arrest the children. (The Milice was a Vichy paramilitary organization that worked with the Germans to arrest resistance fighters and deport Jews.) Miron and Sabine Zlatin ran the home while Léon Reifman, a medical student, took care of the sick children while his sister, Sarah, was the home’s regular doctor and his parents lived at the home. The forty-four children, ranging in age from three to fourteen, along with seven adults were loaded into two trucks and taken to Montluc Prison and the next day, to Drancy, an internment camp outside Paris. On 13 April 1944, the children and adults were put on the next train (Convoy #71) leaving for KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Only one adult, Léa Feldblum (1918−1989), survived and in 1987, she testified against Klaus Barbie at his trial in Lyon.

Distributing the mail at the children’s home in Izieu. Léon Reifman is in the center handing out the mail. Far left is Miron Zlatin who was executed by the Nazis. Other than Reifman and two others in this photo, everyone pictured here was murdered. Photo by anonymous (c. summer 1943). Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 1408/1.
Distributing the mail at the children’s home in Izieu. Léon Reifman is in the center handing out the mail. Far left is Miron Zlatin who was executed by the Nazis. Other than Reifman and two others in this photo, everyone pictured here was murdered. Photo by anonymous (c. summer 1943). Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 1408/1.
The exterior of the Izieu children’s home. Photographed after the war. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 1408/28.
The exterior of the Izieu children’s home. Photographed after the war. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 1408/28.
7 April 1944 announcement by Klaus Barbie to his superiors of the arrest of Izieu’s children. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Maison de la conference de Wannsee.
7 April 1944 announcement by Klaus Barbie to his superiors of the arrest of Izieu’s children. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Maison de la conference de Wannsee.
Left to right: Majer-Marcel Bulka, his brother, Albert, and his friend, Alek Bergman. The Bulka brothers were murdered at KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Alek left the home before the Gestapo raid and survived. Photo by anonymous (c. Summer 1943). Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 1408/14.
Left to right: Majer-Marcel Bulka, his brother, Albert, and his friend, Alek Bergman. The Bulka brothers were murdered at KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Alek left the home before the Gestapo raid and survived. Photo by anonymous (c. Summer 1943). Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 1408/14.
Léa Feldblum, a teacher at the Izieu children’s home. Her parents, brother, and sister were murdered at KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Léa survived the war and settled in Israel. Photo by anonymous (c. 1943). Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 1408/10.
Léa Feldblum, a teacher at the Izieu children’s home. Her parents, brother, and sister were murdered at KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Léa survived the war and settled in Israel. Photo by anonymous (c. 1943). Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 1408/10.
Contemporary aerial view of Maison d’Izieu. Today, the building is a museum dedicated to the children. Photo by Benoît Prieur (178 September 2019). PD-CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Wikimedia Commons.
Contemporary aerial view of Maison d’Izieu. Today, the building is a museum dedicated to the children. Photo by Benoît Prieur (178 September 2019). PD-CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Wikimedia Commons.
Memorial plaque placed on the exterior wall of the Maison d’Izieu. It memorializes the victims who were deported to KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The children range in age from 5 to 18. Six adults are reflected but only five died at the extermination camp. Miron Zlatin was executed separately by the Nazis. Photo by Benoît Prieur (17 September 2019). PD-CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Wikimedia Commons.
Memorial plaque placed on the exterior wall of the Maison d’Izieu. It memorializes the victims who were deported to KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The children range in age from 5 to 18. Six adults are reflected but only five died at the extermination camp. Miron Zlatin was executed separately by the Nazis. Photo by Benoît Prieur (17 September 2019). PD-CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Wikimedia Commons.

Post-War

Barbie returned to Germany in 1944. Three years later, France tried and convicted him in absentia with the former Gestapo leader sentenced to death. (A French military tribunal passed the same judgement on Barbie in 1954.) During the post-war years up until 1983, Barbie was protected by various governments.

It is well-known that the United States and the Counterintelligence Corps (CIC) used former Nazis as agents in the post-war struggle against the Soviet Union. Barbie was one of those agents, having been recruited in 1947 for his skills in gathering intelligence. He was used to improve America interrogation methods, identify other former SS officers that could be recruited as agents, and spy on France. (U.S. intelligence believed the French occupation zone had been infiltrated by the KGB.) The French eventually discovered that Barbie was under the protection of the U.S. government, and they petitioned John J. McCloy, High Commissioner for Germany, to turn over Barbie. He refused (click here to read the blog, The Wise Men).

At this point, the CIC assisted the relocation of Barbie to Bolivia where he was once again protected by a friendly government (click here to read the blog, ODESSA: Myth or Truth?). Assuming the name “Klaus Altmann,” Barbie settled in Cochabamba as a businessman. He also worked for Bolivia’s secret police supporting the country’s military regimes through arms-trading operations, murders, torture, interrogations, and drug trafficking. (Barbie worked with Pablo Escobar and the Medellín cartel.) In 1957, Barbie became a Bolivian citizen.

