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Joachim Peiper

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Joachim Peiper
Nickname(s)Jochen
Buried
St Anna's church, Schondorf am Ammersee, Bavaria
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branch Waffen-SS
Years of service1933–1945
RankStandartenführer
Unit 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Joachim Peiper (German pronunciation: [joˈaχɪm ˈpaɪpər]) (30 January 1915–14 July 1976) more often known as Jochen Peiper from the common German nickname for Joachim, was a field grade Waffen-SS officer in 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 killed in France in July 1976, after his house was attacked with molotov cocktails.

Early life and family

Walther von Reichenau in 1934.

Peiper was born on 30 January 1915 into a middle class family originating from Silesia. He had two brothers, Hans-Hasso and Horst. Before getting married, his father had started an officer's career in the German Imperial Army and was dispatched in 1904 to East Africa, from where he came back with the military cross, several wounds and malaria. At the beginning of World War I he resumed service and was dispatched to Turkey. However, cardiac troubles consequence of his malaria would constrain him to renounce his service in 1915. After the war, he joined the Freikorps and took part in the Silesian Uprisings.[1]

Joachim Peiper’s oldest brother, Hans-Hasso, who may have been a homosexual, made a suicide attempt that left him in a neurovegetative state.[1] He would officially die in 1942 from tuberculosis in a Berlin hospital.[2]

Until 1933, Peiper followed a normal scholarship. In 1926 he joined his other brother, Horst, in the scout movement. It was during this time that he developed an interest in a military career.[3]

Career within the SS

Military aspirations

Peiper's 18th birthday coincided with the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. In the spring of the same year, and before this became mandatory in Germany, he enrolled into the Hitlerjugend together with his brother Horst.[4]

Peiper intended to enlist in Reiterregiment 4 of the Reichswehr. In order to learn riding, he first enlisted in the 7th SS Reiterstandarte, on 12 October 1933.[5] He would later explain that this had been done on the advice of a family friend, General Walther von Reichenau.[6] Author Jens Westemeier speculated this is unlikely and Westemeier viewed it as an attempt by Peiper to hide his early involvement in the SS.[1] On 23 January 1934 he was made an SS-Mann with SS number 132,496.[7]

In 1934, during the annual Nuremberg Rally, he was promoted to SS-Sturmann. Also in 1934 he caught the attention of Heinrich Himmler who convinced him to enlist in the SS-Verfügungstruppe.[5] In his 1935 resume Peiper wrote: "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.[7]

A few months later Peiper was considering leaving school even before having completed his final examinations.[8] In January 1935 he was sent to Jüterbog, where Hitler Youth, SA and SS members went to learn the "art of war" at a camp that adjoined Germany's largest regular-army camp and artillery school at that time. It appears that through the personal interventions of Himmler and Sepp Dietrich, Peiper was allowed to join a course that had already begun in November 1934.[8] After completion of that course he was promoted to SS-Unterscharführer and was ready to begin the next step of the career path that applicants for a rank of senior officer within the SS had to follow.[9]

Officer training

On 24 April 1935, Peiper began attending the first course of the newly created SS officer's training school (Junkerschule) in Braunschweig, under the direction of Paul Hausser.[9] According to Peiper himself, the goal of the Junkerschulen was to build up officers for the army and not officers for SS departments. Jens Westemeier has speculated that if these schools did indeed provide a military education, ideological training would have been a substantial part of the course.[10]

Peiper took the SS Oath in November 1935. Later he successfully completed his education at the Junkerschule in January 1936. In February and March 1936, he attended another course that was located within the Dachau camp. The concentration camp was guarded by SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) personnel, who were part of another section of the Schutzstaffel (SS).[11] On 20 April 1936 he was promoted to SS-Unterführer and after a short time off, he started his duty in the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler under the command of Sepp Dietrich.[10] Until the end of June 1938, he participated in activities of the Leibstandarte.

Jens Westemeier claims that on 1 March 1938, Peiper received his membership card of the NSDAP with number 5,508,134. After the war, Westemeier claims that Peiper would try to deny, or at least minimize his supposed membership in the Nazi Party.[12] However, the claim of Peiper holding Nazi Party membership has been refuted by multiple sources and authors, including Westemeier himself in his first biography of Peiper.[5][13][14] The SS-Dienstalterslisten, the official SS listing of all SS officers of the middle and higher officer corps, shows Peiper as having no NSDAP membership number throughout its publication.[12]

Himmler's adjutant

Heinrich Himmler

On 4 July 1938, Peiper was appointed adjutant to Heinrich Himmler[15], a step that Himmler considered necessary in the career path of a promising officer.[16] At that time Himmler’s personal staff was under the command of Karl Wolff.[16] As an adjutant, Peiper worked in Himmler’s anteroom in the SS-Hauptamt at Prinz-Albrecht-Straße. Rudolf Brandt was working in the same department as Peiper.[17] After the war, some leading SS figures, including Karl Wolff, minimized the role of Himmler’s adjutants. Jens Westemeier speculated the adjutant role was far from being inconsequential and the longer they stayed in service under Himmler, the more influence they gained.[18]

