Trama

A documentary about Klaus Barbie, the Gestapo chief of Lyon, and his life after the war.

This full-length documentary deals with the life, career and trial of Nazi SS officer Klaus Barbie, known as the Butcher of Lyons. Virtually all aspects of his life are covered. His childhood and schooling in Germany; his early military career; his role in the head of intelligence in Lyons; his post-war employment by the US military; his life in Bolivia; his return to Europe; his trial and conviction. Interviewed are friends, enemies, associates, heroes and traitors.—garykmcd

Klaus Barbie, the infamous "Butcher of Lyon," was directly responsible for the deaths of thousands during World War II. But unlike many Nazi war criminals, Barbie was able to escape from Europe to South America after the war with the help of American counter-intelligence forces; until his arrest in the early 1980s, he served as an anti-Communist counterinsurgency leader for various governments. This award-winning documentary traces Barbie's life from childhood through his 1987 trial.—Jwelch5742

Hotel Terminus is Marcel Ophul's award-winning documentary work, spanning more than 70 years, three continents and 120 hours of interviews as it explores one of World War II's greatest mysteries. Klaus Barbie, a ruthless SS interrogator knowns as the "Butcher of Lyon", was implicated in 4,000 deaths and the deportation of 7,000 Jews from occupied France--- and then he dissapeared. Hotel Terminus traces the 40-year hunt for Barbie, a hunt initiated by the very governments that later hid him and protected his family. Klaus Barbie, a wanted Nazi war criminal, was employed by the American government as an informant in Germany. When discovery was dangerously close, Barbie was smuggled out of Europe on an underground railway with ties to the Vatican. He took refuge in South America , where his "talents" were employed by the governments in Bolivia and Peru. Until he was finally brought to trial in 1987, governments harbored Barbie at the same time that his crimes were being denoucned. Hotel Terminus exposes a complex web of political intrigue, collaboration and deceit almost as unforgettable as the crimes themselves.