Joachim Peiper

The shooting of American prisoners of war on 17 December 1944 by German SS troops became one of the most notorious atrocities of World War II. Under the command of SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer (Lieutenant Colonel) Joachim Peiper, German soldiers surprised and captured an American motor convoy belonging to Battery B of the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion at a road intersection south of the Belgian town of Malmedy. In what became known as the Malmedy Massacre, more than 100 prisoners were assembled in a field adjacent to the crossroads and mowed down by machine gun fire; approximately 30 survived. As a result of the massacre and ensuing international press coverage, Peiper became for many Americans the most hated man in the German armed forces. He and 73 of his comrades were tried by a U.S. Army court in 1946 for the Malmedy murders and other related war crimes. All were found guilty and 43, including Peiper, were sentenced to death. But none of the death sentences were carried out, the result in large part of the continuing efforts of Colonel Willis Everett Jr., an American lawyer from Georgia who was assigned to defend the accused war criminals

Peiper recalled the war as "a proud and heroic time! Where we were standing was Germany and as far as my tank gun reached was my kingdom! ... Our vision always has been the `Dream of Reich!'"

I dont think that his capabilities as a soldier have ever been questioned here?, it is clear that as a soldier he was one of Germanys best. The point here is that he was found guilty of war crimes by a war crime tribunal.I would be interested to read about the torture of his people (presume you mean his soldiers?)Like you say there is always another side to every story.
Welcome to our site vick

Your comments and point of view are welcome here buddy. I can guarantee you that nobody will take offence, its not what we are about.
Thanks for your input.

Found this interesting
Malmedy Massacre trial

Good pic of Peiper, which I don't remember seeing.

As reply to vick's and big guy's comment:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Malmedy_investigation.html
It's highly doubtful that Peiper's people were tortured by the Allied troops at least systematically. Read the report of Senate's subcommittee, which investigated the Dachau trials. You'll find it here:

http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Malmedy_investigation.html

Most of claims of abuse made by Peiper's men were denied by other Peiper's men and abuse itself wasn't even close to the harshness originally claimed. When interviewed by the subcommittee, SS-men often started to change their affidavits until there was very little which resembled their original claim. Many forms of this "abuse" were in fact used and accepted by the US legal and penal system in the United States.

In addition, Peiper said "I recognize that after the battle of Normandy my unit was composed mainly of young, fanatical soldiers. A good deal of them had lost their parents, their sisters and brothers during the bombing. They had seen for themselves in Kln thousands of mangled corpses after a terror raid had passed. Their hatred for the enemy was such, I swear it, I could not always keep it under control." Peiper also recognized orders of killing POWs given by Hitler and army commander Sepp Dietrich.

Peiper's Eastern Front battalion was nicknamed "Blow Torch Battalion". It was named so, because the unit burned few Russian villages while killing their civilian populace. Many apologists and revisionists resort to Peiper's claim, that it was because they used blow torch to warm engines and tracks of their AFV's during the cold Russian winter. Well, why the name was used can't be told for sure - the name doesn't change the fact Peiper's unit burned villages and killed civilians in Russia.

Ok, forget Malmedy and Russia, there's still the Boves massacre in Italy. It's very similar to murder ordered by Dinkmann Oradour-sur-Glane in France. Men, women and children being killed by Peiper's men while houses burn because of Italian partisan activity in the area.

And even after these, Peiper served as Himmler's adjutant in 1938. So you can be sure he knew all about the Nazi terror, holocaust, concentration camps etc.

So, in my opinion - a villain. A resourceful and excellent panzer leader, good combat commander, in service of and loyal to his men, honorable opponent on some occasions, yes, but still a Nazi villain.

Klbermarsch that was a very balanced and intellectual post thanks mate

I think Klbermarsch summed him up well - a villain.

A villain to be sure, and thankfully one who did not end up in charge of Germany. I believe it's his leadership abilities etc which lead some down the wrong path with this Nazi, they forget a lot of brillant Germans were sucked into the Nazi vortex.

Nice photo, I don't recall seeing this one either. As a military officer and combat veteran I can certainly understand unfortunate events due to lack of sleep, stress, anger and fear. Do I think Jochen Peiper was a Saint, hardly but I think villain is unfair. I used to hear all the fairy tales of Malmedy when I was a kid however, after reading the book Jochen Peiper by Charles Whiting I have a different perspective of Peiper. Does anyone here know that the "massacre" wasn't at Malmedy it was actually at the Baugnez Crossroads, I didn't know either until I read the book.