Joachim Peiper

Joachim Peiper
Nickname(s)	Jochen
Buried	St Anna's church, Schondorf am Ammersee, Bavaria
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1933–1945
Rank	Standartenführer
Unit	1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Joachim Peiper (German pronunciation: [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 regimental colonel. He was murdered in France in July 1976, after his house was attacked with molotov cocktails.

Early life and family

Peiper was born on 30 January 1915 into a middle class family from the Silesian 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.

Military aspirations

Peiper turned 18 years old on the day Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. During the same year, before it became mandatory, he volunteered to join the Hitler Youth (German: Hitlerjugend) 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.

Officer training

On 24 April 1935, Peiper attended the newly created SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz (English: 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 SS of all middle and senior SS officers officers, SS-Dienstalterslisten, never listed Peiper.

Himmler's adjutant

Sepp Dietrich (left, behind Himmler), Heinrich Himmler (center), and Joachim Peiper (right) at Metz, September 1940

On 4 July 1938, Peiper was appointed to an administrative post as an Adjutant 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.

Wedding and family

Peiper was promoted to Obersturmführer 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.

The Battle of Poland

The Feldherrnhalle in Munich

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.

The Battle of France

On 17 May 1940, Peiper accompanied Himmler as he followed Waffen SS troops during the Battle of France. In Hasselt 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.

Rejoined Himmler’s personal staff

Karl Wolff, Jochen Peiper and Heinrich Himmler are received by Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Spain, October 1940.

After rejoining Himmler’s staff, Peiper accompanied him to Madrid 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.

Fritz Witt, Heinrich Himmler and Jochen Peiper with officers of the Waffen-SS Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, Greece, 1941.

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:

It was a macabre image: we saw how the Jewish Ghetto police, who wore hats without rims and were armed with wooden clubs, inconsiderately made room for us. The Jewish elders also presented Himmler with a bouquet of flowers.

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”.

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 Sea. 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.

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-Obersturmbannführer.

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.

Rescues 320th Infantry Division

Main article: Third Battle of Kharkov

During the Third Battle of Kharkov, Peiper led the 3rd battalion, 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment which broke 48 kilometres (30 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:

In Stawerowka the battalion was ordered to take Zigderowka. The mission was executed by night against heavy resistance and an enemy battalion was routed, four 7.62 guns, an infantry gun, 10 mortars and many machine guns and hand guns being captured and destroyed. Peiper advanced immediately towards Kasatschij Maidan, encountered an enemy battalion on the march and executed a hasty attack. Here, he inflicted heavy losses on the enemy and took Kasatschij Maidan. From here Peiper prepared his battalion for the attack on Jeremejewka, attacked it at dawn against heavy resistance and took Jeremejewka. Exploiting the confusion among the enemy, the battalion advanced on Leninskij and broke the last resistance. By an immediate advance, he inflicted heavy losses on the enemy which was fleeing through open fields. The battalion destroyed one T-34, six guns 7.62 and captured 300 horses. Three sledge columns were routed. The enemy casualties amounted about to anywhere from 800 to 900. SS-Sturmbannführer Peiper has distinguished himself in all these fights by a sensible command of his battalion and personal bravery and has proven himself worthy of the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold.

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:

In preparation for the attack on Kharkov, on his own initiative SS-Sturmbahführer Peiper twice seized bridgeheads which proved of decisive importance in the advance of attacking forces. [...] Nevertheless, SS-Sturmbahnführer Peiper was the master of the situation in all its phases. [...] Every officer and man of Kampfgruppe Peiper had the feeling of absolute safety. Here a man was thinking and caring for them, made his decisions quickly, and issued his orders with precision. These decisions and orders were often bold and unorthodox, but they were issued from a sovereign command of the situation. Everyone sensed the intellectual work and the instinctive safety behind this. Of course, the commander also had soldier’s luck. The unconditional trust of his men, however, has it basis in something else, namely the feeling that a born leader is in command, one filled with the highest sense of responsibility for the life of every single one of his men, but who is also able to be hard if necessary. But always the orders and measures stem, not from clever deliberation, but rather from a personality whose heart, brain, and hands are the same.

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.

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 Alessandria and Asti.

The Village of Boves

On 19 September partisans in the village of Boves 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.

During the same time period, local Jews were arrested and prepared for deportation to the extermination camps. Simon Wiesenthal accused Peiper of assisting with the arrest and deportation of Jews in Northern Italy, an accusation that Peiper refuted until he died. Peiper in turn accused Wiesenthal of destroying his post-war private life. Peiper claimed that under his own authority he had released a group of Jews from a concentration camp managed by Italians not because he sympathized with the Jews but because their leader, a rabbi, was from Berlin like himself. Peiper's story cannot be corroborated. Records do prove that among the Jewish families arrested near Cuneo, one family came from Berlin. This family was initially sent to Drancy before being transferred to Auschwitz.

At the end of its stay in Italy the division was reorganised into a panzer regiment. With the deteriorating situation on the Soviet front, the LSSAH was sent back east.

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 Zhytomyr. 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.

The Battle of Normandy

Tiger I tanks of the I SS Panzer-Korps Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler close to Villers-Bocage (June 1944)

The landing in Normandy 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 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-attacks 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.

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 Ardennes, 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 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. 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.

Assigned route

Peiper's assigned route, or Rollbahn, had many hairpin turns 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 (16 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 blitzkreig 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 Division 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 Volksgenadier Divisions failed to gain control on the first day as planned. In the early morning of December 17, they quickly captured Honsfeld and 50,000 US gallons (190,000 L; 42,000 imp 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 Rollbahn. 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 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.

