Paris – Carlingue

At 93 rue Lauriston in Paris’ 16th district, the French Carlingue had its headquarters. This was a French ”police” who cooperated with the German Security Service (SD) and the Gestapo. Carlingue was formed in 1941 by the corrupt ex-cop Pierre Bonny. Carlingue was later led by Henri Lafont and Pierre Loutrel, two gentlemen with a criminal past. Carlingue was also called the Bonny-Lafont group. Carlingue’s task was primarily to engage in the pursuit of French resistance fighters and their sympathizers. Summary executions were not uncommon. No less than about 30,000 Frenchmen were recruited to Carlingue and not infrequently they had a criminal past. Carlingue has also been called the French Gestapo, not because it was a French counterpart but more because of its cooperation with the German Gestapo. After France was liberated, Bonny and Lafont were arrested and executed. Loutrel survived the war and returned to crime. During a robbery at a jewelry store in Paris, he was shot and died of his wounds a few days later. He was buried by his accomplices and his body was not found by the police until 1949.