Barbie Trial -- Day 8 -- A witness testifies regarding the UGIF raid; a civil party testifies

13:47 President Cerdini opens the hearing; asks for the accused to present himself; Barbie refuses to appear 13:49 Cerdini asks a bailiff to summon Barbie 13:50 Another bailiff reads the list of witnesses set to appear 13:52 Cerdini suspends the hearing until the bailiff returns from summoning Barbie 14:19 Cerdini resumes the hearing; the bailiff reads a statement noting that Barbie refuses to appear in court 14:22 Prosecutor Kormann asks to present a new document into evidence; the document, from the Institute of Contemporary History in Munich, concerns testimony given by an SS General earlier in 1987 14:27 Bailiff introduces the witness, Lea Weiss née Katz; the witness is sworn in 14:29 The witness delivers a deposition; she recounts overhearing police officers discussing the UGIF raid the night before it occurred, going the next day to Rue Ste. Catherine to alert Jewish refugees, and walking into the raid as it was going on; she was arrested and asked to return home to take care of her ailing mother, and was beaten by a German officer; she was told that she could leave but had to report to the Hotel Terminus the next morning; she took a tram back home to look for her mother, who had left to look for her, and they found each other at a neighbor's home; she dyed her hair black, and she and her mother left their home and spent months moving from family to family each night, as the Germans still had her papers. 14:42 Cerdini asks the witness clarification questions relating to her testimony, particularly relating to the day of the UGIF raid 14:45 Prosecutor Klarsfeld asks the witness to specify the location where she was asked to return the morning following the raid: the Hotel Terminus, the seat of the Lyon Gestapo 14:45 Defense attorney Vergès asks the witness to specify the nationalities of the officers carrying out the original identity checks (French), and the officers conducting the raid itself inside of the UGIF (German). 14:47 President Cerdini introduces another witness, Mr. Michel Cojot Goldberg, a civil party in the suit against Barbie 14:49 The witness testifies, explaining that he is the son of a victim of the UGIF raid, and that he met Barbie in Bolivia; he tells the story of his family's travel from Paris to Lyon and his father's subsequent arrest; he explains his trip to Bolivia in 1975, in which he planned to assassinate Barbie but found himself incapable of pulling the trigger 15:00 End of tape