Being on the personal staff of the Reichsführer-SS, Peiper was close to many high ranking SS officers. He became one of Himmler's favorite adjutants, and Westemeier speculated that Peiper admired him in return.[18] Peiper would later accompany Himmler during his state visit to Italy as part of his personal staff.[18]

Wedding and other family events

Peiper was promoted to Obersturmführer on his 24th birthday. At that time he met Sigurd (Sigi) Hinrichsen, a secretary on Himmler’s personal staff.[19] Few things are known about her. Her two brothers enlisted in the SS, the oldest later died in the sinking of the Bismarck.[20] Sigurd was a close friend of Hedwig Potthast, Himmler’s mistress.[19]

On 26 June 1939, Peiper married Sigurd Hinrichsen during a ceremony in accordance with the SS customs and the pair lived in Berlin.[20] After the first allied air raids on Berlin she moved to Rottach in Upper Bavaria, near the second residence of Heinrich Himmler and several people close to Himmler.[20] The couple had three children: Heinrich, Elke and Silke.

During this period Peiper’s second brother also joined the SS, eventually reach the rank of Haupsturmführer. He participated in the Battle of France with the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf before being transferred to Poland, where he died in an accident.[2]

The battle of Poland

On 1 September 1939, Fall Weiß began with Germany invading Poland, and the Soviet Union invading thereafter on 17 September. World War II in Europe had begun. As adjutant, Peiper followed this campaign in Himmler's entourage aboard the Reichsführer-SS's special train. Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joachim von Ribbentrop, was also present.[21] Peiper worked closely to Himmler.[21] On 20 September he was with Himmler in Blomberg when he witnessed the execution of twenty Poles.[21] According to Peiper it left Himmler speechless for several days.[22]. Hitler had already ordered Himmler to eliminate the Polish intellectuals, as Peiper would later relate to Ernst Schäfer.[22] During the campaign of Poland, Reinhard Heydrich also issued orders to the Einsatzgruppen to kill Polish Jews.[21] Men of Peiper’s Waffen-SS unit from the Leibstandarte participated in such actions, as in the Burzeum area.[21]

The Feldherrnhalle in Munich

Once Poland was defeated he stayed beside Himmler and he may have been aware of the decisions taken by Himmler and his entourage with respect to the fate of that country.[23] He continued to accompany Himmler and attended the commemorative ceremonies of 9 October 1939 at the Feldherrnhalle in Munich. On 13 December 1939, in Poznan, he and Himmler attended the gassing of a resident of a psychiatric establishment. In postwar interrogations he described this in a technocratic way.[24]

The battle of France

On 17 May 1940, as was the case during the battle of Poland, he accompanied Himmler who followed the advance of the Waffen SS troops during the battle of France. In Hasselt he got permission to join a combat unit.[25] He was a platoon leader in the 11th company, 1st Division SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler and experienced his baptism of fire. He soon commanded the company. Peiper won the Iron Cross and promotion to the rank of Hauptsturmführer for seizing an British artillery battery installed on the hills of Wattenberg.[15][25][26]

However, his days as a combat unit commander did not last long and as of 21 June 1940 Peiper was back as Himmler's adjutant. The battle of France nevertheless allowed to affirm himself as a military leader.[25] On 10 July 1940 he accompanied Himmler to the Berghof, where Reich leaders discussed the war. The resistance of the United Kingdom, under Winston Churchill, was thwarting Hitler's plans.[25]

Back to Himmler’s personal staff

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

When he came back to Himmler’s personal staff, Peiper resumed his function. In October 1940 he accompanied his boss to Madrid where the latter had to meet with Franco. After passing through Metz, they stopped in Dax where Himmler met with the commander of the SS division Totenkopf, Theodor Eicke. It is after this trip that on 14 November 1940, Peiper was appointed first adjutant of Himmler.[27]

At the beginning of the next year Himmler went for an inspection circuit of the Nazi concentration camps and was accompanied by his first adjutant, Peiper. On 14 January 1941, they visited Ravensbrück; on 21 they were in Dachau.[28] In March 1941, together with Karl Wolff and Fritz Bracht, they went to Auschwitz.[29] It was during this visit that Himmler instructed Höss to build the Birkenau concentration camp, but no precise information was yet given as to its final destination.[30] During this period the idea of the "Final Solution" was taking form and it seems unlikely that in his capacity as first adjutant that Peiper would not have known something about it. To sustain this theory one needs to remember that during a trial in the Sixties it was demonstrated that Werner Grothmann (Peiper’s successor as first adjutant) was fully aware of the details of the genocide.[27]

The fact that Peiper approved of Himmler can maybe be found in a letter of his spouse to Hedwig Potthast, Himmler’s mistress:

"You know how much he loves, adores and admires KH"

In fact KH was an acronym for König Heinrich (King Heinrich), which also tells much about the advanced stage of familiarity of Sigurd Peiper with the circle of Himmler’s close relations.[31]

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

It was February 1941 that Himmler informed his subordinate of the plan to invade the Soviet Union.[28] The following months were devoted to preparing the SS for this war in the east. Himmler and his entourage travelled to Norway, Austria, Poland and the Balkans, in Greece.[32] These travels included a visit to the Lodz Ghetto about which 30 years later Peiper stated an account:

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.[32]

