Joachim Peiper
Encyclopedia
Joachim Peiper (ˈjoːaxɪm ˈpaɪpɐ; 30 January 1915 – 14 July 1976), more often known as Jochen Peiper, was a field officer
in the Waffen-SS
during World War II
, convicted of war crimes in Belgium
and accused of war crimes in Italy
. He was Reichsführer-SS
Heinrich Himmler
's personal adjutant (April 1938 – August 1941). In 1945, he was an SS
-Standartenführer
, the Waffen-SS's youngest regiment
al colonel
. He was murdered in France in July 1976, after his house was attacked with molotov cocktail
s.
family from the Silesia
n region of Germany and Poland. His father Captain Waldemar Peiper was in the German Imperial Army fighting during the colonial campaigns in East Africa
. He was awarded the military cross in 1904 and he was wounded several times as well as becoming infected with malaria
. When World War I
broke out, his father resumed service and was sent to Turkey
. However, cardiac troubles resulting from his exposure to malaria forced him to retire from active duty in 1915. After the war, he joined the Freikorps
and took part in the Silesian Uprisings
.
Peiper had two brothers, Hans-Hasso and Horst. Hans-Hasso attempted suicide but was left in a vegetative
state. He died in 1942 from tuberculosis
in a Berlin
hospital. Peiper pursued a normal academic education at Goethe Oberrealschule but did not receive strong enough grades to continue to university or technical college In 1926 he followed his other brother, Horst, and joined the scout
movement. During his experience with scouting he developed an interest in a military career.
was appointed Chancellor of Germany
. During the same year, before it became mandatory, he volunteered to join the Hitler Youth
together with his oldest brother Horst.
Peiper wanted to join Reiterregiment 4, a cavalry division of the German self-defense forces
. To gain skill at horseriding, he followed the advice of a family friend, General Walther von Reichenau
, and first enlisted on 12 October 1933 in the 7th SS Reiterstandarte. On 23 January 1934 he was promoted to SS-Mann
with SS number 132,496. In 1934, during the annual Nuremberg Rally
, he was promoted to SS-Sturmmann
. In 1934 he drew the attention of Heinrich Himmler who convinced him to enlist in the SS-Verfügungstruppe
. Peiper would write in his 1935 resume: "As a result of a personal exhortation by the Reichsführer SS, Himmler, I have decided to strive for a career as an active senior SS officer. However, Peiper never joined the Nazi Party.
A few months later Peiper considered leaving school before he completed final examinations. In January 1935 he was sent to a camp for Hitler Youth, SA and SS members near Jüterbog
, adjoining Germany's largest regular army camp and artillery
school. Peiper joined a course that was already in progress in November 1934, apparently with the assistance of Himmler and Sepp Dietrich
. After he completed the course, he was promoted to SS-Unterscharführer
, which put him in line for promotion to higher ranks within the SS.
(SS officer's training school) in Braunschweig
under the command of Paul Hausser
. Peiper later wrote that the goal of the school was to train officers for the army and not officers for SS departments.
Peiper took the SS Oath in November 1935 and completed his education at the Junkerschule in January 1936. In February and March 1936, he attended more training at the Dachau concentration camp which was guarded by SS-Totenkopfverbände, a section of the Schutzstaffel
. On 20 April 1936 he was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer and after a short leave, he reported for duty with Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler under the command of Sepp Dietrich. He remained with the unit until June 1938.
While active as an SS officer, Peiper never joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The official listing of all middle and senior SS officers , SS-Dienstalterslisten
, never listed Peiper.
to Heinrich Himmler, under the command of Karl Wolff
. Himmler considered this a necessary step for a promising officer seeking further advancement. Peiper worked in Himmler’s anteroom in the SS-Hauptamt
at Prinz-Albrecht-Straße. As a member of the Reichsführer-SS
staff, Peiper was close to many high ranking SS officers. He became one of Himmler's favorite adjutants. Peiper later served on Himmler's personal staff and accompanied him on a state visit to Italy.
on his 24th birthday, and around this time he met Sigurd (Sigi) Hinrichsen, a secretary on Himmler’s personal staff. Sigurd was a close friend of Hedwig Potthast, Himmler’s mistress, and her two brothers enlisted in the SS. The oldest later died in the sinking of the Bismarck
. Peiper and Sigurd Hinrichsen were married on 26 June 1939 in a ceremony in keeping with SS customs. The pair lived in Berlin until the first allied air raids on Berlin, when she moved to Rottach in Upper Bavaria
, near the second residence of Heinrich Himmler and several people close to Himmler. The couple had three children: Hinrich, Elke and Silke.
Around the time they married, Peiper’s brother Horst joined the SS, eventually reaching the rank of Hauptsturmführer
. He participated in the Battle of France
with the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf
before being transferred to Poland
, where he died in an accident.
On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland
and 16 days later the Soviet Union
attacked from the east. Peiper continued to serve as adjutant to Himmler and joined his entourage aboard the Reichsführer-SS's special train. Peiper worked closely with Himmler, and was with him on 20 September in Blomberg
when they witnessed the execution of twenty Poles. Peiper later wrote that the experience left Himmler speechless for several days. Hitler had previously ordered Himmler to eliminate the Polish intellectuals, as Peiper later told Ernst Schäfer
. Peiper’s Waffen-SS unit arrested and detained Poles in the Burzeum area.
After Poland was defeated, Peiper continued to work with Himmler as he developed policies and plans for controlling the Polish population. Peiper accompanied Himmler to Feldherrnhalle commemorative ceremonies in Munich on 9 October 1939. On 13 December 1939, Peiper and Himmler witnessed the gassing of a resident of a psychiatric facility in Poznan
. In post-war interrogations, Peiper described the experience in a detached, factual manner.
he obtained permission to join a combat unit. He became a platoon leader
in the 11th company, 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
(LSSAH), undergoing his baptism of fire
. He was soon promoted to company commander. After seizing a British
artillery battery
on the hills of Wattenberg, Peiper was awarded the Iron Cross
and promoted to Hauptsturmführer.
On 21 June 1940, less than a month later, Peiper returned to his duties as Himmler's adjutant. On 10 July 1940 he accompanied Himmler to the Berghof, where Reich leaders discussed the war. The resistance of Great Britain under Winston Churchill
was thwarting Hitler's plans.
in October 1940 where Himmler met with Franco. After passing through Metz
, they stopped in Dax
where Himmler met with Theodor Eicke
, the commander of the SS Totenkopf
division. Shortly afterward, on 14 November 1940, Peiper was appointed first adjutant to Himmler. In January 1941, Peiper accompanied Himmler when he inspected Ravensbrück and Dachau
Nazi concentration camps. In March 1941, together with Karl Wolff and Fritz Bracht
, they visited Auschwitz
.
In February 1941 Himmler told Peiper about the German plan to invade the Soviet Union
. Himmler and his staff travelled to Norway
, Austria
, Poland and the Balkans
in Greece
. This trip included a visit to the Lodz
Ghetto
, which Peiper later wrote about:
Operation Barbarossa
began on 22 June 1941. The Einsatzgruppen
under the control of the SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office), conducted a war against Untermensch
behind the front lines and were in charge of liquidating Communists, Jews, Gypsies and partisans Peiper's duties as first adjutant included, among others, providing statistics from the Einsatzgruppen about the mass killings on the Eastern Front
to Himmler. at that time described as fight against partisans and 'communist commissars'.
During the later summer of 1941, Peiper transferred his duties as Himmler's first adjutant to Werner Grothmann
. Himmler apparently instigated a transfer for Peiper to a combat unit, according to speculations by Jens Westemeier, at least in part to protect him from rumors about the death of his brother Horst, including that he was homosexual. Peiper remained in close contact with Himmler. In their ongoing correspondence through the end of the war, Himmler addressed Peiper as “my dear Jochen”.
. Peiper spent several days at its headquarters when an injury to a unit commander gave Peiper an opportunity to take command of the 11th company.
The 11th Company fought at Mariupol
and Rostov-on-Don
. Peiper was noted for his fighting spirit although his unit also suffered high casualties due to his aggressive tactics. The company killed a number of prisoners of war, a practice which both the Soviets and Germans were known to engage in.
During its combat action the LSSAH was followed by Einsatzgruppe D which was responsible for organising the extermination of Jews and Communists. Einsatzgruppe D continued its operations even when winter weather suspended active military operations. It shared the same winter quarters at Taganrog
on the Azov Sea as the LSSAH and on occasion the division assisted Einsatzgruppe D with its operations.
In May 1942 Peiper learned of the death of his brother Hans Hasso. In May that year the LSSAH was transferred to France for rest and refit. Enroute to France Peiper left his unit and met with Himmler at his headquarters on 1 June. The meeting included a dinner attended by Rudolf Brandt
, secretary of the Reichsführer-SS and Heinz Lammerding
, a member of the staff headquarters SS Totenkopf division. Peiper met with Himmler again in July 1942 and did not rejoin his battalion until August 1942.
During its stay in France the LSSAH was reorganised into a Panzergrenadier
division, which translated into a promotion for Peiper to commander of the 3rd Battalion. Peiper took advantage of the unit's time in France to recruit motivated, driven young officers who matched Peiper's attitude and willingness to fight.
.
On the Eastern Front, the German situation had seriously worsened, especially in the battle for Stalingrad
. Peiper’s battalion left its quarters in France on 31 January 1943 and arrived at Lyubotin, near Kharkov, and was immediately dispatched to the front. By this time the German Army
was engaged in a defensive battle against the Soviets.
, Peiper led the 3rd battalion, 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment which broke 48 kilometres (29.8 mi) through Soviet lines to rescue the surrounded 320th Infantry Division, which had suffered some 1500 casualties. Leading the ambulances back to the German lines, he found his route across the River Udy blocked by a Soviet ski battalion that had destroyed the main bridge across the river. His unit fought through the city house to house and repaired the bridge, securing an exit route for the ambulances back to the German lines. However, the repaired bridge would not support his heavy armored halftracks and assault guns. Peiper ordered his men back behind the Soviet lines to find another exit and they returned to the German lines with few casualties. The Soviets alleged that during Peiper's attack it set fire to two villages and massacred their inhabitants.
Peiper was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 6 May 1943 for his achievements in February 1943. Peiper developed a tactic of attacking enemy-held villages by night from all sides while advancing in his armored half-tracks at full speed, while firing at every building. This tactic often set the building's straw roofs on fire and contributed to panic among enemy troops. Peiper's unit gained the nickname the "Blowtorch Battalion" as a result. However, it has been reported that another source for the nickname was the torching and slaughter of two Soviet villages where their inhabitants were either shot or burned. The blowtorch became an unofficial symbol of the unit, painted on the battalion's vehicles, said to represent Peiper's willingness to advance regardless of the cost.
On 9 March 1943 Peiper was awarded Germany's highest decoration, the Knight's Cross
. The medal's citation described the fierce fighting:
During this period Peiper developed a reputation in the Nazi press as an outstanding leader. The official Waffen-SS newspaper, Das Schwarze Korps
(The Black Corps), described Peiper's actions in Karkhov:
The descriptions of his tactical skills propelled Peiper to become an icon of the Waffen-SS after the war. Former men of Peiper's SPW battalion described him in similar glowing language. Peiper was seen as an officer who obeyed orders without much discussion and expected the same from his men.
The Germans failed to regain the initiative in the Third Battle of Kharkov
. A few months later the LSSAH was engaged in Operation Citadel in the area of Kursk
. Although Operation Citadel did not achieve its goals, Peiper's unit again distinguished itself in the fighting. The LSSAH was withdrawn from the east front on 17 July and transferred to Northern Italy
in the area of Cuneo
.
and Asti
.
captured two of Peiper's men. Faustino Dolmazzo, an advisor to the Italian partisans, reported that when Peiper arrived in Boves the Germans appointed two Italians, one the village priest, to arrange for the officers' freedom. Peiper promised the Germans would not engage in any reprisals.