In 1971, Beate and Serge Klarsfeld identified Barbie as Klaus Altmann and the fact he was living in Bolivia. The Bolivian government refused to extradite Barbie, but the Klarsfelds never gave up. They ensured the Butcher of Lyon’s story stayed in front of the public and finally, in 1983, a democratic government was elected in Bolivia and they agreed to extradite Barbie to France where he would stand trial.

Serge and Beate Klarsfeld. Photo by personal photographer (c. 2007). PD-CCA 3.0 Unported License. Wikimedia Commons.
Serge and Beate Klarsfeld. Photo by personal photographer (c. 2007). PD-CCA 3.0 Unported License. Wikimedia Commons.

In the meantime, Allan Ryan, Director of the Office of Special Investigations issued a full report (refer below to the recommended reading section) on the U.S. government’s involvement with Barbie. The report’s conclusions resulted in a formal apology from the United States to France for enabling Klaus Barbie to escape French justice for 33 years.

Click here to watch the video Tracking Down Klaus Barbie – “Butcher of Lyon” and here to watch The Butcher of Lyon.

The Barbie Trial 

In 1984, Barbie was indicted and tried on forty-one separate counts of crimes against humanity committed as head of the Lyon Gestapo. His trial began in 1987 in Lyon and the proceedings were filmed. (The film can be viewed at the former Lyon Gestapo headquarters, now the Resistance and Deportation History Center ⏤ the testimony of the survivors is quite graphic.)

Klaus Barbie at the start of his trial. Photo by anonymous (11 May 1987). AFP Correspondent. https://correspondent.afp.com/trial-butcher-lyon
Klaus Barbie at the start of his trial. Photo by anonymous (11 May 1987). AFP Correspondent. https://correspondent.afp.com/trial-butcher-lyon
The courtroom where Klaus Barbie was tried. Photo by anonymous (c. 1987). B’nai B’Brith Klutznick Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nikolaus-klaus-barbie-the-butcher-of-lyon
The courtroom where Klaus Barbie was tried. Photo by anonymous (c. 1987). B’nai B’Brith Klutznick Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nikolaus-klaus-barbie-the-butcher-of-lyon

Barbie’s team of defense attorneys was led by Jacques Vergès (1925−2013), a Vietnamese French anti-colonial activist. His defense strategy included diversionary tactics such as trying to put France on trial by comparing its actions (e.g., torture) in the Algeria conflict and other colonial crimes to the crimes Barbie was charged with. Barbie argued he was a Bolivian citizen and that his extradition was illegal.

Trial illustration of Jacques Vergès (left) and Klaus Barbie (right). Illustration by Calvi (c. May 1987). Agence France-Presse. PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.
Trial illustration of Jacques Vergès (left) and Klaus Barbie (right). Illustration by Calvi (c. May 1987). Agence France-Presse. PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.

Klaus Barbie was the first and only former Nazi to be put on trial in France for crimes against humanity. It was decided that he could not be tried for war crimes as this had a statute of limitations under French law whereas crimes against humanity did not. Barbie’s orders to arrest and deport the children of Izieu played a critical role in having him tried (and convicted) for crimes against humanity. On 4 July 1987, Barbie was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment (France by then had eliminated the death penalty). Klaus Barbie, the “Butcher of Lyon” died of cancer in prison four years after his conviction.

One of our tour guides on our river cruise to Lyon told us she attended Barbie’s trial for three days and did not go back. I asked her why she didn’t return. (It was very difficult to get tickets to the public gallery.) Francis told us that the testimonies of the eyewitnesses and their stories were so horrible that she couldn’t sit through another day of listening to the atrocities committed by Barbie.

Click here to watch video of the Klaus Barbie trial news coverage.

Next Blog:       “The Colmar Pocket”


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★ Read and Learn More About Today’s Topic ★

Bower, Tom. Klaus Barbie: The Butcher of Lyons. New York: Pantheon Books, 1984.

Chabrol, Claude (director) and Jean-Pierre Ramsay Levi (producer). The Eye of Vichy. Fit Production, Institut national de l’audiovisuel, TFI Films Production, et. al., 1993.

Delarue, Jacques. The Gestapo: A History of Horror. S. Yorkshire: Frontline Books, 2008 (originally published 1962).

Doré-Rivé, Isabelle (Editor and curator). Translation by John Doherty. War in a City: Lyon, 1939−1945. Lyon: Éditions Fage, 2013.

Goñi, Uki. The Real Odessa: How Perón Brought the Nazi War Criminals to Argentina. London: Granta Books, 2003.

Jackson, Julian. France: The Dark Years, 1940−1944. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Klarsfeld, Serge. Translated by Glorianne Depondt and Howard M. Epstein. French Children of the Holocaust: A Memorial. New York: New York University Press, 1996.