Operation Barbarossa started on 22 June 1941. Already in July bad news reached Himmler’s personal staff. Some Waffen-SS units had not performed as well as expected. Himmler rushed to Stettin in order to review the situation. He also seized this opportunity in order to evoke the ideological war against the “Untermenschen”.[33]

For Himmler, the war was essentially behind the front lines where SS units were in charge of liquidating the Jews and the partisans.[33] The duties of first adjutant included the presentation of the statistics provided by the Einsatzgruppen relating to the killings perpetrated on the East front.[34]

During these first months of the war in Russia the first adjutant duties of Peiper gradually came to an end. He transferred his duties to his successor Werner Grothmann and would soon take the command of a combat unit. He would nevertheless remain in close contact with Himmler who he met at numerous times. Himmler's excellent relations with him, who called him “my dear Jochen” in his letters went on until the end of the war.[33]

However, contrary to what transpired in May 1940, this time it is not Peiper himself who asked to be transferred to a combat unit. Apparently, Himmler wished to shelter Peiper from maneuvers in his entourage. Indeed, rumours were circulating about the death of Peiper’s brother, Horst, suspected of being homosexual and also mentally unbalanced.[35]

The East Front and France

The information relating to the exact date of transfer of Peiper to the "1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" (LSSAH) is not known. It seems it would not have been before October 1941. Indeed, until mid-September 1941 one can still find Peiper's handwriting in Himmler’s diary entries; one cannot exclude that Peiper could have been dispatched to the "LSSAH" earlier as an observer of the Reichsführer-SS.[35] Once back with the "LSSAH", which was engaged on the East Front near the area of the Black Sea, Peiper spent several days at the headquarters. However, an injury to a unit commander gave him the opportunity to take command of the 11th company.[35]

With his company Peiper took part to the fighting at Mariupol and Rostov-on-Don. He was distinguished because of his fighting spirit but his unit also suffered high casualties. Furthermore, the killing of some prisoners of war foreshadowed what the war in the East would be like (on both sides).[36]

During its progress the Leibstandarte was followed by Einsatzgruppe D which organised the extermination of Jews and Communists. The Einsatzgruppe continued its operations even when the winter provisionally suspended the military operations. The "LSSAH" and the Einsatzgruppe shared the same winter quarters at Taganrog on the Azov Sea and sometimes elements of the division provided assistance to Einsatzgruppe D in its operations.[37]

In May 1942 Peiper was informed of the death of his brother Hans Hasso. Beginning in June the division was transferred for rest and refit in France.[37] While heading to France Peiper made a bypass through Himmler’s headquarters and met the latter on 1 June 1942. The meeting was lengthened by a dinner in which the attendees also included: Rudolf Brandt, secretary of the Reichsführer SS and Heinz Lammerding, a member of the staff headquarters SS "Totenkopf" division.[37] Peiper met with Himmler again in July 1942 and did not rejoin his battalion before August 1942.[38]

During its stay in France the "LSSAH" was reorganised into a Panzergrenadier division, which implied a redefinition of the roles within the division. For Peiper this translated into a promotion to the rank of commander of the 3rd battalion. Peiper used his stay in France to try and create a corps spirit in his battalion by recruiting young officers as driven as he was himself.[39]

Back to the East front

At the end of 1942 Peiper received permission to visit his family. On 30 January 1943 he was promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer.[39]

Meanwhile the situation on the East front, notably in Stalingrad had worsened which motivated the return of the LSSAH to that front. Peiper’s battalion left its quarters in France on 31 January 1943 and arrived in the area of Lyubotin, near to Karkhiv where it was directly dispatched to the front.[40] Along with the entire German Army in the area, the LSSAH was engaged in a defensive battle. Near Karkhov the 3rd battalion managed to break the Soviet lines in order to reach the 320th Infantry Division who were surrounded with 1500 injured. They secured for ambulances a retreat path to the German lines.[40]

The Soviets denounced Peiper and his men who were alleged to have set fire to two villages and massacred their inhabitants.[41] On 6 May 1943 the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (German Cross in Gold) was awarded to him for his achievements in February 1943. It was also in February 1943 that his unit gained the nickname of “blowtorch battalion” because of Peiper's preference of attacking enemy held villages by night from all sides while driving at full throttle and firing all weapons which put the straw roofs of the buildings on fire and contributed to panic among enemy troops.[42] The blowtorch even became the unofficial tactical sign painted on the vehicles of the battalion.[41]

On 9 March 1943 Peiper was awarded the highest German decoration, the Knights Cross. The medal proposal showed well what the fighting was like in those days:

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.[43][44]

It is during this period that Peiper became known in the press as an outstanding leader. For instance, the newspaper of the SS, Das Schwarze Korps (The Black Corps), describes the actions of Peiper 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 from 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 this 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.[45].