The two men were freed around 1500, but the Germans set fire to the houses in the village, killing 22 men when they tried to flee. The burned bodies of the two Italian intermediaries were found among the victims.
Peiper insisted his unit massacred no civilians in Boves. He stated that he sent members of his unit to search for the two kidnapped officers who had been taken by the partisans into the nearby Bisalta mountains. A platoon was ambushed, and when attempting to rescue the unit, the Germans came under heavy fire from the partisans. The German artillery responded, which triggered the reported fires. The artillery section remained in Boves, according to Peiper, to destroy the remaining weapons and ammunition.
Peiper himself reported on the action, 'I am of the opinion that our action to free our encircled comrades in Boves nipped in the bud the Italian army's attack, for the army fell apart and no attack ever took place on Cuneo or Turin. However regrettable the consequences of our action was for the affected residents of Boves, it should not be overlooked that our one-time intervention prevented further immeasurable casualties which would have resulted from continued Italian attacks." An Italian court in 1968 even concluded that there was "there is insufficient suspicion of criminal activity on the part of any of the accused to warrant prosecution."
. On 20 November, Georg Schönberger
was killed in action, and Peiper took his place as head of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment, a command he held until the end of the war. He left his position as commander of an armoured infantry battalion to lead a panzer regiment. He was 28 years old. Under his command the regiment fought through the winter and was engaged in numerous night assaults against the Soviets. His panzer unit played an essential role in stalling the Soviet offensive in the area of Zhytomyr. Peiper led actions by attacking the rear of enemy lines and taking four division headquarters. For this action he was awarded the Oak Leaves of the Knight's Cross.
His aggressivness, which was the cause for his appointment as a commander of the LSSAH panzer regiment, caused resentment by some against Peiper. In the mean time, brutal combat involving his unit continued: on 5 and 6 December 1943 it killed 2,280 Russian soldiers and took only three prisoners. During heavy fighting the village of Pekartschina was completely burned with flamethrowers and its inhabitants killed.
On 20 January 1944 Peiper was withdrawn from the front and left his unit. He went directly to the headquarters of Hitler, who presented him with the Oak Leaves to be added to his Knight's Cross. Shortly afterwards, on his 29th birthday, Peiper was promoted to Obersturmbannführer
.
However, Peiper was physically and mentally exhausted. A medical examination carried out by SS doctors in Dachau reached the conclusion that he needed rest. He went to see his wife in Bavaria
.
In March 1944 the LSSAH was withdrawn from the Eastern front. The transfer of all its units was not completed before 24 May. Peiper joined his unit in April. The battles in the east had caused heavy losses of men and material. The new recruits called in to replace the casualties were not of the same caliber as the pre-war volunteers, who'd been recruited according to strict criteria. It is within this context that a new revealing incident happened.
Five young recruits, accused of stealing poultry and ham from Belgian civilians, were sentenced to death by a court-martial. The verdict seemed much out of proportion to the offence, especially when looking at similar cases. Peiper ordered the five shot on 28 May 1944 and had the other young recruits marched past the corpses; but the executions actually had a negative impact on the morale of the regiment. The stay in the Belgian Limburg was devoted mainly to drills and refit, made more difficult due to the lack of materiel and gasoline.
necessitated the return of the LSSAH to the Western Front
. On 17 June the division began its move to the area of Caen
, but some parts of the panzer regiment had to stay in Belgium waiting for new tanks. Furthermore, the move of the division was made under very difficult conditions because, on one hand, the trains needed for the transport were devoted to the transport of the Hungarian Jews to the concentration camps and, on other hand, the air attacks of the Allied forces caused huge disruptions in rail traffic. The whole of the division did not reach its rally zone before 6 July 1944. On 28 June, the 1st SS Panzer Regiment of Peiper arrived at the front and was immediately engaged. As with all the German units of the area (notwithstanding some partial victories) they essentially fought a defensive battle until the Avranches breakthrough
at the end of July and beginning of August. Having gone to the front with 19,618 men, the LSSAH lost 25% of its men and all its tanks. As with most of the Waffen SS divisions engaged in Normandy
, the LSSAH lost its operational ability and was described in the official tables of the available units prepared by the OKW on 16 September 1944 not as a division but as a Kampfgruppe
.
Peiper was not in command of his panzer regiment during the counter-attack
s near Avranches
. Suffering from a nervous breakdown
he had been discreetly evacuated to a military hospital in the area of Sées
at 70 km of the frontline. According to the official diagnosis, he was suffering from jaundice
. He would eventually be dispatched to the rear and at the beginning of September 1944 was in a military hospital near to the Tegernsee
in Upper Bavaria, not far from his family home. He stayed there until 7 October.
, to cross the River Meuse and take Antwerp, cutting the Allied forces in two.
The main role in the breakthrough was devoted to the 6th Panzer Army under the command of Sepp Dietrich. He would have to pierce the American lines between Aachen
and the Schnee Eifel
and seize bridges on the Meuse on both sides of Liège
. Within the 6th Panzer Army a mobile striking role was assigned to the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
(LSSAH) under the command of SS-Oberführer Wilhelm Mohnke
. The division was split into four Kampfgruppe with Peiper commanding the most substantial which included all the armored sections of the division. Peiper was given the use of the newest tank, the 70 ton Tiger II
or King Tiger, which this battle would be its 3rd on the western front since its introduction, and with its 7 inches of armor made it impervious to allied anti-tank weapons. However, the King Tiger had a high consumption of fuel (1/2 mile to the gallon) along with mechanical defects (mainly the tank's suspension system), which would continuously hinder Peiper's ability to reach his assigned objectives in Operation Wacht am Rhein. His duty was to break through the U.S. lines along a rail route
B through Spa, Belgium
and to take bridges on the Meuse between Liège and Huy
.
, had many hairpin turn
s and traversed steep hillsides that would delay his already slow-moving towed
artillery and bridging trains. It included narrow, in many places single-track, roads which forced units of the Kampfgruppe to tail each other, creating a column of infantry and armor up to 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) long. Peiper complained that the road assigned to his Kampfgruppe was suitable for bicycles, but not for panzers. The tortuous roads prevented the Germans from concentrating their force in the blitzkrieg
tactics which had served them so well in the past. Fritz Krämer, Chief of Staff for the 6th Panzer Army answered “I don’t care how and what you do. Just make it to the Meuse. Even if you’ve only one tank left when you get there.” Peiper's unit had only one-quarter the fuel they needed. Their plan counted on the capturing Allied fuel depots and keeping to an ambitious timetable.
took most of December 16 to defeat 18 men of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon
, 394th Regiment, 99th Infantry Division who blocked the route near Lanzerath
, Belgium.
Peiper’s mechanized column did not reach his first day's objective until midnight that same day. As a result, Peiper first attacked shortly before daybreak on 17 December 1944, almost 18 hours later than expected. Hustling through the remains of the American front lines, he quickly took Honsfeld
.
Peiper had planned to advance through Loseheimergroben, but the 12th and 277th Volksgrenadier Divisions
failed to gain control on the first day as planned. In the early morning of December 17, they quickly captured Honsfeld and 50000 gal of fuel for his vehicles.
. He continued west on his assigned rollbahn until he had to deflect shortly before Ligneuville because the assigned road was impassable. This bypass forced him towards the Baugnez crossroads where his armored units encountered a lightly armed column of U.S. artillery observers, who were quickly neutralized.
Peiper's unit became infamous for the murder of U.S. prisoners of war at the crossroads in what became known as the Malmedy massacre
as noted below. Moving ahead, he crossed Ligneuville and reached the heights of Stavelot
on the left bank of the River Amblève
at nightfall of the second day of operation Wacht am Rhein. While the little city was defended only by a few U.S. troops and could have been easily taken the same day, for reasons unknown he held back and assaulted at dawn of the next day. Valuable time was lost, allowing the Americans to reorganise. After heavy fighting his Kampfgruppe eventually managed to cross the bridge on the River Amblève, and from there he found the going increasingly difficult.
The US forces regrouped themselves and blasted the bridges on the Amblève and the River Salm that Peiper needed to cross in order to continue on a direct road to the Meuse. On 18 December, United States Army Corps of Engineers
blasted the bridges in front of him that he needed to reach his objective, trapping him in the deep valley of the Amblève, downstream from Trois-Ponts
. The weather had also improved, permitting the Allied Air Forces to operate. Several P-47
squadrons attacked his column spread over 20 kilometres (12.4 mi). The air strikes destroyed or heavily damaged numerous vehicles of his Kampfgruppe and made some parts of his itinerary impracticable, slowing down his progression. Peiper was unable to protect his rear, which enabled American troops to recapture and destroy the bridge on the Amblève in Stavelot, cutting him off from the only possible supply road for ammunition and, above all, fuel, which he lacked. In spite of these problems, Peiper continued his progress towards Stoumont
before American resistance forced him to retire to La Gleize. Short of fuel, men and ammunition he held out during six days of US Army bombardment and counterattacks. Without supplies and with no contact with other German units behind him, Peiper decided on 24 December to abandon his vehicles and march through the woods to escape. He left with the remaining 800 men and 36 hours later he reached the German lines with 770 men, having covered 20 kilometers by foot in deep snow and freezing temperatures.
At the end of January 1945 Peiper was in the Berlin area. On 4 February he met for the last time with Heinrich Himmler at his provisional headquarters. Peiper then went to the Panzergrenadier school in Krhanice
until 14 February. From there he joined his unit in the southwest of the area of Farnad. His unit took part in Operation Fr%C3%BChlingserwachen that failed even though Peiper’s unit recorded huge casualties due to his aggressive style of command. Peiper lost numerous old companions.
On 1 May, as other units of the LSSAH were forced to retreat into Austria, the men were informed of Adolf Hitler’s death. A few days later all SS units were ordered to retreat to the west. On 8 May, the LSSAH received the order to cross the Enns River and surrender to the American troops.
Accompanied by Paul Gühl, Peiper tried to escape captivity. On 28 May, Peiper was on his way to Rottach, but was captured near Schliersee
. This was less than 30 kilometres from his home. He was interned in the Dachau concentration camp.
Although he was actively researched by American forces (due to his alleged involvement in the Malmedy massacre) Peiper was not identified until 21 August 1945. This was the day after he was transferred to the interrogation camp of the 3rd US Army in Freising
.
During the 1st SS Panzer Division's advance on 17 December 1944, his armored units and halftracks confronted a lightly armed convoy of about thirty American vehicles at the Baugnez crossroads near Malmedy
. The troops, mainly elements of the American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, were quickly overcome and captured. Along with other American POWs previously captured, they were ordered to stand in a meadow when for unknown reasons the Germans opened fire on the prisoners with machine guns, killing 84 soldiers, and leaving the bodies in the snow. The survivors were able to reach American lines later that day, and their story spread rapidly throughout the American front lines.
, testified about the treatment his unit was given after being captured on 21 December by Peiper's Kampfgruppe at Froidcour between La Gleize and Stoumont
. He said he met Peiper in person and based on his observations, American prisoners were at no time mistreated by the SS and the food given to them was nearly as good as that used by the Germans themselves.
Jailed in Freising in Upper Bavaria, Peiper underwent his first interrogations. Investigators quickly found that the SS men, including Peiper, although hardened soldiers, were not trained to withstand interrogation. Some men freely gave the requested information while others only did so after having being subject to beatings, threats and mock executions. Peiper took personal responsibility for the actions of the men under his command.
In December 1945 Peiper was transferred to the prison at Schwäbisch Hall
, where 1,000 former members of the Leibstandarte were assembled. Some reports suggested afterward that the interrogations included mock trial
s, both physical and psychological torture
. Peiper and others claimed to have been repeatedly beaten and threatened with having their families handed over to the Russians. On 16 April 1946 approximately 300 prisoners were moved from Schwäbisch Hall to Dachau, where they were put on trial.
of senior American officers, operating under rules the Nuremberg
International Military Tribunal had established.