Klarsfeld, Serge and Beate Klarsfeld. Translated by Sam Taylor. Hunting the Truth: Memoirs of Beate and Serge Klarsfeld. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015.

Lanzmann, Claude (director & producer). Shoah. Les Films Aleph and Historia Film, 1985.

Ophuls, Marcel (director & producer). Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie. Icarus Films, 1988.

Ophuls, Marcel (director). The Sorrow and the Pity: Chronicle of a French City Under the Occupation. Milestone, 1969.

Paxton, Robert O. Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940−1944. New York: Knopf Publishing, 1972.

Robbins, Christopher. A Test of Courage: Michel Thomas. London: Century, 1999.

Ryan, Allan A. Jr. Klaus Barbie and the United States Government: A Report to the Attorney General. U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, August 1983.

Galina Brok-Beltsova Obituary. The Times, 16 October 2024. Click here to read.

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Sandy and I visited Lyon as part of our river cruise through the south of France. I hired a private guide for a three-hour walking tour of the city with a focus on resistance activities. Unfortunately, he never showed up. The unoccupied zone is a topic I have not focused on except for the escape lines, the Milice, and Maquis resistance fighters. So, Lyon is a city that I have much to learn about. Writing this blog gives me the opportunity to learn more about its role in the war.

We did sign up for an afternoon excursion on one of the days that concentrated on the Colmar Pocket. Our guide was an exceptional expert on this subject (and very passionate about her subject). I am very fortunate to have met Angie, a World War I and II licensed tour guide. As my discussions with her progress, I will learn more about where and what she enjoys sharing with her clients. Stay tuned.

Thank you to all of you who subscribe to our bi-weekly blogs. It seems there isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t increase our readership. Please let your history buff friends and family members know about our blog site and blogs.

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Thanks to Tim P. for contacting us regarding Virginia Hall. Tim wanted to know if I had any connections to private guides in the cities where Virginia had her resistance operations. Unfortunately, I don’t have those connections at this time. I will be following up with Raphaëlle and Angie to see if they can refer someone.

Dave B. reached out to us regarding the Ritchie Boys and his father. Gerald was Jewish and managed to escape Nazi Germany with his family in the late 1930s. After “bouncing” around Europe, he settled in New York. Gerald was drafted in 1942 and in time, became one of the Ritchie Boys. Click here to read the blog, The Ritchie Boys. Interestingly, Gerald and his family ended up in Camp King in 1961 where Dave had some interesting experiences. Click here to read the blog, Camp King. Thanks, Dave, for sharing this with us.

If there is a topic you’d like to see a blog written about, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I love hearing from you so keep those comments coming.

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The Ciano Diaries

As I’ve pointed out before, most of the stories about the war in Europe during World War II center around the Americans, British, French, and German-occupied countries. Rarely have books been written about the Soviet Union or even Italy in the same way historians have covered other parts of the European theater (click here to read the blog, Women of the Italian Resistance and here to read The Night Witches).

While the focus seems to always be on the Italian Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini (1883−1945), one of the recurring Italian political personalities during the 1930s and the war years is Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari. You may know him better as Mussolini’s son-in-law. He played a major role as Mussolini’s foreign advisor as well as serving in several important government positions. Ciano’s involvement as a senior Italian diplomat brought him in close contact with Hitler and high-level Nazi party officials. In the end, a family dispute forced Mussolini to permanently dispatch his son-in-law.

Meeting of Hitler and Mussolini in Stępina, Poland. Photo by anonymous (27 August 1941). Yad Vashem. PD-Published outside the United States. Wikimedia Commons.
Meeting of Hitler and Mussolini in Stępina, Poland. Photo by anonymous (27 August 1941). Yad Vashem. PD-Published outside the United States. Wikimedia Commons.

However, Ciano’s greatest gift to historical posterity was his diary written between 1937 and 1943.

Hitler in conversation with the Italian foreign minister, Count Galeazzo Ciano. Photo by anonymous (7 July 1940). ©️ National Digital Archives, Polan.
Hitler in conversation with the Italian foreign minister, Count Galeazzo Ciano. Photo by anonymous (7 July 1940). ©️ National Digital Archives, Polan.

Did You Know?

Did you know that while almost impossible, there are several documented successful escapes from KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau? One of those escapees was Benjamin Samuelson (1925−c. post 2003). Deported from Romania at the age of fourteen, Benjamin was subjected to imprisonment at several camps before arriving at Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

Benjamin Samuelson. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/my-grandfather-plotted-daring-escape-auschwitz-heres-how-he-cheated-death
Benjamin Samuelson. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/my-grandfather-plotted-daring-escape-auschwitz-heres-how-he-cheated-death

Benjamin was assigned to a Sonderkommando unit responsible for working the gas chambers and crematorium at Auschwitz. Shortly after joining the work detail, he was told the average life span was 90-days before he and the others would be murdered. It was then he decided to escape. Soon after, Benjamin jumped into a pile of clothes and covered himself up knowing the clothes would be dumped outside the camp fences. After the mountain of clothing had been unloaded, Benjamin climbed out and hid for the next ten days. He heard soldiers talk about transferring inmates to other camps and he decided to join a large group outside waiting to board the trucks for destinations outside the fences of Auschwitz.