These type of statements helped propel Peiper to become an icon of the Waffen-SS during the post war period.[46] Former men of Peiper’s SPW battalion used the same kind of words.[46] Author Westemeier was not convinced all men would agree.[46] The fights around Karkhov showed how Peiper led the operations to achieve the objectives at all costs.[47] In fact, Peiper obeyed orders without such discussion and expected the same from his men.[47]

The battle of Karkhov ultimately did not allow Nazi Germany to restore the strategic situation. A few months later the "LSSAH" was engaged in Operation Citadel in the area of Kursk. Once more Peiper’s unit distinguished itself.[48] "Operation Citadel" did not achieve its goals and was stopped by the Soviets in mid-July 1943. The "LSSAH" was withdrawn from the east front on 17 July and transferred to Northern Italy in the area of Cuneo. As commander of an armoured infantry battalion Peiper had reach the zenith of his ability. On the other hand nothing is known that would show Peiper felt any remorse for any war crimes his unit had committed or might have witnessed.[49]

Operations in Italy

The "LSSAH" was moved to Italy for two months in order to assist in the disarmament of the Italian forces which had just capitulated to the Western Allies. Beginning in August, Peiper’s battalion quarters were in the area of Cuneo. On 10 September it was ordered to disarm Italian garrisons in Alessandria and Asti.[50]. On 19 September partisans captured two of Peiper's men in the village of Boves.[51]

According to Faustino Dolmazzo, the advocate of the Italian partisans, when Peiper arrived in Boves the Germans empowered two Italians, one the priest of the city, in order to ask for the liberation of the two officers. Peiper promised no reprisals would happen. After the two men were freed around 3 p.m. fire was set to all the houses of the village and 22 men were killed when they tried to flee. The two bodies of the two Italian intermediaries were found among the victims.[52]

According to Peiper, his unit did not perpetrate any massacre of civilians. Sent to search for two officers captured by partisans and taken in the mountains of Bisalta, (which surround the city of Boves) where the partisans were particularly active, a platoon of his unit was taken in an ambush. When coming to the rescue Peiper and his men were under heavy fire which would have led to the mobile artillery to open fire. This would have triggered fires. Afterwards the mobile artillery section would have stayed in Boves in order to destroy the weapons and ammunitions that were still there.[53]

During the same period the Jews of the area were arrested in order to be deported to the extermination camps. Simon Wiesenthal accused Peiper of providing his assistance for the setting up of the "Final Solution" for Jews of Northern Italy. Until his death Peiper repelled this accusation and accused Wiesenthal of having destroyed his civil existence.[54] He explained that under his own authority he had released a group of Jews from a concentration camp managed by Italians not for sympathy for the Jews but because their leader, a rabbi, was from Berlin like himself.[55] This story comes from Peiper himself and no independent source has confirmed it. Available sources show that within the families arrested in the area of Cuneo there was one that came from Berlin. This family was transferred to Drancy before being dispatched to Auschwitz where its members were gassed as were most of the Jews arrested in the Cuneo area.[54]

At the end of its stay in Italy the division was reorganised again and saw the creation within its units of a panzer regiment.[54] By this point, the situation on the East front had become worse for the German Army so the "LSSAH" was sent back to Russia.[49]

Last stay at the East front

Beginning November 1943 Peiper’s unit arrived on the East front, where it took part to the combat in the area of Jitomir. On 20 November, Georg Schönberger was killed in action, and Peiper took his place as head of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment that he would command until the end of the war. He left his position of commander of an armoured infantry battalion for the leader of a panzer regiment. He was only 28 years old.[56] Under his command the regiment had to fight during the winter and numerous times at night against the Soviets. His panzer unit played an essential role in retarding the Soviet offence in the area of Jitomir. Peiper led actions by attacking the rear of enemy lines and taking four division headquarters.[57] For this action he was awarded the Oak Leaves of the Knights Cross.[58]

However his commanding style, which was efficient with infantry on board of armoured vehicles like SdKfz 250 or 251, reached its limits. Attacks led without taking into account the tactical situation triggered heavy losses in men and material.[59] After one month at this pace, the operational force of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment was reduced to twelve tanks still working.[60] This only strengthened resentment felt against Peiper by some officers.[61] On the other hand, his unit continued to perpetrate brutal actions in combat: on 5 and 6 December 1943 it killed 2,280 Russian soldiers and took only three prisoners.[58] The village of Pekartschina was completely burned with flamethrowers and its inhabitants killed.[58]

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 Knights Cross with Oak Leaves. A little bit later, on his 29th birthday, Peiper was promoted to Obersturmbannführer.

Peiper was however in bad physical and mental condition. A medical examination carried out by the SS physicians in Dachau reached the conclusion that he needed rest. He went to see his wife in Bavaria.[62]

In March 1944 the "LSSAH" was withdrawn from the East front. The transfer of all its units was not completed before 24 May. Peiper joined his unit in April. The battle in the east had caused heavy losses of men and material.[63] The new recruits called in to replace the casualties were not of the same caliber as the pre-war volunteers, who were recruited according to strict criteria.[63] It is within this context that a new revealing incident happened.