The 74 defendants included SS-Oberstgruppenführer
Sepp Dietrich
, 6th SS Panzer Army commanding general, his chief of staff
SS-Brigadeführer
Fritz Krämer, SS-Gruppenführer
Hermann Prieß, I SS Panzer Corps
commander, and Joachim Peiper, commander of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment (the unit to which the crimes were attributed).
Before the trial, occupation authorities reclassified the defendants from prisoners of war to Civilian Internee
s. The accusations were mainly based on the sworn and written statements provided by the defendants in Schwäbish Hall. To counter the evidence given in the men's sworn statements and by prosecution witnesses, the lead defense attorney Lt Col
Willis M. Everett tried to show that the statements had been obtained by inappropriate methods.
Everett called Lieutenant Colonel Hal McCown to testify about Peiper's troops treatment of American prisoners at La Gleize. McCown, who, along with his command, had been captured by Peiper at La Gleize, testified that wounded American soldiers in Peiper's custody had received equal priority with German wounded in receiving medical treatment. He testified that during his occupation of the town, Peiper had at all times behaved in a professional and honorable manner.
Colonel Everett had decided to call only Peiper to testify. However other defendants, supported by their German lawyers, wanted to testify as well. This would soon prove to be a huge mistake, for when the prosecution crossexamined
the defendants they behaved like “a bunch of drowning rats (...) turning on each other.” According to Everett, these testimonies gave the court enough reason to sentence several of the defendants to death.
The military court was not convinced by Peiper’s testimony about the murder of the POWs under the Kampfgruppe's control. During the trial, several witnesses testified of at least two instances in which Peiper had ordered the murder of prisoners of war. When questioned by the prosecution, Peiper denied these allegations, stating the allegations were obtained from witnesses under torture. When questioned about the murder of Belgian civilians, Peiper said they were partisans. Although the court could not prove that Peiper had ordered the murders, Peiper nonetheless accepted responsibility for his men's actions.
The sentences generated significant controversy in some German circles, including the church, leading the commander of the U.S. Army in Germany
to commute some of the death sentences to life imprisonment
. In addition, the Germans' defense attorney, U.S. military attorney Lt. Col. Willis M. Everett, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court
, claiming that the defendants had been found guilty by means of "illegal and fraudulently procured confessions" and were subjects of mock trial. The turmoil raised by this case caused the Secretary of the Army, Kenneth Royall, to create a commission chaired by Judge Gordon A. Simpson of Texas
to investigate. The commission was interested in Malmedy massacre trial and other cases judged at Dachau.
The commission arrived in Europe on 30 July 1948 and issued its report on 14 September. In this report, it notably recommended that the twelve remaining death sentences be commuted to life imprisonment. The commission confirmed the accuracy of Everett's accusations regarding mock trials and neither disputed nor denied his charges of torture of the defendants. The commission expressed the opinion that the pre-trial investigation had not been properly conducted and that the members felt that no death sentence should be executed where such a doubt existed.
In response, General Lucius Clay commuted six more death sentences to life imprisonment. But he refused to commute the six remaining death sentences, including Peiper's, though the executions were postponed. The turmoil caused by the commission report and an article by Judge Edward L. Van Roden caused the U.S. Senate
to investigate the trial.
In its investigation of the trial, the Senate Committee on Armed Services came to the conclusion of improper pre-trial procedures, including a mock trial, but not torture as sometimes stated, had indeed affected the trial process. There was little or no doubt that some of the accused were indeed guilty of the massacre.
Ultimately the sentences of the Malmedy defendants were commuted to life imprisonment and then to time served. Peiper himself was released from prison on parole at the end of December 1956, after serving 11 and a half years.
. They then worked to achieve the conditional liberation of Peiper himself. To obtain his release from prison, Peiper had to prove that he could obtain a job. Through the intermediary of Dr. Albert Prinzing, a former SS-Hauptsturmführer in the Sicherheitsdienst, he got a job at the car manufacturer Porsche
.
Following his release from Landsberg Prison Peiper maintained contact, albeit discretely, with his old comrades in the SS. He avoided open affiliations with the HIAG and the Order of the Holders of the Knight's Cross but he was often seen with their members at the funerals of personalities such as Kurt “Panzer” Meyer
, Sepp Dietrich
and Paul Hausser
. Peiper assisted the efforts of these organizations to rehabilitate the Waffen-SS's reputation by hiding the more ruthless aspects of their past and exalting their military achievements, claiming that the SS were just like other soldiers. Peiper once told one of his friends:
On 17 January 1957 he began work at Porsche in Stuttgart
in its technical division. He would later represent the company at car exhibitions. He was later put in charge of auto exports to the United States
but his wartime criminal conviction prevented him from obtaining a visa
for travel to the United States. This would not allow him to maintain this new position.
As he advanced within Porsche, he was accused by Italian union workers of the Boves Massacre
in Italy during World War II. Ferry Porsche personally intervened and promised Peiper a senior management position, but this offer was derailed by the trade union
s, who objected to allowing persons convicted of war crimes to serve in the upper management of the company. The strong antipathy to Peiper, his association with Ferry Porsche and the related negative impact on sales in Porsche's biggest market, the United States, forced Porsche's management to dismiss him. On 30 December 1960 Peiper filed suit to compel Porsche to fulfil its promises.
In court documents Peiper’s attorney stated that Peiper was not a war criminal and that the Allies had used the trials to defame the German people. He asserted that the Nuremberg trial and the "Malmedy massacre" trial were merely propaganda. Citing documents published by the anti-Communist historian Freda Utley
, he asserted that the Malmedy massacre trial defendants had been tortured by the Americans. At the request of the court, Porsche and Peiper reached an agreement to terminate the employment contract, and Peiper received six months of wages as compensation. The magazine Der Freiwillige, published by SS veterans, capitalized on the award and wrote that Peiper had been "unfairly sentenced" for war crimes.
Peiper became a car sales trainer, and utilizing his network of former SS members, contacted Max Moritz, a former SS mechanic. Moritz had become an authorized Volkswagen
dealer for Germany.
and Auschwitz
trials in the first half of the 1960s (which got a large audience in West Germany) put a new light on this period. The prosecution was now initiated by the West German authorities themselves, and no longer by the Allies. On the other hand, the statute of limitation for the prosecution of Nazi crimes had been extended several times, which made those who had been involved in these crimes uncomfortable.
Peiper was caught by his past when on 23 June 1964 two Italians filed against him an accusation at the Central Office of the State Justice Administration for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes in Ludwigsburg
because of the Boves massacre. The plaintiffs were represented by Robert W. Kempner
, who had been a member of the American council of the prosecutors during the Nuremberg trial. The investigations led by the Attorney General of Stuttgart proved to be troublesome for Peiper, since he was accused of having arrested Jews in Borgo San Dalmazzo
and of having deported Jews in Northern Italy. The accusations were endorsed by Simon Wiesenthal
. However, both Klempner and Wiesenthal were never able to present the evidence claimed by the Attorney General. Thus, in 1967, the case was dismissed for lack of evidence.
Peiper was again confronted by his past when he was called as witness during the Werner Best
trial. He did not deny close contact to Himmler, but he managed to prevent any direct implication in the Nazi crimes, claiming memory failure.
In 1969 he was a free-lance collaborator for the magazine Auto, Motor und Sport
. In 1972 he moved to Traves in Haute-Saône
(France), where he owned property. At that time he was a self-employed translator for the editor Stuttgarter Motor-Buch Verlag and, under the pen name Rainer Buschmann, he translated books devoted to military history from English to German.
. In 1976 a Communist historian, investigating the STASI
archives, found the Peiper file. On 21 June tracts denouncing his presence were distributed in Traves. A day later, an article in the Communist publication L'Humanité
revealed Peiper's presence in Traves and he became the subject of death threats.
Upon the death threats Peiper sent his family back to Germany. He himself stayed in Traves. During the night from 13 July to 14 July 1976 a gunfight took place at Peiper's house, in which Peiper was shot several times and his house was set on fire. In the ruin Peiper's charred corpse was later found with a bullet in the chest. The perpetrators were never identified, but were suspected to be former French Resistance
members or Communists. Peiper had just started writing a book about Malmedy and what followed.
earned the unit the nickname Lötlampenbataillon or "Blowtorch Battalion", which resulted in him receiving the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
Three days after his actions on 6 March 1943, he received the Knight's Cross
. Twelve days later, Peiper demonstrated his military skill when he led his unit at full speed through Russian positions in a surprise attack on Belgorod
, causing the surprised Russians to flee. Oberführer Theodor Wisch
, divisional commander of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, recommended him for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, which he was awarded on 27 January 1944.
, France
in 1976, Peiper described how his unit's tactics in rapidly attacking Russian villages was distorted after the war:
alternate history novel, The Man with the Iron Heart
, where he is the successor to Reinhard Heydrich
in the partisan
fight to drive out the post-war occupiers of Germany. In the alternate history novel Fox on the Rhine
by Douglas Niles and Michael O'Dobson, Peiper presides over a massacre of US soldiers by SS troops. In the sequel, Fox at the Front
, Peiper kills Heinz Guderian
as the SS enforces control over Wehrmacht units that lean towards surrendering to the Allies after the failure of the Battle of the Bulge
. He is later evacuated and joins the Das Reich division in the defense of a bridge over Kustryn, where he is captured by the Soviets and sent to a re-education camp.
Field officer
A field officer is an army, marine, or air force commissioned officer senior in rank to a company officer but junior to a general officer; in some navies, it is an officer who is a Lieutenant Commander, Commander, or Captain....
in the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, convicted of war crimes in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and accused of war crimes in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. He was Reichsführer-SS
Reichsführer-SS
was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:...
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
's personal adjutant (April 1938 – August 1941). In 1945, he was an SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
-Standartenführer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
, the Waffen-SS's youngest regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
al colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
. He was murdered in France in July 1976, after his house was attacked with molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
s.
Early life and family
Peiper was born on 30 January 1915 into a middle classMiddle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
family from the Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
n region of Germany and Poland. His father Captain Waldemar Peiper was in the German Imperial Army fighting during the colonial campaigns in East Africa
German East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
. He was awarded the military cross in 1904 and he was wounded several times as well as becoming infected with malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
. When World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out, his father resumed service and was sent to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. However, cardiac troubles resulting from his exposure to malaria forced him to retire from active duty in 1915. After the war, he joined the Freikorps
Freikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
and took part in the Silesian Uprisings
Silesian Uprisings
The Silesian Uprisings were a series of three armed uprisings of the Poles and Polish Silesians of Upper Silesia, from 1919–1921, against German rule; the resistance hoped to break away from Germany in order to join the Second Polish Republic, which had been established in the wake of World War I...
.
Peiper had two brothers, Hans-Hasso and Horst. Hans-Hasso attempted suicide but was left in a vegetative
Persistent vegetative state
A persistent vegetative state is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. It is a diagnosis of some uncertainty in that it deals with a syndrome. After four weeks in a vegetative state , the patient is...
state. He died in 1942 from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in a Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
hospital. Peiper pursued a normal academic education at Goethe Oberrealschule but did not receive strong enough grades to continue to university or technical college In 1926 he followed his other brother, Horst, and joined the scout
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
movement. During his experience with scouting he developed an interest in a military career.
Military aspirations
Peiper turned 18 years old on the day Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
was appointed Chancellor of Germany
Chancellor of Germany
The Chancellor of Germany is, under the German 1949 constitution, the head of government of Germany...
. During the same year, before it became mandatory, he volunteered to join the Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
together with his oldest brother Horst.
Peiper wanted to join Reiterregiment 4, a cavalry division of the German self-defense forces
Reichswehr
The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....
. To gain skill at horseriding, he followed the advice of a family friend, General Walther von Reichenau
Walther von Reichenau
Walter von Reichenau was a German Generalfeldmarschall during World War II.-History:Reichenau was born in Karlsruhe to a Prussian general and joined the German Army in 1903. During World War I he served on the Western Front...
