法国一位历史学家提出，拿破仑屠杀超过10万名加勒比地区奴隶的行为，为希特勒针对犹太人的“最终解决”大屠杀行动提供了模板。

    据《每日电讯报》11月26日报道，法国历史学家克洛·里贝24日出版了新书《拿破仑的罪行》。他在书中指责，在希特勒屠杀犹太人之前的100多年，拿破仑就曾使用毒气对付那些造反的黑人。里贝指出，这是拿破仑在19世纪初镇压海地起义过程中所使用的极端手法。名为圣多明戈的海地殖民地当时是拿破仑帝国的海外珍宝。为了维护统治，拿破仑下令杀掉当地所有年龄超过12岁的黑人。

    里贝25日说：“简单地说，拿破仑当时下令尽可能多地杀掉海地和瓜德罗普地区的黑人，用从非洲新运来的更驯服的奴隶替代他们。”现年51岁的里贝拥有法国和瓜德罗普的血统。他表示，自己发现了一些官员当时留下的报告，他们拒绝参与屠杀行动，特别是反对使用二氧化硫毒杀被关在船底舱的奴隶的行为。

    《拿破仑的罪行》在正式出版之前就在法国引起了不小争论。《法兰西晚报》25日刊登了题为《拿破仑制造了“最终解决”？》的文章，并发表社论指出里贝的论据站不住脚。

    但里贝表示：“我想让法国人清楚了解那时的真实情况，这与拿破仑曾经的功绩是两码事。希特勒当政时期尽管推动了德国高速公路和汽车工业的发展，但我们能因此宽恕他犯下的战争罪行吗？”

    A French historian has caused uproar by claiming Napoleon provided the model for Hitler's Final Solution with the slaughter of more than 100,000 Caribbean slaves.

    In The Crime of Napoleon, Claude Ribbe accuses the emperor of genocide, gassing rebellious blacks more than a century before the Nazis' extermination of the Jews.

    His accusations refer to the extreme methods used to put down a ferocious uprising in Haiti at the start of the 19th century. Then known as San Domingo, the colony was considered a jewel of the French empire and to save it troops launched a campaign to kill all blacks aged over 12.

    "In simple terms, Napoleon ordered the killing of as many blacks as possible in Haiti and Guadeloupe to be replaced by new, docile slaves from Africa," Ribbe said yesterday.

    He said he had found accounts from officers who refused to take part in the massacres, especially the use of sulphur dioxide to kill slaves held in ships' holds.

    His book is already provoking controversy prior to its publication on Thursday. The newspaper France Soir juxtaposed images of Napoleon and Hitler yesterday before asking: "Did Napoleon invent the Final Solution?"

    But in an editorial, it condemned the "inanity" of Ribbe's argument. Ribbe, 51, who is of French-Guadeloupe extraction, said he was unrepentant.

    "I want the French to know exactly what happened in that period," he said. "As for the good things Napoleon did, that is irrelevant. Hitler developed the autobahns and inspired the Volkswagen; are we supposed to excuse him for his war crimes?"

    Ribbe, who was recently appointed a human rights commissioner by the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, added: "I was taught to think of Napoleon as a superstar. To mention his crimes against humanity has been a taboo."