Frenchman Charged In Jews' Killing Says He's No Anti-Semite

published 22/03/1994 at 12:12 PM by Alan Riding

PARIS, March 21— Testifying for the first time in his trial for crimes against humanity during World War II, Paul Touvier denied today that he was anti-Semitic even though he had sworn to combat "Jewish lepers" when he joined a pro-Nazi militia in occupied France.

Mr. Touvier, who is accused of ordering the execution of seven Jews in 1944, said he took the oath as part of a group. "They're just words," he told a court in Versailles. "The author didn't intend to have a mean tone." He also insisted he had no direct relations with Gestapo officials.

At this initial stage of the trial, the focus of the interrogation by Judge Henri Boulard and two assistants is on Mr. Touvier's life and general beliefs and not about the events that led to the execution of the Jews on June 29, 1944.

Sitting in a bullet-proof glass cage, Mr. Touvier frequently responded "I don't remember," prompting a prosecution lawyer, Alain Levy, to suggest that Mr. Touvier suffered from amnesia "when it suits him."

But the frail, balding 78-year-old, the first Frenchman to be brought to trial for crimes against humanity, later requested and was granted a recess because he was tired and had a headache.

If he is found guilty, Mr. Touvier faces life imprisonment.

Mr. Touvier, who spent almost 40 years hiding in monasteries until 1989, said he was a devout Roman Catholic. "I never considered myself anti-Semitic," he said. "I am a practicing Catholic."

But when asked to recite the Apostles Creed, he fumbled after the first sentence. "I'm getting mixed up," he said, "but there's not an iota of anti-Semitism in that."

He also insisted that he was unaware of the first round-up of Jews in 1942 or of German massacres of French civilians after the Normandy landings in June 1944. "There was no television and we only listened a little to the radio," he said. "We didn't know anything about round-ups or deportations."