, and first enlisted on 12 October 1933 in the 7th SS Reiterstandarte. On 23 January 1934 he was promoted to SS-Mann
Mann (military rank)
Mann , was a paramilitary rank used by several Nazi Party paramilitary organizations between 1925 and 1945. The rank is most often associated with the SS, and also as a rank of the SA where Mann was the lowest enlisted rank and was the equivalent of a Private.In 1938, with the rise of the...
with SS number 132,496. In 1934, during the annual Nuremberg Rally
Nuremberg Rally
The Nuremberg Rally was the annual rally of the NSDAP in Germany, held from 1923 to 1938. Especially after Hitler's rise to power in 1933, they were large Nazi propaganda events...
, he was promoted to SS-Sturmmann
Sturmmann
Sturmmann was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in the year 1921. The rank of Sturmmann was used by the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel ....
. In 1934 he drew the attention of Heinrich Himmler who convinced him to enlist in the SS-Verfügungstruppe
SS-Verfügungstruppe
The SS-Verfügungstruppe was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the NSDAP. By 1940 these military SS units had become the nucleus of the Waffen-SS....
. Peiper would write in his 1935 resume: "As a result of a personal exhortation by the Reichsführer SS, Himmler, I have decided to strive for a career as an active senior SS officer. However, Peiper never joined the Nazi Party.
A few months later Peiper considered leaving school before he completed final examinations. In January 1935 he was sent to a camp for Hitler Youth, SA and SS members near Jüterbog
Jüterbog
Jüterbog is a historic town in north-eastern Germany, located in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg. It is located on the Nuthe river at the northern slope of the Fläming hill range, about southwest of Berlin.-History:...
, adjoining Germany's largest regular army camp and artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
school. Peiper joined a course that was already in progress in November 1934, apparently with the assistance of Himmler and Sepp Dietrich
Sepp Dietrich
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich was a German SS General. He was one of Nazi Germany's most decorated soldiers and commanded formations up to Army level during World War II. Prior to 1929 he was Adolf Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard but received rapid promotion after his participation in the murder of...
. After he completed the course, he was promoted to SS-Unterscharführer
Unterscharführer
Unterscharführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party used by the Schutzstaffel between 1934 and 1945. The SS rank was created after the Night of the Long Knives...
, which put him in line for promotion to higher ranks within the SS.
Officer training
On 24 April 1935, Peiper attended the newly created SS-Junkerschule Bad TölzSS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz
SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz was the officers' training school for the Waffen-SS. It was the SS equivalent of Britain's Sandhurst and the USA's West Point. The school was established in 1937, in the town of Bad Tölz which is about 30 miles south of Munich and the location was seemingly chosen because...
(SS officer's training school) in Braunschweig
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
under the command of Paul Hausser
Paul Hausser
Paul "Papa" Hausser was an officer in the German Army, achieving the high rank of lieutenant-general in the inter-war Reichswehr. After retirement from the regular Army he became the "father" of the Waffen-SS and one of its most eminent leaders...
. Peiper later wrote that the goal of the school was to train officers for the army and not officers for SS departments.
Peiper took the SS Oath in November 1935 and completed his education at the Junkerschule in January 1936. In February and March 1936, he attended more training at the Dachau concentration camp which was guarded by SS-Totenkopfverbände, a section of the Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
. On 20 April 1936 he was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer and after a short leave, he reported for duty with Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler under the command of Sepp Dietrich. He remained with the unit until June 1938.
While active as an SS officer, Peiper never joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The official listing of all middle and senior SS officers , SS-Dienstalterslisten
SS-Dienstalterslisten
The SS-Dienstalterslisten was an official listing of all SS officers of the middle and higher officer corps...
, never listed Peiper.
Himmler's adjutant
On 4 July 1938, Peiper was appointed to an administrative post as an AdjutantAdjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
to Heinrich Himmler, under the command of Karl Wolff
Karl Wolff
Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Schutzstaffel , ultimately holding the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS. He became Chief of Personal Staff to the Reichsführer and SS Liaison Officer to Hitler until his replacement in 1943...
. Himmler considered this a necessary step for a promising officer seeking further advancement. Peiper worked in Himmler’s anteroom in the SS-Hauptamt
SS-Hauptamt
The SS-Hauptamt was the central command office of the German Schutzstaffel in Nazi Germany until 1940.-Formation:...
at Prinz-Albrecht-Straße. As a member of the Reichsführer-SS
Reichsführer-SS
was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:...
staff, Peiper was close to many high ranking SS officers. He became one of Himmler's favorite adjutants. Peiper later served on Himmler's personal staff and accompanied him on a state visit to Italy.
Wedding and family
Peiper was promoted to ObersturmführerObersturmführer
Obersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
on his 24th birthday, and around this time he met Sigurd (Sigi) Hinrichsen, a secretary on Himmler’s personal staff. Sigurd was a close friend of Hedwig Potthast, Himmler’s mistress, and her two brothers enlisted in the SS. The oldest later died in the sinking of the Bismarck
German battleship Bismarck
Bismarck was the first of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the German unification in 1871, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched nearly three years later...
. Peiper and Sigurd Hinrichsen were married on 26 June 1939 in a ceremony in keeping with SS customs. The pair lived in Berlin until the first allied air raids on Berlin, when she moved to Rottach in Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany.- Geography :Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered around the city of Munich. It is subdivided into four regions : Ingolstadt, Munich, Bayerisches Oberland , and Südostoberbayern...
, near the second residence of Heinrich Himmler and several people close to Himmler. The couple had three children: Hinrich, Elke and Silke.
Around the time they married, Peiper’s brother Horst joined the SS, eventually reaching the rank of Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
. He participated in the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
with the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf
3rd SS Division Totenkopf
The SS Division Totenkopf , also known as 3. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf and 3. SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf, was one of the 38 divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS during World War II. Prior to achieving division status, the formation was known as Kampfgruppe Eicke...
before being transferred to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, where he died in an accident.
The Battle of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
and 16 days later the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
attacked from the east. Peiper continued to serve as adjutant to Himmler and joined his entourage aboard the Reichsführer-SS's special train. Peiper worked closely with Himmler, and was with him on 20 September in Blomberg
Blomberg
Blomberg is a town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with c. 17,000 inhabitants.-External links:*...
when they witnessed the execution of twenty Poles. Peiper later wrote that the experience left Himmler speechless for several days. Hitler had previously ordered Himmler to eliminate the Polish intellectuals, as Peiper later told Ernst Schäfer
Ernst Schäfer
Ernst Schäfer was a famous German hunter and zoologist in the 1930s, specializing in ornithology.-Biography:Schäfer is most famous for his three expeditions to Tibet in 1931, in 1934–1935, and in 1938–1939. The first two expeditions were led by the American Brooke Dolan II...
. Peiper’s Waffen-SS unit arrested and detained Poles in the Burzeum area.
After Poland was defeated, Peiper continued to work with Himmler as he developed policies and plans for controlling the Polish population. Peiper accompanied Himmler to Feldherrnhalle commemorative ceremonies in Munich on 9 October 1939. On 13 December 1939, Peiper and Himmler witnessed the gassing of a resident of a psychiatric facility in Poznan
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
. In post-war interrogations, Peiper described the experience in a detached, factual manner.
The Battle of France
On 17 May 1940, Peiper accompanied Himmler as he followed Waffen SS troops during the Battle of France. In HasseltHasselt
Hasselt is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital of the Flemish province of Limburg...
he obtained permission to join a combat unit. He became a platoon leader
Platoon leader
A platoon leader or platoon commander is the officer in command of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer — a second or first lieutenant, or an equivalent rank. The officer is usually assisted by a platoon sergeant...
in the 11th company, 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into a divisional-sized unit...
(LSSAH), undergoing his baptism of fire
Baptism of Fire
Baptism of Fire is a 1943 documentary film starring Elisha Cook Jr. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature....
. He was soon promoted to company commander. After seizing a British
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
artillery battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
on the hills of Wattenberg, Peiper was awarded the Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
and promoted to Hauptsturmführer.
On 21 June 1940, less than a month later, Peiper returned to his duties as Himmler's adjutant. On 10 July 1940 he accompanied Himmler to the Berghof, where Reich leaders discussed the war. The resistance of Great Britain under Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
was thwarting Hitler's plans.
Rejoined Himmler’s personal staff
After rejoining Himmler’s staff, Peiper accompanied him to MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
in October 1940 where Himmler met with Franco. After passing through Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
, they stopped in Dax
Dax
Dax may refer to:In French geography:* Arrondissement of Dax, an arrondissement of the Landes département of France* Town of Dax, Landes, FranceIn Star Trek:...
where Himmler met with Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke was a SS Obergruppenführer , commander of the SS-Division Totenkopf of the Waffen-SS and one of the key figures in the establishment of concentration camps in Nazi Germany. His Nazi Party number was 114,901 and his SS number was 2,921...
, the commander of the SS Totenkopf
Totenkopf
The Totenkopf is the German word for the death's head and an old symbol for death or the dead. It consists usually of the skull and the mandible of the human skeleton...
division. Shortly afterward, on 14 November 1940, Peiper was appointed first adjutant to Himmler. In January 1941, Peiper accompanied Himmler when he inspected Ravensbrück and Dachau
Dachau
Dachau is a town in Upper Bavaria, in the southern part of Germany. It is a major district town—a Große Kreisstadt—of the administrative region of Upper Bavaria, about 20 km north-west of Munich. It is now a popular residential area for people working in Munich with roughly 40,000 inhabitants...
Nazi concentration camps. In March 1941, together with Karl Wolff and Fritz Bracht
Fritz Bracht
Fritz Bracht was Nazi Gauleiter of Upper Silesia. He was directly involved in the mass murder of Jews and Poles....
, they visited Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Himmler and his staff travelled to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Poland and the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. This trip included a visit to the Lodz
Lódz
Łódź is the third-largest city in Poland. Located in the central part of the country, it had a population of 742,387 in December 2009. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is approximately south-west of Warsaw...
Ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
, which Peiper later wrote about:
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
began on 22 June 1941. The Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
under the control of the SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office), conducted a war against Untermensch
Untermensch
Untermensch is a term that became infamous when the Nazi racial ideology used it to describe "inferior people", especially "the masses from the East," that is Jews, Gypsies, Poles along with other Slavic people like the Russians, Serbs, Belarussians and Ukrainians...
behind the front lines and were in charge of liquidating Communists, Jews, Gypsies and partisans Peiper's duties as first adjutant included, among others, providing statistics from the Einsatzgruppen about the mass killings on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
to Himmler. at that time described as fight against partisans and 'communist commissars'.
During the later summer of 1941, Peiper transferred his duties as Himmler's first adjutant to Werner Grothmann
Werner Grothmann
Werner Grothmann , German Nazi functionary. Born in Frankfurt am Main. He was an accounting officer until 1933 and became a member of the Schutzstaffel or SS. During late 30s he became an SS - Leibstandarte, commanding the Deutsches SS Standarten in Muenchen, Germany.During the 1940 invasion of...
. Himmler apparently instigated a transfer for Peiper to a combat unit, according to speculations by Jens Westemeier, at least in part to protect him from rumors about the death of his brother Horst, including that he was homosexual. Peiper remained in close contact with Himmler. In their ongoing correspondence through the end of the war, Himmler addressed Peiper as “my dear Jochen”.
The Eastern Front and France
Although no longer Himmler's official first adjutant, Peiper continued to write in Himmler’s diary until mid-September 1941. Peiper may have been dispatched to the LSSAH earlier as an observer for the Reichsführer-SS, but available records show that he formally transferred to the LSSAH before October 1941. When he rejoined the LSSAH it was engaged on the Eastern Front near the Black SeaBlack Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
. Peiper spent several days at its headquarters when an injury to a unit commander gave Peiper an opportunity to take command of the 11th company.
The 11th Company fought at Mariupol
Mariupol
Mariupol , formerly known as Zhdanov , is a port city in southeastern Ukraine. It is located on the coast of the Azov Sea, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Mariupol is the largest city in Priazovye - a geographical region around Azov Sea, divided by Russia and Ukraine - and is also a popular sea...
and Rostov-on-Don
Rostov-on-Don
-History:The mouth of the Don River has been of great commercial and cultural importance since the ancient times. It was the site of the Greek colony Tanais, of the Genoese fort Tana, and of the Turkish fortress Azak...