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 until 14 February. From there he joined his unit in the southwest of the area of Farnad. His unit took part in the Lake Balaton counter-attack 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 SS Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler 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.

The Malmedy massacre and other murders

Main article: Malmedy massacre

The bodies of the POWs, covered by snow, where found on 14 January 1945

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.

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 Infantry, 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.

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 death of 362 prisoners of war and 111 civilians.

Interrogation and confession of Peiper

Main article: Malmedy massacre trial

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, where 1,000 former members of the Leibstandarte were assembled. Some reports suggested afterward that the interrogations included mock trials, 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.

The trial

The trial took place at Dachau from 16 May to 16 July 1946 before a military tribunal 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 Internees. 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.

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 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 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.

Return to civilian life

The Hilfsgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit der Angehörigen der ehemaligen Waffen-SS (HIAG) (English: 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 Prison 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:

I personally think that every attempt at rehabilitation during our lifetime is unrealistic, but one can still collect material.

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 unions, 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.

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 Eichmann 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.

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 Party. 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.

Reputation

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 Kharkov 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 Oak Leaves for Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which he was awarded on 27 January 1944.

Post-war reputation

Before his murder in Traves, France in 1976, Peiper described how his unit's tactics in rapidly attacking Russian villages was distorted after the war:

For a long time I commanded III Battalion, Panzergrenadier Regiment 2 of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. This unit made quite a name for itself for its night attacks in Russia and was known in divisional and corps areas as the "Blowtorch Battalion".

Our troops used this highly practical tool in the winter to pre-heat the engines in our vehicles, to heat water quickly for cooking and many other things. There was also a saying among the soldiers in those days when they were given a task: 'we will soon torch that.' The vehicles even used a blowtorch as their tactical symbol.

During post-war interrogations, however, this name was twisted from the "Blowtorch Battalion" to the "Arson Battalion". It was suggested that the blowtorches were used to burn down houses. In action our armoured personnel carriers were in the habit of going into the attack at full speed with guns blazing. As the Russian houses mostly had thatched roofs, it was inevitable that they would catch fire during the battle. It would certainly be unnecessary for troops to dismount from their vehicles and use blowtorches to set houses on fire when they would almost certainly have already been set on fire as a result of the shooting that was going on, but it was one more allegation with which to blacken the image of the Waffen-SS troops.

Famous Quote

"Schreite mit stolzer Geringschätzung durch den Pfuhl menschlicher Unzulässigkeit." That translates to: "Stride with a proud disdain by the Lake of human inadmissibility."

Summary of SS career

Dates of rank

• SS-Anwärter: 16 October 1933
• SS-Mann: 23 January 1934
• SS-Sturmmann: 7 September 1934
• SS-Rottenführer: 10 October 1934
• SS-Unterscharführer: 1 March 1935
• SS-Standartenjunker: 11 September 1935
• SS-Standartenoberjunker: 5 March 1936
• SS-Untersturmführer: 20 April 1936
• SS-Obersturmführer: 30 January 1939
• SS-Hauptsturmführer: 6 June 1940
• SS-Sturmbannführer: 30 January 1943
• SS-Obersturmbannführer: 11 November 1943
• SS-Standartenführer: 20 April 1945

Notable decorations

• German Equestrian Badge in Bronze (?)
• Iron Cross Second (1940) and First (1940) Classes
• SS-Honour Ring (?)
• Knight's Cross (1943)
• Oak Leaves (1944)
• Swords (1945)
• German Cross in Gold (1943)
• Infantry Assault Badge in Bronze (1940)
• Eastern Front Medal (1942)
• Sudetenland Medal (1938)
• Prague Castle Bar (1938)
• Anschluss Medal (1938)
• Close Combat Clasp in Bronze (1943)
• Close Combat Clasp in Silver (1943)
• Tank Destruction Badge (1943)
• SA Sports Badge in Bronze (?)
• SS Long Service Award 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 Museum, 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 Iron Cross, Eastern Front, Sudetenland, Anschluss and SS Long Service.

Fiction

Peiper is a significant character in the Harry Turtledove 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.

See also

• Trois-Ponts

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Agte, Patrick (2000). Jochen Peiper: Commander Panzerregiment Leibstandarte. J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-921991-46-0.
• Berger, Florian (2000). Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Selbstverlag Florian Berger. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
• Mitcham, Samuel W. (2006). Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of the Bulge. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-275-97115-5
• Reynolds, Michael (2004). The Devil’s Adjutant: Jochen Peiper, Panzer Leader, Casemate Publishers and Book Distributors; Pbk edition. ISBN 1-86227-156-9
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Westemeier, Jens (2007). Joachim Peiper: A Biography of Himmler's SS Commander. Schiffer Publications, ISBN 978-0-7643-2659-2
• Watt, Jim. "Jochen Peiper: Maligned Hero and Selected Campaign Series Notes." November 2001.
• Williamson, Gordon (2003). Waffen-SS Handbook 1933-1945, Sutton Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7509-2927-8
• Malmedy massacre Investigation – Report of the Subcommittee of Committee on armed services – United States Senate – Eighty-first Congress, first session, pursuant to S. res. 42, Investigation of action of army with respect to trial of persons responsible for the massacre of American soldiers, battle of the Bulge, near Malmedy, Belgium, December 1944, published 13 October 1949.
• "Pech für ihn". Der SPIEGEL (in German) (30): 56–57. 1976.
• No Author. "Malmedy Massacre Trial."
• "The Battle of the Bulge" (1965) at IMDb
• "The Night of the Generals" (1967) at IMDb
• No Author. "Jochen Peiper."