Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris
Page 41
9 “the same reasons” Report, May 20, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
10 “nearly all the drug addicts” Report, June 29, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
11 “It is through” … “pinch nipples” Jean-François Dominique, L’affaire Petiot: médecin, marron, gestapiste, guillotiné pour au moins vingt-sept assassinats (Paris: Éditions Ramsay, 1980), 31.
12 “All human preoccupations” … “a foul muddle” Piédelièvre Souvenirs, 11, 73–79.
13 clearly after the skin Premier Rapport préliminaire et succinct, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.
14 “The smallest testimony” Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 145.
15 “Would you please” … “It is for you to prove” Maurice Petiot, Audition, March 15, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
16 “He told me it” Enquête Auxerre, March 16, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
17 “Have you seen any lime” Maurice Petiot, Audition, March 15, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
18 Maurice hesitated Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 111.
19 “the electrical material” … “I should tell you” Maurice Petiot, Nouvelle Audition, March 15, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
20 “As long as” Massu L’enquête Petiot, 114.
21 Maurice Petiot, protesting Le Petit Parisien, March 17, 1944.
22 That night, he and Bernard discussed Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 114–116.
CHAPTER 10. “GOODBYE ARROGANCE”
1 a success popularized Stephen G. Michaud with Roy Hazelwood, The Evil That Men Do: FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood’s Journey into the Minds of Sexual Predators (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998), 6.
2 “homicidal triad” John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit (New York: Pocket Books, 1995), 105.
3 the third was The fire and suspicions of Dr. Petiot, Inspector Hernis report, March 22, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II.
4 Detectives searched banks Report, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
5 staking out the auction houses Surveillance report, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II.
6 “I have never noticed anything” Marie Le Roux, Audition, March 13, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
7 “nothing suspicious” Transport et Perquisition, March 15, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
8 to “kill the bugs” Maurice Petiot, Nouvelle Audition, March 16, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
9 “Goodbye arrogance” Georges Massu, L’enquête Petiot: La plus grande affaire criminelle du siècle (Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1959), 118.
10 “My brother did not” … “I wanted to know” Maurice Petiot, Nouvelle Audition, March 16, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
11 as Massu soon learned Report, March 24, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° IV.
12 “I am convinced” Albert Massui, Le cas du Dr Petiot (Brussels: E.D.C., 1944), 56.
CHAPTER 11. SIGHTINGS
1 Monster of rue Le Sueur Variants were also used, particularly the “Vampire de l’Etoile” (Le Petit Parisien, March 23, 1944) and “Vampire de la rue le Sueur” (Le Petit Parisien, March 29, 1944).
2 the Werewolf of Paris Chicago Daily Tribune, April 10, 1946.
3 In the métro Paris-Soir, March 25, 1944.
4 scalping Le Cri du Peuple, March 26, 1944.
5 The police Le Cri du Peuple, April 8–10, 1944.
6 “Satan in person” A reporter for Le Matin heard similar comments, March 18–19, 1944.
7 A psychic claimed Letter, March 22, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.
8 on a country road in Yonne Or, in a variant form, in the river, though this was proved false, the New York Times reported, March 25, 1944.
9 “If Petiot is still alive” Georges Massu, L’enquête Petiot: La plus grande affaire criminelle du siècle (Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1959), 238.
10 Fifty thousand concierges Maurice Toesca, Cinq ans de patience 1939–1944 (Paris: É. Paul, 1975), entry dated March 12, 1944, 218.
11 A man in Orléans Le Petit Parisien, March 20, 1944. There is also a police report from Orléans of a sighting about this time in Report, March 17, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
12 “Pity” Albert Massui, Le cas du Dr Petiot (Brussels: E.D.C., 1944), 59.
13 “freemason brothers” Paris-Soir, April 1, 1944.
14 “It is a myth” March 29, 1944, Léon Werth, Déposition: Journal 1940–1944 (Paris: Viviane Hamy, 2000), 594.
15 “Petiot, he runs” Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 238.