. Peiper was noted for his fighting spirit although his unit also suffered high casualties due to his aggressive tactics. The company killed a number of prisoners of war, a practice which both the Soviets and Germans were known to engage in.
During its combat action the LSSAH was followed by Einsatzgruppe D which was responsible for organising the extermination of Jews and Communists. Einsatzgruppe D continued its operations even when winter weather suspended active military operations. It shared the same winter quarters at Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
on the Azov Sea as the LSSAH and on occasion the division assisted Einsatzgruppe D with its operations.
In May 1942 Peiper learned of the death of his brother Hans Hasso. In May that year the LSSAH was transferred to France for rest and refit. Enroute to France Peiper left his unit and met with Himmler at his headquarters on 1 June. The meeting included a dinner attended by Rudolf Brandt
Rudolf Brandt
Rudolf Brandt was a German SS officer during 1933-1945 and a civil servant.A lawyer by profession, Brandt was Personal Administrative Officer to the Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, and a defendant at the Doctors' Trial at Nuremberg for his part in securing the 86 victims of the Jewish skeleton...
, secretary of the Reichsführer-SS and Heinz Lammerding
Heinz Lammerding
Heinz Lammerding was aBrigadeführer in the Waffen-SS and a commander of 2...
, a member of the staff headquarters SS Totenkopf division. Peiper met with Himmler again in July 1942 and did not rejoin his battalion until August 1942.
During its stay in France the LSSAH was reorganised into a Panzergrenadier
Panzergrenadier
is a German term for motorised or mechanized infantry, as introduced during World War II. It is used in the armies of Austria, Chile, Germany and Switzerland.-Forerunners:...
division, which translated into a promotion for Peiper to commander of the 3rd Battalion. Peiper took advantage of the unit's time in France to recruit motivated, driven young officers who matched Peiper's attitude and willingness to fight.
Back to the Eastern Front
At the end of 1942 Peiper received permission to visit his family. On 30 January 1943 he was promoted to SS-ObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
.
On the Eastern Front, the German situation had seriously worsened, especially in the battle for Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
. Peiper’s battalion left its quarters in France on 31 January 1943 and arrived at Lyubotin, near Kharkov, and was immediately dispatched to the front. By this time the German Army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
was engaged in a defensive battle against the Soviets.
Rescues 320th Infantry Division
During the Third Battle of KharkovThird Battle of Kharkov
The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of offensive operations on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov , between 19 February and 15 March 1943...
, Peiper led the 3rd battalion, 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment which broke 48 kilometres (29.8 mi) through Soviet lines to rescue the surrounded 320th Infantry Division, which had suffered some 1500 casualties. Leading the ambulances back to the German lines, he found his route across the River Udy blocked by a Soviet ski battalion that had destroyed the main bridge across the river. His unit fought through the city house to house and repaired the bridge, securing an exit route for the ambulances back to the German lines. However, the repaired bridge would not support his heavy armored halftracks and assault guns. Peiper ordered his men back behind the Soviet lines to find another exit and they returned to the German lines with few casualties. The Soviets alleged that during Peiper's attack it set fire to two villages and massacred their inhabitants.
Peiper was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 6 May 1943 for his achievements in February 1943. Peiper developed a tactic of attacking enemy-held villages by night from all sides while advancing in his armored half-tracks at full speed, while firing at every building. This tactic often set the building's straw roofs on fire and contributed to panic among enemy troops. Peiper's unit gained the nickname the "Blowtorch Battalion" as a result. However, it has been reported that another source for the nickname was the torching and slaughter of two Soviet villages where their inhabitants were either shot or burned. The blowtorch became an unofficial symbol of the unit, painted on the battalion's vehicles, said to represent Peiper's willingness to advance regardless of the cost.
On 9 March 1943 Peiper was awarded Germany's highest decoration, the Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield....
. The medal's citation described the fierce fighting:
During this period Peiper developed a reputation in the Nazi press as an outstanding leader. The official Waffen-SS newspaper, Das Schwarze Korps
Das Schwarze Korps
Das Schwarze Korps was the official newspaper of the Schutzstaffel . This newspaper was published on Wednesdays and distributed free of charge. Each SS member was supposed to read the publication and urge others to do so as well...
(The Black Corps), described Peiper's actions in Karkhov:
The descriptions of his tactical skills propelled Peiper to become an icon of the Waffen-SS after the war. Former men of Peiper's SPW battalion described him in similar glowing language. Peiper was seen as an officer who obeyed orders without much discussion and expected the same from his men.
The Germans failed to regain the initiative in the Third Battle of Kharkov
Third Battle of Kharkov
The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of offensive operations on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov , between 19 February and 15 March 1943...
. A few months later the LSSAH was engaged in Operation Citadel in the area of Kursk
Kursk
Kursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was site of a turning point in the Russian-German struggle during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in history...
. Although Operation Citadel did not achieve its goals, Peiper's unit again distinguished itself in the fighting. The LSSAH was withdrawn from the east front on 17 July and transferred to Northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
in the area of Cuneo
Cuneo
Cuneo is a city and comune in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the third largest of Italy’s provinces by area...
.
Operations in Italy
After Italian forces capitulated to the Allies, the LSSAH was moved to Italy for two months to assist in disarming its military and prevent them from attacking German forces. Beginning in August, Peiper’s battalion quarters were near Cuneo. On 10 September it was ordered to disarm Italian garrisons in AlessandriaAlessandria
-Monuments:* The Citadel * The church of Santa Maria di Castello * The church of Santa Maria del Carmine * Palazzo Ghilini * Università del Piemonte Orientale-Museums:* The Marengo Battle Museum...
and Asti
Asti
Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...
.
The Village of Boves
On 19 September partisans in the village of BovesBoves
Boves is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km south of Turin and about 6 km south of Cuneo...
captured two of Peiper's men. Faustino Dolmazzo, an advisor to the Italian partisans, reported that when Peiper arrived in Boves the Germans appointed two Italians, one the village priest, to arrange for the officers' freedom. Peiper promised the Germans would not engage in any reprisals.
The two men were freed around 1500, but the Germans set fire to the houses in the village, killing 22 men when they tried to flee. The burned bodies of the two Italian intermediaries were found among the victims.
Peiper insisted his unit massacred no civilians in Boves. He stated that he sent members of his unit to search for the two kidnapped officers who had been taken by the partisans into the nearby Bisalta mountains. A platoon was ambushed, and when attempting to rescue the unit, the Germans came under heavy fire from the partisans. The German artillery responded, which triggered the reported fires. The artillery section remained in Boves, according to Peiper, to destroy the remaining weapons and ammunition.
Peiper himself reported on the action, 'I am of the opinion that our action to free our encircled comrades in Boves nipped in the bud the Italian army's attack, for the army fell apart and no attack ever took place on Cuneo or Turin. However regrettable the consequences of our action was for the affected residents of Boves, it should not be overlooked that our one-time intervention prevented further immeasurable casualties which would have resulted from continued Italian attacks." An Italian court in 1968 even concluded that there was "there is insufficient suspicion of criminal activity on the part of any of the accused to warrant prosecution."
Last stay at the Eastern Front
Beginning November 1943, Peiper’s unit arrived on the Eastern Front, where it took part to the combat in the area of ZhytomyrZhytomyr
Zhytomyr is a city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion...
. On 20 November, Georg Schönberger
Georg Schönberger
Georg Schönberger was a Obersturmbannführer in the Waffen-SS who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.During Operation Marita Schönberger was in command of the Sturmgeschütz Battalion LSSAH....
was killed in action, and Peiper took his place as head of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment, a command he held until the end of the war. He left his position as commander of an armoured infantry battalion to lead a panzer regiment. He was 28 years old. Under his command the regiment fought through the winter and was engaged in numerous night assaults against the Soviets. His panzer unit played an essential role in stalling the Soviet offensive in the area of Zhytomyr. Peiper led actions by attacking the rear of enemy lines and taking four division headquarters. For this action he was awarded the Oak Leaves of the Knight's Cross.
His aggressivness, which was the cause for his appointment as a commander of the LSSAH panzer regiment, caused resentment by some against Peiper. In the mean time, brutal combat involving his unit continued: on 5 and 6 December 1943 it killed 2,280 Russian soldiers and took only three prisoners. During heavy fighting the village of Pekartschina was completely burned with flamethrowers and its inhabitants killed.
On 20 January 1944 Peiper was withdrawn from the front and left his unit. He went directly to the headquarters of Hitler, who presented him with the Oak Leaves to be added to his Knight's Cross. Shortly afterwards, on his 29th birthday, Peiper was promoted to Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
.
However, Peiper was physically and mentally exhausted. A medical examination carried out by SS doctors in Dachau reached the conclusion that he needed rest. He went to see his wife in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
.
In March 1944 the LSSAH was withdrawn from the Eastern front. The transfer of all its units was not completed before 24 May. Peiper joined his unit in April. The battles in the east had caused heavy losses of men and material. The new recruits called in to replace the casualties were not of the same caliber as the pre-war volunteers, who'd been recruited according to strict criteria. It is within this context that a new revealing incident happened.
Five young recruits, accused of stealing poultry and ham from Belgian civilians, were sentenced to death by a court-martial. The verdict seemed much out of proportion to the offence, especially when looking at similar cases. Peiper ordered the five shot on 28 May 1944 and had the other young recruits marched past the corpses; but the executions actually had a negative impact on the morale of the regiment. The stay in the Belgian Limburg was devoted mainly to drills and refit, made more difficult due to the lack of materiel and gasoline.
The Battle of Normandy
The landing in NormandyOperation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
necessitated the return of the LSSAH to the Western Front
Western Front (World War II)
The Western Front of the European Theatre of World War II encompassed, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and West Germany. The Western Front was marked by two phases of large-scale ground combat operations...
. On 17 June the division began its move to the area of Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
, but some parts of the panzer regiment had to stay in Belgium waiting for new tanks. Furthermore, the move of the division was made under very difficult conditions because, on one hand, the trains needed for the transport were devoted to the transport of the Hungarian Jews to the concentration camps and, on other hand, the air attacks of the Allied forces caused huge disruptions in rail traffic. The whole of the division did not reach its rally zone before 6 July 1944. On 28 June, the 1st SS Panzer Regiment of Peiper arrived at the front and was immediately engaged. As with all the German units of the area (notwithstanding some partial victories) they essentially fought a defensive battle until the Avranches breakthrough
Operation Cobra
Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the First United States Army seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy Campaign of World War II...
at the end of July and beginning of August. Having gone to the front with 19,618 men, the LSSAH lost 25% of its men and all its tanks. As with most of the Waffen SS divisions engaged in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, the LSSAH lost its operational ability and was described in the official tables of the available units prepared by the OKW on 16 September 1944 not as a division but as a Kampfgruppe
Kampfgruppe
In military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I...
.
Peiper was not in command of his panzer regiment during the counter-attack
Operation Lüttich
Operation Lüttich was a codename given to a German counterattack during the Battle of Normandy, which took place around the American positions near Mortain from 7 August to 13 August 1944...
s near Avranches
Avranches
Avranches is a commune in the Manche department in the Basse-Normandie region in north-western France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called Avranchinais.-History:...
. Suffering from a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
he had been discreetly evacuated to a military hospital in the area of Sées
Sées
Sées is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.It lies on the Orne River from its source and north-by-northeast of Alençon.-Name:...
at 70 km of the frontline. According to the official diagnosis, he was suffering from jaundice
Jaundice
Jaundice is a yellowish pigmentation of the skin, the conjunctival membranes over the sclerae , and other mucous membranes caused by hyperbilirubinemia . This hyperbilirubinemia subsequently causes increased levels of bilirubin in the extracellular fluid...
