An Infamous Life

Maurice Arthur Jean Papon's chief claim to infamy, according to the New York Times, was his signing the deportation orders of thousands of Jews sent to the death camps during World War II while he was an official in the collaborationist Vichy regime. His subsequent career, however, was littered with bodies from his career as a regional prefect in Algeria during the war for independence and later as prefect of police in Paris. The abduction of Moroccan opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka by two policemen took place while Mr. Papon was prefect of police. Mr. Papon characteristically denied responsibility. In 1998, he received a 10-year sentence for complicity in Nazi crimes against humanity; he served less than three years.