16 “fatal injections” … “crowded war news” Time, March 27, 1944. The author of the piece also noted the belief that Petiot was a fabrication.
17 “Madame, your bones” Jean-Marc Varaut, L’abominable Dr. Petiot (Paris: Balland, 1974), 160.
18 “real-life equivalent” St. Petersburg Times, May 28, 1944.
19 “Will Dr Petiot” Paris-Soir, March 18, 1944.
20 “Who would have believed” Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 75–76.
21 about nine fifteen or nine twenty Verification, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III; Maria Vic, Audition, March 24, 1944, also in n° III.
22 “Burn the papers!” Report, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
23 purchased about three hundred kilos Report, March 19, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
24 Redouté would later Georges Redouté, Audition, November 4, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.
25 The concierge Report, November 4, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° V.
26 “only went out” Ibid.
27 If only, he mused … “impatient as a young dog” Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 56, 58, 60–61, and 74.
28 “debris of bones” Le Matin, March 22, 1944.
29 Massu said that he knew Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 152.
30 “field of vision” Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 132.
31 “reduced to hypotheses” Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 153.
32 “at the level of the neck” Report, August 31, 1942, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.
33 “trace of violence” Ibid.
34 two human hands Police report of Courbevoie, August 22, 1942, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.
35 “a man of the lecture hall” Le Petit Parisien, March 22, 1944.
36 “We forensic scientists” Ibid.
37 four thighs alone Report, November 19, 1942, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° VII.
38 “a storm cloud of mosquitoes” Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 154.
39 “Is it tomorrow” Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 156.
CHAPTER 12. THE GESTAPO FILE
1 According to one Gestapo report, May 8, 1943, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
2 Jodkum Jodkum or Jodkun is usually called director of IV B-4. He was not. The leader of IV B-4, at this time, was SS First Lieutenant Heinz Röthke, who assumed duties in July 1942 from Theodor Dannecker. Background on Jodkum comes from captured Gestapo records and interviews at CDJC, XCVI Service allemand anti-juif en France, and Service IVB-4, particularly the testimony of Kurt Schendel and Henri Jalby on B.d.s. IV 4 b.
3 Although also nominally See particularly Henri Joseph Jalby testimony at CDJC, “Service Jodkun” XCVI, 58–62, 76 as well as Grégory Auda, Les belles années du “milieu” 1940–1944 and Le grand banditisme dans la machine répressive allemande en France (Paris: Éditions Michalon, 2002), note 1, 109.
4 “contraband of persons” Report, Sipo (SD) KD Paris, IV E 2a15016, May 22, 1943, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
5 Dreyfus was a t
hirty-five-year Der Kommendeur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD in Paris, Tgb. Nr. V B1—4065/44, June 23, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II.
6 “I am a Frenchman” AN 334, AP 65, 4434.
7 at Montpellier Report, October 7, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
8 “hotel or a doctor’s office” Gestapo report, May 8, 1943, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
9 The organization under scrutiny Gestapo report, May 21, 1943, and forwarded to the French police, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
10 “The management” Ibid.
11 “remarkably efficient” Gestapo report, May 21, 1943, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
12 “unexpected costs” AN 334, AP 65, 4439–4440.
13 signing two important documents AN 334, AP 65, 4398–9.
14 By this time Guélin had prepared the way for three months of work, according to hairdresser Raoul Fourrier. AN 334, AP 65, 4403.
15 “We climbed a dirty, dark” Gestapo report, May 14, 1943, printed in Jacques Perry and Jane Chabert, L’affaire Petiot (Paris: Gallimard, 1957), 100.
16 counted as numerous Report, Sipo (SD) KD Paris, IV E 2a15016, May 22, 1943, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
17 Once this was accomplished Gestapo report, May 21, 1943, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
18 “the doctor showed it” Gestapo report, May 16, 1943, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
19 “thirty-five to thirty-eight” VM-X report to Gestapo, May 18, 1943, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
20 serial numbers Ibid.
