Carlingue Explained

The Carlingue (or French Gestapo) were French auxiliaries who worked for the Gestapo, Sicherheitsdienst and Geheime Feldpolizei during the German occupation of France in the Second World War.

The group, which was based at 93 rue Lauriston in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, was active between 1941 and 1944. It was initiated by Pierre Bonny (1895–1944), a former policeman. Later it was managed jointly by Henri Lafont and Pierre Loutrel, two professional criminals who had been active in the French underworld before the war.

Name

Carlingue in French pronounced as /kaʁ.lɛ̃ɡ/ in French means the cabin (or central body of an aircraft). The unit used this as a euphemistic nickname to indicate it was an organisation with structure and strength. The group was also known externally as the Bonny-Lafont gang, after Pierre Bonny and Henri Lafont.

The Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) officially referred to the Carlingue as Active Group Hesse after the SS officer "who'd looked after its foundation".[1] It was also known as the Gestapo française de la rue Lauriston or the La Bande Bonny-Lafont.[2]

History

The unit was formed in 1941 by the RSHA. Its purpose was to perform counterinsurgency operations against the maquis resistance forces in German-occupied and Vichy France. The Carlingue recruited its members from the same criminal milieu as that of its founders. Both Henri Lafont and Pierre Loutrel (alias Pierrot le fou, "Crazy Pete") were criminals in the Parisian underworld before the war. Another member, the former police officer Pierre Bonny, had been wanted by the French authorities for misappropriation of funds and selling influence in the Seznec and Stavisky affairs.

Many others of the Carlingue were from the disbanded North African Brigades. The partly criminal nature of the organisation gave it access to contacts such as informers, corrupt officials, and disreputable businesspeople such as Joseph Joanovici. Members were also active in the black market.

According to retired policeman Henri Longuechaud, "one might be scandalised by the numbers of 30,000 to 32,000 sometimes quoted [as members of the ''Carlingue'']. In Paris, when the Germans launched a recruitment drive for 2,000 auxiliary policeman in their service, they received no fewer than 6,000 candidates."[3] [4] During the war, infamous French doctor and serial killer Marcel Petiot allegedly associated with Carlingue. His house was located in the same street as the Carlingue headquarters and he allegedly sometimes helped the group dispose of their victims' bodies.

During January and February 1944, the Carlingue, as members of the paramilitary (LNA) commanded by Alexandre Villaplane, wore German uniforms as part of Bandenbekämpfung operations against the French Resistance in the area around Tulle, in central France.

After the liberation of France in 1944, members of the Carlingue went into hiding. Many were caught, tried and condemned to death; some evaded arrest. One former Carlingue agent,, who died in Morocco in 1967, was employed by Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage, France's postwar external intelligence agency.

In August 2014, the government of Paris ordered the current owners of 93 rue Lauriston to restore the memorial plaque to the former headquarters of the Carlingue.[5]

Notable members

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: King, David. The City of Death. registration. Crown. 142. 2011.
  2. Book: Jacquemard, Serge. La Bande Bonny-Lafont. Fleuve noir. 10. 1992. 217. 978-2-265-04673-3.
  3. Book: Longuechaud, Henri. Conformément à l'ordre de nos chefs. 58.
  4. Book: Rajsfus, Maurice. La Police de Vichy. Les forces de l'ordre françaises au service de la Gestapo. 1940/1944. Le Cherche Midi éditeur. 1995. 51. fr.
  5. News: Paris WW2 plaque to be restored on 'house of shame'. BBC News. 3 September 2014.
  6. Book: Othen, Christopher . The King of Nazi Paris: Henri Lafont and the Gangsters of the French Gestapo. 9781785905926. 2020. Biteback Publishing. 320–339.

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