Barbie Trial -- Day 6 -- Barbie's knowledge of the Final Solution; an expert testifies

16:21 Prosecutor Iannucci reminds the court that Barbie had been a member of the SD since 1935 and of the Nazi party since 1937; Dachau was inaugurated in March 1933; argues that Barbie cannot have been a member of the organization, for whom the concentration camps were an arm of government, without knowing they existed; gives history relating to the Reichstag Fire (February 1933) and the subsequent decimation of personal freedoms by the Nazi party, as well as the inauguration of Dachau just one month later. 16:27 Nordmann remarks that Barbie's formal education, and therefore his ideological formation, happened within the Nazi framework, and within the SD. The SD's principal tool in achieving its main goal was the growing network of concentration camps; Barbie could not have not known what was happening there. 16:29 Klarsfeld reads a statement given by Barbie in 1984, in which he said he did not know what happened at the concentration camps to which he sent thousands, and another in which he said he only learned about the 'Final Solution' during the Nuremberg Trials. Klarsfeld comments on the brutality with which Barbie and the Lyon Gestapo tortured Jews once they could no longer be deported, in the latter part of 1944 16:32 Levy reads notes written by SS officers Danneker and Knochen in 1941 and 1942, which overtly recognize their knowledge of the Final Solution 16:35 Libman reminds the court that in February 1983, when asked about the raid at Izieu, Barbie replied that it 'had to do with the 'Jewish Problem' in France.' 16:37 Defense lawyer Vergès comments that notes written by other SS officers have nothing to do with Barbie. He chastises the prosecution for being disorganized and for litigating before having heard from witnesses, and argues that the idea to deport Jews from France was a French idea, coming from Pierre Laval, and not Barbie's idea. 16:40 President Cerdini suspends the hearing 17:02 Cerdini resumes the hearing 17:03 A witness, Alfred Streim is introduced to the court via his interpreter, and takes his oath 17:06 Streim is the West German Attorney General in charge of Nazi Crimes, including crimes committed in France, and his organization has assembled a group of documents related to Barbie. He explains the origins of the various documents he is presenting, and presents them to the court. He is 'practically certain' that the documents are authentic, and have been used in other court cases, where they were admitted. 17:11 President Cerdini questions Streim as to the custody of the documents since the war, and as to the organization of the SIPO and SD in France 17:32 Cerdini presents Streim with four documents previously presented to the court, relating to the UGIF and Izieu raids, and asks his professional opinion as to their authenticity. He replies that he has previously studied copies of these documents, and these originals are indeed authentic