Benjamin survived the war and went on to live a full life with his family. Like so many eyewitnesses to the Nazi atrocities, Benjamin has passed away. No one can even imagine the nightmares he must have suffered. However, there was one nightmare that haunted him every day.

Benjamin Samuelson, Holocaust survivor, after the war. Photo by anonymous (c. 1948). https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/my-grandfather-plotted-daring-escape-auschwitz-heres-how-he-cheated-death
Benjamin Samuelson, Holocaust survivor, after the war. Photo by anonymous (c. 1948). https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/my-grandfather-plotted-daring-escape-auschwitz-heres-how-he-cheated-death

Benjamin’s Sonderkommando was responsible for marching the children to the gas chambers and Benjamin was forced to escort his sister to her death. When asked about his sister’s murder, he would say with tears in his eyes, “I’ll never forget that. But here I am.”


Let’s Meet Count Galeazzo Ciano

Gian Galeazzo Ciano (1903−1944) was born to Adm. Costanzo Ciano (1876−1939) and Carolina Pini (1886−1959). His father was a World War I hero and during the interwar period, founded the Italian National Fascist Party. An ardent nationalist, Costanzo Ciano supported the rise of Mussolini. He and Gian took part in Mussolini’s “March on Rome” (27/28 October 1922) when more than thirty thousand Fascist blackshirts demanded the resignation of the prime minister and the installation of a Fascist government. The morning of 28 October saw King Victor Emmauel II turn over the Italian government to a new prime minister: Benito Mussolini.

Adm. Costanzo Ciano in his naval uniform. Photo by anonymous (c. 1933). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Adm. Costanzo Ciano in his naval uniform. Photo by anonymous (c. 1933). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
The March on Rome. Mussolini is second from left. Photo by anonymous (24 October 1922). Illustrazione Italiana, 1922, no 45. PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
The March on Rome. Mussolini is second from left. Photo by anonymous (24 October 1922). Illustrazione Italiana, 1922, no 45. PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Ciano married Edda Mussolini (1910−1995) in April 1930, and they had three children (Fabrizio, Raimonda, and Marzio). Edda was the eldest of four siblings born to Benito Mussolini and his second wife, Rachele Guidi (1890−1979). Coincidentally (or maybe not?), Hermann Göring’s daughter was also named Edda. Mussolini’s only daughter had a very strong and rebellious personality and combined with her father’s senior government position, serious relationships with men were few and far between for Edda. However, the older and mature Ciano managed to capture her attention and they wed in Rome before more than four thousand guests. Mussolini once said, “I managed to bend Italy to my will, but I will never bend Edda.”

Mussolini family photo taken in Levanto, the Italian Riviera. Standing left to right: Rachele Guidi, Benito Mussolini. Seated left to right: Bruno (1918−1941), Vittorio (1916−1997), and Edda. The youngest son, Romano, was born in 1927 (and died in 2006). Romano’s daughter is Allessandra Mussolini. Photo by anonymous (c. 1923). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Mussolini family photo taken in Levanto, the Italian Riviera. Standing left to right: Rachele Guidi, Benito Mussolini. Seated left to right: Bruno (1918−1941), Vittorio (1916−1997), and Edda. The youngest son, Romano, was born in 1927 (and died in 2006). Romano’s daughter is Allessandra Mussolini. Photo by anonymous (c. 1923). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Studio portrait of Edda Ciano. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Studio portrait of Edda Ciano. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Edda and Gian Galeazzo Ciano on their wedding day. Photo by anonymous (c. April 1930).
Edda and Gian Galeazzo Ciano on their wedding day. Photo by anonymous (c. April 1930).

Government Service 

Shortly after their marriage, the couple left for Shanghai where Ciano served as the Italian consul. While in Shanghai, each of them embarked on what would become a string of affairs throughout their marriage. (In addition to men, Edda liked her gin and poker.) They moved back to Italy in 1932 and within several years, Ciano became Mussolini’s minister for press and propaganda. In 1936, Ciano was appointed to the post of minister of foreign affairs, a position he held for seven years. In this role, he became a trusted advisor to his father-in-law and began his close association with the Nazi party and its senior members. While Mussolini and Ciano continually waxed and waned over Italy’s commitment to Hitler, Edda was “all-in” and the Führer once commented, “(Edda) is the most German of all Italians.”