. He would eventually be dispatched to the rear and at the beginning of September 1944 was in a military hospital near to the Tegernsee
Tegernsee
Tegernsee is a town in the Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the shore of Tegernsee lake, at an elevation of 747 m above sea level....
in Upper Bavaria, not far from his family home. He stayed there until 7 October.
The Battle of the Bulge
During the autumn, the German forces had to counter the attempts of the Western Allies to cross the Westwall, while Hitler was looking for an opportunity to seize the initiative on the Western Front. The result was the Operation Wacht am Rhein. In a desperate attempt to defeat the Allies on the Western Front, the German armies were to break through the US lines in the ArdennesArdennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
, to cross the River Meuse and take Antwerp, cutting the Allied forces in two.
The main role in the breakthrough was devoted to the 6th Panzer Army under the command of Sepp Dietrich. He would have to pierce the American lines between Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
and the Schnee Eifel
Schnee Eifel
The Schnee Eifel is a heavily wooded landscape in Germany's Central Uplands that forms part of the western Eifel in the area of the German-Belgian border...
and seize bridges on the Meuse on both sides of Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
. Within the 6th Panzer Army a mobile striking role was assigned to the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into a divisional-sized unit...
(LSSAH) under the command of SS-Oberführer Wilhelm Mohnke
Wilhelm Mohnke
SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke was one of the original 120 members of the SS-Staff Guard "Berlin" formed in March 1933. From those ranks, Mohnke rose to become one of Adolf Hitler's last remaining generals.Mohnke saw action with the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler in France, Poland...
. The division was split into four Kampfgruppe with Peiper commanding the most substantial which included all the armored sections of the division. Peiper was given the use of the newest tank, the 70 ton Tiger II
Tiger II
Tiger II is the common name of a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B,Panzerkampfwagen – abbr: Pz. or Pz.Kfw. Ausführung – abbr: Ausf. .The full titles Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf...
or King Tiger, which this battle would be its 3rd on the western front since its introduction, and with its 7 inches of armor made it impervious to allied anti-tank weapons. However, the King Tiger had a high consumption of fuel (1/2 mile to the gallon) along with mechanical defects (mainly the tank's suspension system), which would continuously hinder Peiper's ability to reach his assigned objectives in Operation Wacht am Rhein. His duty was to break through the U.S. lines along a rail route
Rollbahn
A rollbahn is a German word designating a runway. This may be:* A one lane road, for example, in the Second World War it described key routes designated by the German Wehrmacht, for example, the route Moscow-Minsk-Brest A rollbahn is a German word designating a runway. This may be:* A one lane...
B through Spa, Belgium
Spa, Belgium
Spa is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liège. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountain chain, some southeast of Liège, and southwest of Aachen. As of 1 January 2006, Spa had a total population of 10,543...
and to take bridges on the Meuse between Liège and Huy
Huy
Huy is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the sillon industriel, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia, home to about two-thirds of the Walloon population...
.
Assigned route
Peiper's assigned route, or RollbahnRollbahn
A rollbahn is a German word designating a runway. This may be:* A one lane road, for example, in the Second World War it described key routes designated by the German Wehrmacht, for example, the route Moscow-Minsk-Brest A rollbahn is a German word designating a runway. This may be:* A one lane...
, had many hairpin turn
Hairpin turn
A hairpin turn , named for its resemblance to a hairpin/bobby pin, is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn almost 180° to continue on the road. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy...
s and traversed steep hillsides that would delay his already slow-moving towed
Artillery tractor
Artillery tractor is a kind of tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, a vehicle used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights.-Traction:...
artillery and bridging trains. It included narrow, in many places single-track, roads which forced units of the Kampfgruppe to tail each other, creating a column of infantry and armor up to 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) long. Peiper complained that the road assigned to his Kampfgruppe was suitable for bicycles, but not for panzers. The tortuous roads prevented the Germans from concentrating their force in the blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg
For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...
tactics which had served them so well in the past. Fritz Krämer, Chief of Staff for the 6th Panzer Army answered “I don’t care how and what you do. Just make it to the Meuse. Even if you’ve only one tank left when you get there.” Peiper's unit had only one-quarter the fuel they needed. Their plan counted on the capturing Allied fuel depots and keeping to an ambitious timetable.
Initial advance stalled
Kampfgruppe Peiper was initially delayed by more than 16 hours when the 1st Battalion, 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division3rd Parachute Division (Germany)
The 3rd Parachute Division was a German military unit that was active during World War II. Its formation began in October 1943 in France near Reims. From February 1944 near Brest...
took most of December 16 to defeat 18 men of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon
ISTAR
ISTAR stands for Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employing its sensors and managing the information they gather.Information is collected on...
, 394th Regiment, 99th Infantry Division who blocked the route near Lanzerath
Battle of Lanzareth ridge
The Battle of Lanzerath Ridge during World War II was fought on December 16, 1944, the first day of the Battle of the Bulge near the town of Lanzerath, Belgium. It was fought between 18 men belonging to two American reconnaissance squads, four U.S. Forward Artillery Observers, and a battalion of...
, Belgium.
Peiper’s mechanized column did not reach his first day's objective until midnight that same day. As a result, Peiper first attacked shortly before daybreak on 17 December 1944, almost 18 hours later than expected. Hustling through the remains of the American front lines, he quickly took Honsfeld
Büllingen
Büllingen is a largely German language-speaking municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006 Büllingen had a total population of 5,385. The total area is 150.49 km² which gives a population density of 36 inhabitants per km²....
.
Peiper had planned to advance through Loseheimergroben, but the 12th and 277th Volksgrenadier Divisions
277th Infantry Division (Germany)
A first 277th Infantry Division was ordered to form on May 22, 1940 as part of the 10th mobilisation wave , but this order was rescinded after the French Surrender. A new 277th Infantry Division was formed in Croatia on November 17, 1943 as part of the 22nd mobilisation wave A first 277th Infantry...
failed to gain control on the first day as planned. In the early morning of December 17, they quickly captured Honsfeld and 50000 gal of fuel for his vehicles.
Alternative route chosen
Peiper then advanced towards Büllingen, keeping to the plan to move west, unaware he could take the town and unknowingly bypassing an opportunity to flank and trap the entire 2nd and 99th Division. Peiper turned south to detour around Hünningen, interested only in getting back onto his assigned RollbahnRollbahn
A rollbahn is a German word designating a runway. This may be:* A one lane road, for example, in the Second World War it described key routes designated by the German Wehrmacht, for example, the route Moscow-Minsk-Brest A rollbahn is a German word designating a runway. This may be:* A one lane...
. He continued west on his assigned rollbahn until he had to deflect shortly before Ligneuville because the assigned road was impassable. This bypass forced him towards the Baugnez crossroads where his armored units encountered a lightly armed column of U.S. artillery observers, who were quickly neutralized.
Peiper's unit became infamous for the murder of U.S. prisoners of war at the crossroads in what became known as the Malmedy massacre
Malmedy massacre
The Malmedy massacre was a war crime in which 84 American prisoners of war were murdered by their German captors during World War II. The massacre was committed on December 17, 1944, by members of Kampfgruppe Peiper , a German combat unit, during the Battle of the Bulge.The massacre, as well as...
as noted below. Moving ahead, he crossed Ligneuville and reached the heights of Stavelot
Stavelot
Stavelot is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006, Stavelot had a total population of 6,671. The total area is 85.07 km² which gives a population density of 78 inhabitants per km².-History:...
on the left bank of the River Amblève
Amblève
Amblève may refer to* Amblève in Belgium* Amel, a germanonphone town in Belgium, called Amblève in French....
at nightfall of the second day of operation Wacht am Rhein. While the little city was defended only by a few U.S. troops and could have been easily taken the same day, for reasons unknown he held back and assaulted at dawn of the next day. Valuable time was lost, allowing the Americans to reorganise. After heavy fighting his Kampfgruppe eventually managed to cross the bridge on the River Amblève, and from there he found the going increasingly difficult.
The US forces regrouped themselves and blasted the bridges on the Amblève and the River Salm that Peiper needed to cross in order to continue on a direct road to the Meuse. On 18 December, United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
blasted the bridges in front of him that he needed to reach his objective, trapping him in the deep valley of the Amblève, downstream from Trois-Ponts
Trois-Ponts
Trois-Ponts is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. On January 1, 2006 Trois-Ponts had a total population of 2,445. The total area is 68.90 km² which gives a population density of 35 inhabitants per km². It is situated at the confluence of the...
. The weather had also improved, permitting the Allied Air Forces to operate. Several P-47
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
squadrons attacked his column spread over 20 kilometres (12.4 mi). The air strikes destroyed or heavily damaged numerous vehicles of his Kampfgruppe and made some parts of his itinerary impracticable, slowing down his progression. Peiper was unable to protect his rear, which enabled American troops to recapture and destroy the bridge on the Amblève in Stavelot, cutting him off from the only possible supply road for ammunition and, above all, fuel, which he lacked. In spite of these problems, Peiper continued his progress towards Stoumont
Stoumont
Stoumont is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. On January 1, 2006 Stoumont had a total population of 3,006. The total area is 108.45 km² which gives a population density of 28 inhabitants per km²....
before American resistance forced him to retire to La Gleize. Short of fuel, men and ammunition he held out during six days of US Army bombardment and counterattacks. Without supplies and with no contact with other German units behind him, Peiper decided on 24 December to abandon his vehicles and march through the woods to escape. He left with the remaining 800 men and 36 hours later he reached the German lines with 770 men, having covered 20 kilometers by foot in deep snow and freezing temperatures.
The end of the war
In January 1945 the Swords were added to his Knight's Cross. The proposal was drafted by Wilhelm Mohnke. The great fame of Peiper as a Waffen SS commander during the "Battle of the Bulge" was born.At the end of January 1945 Peiper was in the Berlin area. On 4 February he met for the last time with Heinrich Himmler at his provisional headquarters. Peiper then went to the Panzergrenadier school in Krhanice
Krhanice
Krhanice is a municipality and village in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. -References:*This article was initially translated from the Czech Wikipedia....
until 14 February. From there he joined his unit in the southwest of the area of Farnad. His unit took part in Operation Fr%C3%BChlingserwachen that failed even though Peiper’s unit recorded huge casualties due to his aggressive style of command. Peiper lost numerous old companions.
On 1 May, as other units of the LSSAH were forced to retreat into Austria, the men were informed of Adolf Hitler’s death. A few days later all SS units were ordered to retreat to the west. On 8 May, the LSSAH received the order to cross the Enns River and surrender to the American troops.
Accompanied by Paul Gühl, Peiper tried to escape captivity. On 28 May, Peiper was on his way to Rottach, but was captured near Schliersee
Schliersee
Schliersee is a small town and a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Bavaria in Germany. It is named after the nearby Lake Schliersee....
. This was less than 30 kilometres from his home. He was interned in the Dachau concentration camp.
Although he was actively researched by American forces (due to his alleged involvement in the Malmedy massacre) Peiper was not identified until 21 August 1945. This was the day after he was transferred to the interrogation camp of the 3rd US Army in Freising
Freising
Freising is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district Freising. Total population 48,500.The city is located north of Munich at the Isar river, near the Munich International Airport...
.
The Malmedy massacre and other murders
Malmedy
Malmedy is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region, Province of Liège. It belongs to the French Community of Belgium, within which it is French-speaking with facilities for German-speakers. On January 1, 2006 Malmedy had a total population of 11,829...
. The troops, mainly elements of the American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, were quickly overcome and captured. Along with other American POWs previously captured, they were ordered to stand in a meadow when for unknown reasons the Germans opened fire on the prisoners with machine guns, killing 84 soldiers, and leaving the bodies in the snow. The survivors were able to reach American lines later that day, and their story spread rapidly throughout the American front lines.
Peiper's instructions
Author Richard Gallagher reported that during the briefing held before the operation, Peiper clearly stated that no quarter should be given nor prisoners taken and that no pity should be shown towards the Belgian civilians. However, Lieutenant Colonel Hal McCown, Commanding Officer 2/119 Infantry119th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 119th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army.The unit was an organic element of the 30th ID Old Hickory of the United States Army.-Distinctive Unit Insignia:...