21 He ordered his Report, Sipo (SD) KD Paris, IV E 2a15016, May 22, 1943, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
22 They also arrested Der Kommandeur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD, Tgb. Nr. V B1—4065/44, June 23, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II.
23 “a den of murderers” Hans Bernd Gisevius, To the Bitter End: An Insider’s Account of the Plot to Kill Hitler, 1933–1944, foreword by Allen W. Dulles, translated by Richard and Clara Winston (New York: Da Capo Press, 1998), 50.
24 “with his hand” Ibid.
25 “three days and two nights” Alomée Planel, Docteur Satan ou l’affaire Petiot (Paris: Éditions Robert Laffont, 1978), 191.
26 “the bath” Jacques Delarue, Trafics et crimes sous l’occupation (Paris: Fayard, 1968), 42.
27 Sometimes prisoners Edward Crankshaw, The Gestapo: Instrument of Tyranny (New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1994),128–129, based on the evidence amassed by the French prosecuting counsel at Nuremberg.
28 “running a prisoner” Cooks on the second floor complained of the screams from the interrogation rooms on the fifth. Jacques Delarue, The Gestapo: A History of Horror, translated by Mervyn Savill (New York: Paragon House, 1987), 234–236.
29 “June 1943” … “Vive le fin” Henri Calet, Les Murs de Fresnes (Paris: Editions des Quatre Vents, 1945), 29, 57, 25, 53.
30 “a pitiful sight” René Nézondet, Petiot “le Possédé” (Paris: Express, 1950), 59.
31 According to his confession Nr IV-B Report, Le Chef de la Sû reté et du SD en France, June 11, 1943, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
32 “All I knew” Ibid.
33 “I never saw” Ibid.
34 The file in front of Massu The Gestapo rarely released prisoners, that is, except to a German tribunal, a concentration camp, or at least a French prison. For more, see Jacques Delarue, The Gestapo, 241–242.
35 to “turn” prisoner A tactic described, for instance, from an Abwehr perspective, in Oscar Reile, L’Abwehr: Le contre-espionnage allemand en France, preface by Colonel Rémy (Paris: Éditions France-Empire, 1970), 281–282.
36 in return for 100,000 francs This was confirmed by a man attached to Jodkum in the Gestapo office, Henri Jalby, in an undated report, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II.
CHAPTER 13. POSTCARDS FROM THE OTHER SIDE
1 On September 27, 1940 Serge Klarsfeld, Le Calendrier de la persécution des juifs de France 1940–1944 (Paris: Fayard, 2001), I, 26–28. “Enterprise juive” comes from paragraph 4 of this law.
2 The following month For more, see Susan Zuccotti, The Holocaust, the French, and the Jews (New York: Basic Books, 1993), 56–64, and Michael R. Marrus and Robert O. Paxton, Vichy France and the Jews (New York: Basic Books, Publishers, 1981), 75–114.
3 In early May 1941 Serge Klarsfeld, Vichy-Auschwitz (Paris: Fayard, 1983), 15–18. Klarsfeld also shows the breakdown into Polish, Czech, and former Austrian Jews, and by arrondissement.
4 Three months later Klarsfeld, Vichy-Auschwitz, 25–27.
5 As Gouedo explained Jean Gouedo declaration, March 15, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I. See also his interrogation, March 23, 1944 in carton n° III.
6 On January 2 Renée Guschinow, Audition, March 21, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
7 “I have arrived” … “sell all [her] belongings” Renée Guschinow, Audition, March 21, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III. AN 334, AP 65, 3372–3373.
8 Marcel Petiot had purchased Robert Sens-Olive, Audition, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° II, and report March 24, 1944, in carton n° I.
9 Jean Minaud … said Jean Minaud, Audition, March 21, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
10 “electric transformer” Gaston Dethève, Audition, March 23, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
11 “Aryanized” For more on Aryanization, see note to page 13.