From right to left: Yu Fengzhi (wife of Zhang Xueliang), W.H. Donald (Australian consultant of Xueliang), Zhang Xueliang, and Edda Ciano (center). Edda reportedly had an affair with Xueliang. Photo by anonymous (c. February 1931). Palace Museum Peking. PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
From right to left: Yu Fengzhi (wife of Zhang Xueliang), W.H. Donald (Australian consultant of Xueliang), Zhang Xueliang, and Edda Ciano (center). Edda reportedly had an affair with Xueliang. Photo by anonymous (c. February 1931). Palace Museum Peking. PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Hitler and Count Ciano in front of the Berghof. Photo by Heinrich Hoffmann (24 October 1936. ©️ Illustrierter Beobachter Decembe-Heinrich Hoffmann.
Hitler and Count Ciano in front of the Berghof. Photo by Heinrich Hoffmann (24 October 1936. ©️ Illustrierter Beobachter Decembe-Heinrich Hoffmann.

Ciano did not support Italy’s partnership with Hitler in the mid-1930s because he thought a war in Europe would be detrimental believing Italy’s military power was insufficient. (Coincidentally, while they were not against a war, senior German military leaders felt the same about Germany’s military ability to successfully engage in conflict at that point.) When Hitler declared war on France on 10 June 1940, Ciano’s diary entry was, “I am sad ⏤ very sad. The adventure begins. May God help Italy!”

Cover of Time magazine with Edda Ciano. The caption reads, “She wears the diplomatic trousers.” Cover by Ernest Hamlin Baker (c. 1939). Time magazine, 24 July 1939, Vol. XXXIV No. 4. PD-Copyright was not renewed. Wikimedia Commons.
Cover of Time magazine with Edda Ciano. The caption reads, “She wears the diplomatic trousers.” Cover by Ernest Hamlin Baker (c. 1939). Time magazine, 24 July 1939, Vol. XXXIV No. 4. PD-Copyright was not renewed. Wikimedia Commons.
Edda Ciano speaking with the mayor of São Paulo, Adhemar de Barros (1901−1969). Photo by anonymous (c. 1939). Fotografia com mais de 70 anso, dominio público. PD-CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
Edda Ciano speaking with the mayor of São Paulo, Adhemar de Barros (1901−1969). Photo by anonymous (c. 1939). Fotografia com mais de 70 anso, dominio público. PD-CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
Colorized image of the Munich Conference. Right to left: Gian Galeazzo Ciano, Benito Mussolini, Hitler, Edouard Daladier (France), and Neville Chamberlain (U.K.). Colorized photo by Mareček2000 (c. 2020). PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.
Colorized image of the Munich Conference. Right to left: Gian Galeazzo Ciano, Benito Mussolini, Hitler, Edouard Daladier (France), and Neville Chamberlain (U.K.). Colorized photo by Mareček2000 (c. 2020). PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.

For some time, Mussolini distrusted his son-in-law. In addition to openly making derogatory comments about his father-in-law, Ciano supplied information to a neutral Belgium that Hitler’s army would use the country as a path for the invasion of France. As the Italian army suffered defeats between 1939 and 1943, Ciano became increasingly disillusioned and vocal about his views. By February 1943, the Italian dictator removed Ciano from his post as foreign minister. Ciano was named as ambassador to the Holy See at Vatican City where Mussolini could keep close tabs on what turned out to be a correct assessment of the count.

“Count Ciano . . . was the clown of the evening. In his grey and black Fascist militia uniform, he sat in the first row of the diplomatic box and jumped up constantly like a jack-in-the-box every time Hitler paused for breath, to give the Fascist salute.”

⏤ William L. Shirer

                   19 July 1940 Diary Entry

                         Berlin Diary: An Inside Account of Nazi Germany

Invasion of Sicily, Allied Victory in North Africa, and Mussolini’s Downfall

After the Allies invaded Sicily in July 1943 and their victory in North Africa during the fall of 1943, two things became clear. First, Germany was on its way to losing the war and Mussolini was quickly losing his grip on Italy. At this point, Ciano turned against Mussolini and advocated for Italy to withdraw from the war.

On 24 July 1943, during a meeting of the Fascist Grand Council, one of Mussolini’s long-time comrades called on the king to take back his throne, effectively throwing Mussolini out of power. The motion won by a margin of 19 to 8. Ciano cast his vote to overthrow his father-in-law and in doing so, guaranteed himself and eighteen others a future death sentence.

A meeting of the Gran Consiglio Fascismo, or “Fascist Grand Council.” Photo by anonymous (c. 1936). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
A meeting of the Gran Consiglio Fascismo, or “Fascist Grand Council.” Photo by anonymous (c. 1936). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Mussolini was arrested and imprisoned in the mountain resort of Abruzzo. On 23 September 1943, Hitler sent his commandos to rescue his “partner” and then set up Mussolini as the head of a puppet government (Salò Republic, or “Italian Socialist Republic”) in northern Italy.

