Jean Leguay; Accused of War Crimes in Paris

PARIS — Jean Leguay, a leader of the Vichy police force in occupied Paris during World War II who worked closely with Nazi forces and after the war was charged with committing crimes against humanity, has died in a Paris hospital, his lawyer said Tuesday. He was 79.

Leguay died Saturday after a yearlong battle with liver cancer, lawyer Yves Jaffre said.

Leguay had faced two counts of aiding in the deportation of French Jews, but neither came to trial.

In 1979, he was charged for his role in the July, 1942, roundup of 12,884 Jews--including 4,051 children--who were gathered in a Paris cycling stadium and deported to Nazi death camps.

The second set of charges, filed in 1986, involved the deportation of 444 Jews from Paris in August, 1942.

Deputy Police Chief

Leguay was deputy police chief in the occupied zone at the time of the deportations.

When he was charged in 1979, Leguay issued a statement saying he “never had any concern from 1940 to 1944 other than protecting the French from their occupants.” He was detained briefly in that year then released pending trial.

Serge Klarsfeld, the French lawyer who led the effort to bring criminal charges against Leguay, described him as “a political police officer charged with negotiations with the Germans.” Klarsfeld accused Leguay of persuading the Germans to include Jewish children as well as adults in the roundups.

Klarsfeld was instrumental in putting former Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie behind bars.

Jaffre said Leguay “did nothing but obey the orders of the interior secretary at the time.” That the investigation “dragged on for 10 years clearly proved there was nothing in the dossier,” he said.

Although stripped of his position after the war, Leguay rejoined the Civil Service in 1955 and later went on to become the head of a leading cosmetics firm.