Five young recruits, indicted of having looted Belgian civilians, were sentenced to death by the martial court of the unit. During their trial they admitted to have stolen food, poultry and ham. The martial court verdict, one might argue, seemed out of proportion to the seriousness of the offences they committed, especially when looking at other similar cases. Peiper ordered the five executed on 28 May 1944 and made the other young recruits march past the corpses. It seems the execution had a rather negative impact on the morale of the regiment at that time.[63] The stay in the Belgian Limburg was devoted mainly to drills and refit, which was not an easy task because of the lack of material and gasoline.[64]

The battle of Normandy

Tiger I tanks of the Leibstandarte close to Villers-Bocage (June 1944)

The landing in Normandy necessitated the return of the "LSSAH" to the west 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.[64] On 28 June, the 1st SS Panzer Regiment of Peiper arrived at the front and was immediately engaged.[65] As all the German units of the area (notwithstanding some partial victories) they essentially had to fight a defensive battle until the Avranches breakthrough end of July and beginning of August. Having gone to front with 19,618 men the "LSSAH" lost 25% of its staff and all its tanks.[66] As with most of the Waffen-SS divisions engaged in Normandy, the "LSSAH" lost its operational capacities and was no longer mentioned in the official tables of the available units prepared by the OKW on 16 September 1944 as a division but as a Kampfgruppe.

Peiper was not in command of his panzer regiment during the counter-attacks in the area of 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 diagnostic he was suffering from a 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.[67] He stayed there until 7 October.[68]

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 West front.[69] The result was the Operation Wacht am Rhein. In a desperate attempt to defeat the Allies on the West front, the German armies were to break through the US lines in the Ardennes, to cross the Meuse river and take Antwerp cutting the Allied forces in two.[70]

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.[71] 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.[71] The division was split into four Kampfgruppe with Peiper commanding the most substantial which included all the armoured sections of the division.[72] His duty was to break through the US lines along an assigned itinerary and to take bridges on the Meuse between Liège and Huy.[72]

The itinerary for Peiper had been assigned by Hitler and orders had been given that nobody could deviate from his assigned road. Peiper beefed that the road that was assigned to his Kampfgruppe was only suitable for bicycles and certainly not for panzers.[72] 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.”[73] Peiper lacked fuel, but had managed to capture some American fuel dumps, allowing him to refuel.[72]

The time lags

From the beginning of the offensive backlogs had started to accumulate. One of the first involved the paratroopers who had to make the breakthrough and needed a full day to achieve it. Peiper’s mechanized column could only move very slowly in the traffic jams prevailing on the front end. As a result, Peiper could only attack shortly before daybreak on 17 December 1944, which was almost 24 hours later than expected.[74] Hustling through the remains of the American front lines he quickly took Honsfeld (Büllingen). Peiper also seized a small allied fuel dump.[75] From there he continued on the assigned route, until he had to deflect shortly before Ligneuville because the assigned road was impracticable. This bypass constrained him to go through the Baugnez crossroads where his spearhead slammed into an US column of artillery observers who were neutralised after a short fight.[76]

Moving ahead, he crossed Ligneuville and reached the highs of Stavelot on the left bank of the Amblève river at nightfall of the second day of operation Wacht am Rhein. While the little city was defended only by a few US 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.[77] After heavy fight his Kampfgruppe eventually managed to cross the bridge on the Amblève river, and from there he found the going increasingly difficult.

The failure of Wacht am Rhein

The US forces regrouped themselves and blasted the bridges on the Amblève and the Salm river 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 in front of him the bridges he could have used to reach his objective, trapping him in the deep valley of the Amblève downstream of Trois-Ponts.[77] Furthermore, since the weather had improved, the Allied Air Forces were able to take off and several P-47 squadrons attacked his column spread over 20 kilometres. The air strikes destroyed or heavily damaged numerous vehicles of his Kampfgruppe and made some parts of his itinerary impracticable, slowing down his progression.[77] Even worse, Peiper failed to protect his rear, alloweing 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 was lacking).[78] Despite these problems Peiper continued his progress till Stoumont before the resistance of the American troops caused him to retire to La Gleize. There short of fuel, he held out during six days of US Army counterattacks. Without supplies (and with no contact with the other German units behind him) Peiper was forced on 24 December to leave all his vehicles and march through the woods in order to escape entrenchment and capture. He managed to reach the German lines with only 800 men.[79]

According to some sources, during the briefing held before the operation, Peiper would have clearly stated that no quarter should be given, nor prisoners taken and that no pity should be shown towards the Belgian civilians.[80]

The Malmedy massacre
Main article: Malmedy massacre
The bodies of the POWs, covered by snow, where found on 14 January 1945

On 17 December 1944 men belonging to Kampfgruppe Peiper massacred 84 American prisoners of war at the Baugnez crossroads near Malmedy. What has become known as the "Malmedy massacre" was not an isolated incident. Before this in Honsfeld, men of Peiper’s Kampfgruppe killed several American prisoners in cold blood.[81][82][83] Another murder of PoWs was reported in Büllingen.[81][82]

After Malmedy it was reported that men of Kampfgruppe Peiper killed at least eight more US PoWs in Ligneuville.[84][85] Other murders of prisoners were perpetrated in 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. Eventually Kampfgruppe Peiper would be declared responsible for the death of 362 prisoners of war and 111 civilians.[86]

The end of the war

In January 1945 the Swords were added to his Knight Cross.[87] The proposal drafted by Wilhelm Monke was a masterpiece of Waffen SS propaganda, presenting what was a military failure in the end as a military victory. The great fame of Peiper as a Waffen SS commander during the "Battle of the Bulge" was born.[88]