Mussolini (center in black fedora) after being rescued at Gran Sasso by a German commando unit led by Hitler’s favorite soldier, SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny (to the left of Mussolini in light grey uniform looking away from the camera). Photo by Toni Schneiders (12 September 1943). Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-567-1503A-07/Toni Schneiders/CC-BY-SA 3.0. PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Germany. Wikimedia Commons.
Mussolini (center in black fedora) after being rescued at Gran Sasso by a German commando unit led by Hitler’s favorite soldier, SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny (to the left of Mussolini in light grey uniform looking away from the camera). Photo by Toni Schneiders (12 September 1943). Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-567-1503A-07/Toni Schneiders/CC-BY-SA 3.0. PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Germany. Wikimedia Commons.

In the meantime, Ciano was dismissed from the government and tried to get his family to Spain where he expected to be protected from the wrath of his father-in-law. Betrayed by Hitler, they were unexpectedly flown to Germany where Hitler turned the count over to a vengeful Mussolini and likely suggested Ciano should be executed for treason.

Betrayal, Trial, and Execution

Not surprisingly, Mussolini had his son-in-law, and five men put on trial for treason. (Only six of the nineteen men who voted to oust Mussolini could be found as the other thirteen went into hiding.) At the 14th-century Castel Vecchio, the Verona trial began on 8 January 1944 and Ciano’s attorney was forced to resign, replaced by an incompetent public defender. The trial was a hoax, the verdict of guilty was preordained, and the inevitable clemency appeal was purposely not handed to Mussolini until after Ciano had been executed. (There were concerns the dictator had decided to grant clemency.)

The six men on trial for treason. Left to right: Emilio De Bono, Carlo Pareschi, Gian Galeazzo Ciano, Luciano Gottardi, Giovanni Marinelli, and Tullio Cianetti. One of the men, Cianetti, received a 30-year sentence while the others were condemned to death. Photo by anonymous (c. January 1944). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
The six men on trial for treason. Left to right: Emilio De Bono, Carlo Pareschi, Gian Galeazzo Ciano, Luciano Gottardi, Giovanni Marinelli, and Tullio Cianetti. One of the men, Cianetti, received a 30-year sentence while the others were condemned to death. Photo by anonymous (c. January 1944). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Gian Galeazzo Ciano in his cell (no 27) at Scalzi prison. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Gian Galeazzo Ciano in his cell (no 27) at Scalzi prison. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Scalzi prison before its demolition. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Scalzi prison before its demolition. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
The façade of the Scalzi prison entrance. It is all that remains of the former prison where Ciano and the other defendants were held before being executed. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). www.notesfromverona.com
The façade of the Scalzi prison entrance. It is all that remains of the former prison where Ciano and the other defendants were held before being executed. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). www.notesfromverona.com

On 11 January, Ciano and four others who voted for Mussolini’s ouster were taken to a field where five chairs awaited them. (The sixth defendant was sentenced to thirty-years imprisonment.) Tied to the chairs, each man was placed with his back to the firing squad in an effort to disgrace them. It was 9:00 a.m. rather than the customary dawn execution. It has been speculated that Hitler ordered the change so that the execution could be filmed. Ciano was the last to be executed and he managed to turn the chair around to face the firing squad. He was the only victim to have bullet holes in the chest.

The five condemned men tied to chairs with their backs facing the firing squad. Ciano is fourth from the left and is turning to face his executioners. Photo by anonymous (11 January 1944). Ray Moseley; Mussolini’s Shadow.
The five condemned men tied to chairs with their backs facing the firing squad. Ciano is fourth from the left and is turning to face his executioners. Photo by anonymous (11 January 1944). Ray Moseley; Mussolini’s Shadow.
Verona priest gives the extreme anointing to Galeazzo Ciano after Ciano’s execution. Note the position of the chair as if Ciano had turned it just before being shot. Photo by anonymous (11 January 1944). https://wwwomnia.ie
Verona priest gives the extreme anointing to Galeazzo Ciano after Ciano’s execution. Note the position of the chair as if Ciano had turned it just before being shot. Photo by anonymous (11 January 1944). https://wwwomnia.ie
Gian Galeazzo Ciano immediately after his execution. In the background is the body of Carlo Pareschi, former minister of agriculture. Photo by anonymous (11 January 1944). NSFW.
Gian Galeazzo Ciano immediately after his execution. In the background is the body of Carlo Pareschi, former minister of agriculture. Photo by anonymous (11 January 1944). NSFW.

Click here to watch the video The Brutal Execution of Mussolini’s Son-In-Law Count Galeazzo Ciano.

The Diaries

Count Ciano began writing his diary in 1937 when he was foreign minister. Mussolini knew about the diaries and even suggested entries for Ciano to include. In fact, Ciano boasted to everyone that he was keeping a diary. In the end, “loose lips” sank Ciano’s ship.