, testified about the treatment his unit was given after being captured on 21 December by Peiper's Kampfgruppe at Froidcour between La Gleize and Stoumont
Stoumont
Stoumont is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. On January 1, 2006 Stoumont had a total population of 3,006. The total area is 108.45 km² which gives a population density of 28 inhabitants per km²....
. He said he met Peiper in person and based on his observations, American prisoners were at no time mistreated by the SS and the food given to them was nearly as good as that used by the Germans themselves.
Other murders
Peiper's men engaged in other murders of prisoners. In Honsfeld, men in Kampfgruppe Peiper murdered several American prisoners. Other murders of POWs were reported in Büllingen, Ligneuville, Stavelot, Cheneux, La Gleize and Stoumont on 18, 19 and 20 December. On 19 December 1944, in the area between Stavelot and Trois-Ponts, while the Germans were trying to regain control of the bridge over the Amblève River (crucial for allowing reinforcements and supplies to reach the Kampfgruppe) men of Kampfgruppe Peiper killed a number of Belgian civilians. Kampfgruppe Peiper was eventually declared responsible for the deaths of 362 prisoners of war and 111 civilians.Interrogation and confession of Peiper
After the surrender of the German armies, the Americans searched POW camps for the men of Kampfgruppe Peiper. They were said to have left a “bloody track along their way”. Some war crimes during the "Battle of the Bulge" were attributed to the Kampfgruppe Peiper.Jailed in Freising in Upper Bavaria, Peiper underwent his first interrogations. Investigators quickly found that the SS men, including Peiper, although hardened soldiers, were not trained to withstand interrogation. Some men freely gave the requested information while others only did so after having being subject to beatings, threats and mock executions. Peiper took personal responsibility for the actions of the men under his command.
In December 1945 Peiper was transferred to the prison at Schwäbisch Hall
Schwäbisch Hall
Schwäbisch Hall is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg and capital of the district of Schwäbisch Hall. The town is located in the valley of the river Kocher in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg....
, where 1,000 former members of the Leibstandarte were assembled. Some reports suggested afterward that the interrogations included mock trial
Mock trial
A Mock Trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or...
s, both physical and psychological torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
. Peiper and others claimed to have been repeatedly beaten and threatened with having their families handed over to the Russians. On 16 April 1946 approximately 300 prisoners were moved from Schwäbisch Hall to Dachau, where they were put on trial.
The trial
The trial took place at Dachau from 16 May to 16 July 1946 before a military tribunalMilitary tribunal
A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings. The judges are military officers and fulfill the role of jurors...
of senior American officers, operating under rules the Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
International Military Tribunal had established.
The 74 defendants included SS-Oberstgruppenführer
Oberstgruppenführer
Oberst-Gruppenführer was the highest commissioned SS rank with the exception of Reichsführer-SS, which was a special rank held by Heinrich Himmler...
Sepp Dietrich
Sepp Dietrich
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich was a German SS General. He was one of Nazi Germany's most decorated soldiers and commanded formations up to Army level during World War II. Prior to 1929 he was Adolf Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard but received rapid promotion after his participation in the murder of...
, 6th SS Panzer Army commanding general, his chief of staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
SS-Brigadeführer
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
Fritz Krämer, SS-Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.-SS rank:...
Hermann Prieß, I SS Panzer Corps
I SS Panzer Corps
The I SS Panzer Corps Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or I SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS panzer corps which saw action on both the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II.-Formation and training:...
commander, and Joachim Peiper, commander of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment (the unit to which the crimes were attributed).
Before the trial, occupation authorities reclassified the defendants from prisoners of war to Civilian Internee
Civilian Internee
Civilian Internee is a special status of a prisoner under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Civilian Internees are civilians who are detained by a party to a war for security reasons...
s. The accusations were mainly based on the sworn and written statements provided by the defendants in Schwäbish Hall. To counter the evidence given in the men's sworn statements and by prosecution witnesses, the lead defense attorney Lt Col
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
Willis M. Everett tried to show that the statements had been obtained by inappropriate methods.
Everett called Lieutenant Colonel Hal McCown to testify about Peiper's troops treatment of American prisoners at La Gleize. McCown, who, along with his command, had been captured by Peiper at La Gleize, testified that wounded American soldiers in Peiper's custody had received equal priority with German wounded in receiving medical treatment. He testified that during his occupation of the town, Peiper had at all times behaved in a professional and honorable manner.
Colonel Everett had decided to call only Peiper to testify. However other defendants, supported by their German lawyers, wanted to testify as well. This would soon prove to be a huge mistake, for when the prosecution crossexamined
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
the defendants they behaved like “a bunch of drowning rats (...) turning on each other.” According to Everett, these testimonies gave the court enough reason to sentence several of the defendants to death.
The military court was not convinced by Peiper’s testimony about the murder of the POWs under the Kampfgruppe's control. During the trial, several witnesses testified of at least two instances in which Peiper had ordered the murder of prisoners of war. When questioned by the prosecution, Peiper denied these allegations, stating the allegations were obtained from witnesses under torture. When questioned about the murder of Belgian civilians, Peiper said they were partisans. Although the court could not prove that Peiper had ordered the murders, Peiper nonetheless accepted responsibility for his men's actions.
Death sentence
Together with 42 other defendants, Joachim Peiper was sentenced to death by hanging on 16 July 1946.The sentences generated significant controversy in some German circles, including the church, leading the commander of the U.S. Army in Germany
United States Army Europe
United States Army Europe and Seventh Army, is an Army Service Component Command of the United States Army and the land component of United States European Command. It is the largest American formation in Europe.-Invasion of Sicily:...
to commute some of the death sentences to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. In addition, the Germans' defense attorney, U.S. military attorney Lt. Col. Willis M. Everett, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, claiming that the defendants had been found guilty by means of "illegal and fraudulently procured confessions" and were subjects of mock trial. The turmoil raised by this case caused the Secretary of the Army, Kenneth Royall, to create a commission chaired by Judge Gordon A. Simpson of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to investigate. The commission was interested in Malmedy massacre trial and other cases judged at Dachau.
The commission arrived in Europe on 30 July 1948 and issued its report on 14 September. In this report, it notably recommended that the twelve remaining death sentences be commuted to life imprisonment. The commission confirmed the accuracy of Everett's accusations regarding mock trials and neither disputed nor denied his charges of torture of the defendants. The commission expressed the opinion that the pre-trial investigation had not been properly conducted and that the members felt that no death sentence should be executed where such a doubt existed.
In response, General Lucius Clay commuted six more death sentences to life imprisonment. But he refused to commute the six remaining death sentences, including Peiper's, though the executions were postponed. The turmoil caused by the commission report and an article by Judge Edward L. Van Roden caused the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
to investigate the trial.
In its investigation of the trial, the Senate Committee on Armed Services came to the conclusion of improper pre-trial procedures, including a mock trial, but not torture as sometimes stated, had indeed affected the trial process. There was little or no doubt that some of the accused were indeed guilty of the massacre.
Ultimately the sentences of the Malmedy defendants were commuted to life imprisonment and then to time served. Peiper himself was released from prison on parole at the end of December 1956, after serving 11 and a half years.
Return to civilian life
The Hilfsgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit der Angehörigen der ehemaligen Waffen-SS (HIAG) (Mutual Help Association of Former Waffen-SS Members), a mutual aid network of former SS troops, had already helped Peiper’s wife find a job near the Landsberg PrisonLandsberg Prison
Landsberg Prison is a penal facility located in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west of Munich and south of Augsburg....
. They then worked to achieve the conditional liberation of Peiper himself. To obtain his release from prison, Peiper had to prove that he could obtain a job. Through the intermediary of Dr. Albert Prinzing, a former SS-Hauptsturmführer in the Sicherheitsdienst, he got a job at the car manufacturer Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
.
Following his release from Landsberg Prison Peiper maintained contact, albeit discretely, with his old comrades in the SS. He avoided open affiliations with the HIAG and the Order of the Holders of the Knight's Cross but he was often seen with their members at the funerals of personalities such as Kurt “Panzer” Meyer
Kurt Meyer (Panzermeyer)
Kurt Meyer, nicknamed "Panzermeyer", served as an officer in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. He saw action in many major battles, including the Invasion of France, Operation Barbarossa, and the Battle of Normandy.Meyer was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and...
, Sepp Dietrich
Sepp Dietrich
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich was a German SS General. He was one of Nazi Germany's most decorated soldiers and commanded formations up to Army level during World War II. Prior to 1929 he was Adolf Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard but received rapid promotion after his participation in the murder of...
and Paul Hausser
Paul Hausser
Paul "Papa" Hausser was an officer in the German Army, achieving the high rank of lieutenant-general in the inter-war Reichswehr. After retirement from the regular Army he became the "father" of the Waffen-SS and one of its most eminent leaders...
. Peiper assisted the efforts of these organizations to rehabilitate the Waffen-SS's reputation by hiding the more ruthless aspects of their past and exalting their military achievements, claiming that the SS were just like other soldiers. Peiper once told one of his friends:
On 17 January 1957 he began work at Porsche in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
in its technical division. He would later represent the company at car exhibitions. He was later put in charge of auto exports to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
but his wartime criminal conviction prevented him from obtaining a visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
for travel to the United States. This would not allow him to maintain this new position.
As he advanced within Porsche, he was accused by Italian union workers of the Boves Massacre
Boves massacre
The " Boves massacre " was an alleged World War II war crime that took place on 8 September 1943 in the comune of Boves, Italy. Up to 45 Italian civilians were killed and 350 houses were destroyed by artillery fire of the Waffen-SS under the command of SS-Sturmbannführer Joachim Peiper...
in Italy during World War II. Ferry Porsche personally intervened and promised Peiper a senior management position, but this offer was derailed by the trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, who objected to allowing persons convicted of war crimes to serve in the upper management of the company. The strong antipathy to Peiper, his association with Ferry Porsche and the related negative impact on sales in Porsche's biggest market, the United States, forced Porsche's management to dismiss him. On 30 December 1960 Peiper filed suit to compel Porsche to fulfil its promises.
In court documents Peiper’s attorney stated that Peiper was not a war criminal and that the Allies had used the trials to defame the German people. He asserted that the Nuremberg trial and the "Malmedy massacre" trial were merely propaganda. Citing documents published by the anti-Communist historian Freda Utley
Freda Utley
Winifred Utley, commonly known as Freda Utley, was an English scholar, political activist and best-selling author. After visiting the Soviet Union in 1927 as a trade union activist, she joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1928...
, he asserted that the Malmedy massacre trial defendants had been tortured by the Americans. At the request of the court, Porsche and Peiper reached an agreement to terminate the employment contract, and Peiper received six months of wages as compensation. The magazine Der Freiwillige, published by SS veterans, capitalized on the award and wrote that Peiper had been "unfairly sentenced" for war crimes.
Peiper became a car sales trainer, and utilizing his network of former SS members, contacted Max Moritz, a former SS mechanic. Moritz had become an authorized Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
dealer for Germany.
The 60s
At the beginning of the Sixties the perception that the public opinion had of the Nazi crimes started to change. The German economic recovery did not allow SS men to hide themselves, and holding a high position in society could raise questions that people like Peiper preferred to avoid. The EichmannAdolf Eichmann
Adolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...
and Auschwitz
Frankfurt Auschwitz trials
The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials, known in German as der Auschwitz-Prozess or der zweite Auschwitz-Prozess, was a series of trials running from December 20, 1963 to August 10, 1965, charging 22 defendants under German penal law for their roles in the Holocaust as mid- to lower-level officials in the...
trials in the first half of the 1960s (which got a large audience in West Germany) put a new light on this period. The prosecution was now initiated by the West German authorities themselves, and no longer by the Allies. On the other hand, the statute of limitation for the prosecution of Nazi crimes had been extended several times, which made those who had been involved in these crimes uncomfortable.