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.[89] His unit took part in the Lake Balaton counter-attack that failed even though Peiper’s unit recorded huge casualties due to his style of command. Peiper lost numerous old companions.[90]

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.[91]

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.[5][92]

Although he was actively researched by American forces (due to his 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.[93]

Postwar

Interrogation and confession of Peiper

Main article: Malmedy massacre trial

After the surrender of the German armies, the Americans searched in the POW camps for the men of Kampfgruppe Peiper in order put them on trial. They were said to have left a “bloody track along their way”. The war crimes that occurred during the "Battle of the Bulge" were attributed to the Kampfgruppe Peiper.[81]

Jailed in Freising in Upper Bavaria, Peiper underwent his first interrogations.[94] It appeared quickly to the investigators that the SS men, including Peiper, although hardened soldiers, were not trained to withstand interrogation.[94] Some men freely gave the requested information while others only did after having undergone physical and psychological pressure which would later trigger many discussions.[94] Peiper gave enough evidence to suggest personal responsibility in war crimes.[94]

In December 1945 Peiper was transferred to the prison at Schwäbisch Hall, where 1,000 former members of the Leibstandarde were assembled.[94] There the interrogations were carried on in a way that did not always meet the regulations of the US Army, the defendants being subject to mock trials and threats. During the course of the investigations, Peiper and his men were allegedly tortured, both physically and psychologically, claiming to have been repeatedly beaten, and threatened with having their families handed over to the Russians.[95] However, it was proven afterwards that no physical torture occurred.[96]

On 16 April 1946 approximately 300 prisoners were moved from Schwäbisch Hall to Dachau for trial, including the "Malmedy Massacre" trial.[94]

The trial

Main article: Malmedy massacre trial
File:Proces w dachau.jpg
Peiper (No. 42) during the Malmedy massacre 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.[97] The accusations were mainly based on the sworn and written statements provided by the defendants in Schwäbish Hall.

In order to counter the bad impression left by these documents and prosecution witnesses, the head of the defense, Lt Col Willis M. Everett tried to show that the statements had been obtained by inappropriate methods.[98]

Favorable testimony concerning Peiper's treatment of American prisoners at La Gleize, offered by Lieutenant Colonel Hal McCown, did not move the court. McCown, who, along with his command, had been captured by Peiper at La Gleize, was labeled an enemy collaborator by the court for testifying that wounded American soldiers in Peiper's custody had received equal priority with German wounded in receiving medical treatment. Further that at all times during his occupation of the town, Peiper had 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.”[98] According to Everett these testimonies gave the court enough reason to sentence several of the defendants to death.[98]

Peiper’s testimony was not very convincing when it came to the fate of the PoWs made by the Kampfgruppe.[98] During the trial, at least two cases where Peiper had ordered the killing of prisoners of war was brought forward and confirmed by several witnesses.[99] When questioned in front of the court, Peiper denied these allegations, stating they were obtained from witnesses under torture.[100] As to questions about the murder of Belgian civilians, Peiper answered they were partisans.[101]

Although no personal guilt was ever established against him, Peiper accepted the responsibility for the actions of his men. He himself gave no order for his unit's killing of US prisoners.[53]

Death sentence

Together with 42 other defendants, Joachim Peiper was sentenced to death 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 July 30, 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. He however refused to commute the six remaining death sentences, including Peiper's, but 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.[102]

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.

End of imprisonment and return to civilian life

The mutual aid networks of former SS which had already helped Peiper’s wife to find a job near the Landsberg prison also worked for the conditional liberation of Peiper himself. In order to have such a liberation granted, Peiper had to prove that he would get a job when he would be released from prison. Through the intermediary of Dr. Albert Prinzing, former SS-Hauptsturmführer in the Sicherheitsdienst, he got a job at Porsche.[103]

On 17 January 1957 he started to work at Porsche in Stuttgart in the technical division. He would later represent the company at car exhibitions.[104] Later on he became in charge of the exports of cars to the United States. However, his conviction as war criminal was a hindrance for this activity, as it prevented him from getting a visa for the USA.[105][106]

During those years he managed to improve his situation within Porsche, but he came into conflict with Italian union workers who accused him of a massacre in Italy . The intervention of Ferry Porsche himself, who promised him a manager position was derailed by the trade-unions (which did not want to see persons sentenced for war crimes in senior functions), was not enough to stop the conflict. Due to vehement reactions to Peiper, the management of the company and the trade-unions finally agreed to lay him off because his reputation had disturbed the atmosphere of the company. Furthermore, his war criminal past was a hindrance for the sales on Porsche biggest market, i.e. the United States. On 30 December 1960 Peiper engaged himself in a court case in order to get what had been promised to him.[107] In a document addressed to the court in charge of the employment cases in Stuttgart, Peiper’s defender stated that the latter was not a war criminal, that after the war the Allied had used the trials against the so-called war criminals in order to defame the German people and that the Nuremberg trial and the "Malmedy Massacre" trial were only mere propaganda. Using documents published by the anti-Communist historian Freda Utley, he invoked the fact that the defendants of the Malmedy massacre trial had been tortured by the Americans.[108] At the request of the court Porsche and Peiper reached an agreement and put an end to the contract between Porsche and Peiper. He received payment of an indemnity equal to six months' wages.[108] The magazine Der Freiwilige, an organ of the SS veterans did not miss this opportunity to evoke the war hero “unfairly sentenced” for war crimes.[108]

