2. Dr. Petiot Exploited the French Resistance to Indulge in Serial Killing
Dr. Petiot claimed to have been a member of the French Resistance. According to him, he developed secret weapons that killed Nazis without leaving a trace, planted booby traps, met Allied commanders, and worked with an anti-fascist cell. It was all bunk. What was not bunk was his evil scheme to profit from the Holocaust by murdering dozens of Jews in order to steal from them. Using the alias “Dr. Eugene”, Petiot claimed to have an escape route to get those wanted by the Nazis or the collaborationist Vichy French government to safety outside of France.
Charging 25,000 francs per person, “Dr. Eugene” promised to get fugitives to Argentina or other South American countries, via an escape route that went through Portugal. There was no escape route. Accomplices led victims desperate to escape the Germans – particularly Jews, but also Resistance members and ordinary criminals – to Petiot’s house. There, he told them that Argentina required that immigrants be vaccinated against diseases. Petiot then injected them, not with a vaccine, but with cyanide. In addition to the payment already received, the ghoulish ring seized whatever other valuables the victims had. They then destroyed their corpses in Petiot’s basement, buried them on his property, or disposed of them elsewhere.