12 Porchon, tempted Roland Porchon, Audition, March 17, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
13 “the King of the Gangsters” Roland Porchon, Audition, March 17, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
14 “sixteen corpses stretched out” … “I suppose he asked them” Ibid.
15 “He didn’t seem” … “forgotten about it” René Bouygues, Audition, March 19, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III; Lucien Doulet, Audition, April 24, 1944; also in Jean-François Dominique, L’affaire Petiot: médecin, marron, gestapiste, guillotiné pour au moins vingt-sept assassinats (Paris: Éditions Ramsay, 1980), 105–107.
16 even after fireman Avilla Boudringhin, Audition, March 16, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
17 “At no point” Joseph Teyssier, Audition, March 16, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
18 Fillion supported Emile Fillion, Audition, March 17, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
19 evidence was mounting For instance, Roger Berody, Audition, March 16, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III, and on the following day, additional confirmation from eyewitnesses Robert Bouquin and Maurice Choquat, also in carton n° III.
20 “the brother of the owner” Emile Fillion, Audition, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
21 Teyssier also now acknowledged Joseph Tessyier, Audition, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III. Newspapers later covered the story—for instance, Le Cri du Peuple, April 7 and 14, 1944, and Paris-Soir, April 13, 1944.
22 “At that moment” Emile Fillion, Audition, March 18, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
23 jumping out of a window Luc Rudolph (coordination), Au coeur de la Préfecture de police: de la résistance à la liberation. 2e Partie. La Préfecture de police: une résistance oubliée 1940–1944 (Paris: 2010), 56.
CHAPTER 14. DESTINATION ARGENTINA
1 “verbal trance [that] gave free rein” Brassaï, Conversations with Picasso, translated by Jane Marie Todd (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999), 200.
2 “humor and inexhaustible spirit of invention” Ibid.
3 As the play ended Maurice Toesca, Cinq ans de patience 1939–1944 (Paris: É. Paul, 1975) 220–221.
4 “A year before” S
imone de Beauvoir, The Prime of Life, translated by Peter Green (London: Penguin Books, 1988), 569.
5 “We constituted” Simone de Beauvoir, The Prime of Life, 575.
6 “filled with the joy” Ibid.
7 Fourrier appeared nervous Georges Massu, L’enquête Petiot: La plus grande affaire criminelle du siècle (Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1959), 160–161.
8 Fourrier told Raoul Fourrier, Audition, March 19, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
9 “the doctor is a charming” … “nice commission” Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 163.
10 “Jo la Ric” Raoul Fourrier, Nouvelle Audition, March 19, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III. “Iron Arm Jo” or “Iron Arm Géo” were often reported, for instance, in Le Matin, March 27, 1944.
11 “no choirboy” Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 169.
12 Hesse Chamberlin, Audition, September 8, 1944, BDIC, Fonds Delarue, F° Delta RES 787 4.
13 “discretion, efficiency” Philippe Aziz, Tu Trahiras sans vergogne. Histoire de deux ‘collabos’ Bonny et Lafont (Paris: Fayard, 1970), 76.
14 “François the Corsican” A police report from Lyon described him as a “dangerous individual,” April 21, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
15 “dark-haired and elegant” Ibid.
16 “La Poute” Report, April 17, 1944; APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
17 “difficult, even impossible” Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 168.
18 “gave him the chills” Paul Georges Jobert, Audition, March 21, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
19 François the Corsican went first Many writers, including Massu later in his memoirs (page 168), mistakingly make Jo depart first.
20 at the end of October 1942 APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° I.
21 an estimated 1.4 million Paul Georges Jobert, Audition, March 21, 1944, APP, Série J, affaire Petiot, carton n° III.
22 “Really, did you not” … Massu, after the interview, felt Massu, L’enquête Petiot, 168–169.
23 network Vengeance Some of its exploits are in François Wetterwald, Vengeance: Histoire d’un corps franc (1946), Victor Dupont’s memoir Témoignages, and the archive on the organization Wetterwald donated to the BDIC. See also the website Turma Vengeance, at chantran.vengeance.free.fr.