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WHEREVER THEY MAY BE
© 1972, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation
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language of Descartes, but using rather earthy a
vocabulary: "You shit on us, so we're going to shit on you and kick your ass
out of here."
After that I resigned myself to my fate, and waited
patiently until evening, when the office closed and I was released as on the
previous day.
Meanwhile, at my instigation, Mandereau made a formal
request for a confrontation between Barbie and Mme. Halaunbrenner. Barbie, of
course, stubbornly refused, and Tapia told Mandereau on Wednesday morning that
it would be impossible to force Barbie to consent. Barbie's refusal was
significant. As far as meeting him myself, I did not see what good that would
do, any more than I would have benefited from meeting any of my other
adversaries.
Consequently, we tried to start a legal action against
Barbie, in which Mme. Halaunbrenner would sue him as an individual for the
murder of four of her family. The first lawyer we approached, Jaime Mendizabal,
had been one of Regis Debray's defense attorneys, but after due consideration
he turned us down for political reasons: his brother was in the government
(later his brother would be dismissed and he himself would be arrested) . The
second, Manuel Morales Dávila, agreed, and began proceedings by
registering Mme. Halaunbrenner's plea with a notary. Then he told us his fee:
$7,000. Since such a charge was clearly an attempt to restrain us, I told the
press that "Bolivian justice is too expensive for us." They frequently repeated
to me in La Paz the proverb: "Beware of Chilean women, Peruvian friends, and
Bolivian justice."
On Saturday we went with our Jewish friends to Lake
Titicaca for a rest before undertaking our protest demonstration. That morning
I had bought chains and two padlocks.
On Monday morning, March 6, I got
our passports in order, procured an exit visa from the Ministry of the
Interior, and reserved seats on the 8 P.M. flight to Lima. About noon we
fastened the chains around our waist and wrist. We carried two signs in
Spanish. Mme. Halaunbrenner's had the picture of her family on it and the
message: "Listen, Bolivians! As a mother I only claim justice. I want
Barbie-Altmann, who murdered my husband and three of my children, brought to
trial." Mine said: "In the name of the millions of Nazi victims, let
Barbie-Altmann be extradited." A reporter had translated these texts into
Spanish for me.
We headed for the offices of Transmaritima Boliviana,
of which
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WHEREVER THEY MAY BE
© 1972, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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Page 271 |
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