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4. The Last Nazi War Criminals

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Hiding in Plain Sight
This chapter is in the book Hiding in Plain Sight
99Klaus Barbie cut a pathetic fi gure as he wandered the streets of La Paz after his arrival there in June 1951. Passersby would never have known that the slightly built man, dressed in a rumpled jacket and faded trou-sers, was once a former Gestapo captain in Lyon, France, and directly responsible for the deaths of up to 14,000 people, including many he tortured with his own hands. Having spent most of his savings in Bue-nos Aires and on the journey north to Bolivia, he settled his wife, Regine, and their two children into one of the capital’s shoddiest hotels and started pounding the pavement in search of work. Like Argentina, Bolivia in the early 1950s boasted a large German community with lucrative business holdings, especially in the manufacturing sector, and strong ties to the country’s military. Many Nazi sympathizers resided in the provinces, and Barbie naturally drifted in their direction. One of them, Hans Ertl, a recent immigrant and former cameraman who had worked with Leni Riefenstahl on several of her Nazi propaganda fi lms, helped him get his fi rst job, working as a manager of a sawmill high in the Yungas forest of the Andes. Barbie’s family joined him, and his wife became the manager of the company store. In the late 1950s, Barbie was promoted to be the fi rm’s representative in La Paz and returned with his family to the capital.1In 1957, Barbie obtained Bolivian citizenship in the name of Klaus Altmann and struck out on his own, establishing sawmills in Cochabamba and La Paz. The timber business enabled his family to live comfortably chapter 4The Last Nazi War Criminals
© 2019 University of California Press, Berkeley

99Klaus Barbie cut a pathetic fi gure as he wandered the streets of La Paz after his arrival there in June 1951. Passersby would never have known that the slightly built man, dressed in a rumpled jacket and faded trou-sers, was once a former Gestapo captain in Lyon, France, and directly responsible for the deaths of up to 14,000 people, including many he tortured with his own hands. Having spent most of his savings in Bue-nos Aires and on the journey north to Bolivia, he settled his wife, Regine, and their two children into one of the capital’s shoddiest hotels and started pounding the pavement in search of work. Like Argentina, Bolivia in the early 1950s boasted a large German community with lucrative business holdings, especially in the manufacturing sector, and strong ties to the country’s military. Many Nazi sympathizers resided in the provinces, and Barbie naturally drifted in their direction. One of them, Hans Ertl, a recent immigrant and former cameraman who had worked with Leni Riefenstahl on several of her Nazi propaganda fi lms, helped him get his fi rst job, working as a manager of a sawmill high in the Yungas forest of the Andes. Barbie’s family joined him, and his wife became the manager of the company store. In the late 1950s, Barbie was promoted to be the fi rm’s representative in La Paz and returned with his family to the capital.1In 1957, Barbie obtained Bolivian citizenship in the name of Klaus Altmann and struck out on his own, establishing sawmills in Cochabamba and La Paz. The timber business enabled his family to live comfortably chapter 4The Last Nazi War Criminals
© 2019 University of California Press, Berkeley

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Acknowledgments ix
  3. Contents xi
  4. 1. Introduction: The Promise of International Justice 1
  5. Part One
  6. 2. To Nuremberg and Beyond 19
  7. 3. The Hunters and the Hunted 58
  8. 4. The Last Nazi War Criminals 99
  9. Part Two
  10. 5. Balkan Fugitives, International Prosecutors 141
  11. 6. Tracking Rwanda’s Génocidaires 189
  12. 7. Hybrid Tribunals: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally 231
  13. Part three
  14. 8. International Criminal Court: At the Mercy of States 279
  15. 9. The “War on Terror” and Its Legacy 333
  16. 10. Epilogue: The Future of Global Justice 380
  17. Notes 389
  18. Selected Bibliography 451
  19. Index 461
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https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520962767-005

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Acknowledgments ix
  3. Contents xi
  4. 1. Introduction: The Promise of International Justice 1
  5. Part One
  6. 2. To Nuremberg and Beyond 19
  7. 3. The Hunters and the Hunted 58
  8. 4. The Last Nazi War Criminals 99
  9. Part Two
  10. 5. Balkan Fugitives, International Prosecutors 141
  11. 6. Tracking Rwanda’s Génocidaires 189
  12. 7. Hybrid Tribunals: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally 231
  13. Part three
  14. 8. International Criminal Court: At the Mercy of States 279
  15. 9. The “War on Terror” and Its Legacy 333
  16. 10. Epilogue: The Future of Global Justice 380
  17. Notes 389
  18. Selected Bibliography 451
  19. Index 461
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