Constrained to find a new job, Peiper decided to establish himself as trainer in car selling, thanks to his network within the former SS members, which put him in contact with Max Moritz, a former SS mechanic, who had become an authorized Volkswagen dealer for Germany.[109]

Since his release from the Landsberg prison, Peiper had kept up many albeit discreet contacts with his old comrades of the SS. If he clearly avoided affiliation to the HIAG[110] or to the Order of the Holders of the Knight's Cross, he was often seen with them at the funerals of personalities like Kurt “Panzer” Meyer, Sepp Dietrich or Paul Hausser[111]. He engaged himself in actions undertaken by these organisations in order to rehabilitate the Waffen-SS while hiding the most nefarious aspects of their past by exalting their military achievements and putting forth that the SS were like other soldiers.[111] According to Westemeier, Peiper once told one of his friends

I personally think that every attempt at rehabilitation during our lifetime is unrealistic, but one collect material.[clarification needed][112]

At the beginning of the 1960s 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.[113] 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.[113] 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.[113]

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.[113] The plaintiffs were represented by Robert W. Klempner, who had been member of the American council of the prosecutors during the Nuremberg trial. The investigations led by the Attorney General of Stuttgart proved to be embarrassing 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 furthermore endorsed by Simon Wiesenthal.[113] However, both Klempner and Wiesenthal were never able to present the evidence claimed by the Attorney General. Thereafter in 1967, the prosecution was dropped for lack of sufficient evidence.

Peiper was again confronted by his past when he was called as witness during the Werner Best trial. That time he could not deny his past in close contact to Himmler, but he managed to prevent any direct implication in the Nazi crimes, claiming memory failure.[114]

On the professional side, in 1969, he was the free-lance collaborator of the magazine Auto, Motor und Sport. In 1972 he decided to move to Traves in Haute-Saône (France), where he had a leisure 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.[114]

The last years

Residing in France since 1972 he had a quiet and discreet life. 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.[114] 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.

Death

On 14 July 1976, his house was attacked with molotov cocktails, killing Peiper. 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.[115]

Assessment

Panzer commander

Peiper remains a controversial figure because of the Malmedy massacre. However, he was a competent soldier as well as 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.[116]

The SPW battalion he commanded from 1942–1943 gained the nickname Lötlampenbataillon because of Peiper's preference of attacking enemy held villages by night from all sides, driving at full throttle and firing from all weapons which put the straw roofs of the buildings on fire and contributed to panic among enemy troops.[117]

On 6 May 1943 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold for his achievements in combat against the Soviets during February 1943.[43]

Three days after his actions on 6 March 1943, he received the Knight's Cross.[118]

On 18 March 1943 Peiper showed again his daring nature when he took Belgorod by a surprise attack, after driving over Russian positions at full speed which caused the surprised enemy to flee in masses.[119]

He was awarded the Oak Leaves on 27 January 1944 after a proposal by Oberführer Theodor Wisch, divisional commander of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.[120]

In his second rewritten biography of Peiper, Joachim Peiper: A Biography of Himmler's SS Commander, Jens Westemeier argues that while SS apologists continue to attempt to whitewash Peiper's career, it is clear that Peiper remained close to Himmler throughout the war and remained a believer in the National Socialist regime.[121] However, in Westemeier's first biography, Joachim Peiper (1915-1976): SS-Standartenfuhrer: A Biography, he defends Peiper and denies his involvement in any war crimes.[13]

Post-war reputation

Before his murder in Traves in 1976, Peiper recalled an incident which he claims was distorted after the war:[53]

For a long time I commanded III Bataillion, 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 unneccessary 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 to which to blacken the image of the Waffen-SS troops.

Summary of SS career

Dates of rank

Notable decorations

Fiction

A key German officer, "Colonel Hessler" (played by Robert Shaw), who may be a very highly fictionalized Peiper appears as a main character in the movie Battle of the Bulge. Peiper also is a significant character in the Harry Turtledove alternate history novel, The Man with the Iron Heart. Here he is the successor to Reinhard Heydrich in the partisan fight to drive out the post-war occupiers of Germany.

