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| Jochen Peiper receiving his death sentence by hanging |
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| Mugshot of the Leibstandarte SS veteran Joachim Peiper |
After Nazi Germany's capitulation SS-Standartenführer Joachim Peiper was imprisoned and humiliated for his alleged part in the Malmedy massacre, and most likely wrongly accused of having ordered the executions of U.S. POWs. The widely-criticised Malmedy massacre trial was held in May–July 1946 in Dachau. It attracted great attention because of the later disputes about the conduct of the trial. The highest-ranking defendant was the former SS-Oberstgruppenführer Josef Sepp Dietrich. Many of the accused, as well as eye witnesses, testified that officers and non-commissioned officers of SS-Kampfgruppe Peiper were physically abused. The prisoners claimed to have been threatened that if they did not confess they would be hanged. They should also have been told that if they did not sign the required confessions, their families would be handed over to the Soviets. These allegations does not appear to have impressed the court at that time. Nevertheless, Joachim Peiper offered himself and accepted any and all responsibility for whatever any of his men had been accused of - whether true or untrue. Although he was not at the scene when the incident occured and that the court could not prove that he had ordered the killings, Joachim Peiper was sentenced to death together with 42 other defendants. The discovery of grave misconduct at the Malmedy trial was later reported to Washington DC. Time magazine reported on misconduct in the trial in January 1949 and major newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune, regularly included coverage. The senate of the USA proceeded to investigate the case. This investigation took place after the verdicts had been handed down. The prosecutions star witness, former U.S. Army sergeant Kenneth Ahrens was later uncovered having been giving false testimony on which basis dozens of men had been executed. Lt. Col. Burton L Ellis, the prosecuting attorney said that he personally did not believe in the accusations. Major Hal McCown (former POW of Peiper) of the U.S. 30th Infantry Division came to the trial to testify about Joachim Peiper's honorable treatment of the American prisoners in Stoumont. Left image: a mugshot of Joachim Peiper taken at Schwäbisch Hall prison before the verdict was delivered. Credit: Marina Amaral. U.S. Army Signal Corps Collection. FU. Right clip: the 31-year-old Joachim Peiper when sentenced to death by hanging on June 21 1946. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Archive Number: 111 ADC 5965.
The American Senator Joseph McCarthy, in a statement given to the American Press on May 20th, 1949, drew attention to cases of torture to secure confessions. In the prison of Schwäbisch Hall officers of the SS Leibstandarte were flogged until they were soaked in blood, after which their sexual organs were trampled on as they lay prostrate on the ground. On the basis of such confessions extorted.
ReplyDeletePeiper was no war criminal. US Senators called for the Trial to be reviewed because it turned out that some of the prisoners were tortured and eyewitnesses turned out to be liars. The POWs were left on a meadow near Malmedy with a few young German soldiers as guards. That was common practice, because an attacking force could not stay with POWs. Several POWs later testified that a few of the prisoners had tried to escape, and others claimed that some prisoners had picked up their previously discarded weapons and shot at the German troops when they attempted to continue toward Ligneuville. End of the story. Which soldier does not shoot fleeing enemies? American troops killed prisoners themselves (not to mention the Soviets!). For example, Americans rounded up about 80 German soldiers after they had surrendered near the village of Chenogne, Belgium, on January 1, 1945, took them to a field and machine-gunned them. Reporter Chris Harland-Dunaway found an entry in General George S. Patton’s handwritten diary referring to the incident in Chenogne. Patton called it murder "...also murdered 50 odd Germans. I hope we can conceal this".
DeleteThere is no doubt that Peiper and his commanders encouraged their soldiers to fight mercilessly. However, the trial was nothing but a mock trial. Testimonies of American officers and Belgian citizens were ignored by the court because they were in conflict with the "official" story of what happened in Malmedy. The trial was little more than revenge and an extreme double standard as there are no equivilent trials for the Allied commanders who actually did ordered German prisoners to be shot. Thanks for a great site by the way!
DeleteA travesty of justice. War crimes defined by the victor.
DeleteAbsolutely true. I am convinced it was a political trial since I watched the American documentary about it, there is no doubt. As much as I look at Peiper's eyes on his photos I don't see a war criminal, I see a brave soldier and a man of convictions. I mean I am not saying that we understand Hitler or SS ideology but Peiper didn't like politics, he loved to fight. He was an officer of honor, so he surely didn't ordered killing innocent people or shooting the prisoners.
DeleteThe British Director of counter-espionage Guy Liddell echoed the view that Nuremberg had a damaging whiff of hypocrisy: One cannot escape the feeling that most of the things the 21 are accused of having done over a period of 14 years, the Russians have done over a period of 28 years. This adds considerably to the somewhat phoney atmosphere of the whole proceedings and leads me to the point which in a way worries me most, namely that the court is one of the victors who have framed their own charter, their own procedure and their own rules of evidence in order to deal with the vanquished.
ReplyDeleteIt might be worth remembering that a certain W. C. admitted that had he been on the losing side, it would have been him to be hung. Generals like Montgomery and Matthew Ridgway opposed IMT like kangaroo trials.
ReplyDeleteThis was just American Vengeance upon the Waffen-SS. I'm amazed at Peiper´s courage and at his honor to remain soldier to the end. Much respect to him!
ReplyDeleteAmeeriklased panid sakslased kohtu ette peale teist maailmasõda aga nüüd nõuavad ÜROlt et nemad ei saa minna kunagi rahvusvahelise kohtu ette ükskõik mis nad teevad. Mitte et sakslased ei teinud kuritegusi aga lääneliitlased ei olnud üldsegi paremad.
ReplyDeleteWe didn’t hold the Soviet union accountable for their atrocities. We as Americans and British were not held accountable for our atrocities. Hypocrisy as it's worse!
ReplyDelete