As it became obvious the Germans (and Italians) were going to lose the war, Mussolini and Hitler increased their efforts to seize the diaries. Ciano’s entries to his diary were politically oriented (as opposed to personal issues) and contained concrete facts, general impressions, and cutting remarks regarding his colleagues. It covers political squabbles, Germany’s war strategy, diplomatic affairs, and gives us the inside story of how Hitler “took over” Italy and manipulated Mussolini. Descriptions in the diary included “not just a bully but a tedious blowhard” (Hitler), “a pathetic child, desperate for praise and baubles” (Göring), and “sniveling, back-stabbing” (von Ribbentrop).

After the vote to oust his father-in-law and subsequent house arrest by Italy’s new hardline prime minister, Ciano began to burn parts of the diary but ended up hiding it after realizing the diary might be useful as a negotiating tool.

Escape

Edda’s close confidant, Emilio Pucci (1914−1992), devised a plan to trade the incriminating diaries for Count Ciano’s life but after Hitler refused to alter the death sentence, Pucci drove Edda to the Swiss border after having sewn the manuscripts into her peasant clothing. Before crossing the border on 9 January 1944, Edda had written letters to Hitler and her father begging them to spare the life of her husband. Pucci delivered the letters personally and then unsuccessfully tried to flee to Switzerland. Arrested, Pucci was transferred to the San Vittore prison in Milan where he was tortured by the Gestapo. He managed to escape and eventually made it to Switzerland. Pucci became an internationally recognized fashion designer when he founded Pucci in 1947 (now owned by LVMH).

For sake of keeping this blog to a reasonable length, I decided not to expand on the escape efforts of the Ciano family or how a German double agent and American socialite played a part in assisting Edda smuggle the diary out of Italy and into the hands of the Allies. If you are interested in the details, I recommend Tilar Mazzeo’s book, Sisters in Resistance.

The bodies of Mussolini, his mistress, Clara Petacci, and other Fascists in Piazzale Loreta, Milano. Photo by anonymous (29 April 1945). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
The bodies of Mussolini, his mistress, Clara Petacci, and other Fascists in Piazzale Loreta, Milano. Photo by anonymous (29 April 1945). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Postwar

After returning to Italy, Edda was arrested and tried for assisting with the rise of Fascism. In December 1945, she was sentenced to two years imprisonment. The diaries were microfilmed and sent to the United States. (The diary also exposed war crimes and it was used as evidence during the Nuremberg trials.) An abridged version was published in 1946 but it was considered inadequate. A later publication (see below) produced a complete version of the surviving diary.

Edda lived for fifty years after the war ended. She was known as “Eccellenza,” a respected title given to government ministers, ambassadors, and bishops. Edda’s niece (and Mussolini’s granddaughter), Allessandra Mussolini (b. 1962) is active in Italian politics and considers herself a Fascist.

Next Blog:         “The Missing Emperor”


Correspondence and Commentary Policy

We welcome everyone to contact us either directly or through the individual blogs. Sandy and I review every piece of correspondence before it is approved to be published on the blog site. Our policy is to accept and publish comments that do not project hate, political, religious stances, or an attempt to solicit business (yeah, believe it or not, we do get that kind of stuff). Like many bloggers, we receive quite a bit of what is considered “Spam.” Those e-mails are immediately rejected without discussion.

Our blogs are written to inform our readers about history. We want to ensure discussions are kept within the boundary of historical facts and context without personal bias or prejudice.

We average about one e-mail every two days from our readers. We appreciate all communication because in many cases, it has led to friendships around the world.


★ Read and Learn More About Today’s Topic

Benjamin Samuelson interview. Click here to watch the interview.

Brodsky, Evan. My grandfather plotted a daring escape from Auschwitz. Here’s how he cheated death. Fox News. 27 January 2023. Click here to read the article.

Ciano, Edda Mussolini. La mia vita (“My Truth”). New York: Morrow, 1977.

Ciano, Fabrizio. Quando il Nonno Fece Fucilare Papá (“When Grandpa had Daddy Shot”). Milano: A. Mondadori, 1991.

Ciano, Galeazzo. Edited by Malcolm Muggeridge. Translated by Stuart Hood. Ciano’s Diplomatic Papers. London: Odham’s Press, 1948.

Ciano, Galeazzo. The War Diaries of Count Galeazzo Ciano 1939−1943. Brimscombe, U.K: Fonthill Media Ltd., 2015.

Durgin, Paige Y. Framed in Death: The Historical Memory of Galeazzo Ciano. Trinity College, Senior Theses and Projects, 2012.

Hunt, Antonia. Foreword by M.R.D. Foot. Little Resistance: A Teenage English Girl’s Adventures in Occupied France. London: Leo Cooper, 1982.

