Klaus Barbie, the Gestapo head in Lyon, alongside others, exemplifies the Nazi war criminals targeted by Serge and Beate Klarsfeld. Their relentless pursuit of justice for atrocities committed during the Holocaust has led to significant convictions. The Klarsfelds’ efforts not only culminated in the arrest of Barbie after years of pursuit but also laid the groundwork for Germany's 1979 decision to remove the statute of limitations on murder and genocide, addressing the urgency of prosecuting Nazi war crimes.
"We only pursued the criminals who had made decisions about the fate of masses of Jews," he wrote to DW. "We only pursued the leaders of the Final Solution."
The spectacular discovery of Barbie in Bolivia was also lauded in Germany, which for decades had limited its search for perpetrators of the Holocaust to just a few leading figures.
Their life's work has ensured that these three perpetrators were convicted of their crimes, yet so many other Nazis have, despite committing many atrocities, managed to live out their lives in peace.
The Klarsfelds later received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2015 for their commitment to bringing Nazis to justice.
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