Peiper was caught by his past when on 23 June 1964 two Italians filed against him an accusation at the Central Office of the State Justice Administration for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes in Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg urban district with about 87,000 inhabitants...
because of the Boves massacre. The plaintiffs were represented by Robert W. Kempner
Robert Kempner
Robert Kempner was a German-born American lawyer.Kempner was a successful Jewish lawyer in Berlin during the 1920s who then became the chief legal advisor to the Prussian police...
, who had been a member of the American council of the prosecutors during the Nuremberg trial. The investigations led by the Attorney General of Stuttgart proved to be troublesome for Peiper, since he was accused of having arrested Jews in Borgo San Dalmazzo
Borgo San Dalmazzo
Borgo San Dalmazzo is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km south of Turin and about 8 km southwest of Cuneo...
and of having deported Jews in Northern Italy. The accusations were endorsed by Simon Wiesenthal
Simon Wiesenthal
Simon Wiesenthal KBE was an Austrian Holocaust survivor who became famous after World War II for his work as a Nazi hunter....
. However, both Klempner and Wiesenthal were never able to present the evidence claimed by the Attorney General. Thus, in 1967, the case was dismissed for lack of evidence.
Peiper was again confronted by his past when he was called as witness during the Werner Best
Werner Best
Dr. Werner Best was a German Nazi, jurist, police chief, SS-Obergruppenführer and Nazi Party leader from Darmstadt, Hesse. He studied law and in 1927 obtained his doctorate degree at Heidelberg...
trial. He did not deny close contact to Himmler, but he managed to prevent any direct implication in the Nazi crimes, claiming memory failure.
In 1969 he was a free-lance collaborator for the magazine Auto, Motor und Sport
Auto, Motor und Sport
auto motor und sport , often abbreviated to AMS, is a leading German automobile magazine. It is published fortnightly by Motor Presse Netzwerk subsidiary Motor Presse Stuttgart, a specialist magazine publisher that is 59.9% owned by the publishing house Gruner + Jahr.The magazine, originally...
. In 1972 he moved to Traves in Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône is a French department of the Franche-Comté région, named after the Saône River.- History :The department was created in the early years of the French Revolution through the application of a law dated 22 December 1789, from part of the former province of Franche-Comté...
(France), where he owned property. At that time he was a self-employed translator for the editor Stuttgarter Motor-Buch Verlag and, under the pen name Rainer Buschmann, he translated books devoted to military history from English to German.
The last years
Residing in France since 1972 he had a quiet and discreet life. However, he continued to use his given name. In 1974 he was identified by a former Communist resistance member of the region who issued a report for the French Communist PartyFrench Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
. In 1976 a Communist historian, investigating the STASI
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
archives, found the Peiper file. On 21 June tracts denouncing his presence were distributed in Traves. A day later, an article in the Communist publication L'Humanité
L'Humanité
L'Humanité , formerly the daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party , was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the French Section of the Workers' International...
revealed Peiper's presence in Traves and he became the subject of death threats.
Upon the death threats Peiper sent his family back to Germany. He himself stayed in Traves. During the night from 13 July to 14 July 1976 a gunfight took place at Peiper's house, in which Peiper was shot several times and his house was set on fire. In the ruin Peiper's charred corpse was later found with a bullet in the chest. The perpetrators were never identified, but were suspected to be former French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
members or Communists. Peiper had just started writing a book about Malmedy and what followed.
Panzer commander
Because of the murders perpetrated by his unit at Malmedy and other locations, his death sentence and subsequent release, Peiper remained a controversial figure while he lived and after his death. He was a competent, personally courageous soldier and highly respected among his peers. His men were fiercely loyal to him, and he was considered by many to be a "charismatic leader." After the end of the war, he continued to be held in high regard by his surviving comrades, many of whom talked of Der Peiper with admiration and respect. The respect he had garnered among his SS peers helped him to obtain his release from prison after the war ended and to obtain employment.Recognition
His leadership of the Sd.Kfz. 251 armored half-track battalion in the Third Battle of KharkovThird Battle of Kharkov
The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of offensive operations on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov , between 19 February and 15 March 1943...
earned the unit the nickname Lötlampenbataillon or "Blowtorch Battalion", which resulted in him receiving the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
German Cross
The German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
Three days after his actions on 6 March 1943, he received the Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
. Twelve days later, Peiper demonstrated his military skill when he led his unit at full speed through Russian positions in a surprise attack on Belgorod
Belgorod
-Twin towns/sister cities:Belgorod is twinned with: Wakefield, England, United Kingdom Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia Opole, Poland Vyshhorod, Ukraine Kharkiv, Ukraine-External links:...
, causing the surprised Russians to flee. Oberführer Theodor Wisch
Theodor Wisch
Theodor Peter Johann Wisch was a German Waffen-SS general and a commander of 1. SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler during World War II. He held the rank of SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS. He was also a winner of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub...
, divisional commander of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, recommended him for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, which he was awarded on 27 January 1944.
Post-war reputation
Before his murder in TravesTraves, Haute-Saône
Traves is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Franche-Comté in eastern France.-Notable residents:Former SS Standartenfuhrer Jochen Peiper bought property and lived near the village from April 27, 1972 until his murder July 14, 1976. One or more arsonists set his home afire, he...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1976, Peiper described how his unit's tactics in rapidly attacking Russian villages was distorted after the war:
Famous Quote
"Schreite mit stolzer Geringschätzung durch den Pfuhl menschlicher Unzulässigkeit." That translates to: "Stride with a proud disdain through the swamp of human inadmissibility."Dates of rank
- SS-AnwärterAnwärterAnwärter is a German title which translates as “Candidate”. In modern day Germany, the title of Anwärter is typically used by those applying for employment and also as a designation for members of the Bundeswehr who are under consideration for a leadership assignment.During the Third Reich,...
: 16 October 1933 - SS-MannMann (military rank)Mann , was a paramilitary rank used by several Nazi Party paramilitary organizations between 1925 and 1945. The rank is most often associated with the SS, and also as a rank of the SA where Mann was the lowest enlisted rank and was the equivalent of a Private.In 1938, with the rise of the...
: 23 January 1934 - SS-SturmmannSturmmannSturmmann was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in the year 1921. The rank of Sturmmann was used by the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel ....
: 7 September 1934 - SS-RottenführerRottenführerRottenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in the year 1932. The rank of Rottenführer was used by several Nazi paramilitary groups, among them the Sturmabteilung , the Schutzstaffel and was senior to the paramilitary rank of Sturmmann.The insignia for Rottenführer...
: 10 October 1934 - SS-UnterscharführerUnterscharführerUnterscharführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party used by the Schutzstaffel between 1934 and 1945. The SS rank was created after the Night of the Long Knives...
: 1 March 1935 - SS-Standartenjunker: 11 September 1935
- SS-Standartenoberjunker: 5 March 1936
- SS-UntersturmführerUntersturmführerUntersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the German Schutzstaffel first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of Sturmführer which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921...
: 20 April 1936 - SS-ObersturmführerObersturmführerObersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
: 30 January 1939 - SS-HauptsturmführerHauptsturmführerHauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
: 6 June 1940 - SS-SturmbannführerSturmbannführerSturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
: 30 January 1943 - SS-ObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
: 11 November 1943 - SS-StandartenführerStandartenführerStandartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
: 20 April 1945
Notable decorations
- German Equestrian Badge in Bronze (?)
- Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
Second (1940) and First (1940) Classes - SS-Honour Ring (?)
- Knight's Cross (1943)
- Oak LeavesKnight's Cross of the Iron CrossThe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
(1944) - SwordsKnight's Cross of the Iron CrossThe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
(1945) - German Cross in Gold (1943)
- Infantry Assault BadgeInfantry Assault BadgeThe Infantry Assault Badge was a German war badge awarded to Waffen SS and Wehrmacht Heer soldiers during WWII. This decoration was instituted on December 20th 1939 by the Oberstbefehlshaber des Heeres, Generalfeldmarschall von Brauchitsch...
in Bronze (1940) - Eastern Front MedalEastern Front MedalThe Eastern Front Medal, , more commonly known as the Ostmedaille was instituted on May 26, 1942 to mark service on the German Eastern Front during the period November 15, 1941 to April 15, 1942...
(1942) - Sudetenland MedalSudetenland MedalThe The Sudetenland Commemorative Medal was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded in the interwar period.-Description:...
(1938) - Prague Castle Bar (1938)
- Anschluss MedalAnschluss MedalThe Anschluss Commemorative Medal was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded in the interwar period.-Description:Instituted on May 1, 1938, the medal commemorated the return of Austria to the German Reich...
(1938) - Close Combat ClaspClose Combat ClaspThe Close Combat Clasp is a German military award instituted on 25 November 1942 for achievement in hand to hand fighting in close quarters. The Close Combat Clasp was worn above the upper left uniform pocket...
in Bronze (1943) - Close Combat Clasp in Silver (1943)
- Tank Destruction BadgeTank Destruction BadgeThe Tank Destruction Badge was an award given to individuals of the Wehrmacht who destroyed an enemy tank single-handedly by an hand-held weapon. Anti-tank units were not eligible for this award...
(1943) - SA Sports BadgeSA Sports BadgeThe SA Sports Badge was a decoration of Nazi Germany that was issued between the years 1933 and 1945. It was a political version of the much more generic German Sports Badge which was also issued in great numbers by the Nazis....
in Bronze (?) - SS Long Service AwardSS Long Service AwardSS Long Service Awards were given in grades of four years, eight years, twelve years, twenty-five years, and forty years. On its reverse side, each award had emblazoned the inscription, in German: "Für treue Dienste in der SS"...
in 4 and 8 years (?) - Dress Formal Dinning Award (?)
- Life Saving Award in Gold (?)
- Tank Badge (50 or 75). Though there is no documentation of him receiving this award, there are several formal photographs of him wearing the award as an Oberstrumbannfuhrer (One of Peiper's uniforms, on display at the Virginia War MuseumVirginia War MuseumThe Virginia War Museum is located in Huntington Park on Warwick Blvd., Newport News, Virginia. The museum contains exhibits on American military history from 1775 to the present.-History:...
, bears the Tank Badge with "50." This uniform bears the rank insignia of an Obersturmbannführer, so Peiper could have earned a higher grade of the award before the war was over.) - Ribbon bar of the Iron Cross, Eastern Front Medal, Sudetenland Medal, Anschluss Medal and SS Long Service Award.
Fiction
Peiper is a significant character in the Harry TurtledoveHarry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
alternate history novel, The Man with the Iron Heart
The Man with the Iron Heart
The Man with the Iron Heart is an alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. Published in 2008, it takes as its premise the survival by Reinhard Heydrich of his 1942 assassination in Czechoslovakia and his subsequent leadership of the postwar Werwolf insurgency in occupied Germany, which...
, where he is the successor to Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
in the partisan
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
fight to drive out the post-war occupiers of Germany. In the alternate history novel Fox on the Rhine
Fox on the Rhine
Fox on the Rhine is a 2000 alternate history novel written by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson. It details a course of events over late 1944 that resulted from Adolf Hitler's death in the July 20 plot and Field-Marshal Erwin Rommel's survival of the crackdown.-Plot summary:The book begins on July...
by Douglas Niles and Michael O'Dobson, Peiper presides over a massacre of US soldiers by SS troops. In the sequel, Fox at the Front
Fox at the Front
Fox at the Front is a 2003 alternate history novel written by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson. It is a sequel to the 2000 novel Fox on the Rhine.-Plot summary:...
, Peiper kills Heinz Guderian
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was a German general during World War II. He was a pioneer in the development of armored warfare, and was the leading proponent of tanks and mechanization in the Wehrmacht . Germany's panzer forces were raised and organized under his direction as Chief of Mobile Forces...
as the SS enforces control over Wehrmacht units that lean towards surrendering to the Allies after the failure of the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
. He is later evacuated and joins the Das Reich division in the defense of a bridge over Kustryn, where he is captured by the Soviets and sent to a re-education camp.
External links
- Russian site about Jochen Peiper with a large collection of photos