Regards, Ivan
Posted on 09/18/2002 2:31:28 AM PDT by MadIvan
Maurice Papon - a former French police chief imprisoned for his role in sending Jews to Nazi death camps - is to be set free on health grounds.
A French appeals court ordered the release of Papon, who was jailed in 1999 for complicity in crimes against humanity for the deportation of 1,600 Jews.
The court accepted two medical reports which concluded that the 92-year-old - whose career flourished after the war - was virtually incapacitated and should be set free.
Papon was the highest-ranking French official to be sentenced for helping the Nazis and his six-month trial reopened painful memories about collaboration with Hitler's forces in occupied France during World War II.
'Immediate release'
Lawyer Jean-Marc Varaut said his client could be released by the end of the day.
He said that, under the terms of the release, Papon must remain at home and seek court authorisation to travel, but insisted: "It is not right to call it house arrest."
Lawyers have repeatedly asked that Papon be released from the 10-year sentence he had been serving in La Sante prison in Paris because of his age and ill health.
They said his health had deteriorated badly, with doctors saying he was suffering from chronic malfunction of the heart, circulatory system and kidneys.
The release of Papon was met with horror among campaigners for victims of the Nazi Holocaust.
Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, who gathered much of the evidence used at Papon's trial, had fought for Papon to stay in prison.
"What I hope is that this sick man doesn't turn out to be healthy," he said.
The president of France's League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, Patrick Gaubert, said Papon's crimes were "unpardonable" and he deserved to stay in prison.
"His detention was the minimum that society could do for those poor children who died because of him," he said.
The state prosecutor had opposed freeing Papon, arguing that the crimes of which he was convicted in 1998 were of an "exceptional seriousness" and could "incite disturbances to public order," if he were set free.
In 2000, President Jacques Chirac refused to free Papon on grounds of ill health, despite appeals from a number of eminent public figures.
'No regrets'
Jewish groups oppose his release because they say he has shown no remorse for his actions.
Maurice Papon Timeline
1942-44: Heads Bordeaux police under Nazi regime
1958: Named as Paris police chief
1978: Appointed as cabinet budget chief
1981: Wartime role revealed by press, prosecutors start inquiry
1983: Charged with crimes against humanity
1987: Case dismissed for procedural irregularities
1988: Charged again with crimes against humanity
1995: Charges reduced to complicity in crimes against humanity
1998: Convicted for organising arrests and deportations of Jews, cleared of complicity in their subsequent deaths at Auschwitz
1999: Returned to France after fleeing to Switzerland
He returned to France to begin his sentence in October 1999 but wrote a letter to France's justice minister last year saying he felt no "regrets of remorse" for his actions.
He was found guilty of signing orders that led to the deportation of 1,600 Jews from Bordeaux between 1942 and 1944.
Most were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp and all but a handful died.
The case has sparked an ongoing debate in France about jailing the elderly.
Papon - said to be France's only surviving wartime convict - had triple coronary bypass surgery several years ago and had a pacemaker implanted in January 1999.
Regards, Ivan
Regards, Ivan
No, he should have been hanged in 1945. Instead, he enjoyed almost 50 years of long life. I hope they turned up the thermostat in his section of hell.
That I can't argue with. However for whatever reason he has survived till now and is now pretty pathetic.
Regards, Ivan
I was in Colmar France 2 weeks ago. Beautiful place. They have a monument for the Resistance in the center of the centuries old village.
Our guide (twenty-something-French) said "In 1944, it was estimated that 100 in the town were active in the Resistance. In 1946, it jumped to 10,000."
A friend of my father's was actually in the Resistance and has the scars to prove it. His contempt for people who claim to have been in the Resistance was palpable. I did once make the social faux pas of mentioning Francois Mitterand in front of him. I didn't know French had that many swear words. ;)
Regards, Ivan
Look for this DVD in your history section next time: War Stories. #91847, by HBO Home Video. Perhaps it is listed here.
There is the story of a very brave British officer who was a resistance fighter. I believe his name was George Millar, code name Emil. While this man was out blowing up railroad lines and training Frenchmen who would resist, Charles DeGaule road into France on a white horse after Normady and ordered all of the English resistance agents out of the country.
Ah, gratitude.
"A French appeals court ordered the release of Papon, who was jailed in 1999 for complicity in crimes against humanity for the deportation of 1,600 Jews."
The French court promptly surrendered to Papon.
Ivan--I believe that is George Millar (the British agent) on the right.
Hope he riots in hell
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