34. Dr. Petiot in Occupied France
After France was conquered by Germany in 1940, French citizens were drafted to toil in Germany as forced laborers. Dr. Petiot helped labor draft evaders by furnishing them with fake medical disability documents. He also treated workers who were sent back from Germany, broken down and in poor health. That was his good side – the Dr. Jekyll part – during the war. Unfortunately, it was eclipsed by the doctor’s evil Mr. Hyde side.
Dr. Petiot also claimed to have been a member of the French Resistance, developing secret weapons that killed Germans without leaving a trace, planting booby traps, meeting Allied commanders, and working with an imaginary cell of anti-fascists. It was all bunk. What was not bunk was his diabolical scheme to profit from the Holocaust by murdering dozens of Jews in order to steal from them.