Mazzeo, Tilar J. Sisters in Resistance: How a German Spy, a Banker’s Wife, and Mussolini’s Daughter Outwitted the Nazis. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2022.

Moseley, Ray. Mussolini’s Shadow: The Double Life of Count Galeazzo Ciano. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.

Moorehead, Caroline. Mussolini’s Daughter: The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe. New York: Harper, 2022.

Mussolini, Rachel. Mussolini: An Intimate Biography by His Widow (as told to Albert Zarca). New York: William Morrow, 1977.

Salter, Michael and Lori Charlesworth. Ribbentrop and the Ciano Diaries at the Nuremberg Trial. Journal of International Criminal Justice, Volume 4, Issue 1, March 2006, Pages 103−127. Click here to read the article.

Samuelson, Benjamin and Jeff Shevlowitz. Abiding Hope: Bearing Witness to the Holocaust. Moscow, ID: Pine Orchard Publishing, 2003.

Shirer, William L. The Nightmare Years: 1930−1940. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984.

Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960.

Shirer, William L. Berlin Diary: An Inside Account of Nazi Germany. New York: Bonanza Books, 1966.

Disclaimer:

There may be a chance that after we publish this particular blog, the video links associated with the blog are no longer accessible. We have no control over this. Many times, whoever posts the video has done so without the consent of the video’s owner. In some cases, it is likely that the content is deemed unsuitable by YouTube. We apologize if you have tried to access the link and you don’t get the expected results. Same goes for internet links.

What’s New With Sandy and Stew?

Sandy and I had the pleasure of hosting our friend from Scotland, Roland K. for several days. We visited Roland in Glasgow last year, so it was nice to be able to reciprocate. I think we introduced him to 24/7 air conditioning (we live in southwest Florida). Living on water, we don’t have Florida’s well-known bug problem, so Roland missed out on that experience. Over gin & tonics, we talked a lot about the documentary he is trying to put together about Antonia Hunt’s experience growing up in occupied France.

Thank you to all of you who subscribe to our bi-weekly blogs. It seems there isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t increase our readership. Please let your history buff friends and family members know about our blog site and blogs.

Someone Is Commenting On Our Blogs 

What a coincidence! Ed N. contacted me regarding his father who had been a guard at Camp King (click here to read the blog, Camp King) as well as guarding the prisoners during the Nuremberg trials. One of the camp’s German detainees gave him a watercolor of several camp cabins. At the bottom were the signatures of some detainees. Ed asked for assistance in deciphering the signatures. His father passed away without talking about his wartime experiences, so Ed was left to piecing together the memorabilia.

Well, about a week later, Marlane B. wrote us about having been born at Camp King as well as living in Kransburg where Operation Paperclip was affiliated (click here to read the blog, Hang ‘Em or Hire ‘Em). She also has a document signed by camp detainees including “Axis Sally.”

Thank you to Ed and Marlane for sharing part of their personal backgrounds with us. It is always fascinating to talk with the sons, daughters, and grandchildren of the men and women whom we either write about or were part of our blog stories.

Martin P. contacted us in December 2022, and I mentioned him in this section of our previous guest blog, Ten Gifts of the White Bus Rescue (click here to read the blog). Martin’s father (deceased) was one of the 168 downed Allied airmen sent to KZ Buchenwald for their execution (click here to read the blog, Last Train Out of Paris). I introduced Martin to Pat Vinycomb, Stanley Booker’s daughter. Pat was able to make the arrangements for Martin to meet Stan at his home. Stanley is the last surviving airman of Buchenwald and will celebrate his 101st birthday in April. Thanks, Pat, for making this all come together. I know it helped Martin fill in some of the gaps of his father’s journey during the war. I’m certain Stanley enjoyed recounting his adventures. What a memory for someone his age. Heck, I can’t even remember what I had for dinner the previous evening.

Stanley Booker and Martin in Stan ‘s living room. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (27 March 2023). Courtesy of Martin P. and Pat Vinycomb.
Stanley Booker and Martin in Stan ‘s living room. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (27 March 2023). Courtesy of Martin P. and Pat Vinycomb.

All I can say is, keep those e-mails coming!

If there is a topic you’d like to see a blog written about, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I love hearing from you so keep those comments coming.


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Do you enjoy reading? Do you have a hard time finding the right book in the genre you enjoy? Well, Ben at Shepherd.com has come up with an amazing way to find that book.

Shepherd highlights an author (like me) and one of their books. The author is required to review five books in the same genre. So, if a reader is interested say in cooking, they can drill down and find specific books about cooking that have been reviewed by authors in that category. Very simple.

If you like to read, I highly recommend you visit Shepherd.com. If you do, please let me know what you think and I will forward Ben any suggestions or comments you might have.

Click here to visit Shepherd’s website.

Click the books to visit Stew’s bookshelf.

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