See also

References

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Citations
  1. ^ a b c Westemeier, p.15 et 16 Cite error: The named reference "Westemeier 15-16" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Westemeier, p.40 Cite error: The named reference "Westemeier 40" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ Westemeier, p. 16
  4. ^ Westemeier, p. 18
  5. ^ a b c d Jochen Peiper, P Agte
  6. ^ Westemeier, p. 19
  7. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 20
  8. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 21
  9. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 25
  10. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 28
  11. ^ Westemeier, p. 26
  12. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 35
  13. ^ a b Jens Westemeier, Joachim Peiper (1915-1976): SS-Standartenfuhrer: A Biography, 1996, Biblio
  14. ^ "SS-Standartenführer & Oberst der Polizei, Schutzpolizei, Gendarmerie, & Feuerschutzpolizei — Peiper, Joachim (Jochen)". Axis Biographical Research. 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  15. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 182-186
  16. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 33
  17. ^ Westemeier, p. 34
  18. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 37
  19. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 38
  20. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 39
  21. ^ a b c d e Westemeier, p. 41
  22. ^ a b Breitman, p. 119
  23. ^ Westemeier, p. 41-44
  24. ^ Westemeier, p. 45
  25. ^ a b c d Westemeier, p. 46
  26. ^ Agte P., 'Jochen Peiper p 18-53
  27. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 48
  28. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 49
  29. ^ Westemeier, p. 53
  30. ^ Breitman, p. 194
  31. ^ Westemeier, p. 54
  32. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 50
  33. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 52
  34. ^ Westemeier, p. 61
  35. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 62
  36. ^ Westemeier, p. 63
  37. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 65
  38. ^ Westemeier, p. 66
  39. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 69
  40. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 71
  41. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 74
  42. ^ Agte, P :"Jochen Peiper" p.83
  43. ^ a b Agte P,Jochen Peiper p 88
  44. ^ Westemeier, p. 75
  45. ^ Westemeier, p. 75-76
  46. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 76
  47. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 74-77
  48. ^ Westemeier, p. 80
  49. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 81
  50. ^ Westemeier, p. 82
  51. ^ Westemeier, p. 83
  52. ^ Westemeier, p. 137-146
  53. ^ a b c Gordon Williamson, Loyalty is my Honor, Brown Books, 1995, p. 156
  54. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 84
  55. ^ Charles Whiting, Massacre at Malmedy, Pen & Sword Books, 2007, p. 241
  56. ^ Westemeier, p. 87
  57. ^ Roger Martin, L’affaire Peiper, Editions Dagorno, 1994, p. 45-54
  58. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 89
  59. ^ Westemeier, p. 87-93
  60. ^ Westemeier, p. 92
  61. ^ Westemeier, p. 88
  62. ^ Westemeier, p. 93
  63. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 95
  64. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 96
  65. ^ Westemeier, p. 97
  66. ^ Westemeier, p. 95-101
  67. ^ Westemeier, p. 101
  68. ^ Westemeier, p. 102
  69. ^ Westemeier, p. 105
  70. ^ MacDonald, Charles, No Time for Trumpets – The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge, New York, 2002
  71. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 107
  72. ^ a b c d Westemeier, p. 108
  73. ^ Whiting, Charles, Massacre at Malmedy, Pen & Sword Military, 2007
  74. ^ Westemeier, p. 111-112
  75. ^ Westemeier, p. 113-114
  76. ^ Westemeier, p. 114
  77. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 115-116
  78. ^ Westemeier, p. 117
  79. ^ Westemeier, p. 118-119
  80. ^ Gallagher, Richard, Malmedy Massacre, Paperback Library, 1964, p. 110-111
  81. ^ a b c MacDonald
  82. ^ a b Cole
  83. ^ Westemeier, p. 113
  84. ^ John Toland, The Brave Innkeeper of the Bulge, Coronet Magazine, Decembre 1959
  85. ^ Westemeier, p. 115
  86. ^ MacDonald><Judge><Kent, Criba><Lebeau, Criba><Laby
  87. ^ Westemeier, p. 120
  88. ^ Westemeier, p. 119-120
  89. ^ Westemeier, p. 129
  90. ^ Westemeier, p. 132
  91. ^ Westemeier, p. 133
  92. ^ Westemeier, p. 134
  93. ^ Westemeier, p. 134-135
  94. ^ a b c d e f Westemeier, p. 157
  95. ^ Jochen peiper, P Agte p. 370-378
  96. ^ Westemeier, p. 158
  97. ^ Westemeier, p. 159
  98. ^ a b c d Westemeier, p. 160-165
  99. ^ Westemeier, p. 163
  100. ^ Westemeier, p. 163-164
  101. ^ Westemeier, p. 164
  102. ^ 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, October 13, 1949
  103. ^ Westemeier, p. 176
  104. ^ Westemeier, p. 176-179
  105. ^ Westemeier, p. 179
  106. ^ Unconventional Allies: Colonel Willis Everett and SS-Obersturmbannführer Joachim Peiper – James J. Weingartner – The Historian 1999
  107. ^ Westemeier, p. 180-181
  108. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 181
  109. ^ Westemeier, p.181-182
  110. ^ Jochen Peiper, P Agte pp398-400
  111. ^ a b Westemeier, p. 182-183
  112. ^ Westemeier, p. 183
  113. ^ a b c d e Westemeier, p. 184
  114. ^ a b c Westemeier, p. 185
  115. ^ Jochen Peiper, P Agte pp 412-418
  116. ^ Williamson, G: "Waffen SS handbook" p 233
  117. ^ Agte ,P:"Jochen Peiper" p.83
  118. ^ Agte P,Jochen Peiper p 98
  119. ^ Agte P, Jochen Peiper p 110
  120. ^ Agte P,Jochen Peiper pp 184-185
  121. ^ Jens Westemeier, Joachim Peiper, a biography of Himmler’s SS Commander, 2007, Schiffer Military History
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 (2004). Jochen Peiper: zwischen Totenkopf und Ritterkreuz- Lebensweg eines Fuehrers der Waffens SS. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf ISBN 3-7648-2318-6
  • 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.
  • 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."

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