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Alice Vansteenberghe

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Alice Vansteenberghe
Born1909 (1909)
DiedFebruary 10, 1991(1991-02-10) (aged 81–82)
Lyon
Occupationphysician
OrganizationFrench Resistance
Known forTestifying against Klaus Barbie

Alice Vansteenberghe was a member of the French Resistance in World War II, who testified in the case against Klaus Barbie.

Vansteenberghe and her husband were both physicians and members of the French Resistance in Lyon. After being imprisoned and tortured by the Gestapo during World War II, they escaped and remained in the Lyon area to practice medicine.[1]

At the trial against Barbie in 1987, she testified that after arresting her in 1944, Barbie tortured her and broke her back, leaving her disabled for life.[1] She was being held in Montluc Prison.[2] In her testimony she stated that she had climbed onto a platform and, from inside her cell, witnessed Barbie directing 4 officers in the deportation of 650 other prisoners to concentration camps.[3] The defense disputed her testimony based on the fact that she "would not have been able to climb onto the platform."[4]

Vansteenberghe used crutches and was aided by police in ascending the stairs to the witness stand to give her testimony. She claimed to recognize Barbie by certain unique physical aspects, such as a bump on his earlobe, which she noticed while he was torturing her. Techniques used against her included the removal of her fingernails, breaking fingers, and beatings, which left her with five broken vertebrae. She claimed that as a member of the Resistance she "expected the worst and made no complaint," but was angered by the torture of non-resistance prisoners.[5] Based on the testimony of Vansteenberghe and others, Barbie was eventually found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison.[6]

Vansteenberghe died in February 1991, in Lyon.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Alice Vansteenberghe, A Resistance Hero, 82". New York Times. No. February 14, 1991. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Witness Says Barbie Organized Death Train". Arizona Daily Star. 1987-06-04. p. 9. Retrieved 2017-10-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Bernstein, Richard (June 4, 1987). "Witness Says She Saw Barbie Set Up Death Train". New York Times. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  4. ^ Bernstein, R. (1987, July 3). CASE AGAINST BARBIE IS ATTACKED BY THE DEFENSE AS A TISSUE OF LIES. New York Times. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=9211haea&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA176108456&asid=0918a1c6624b06a0dd1de360c1f71ea7
  5. ^ Barbie oversaw roundup, witness testifies. (1987, June 4). Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada], p. A17. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A165202141/OVIC?u=peor81815&xid=a462b3b7
  6. ^ Klaus Barbie Trial: 1987. (1994). In Great World Trials. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/BT2307000087/WHIC?u=peor81815&xid=219c97b9


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