Figure 1.--Here are some of the Belgian civilians shot by the SS in Stavelot. Belgian civilians told the GIs that the SS troopers shot the children because their crying annoyed them. U.S. Army |
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German soldiers, especially Waffen-SS units, commited a serious of attrocities during the fighting in the Bulge. The best known is the Malmedy massacre. Waffen-SS units massacred 86 unarmed American soldiers that had surrendered. A Waffen-SS unit commanded by Colonel Peiper shot Americans captured at Baugnez. (Peipher was a commander in Sepp Dtrich's 6th Waffen-SS Panzer Army. Detrich was noytorious on the Eastern Front for executing 6,000 Russian POWs in repriasl for killing 6 Waffen-SS soldiers.) The Americans were shot on a road near Malmeddy. The SS had captured 140 men. They succeeded in shooting 86 men, but 43 men escaped. While small compared to what went on in the East, the Malmedy Massacre was the worst atrocity committed against American troops by the Germans. The SS killed other American soldiers who had surendered as well as Belgian civilians, but the Malmedy massacre is the best known incident, in part because it was a botched attrocityvand so many Americans escaped. After the War, the Americans made a major effot to track down and bring those responsible to judstice. Rumors of the massacre spread rapidly throughout the American army. This affected how the Americans viewed surrender. It also affected the treatment of German soldiers trying to surrender once the tide of battle turned. American soldiers were not the only target of the Waffen-SS. The Germans were under no illusions about the sympathies of Belgian civilians. There were numerous incidents of Wffen-SS soldiers shooting civilians, including women and children. A SS unit commanded by Joachim Peiper murdered 93 civilians in Stavelot. (A huge American fuel depot was located only about 1 mile from Stavelt. The Americans set it afire before Peiper's Panzers could reach it.) Civilians told the American soldiers that retook the town that the Germans shot the children, because their crying was annoying. There were numerous other such incidents.
German soldiers, especially Waffen-SS units, commited a serious of attrocities during the fighting in the Builge. The Waffen-SS was the armed wing of the Himler's SS. They were renounded forctheir fighting spirit and savegery. Part of their effectiveness was that Himmler snd Hitler saw to it thst they were the best equipped German military formstions. And the German SS units were composed of men absolutely devoted to Hitler and National Scialism.
The best known German attrocity during the Bulge was the Malmedy massacre. A fast-moving Waffen-SS tank collumn units on the second day of the Bulge offensive massacred 86 unarmed American soldiers that had surrendered (December 17). A Waffen-SS unit commanded by Colonel Peiper shot Americans captured at Baugnez. It was not a battlefield incident, but muder. (Peipher was a commander in Sepp Dtrich's 6th Waffen-SS Panzer Army. Detrich was notorious on the Eastern Front for executing 6,000 Russian POWs in repriasl for killing 6 Waffen-SS soldiers.) It is not know if Detrich ordeed the massacre. It is kniwn that Detricj never discuplined his men for attricities such as the one perpetrated at Malmédy.
The Americans were shot on a road near Malmédy. The SS had captured 140 men. They succeeded in shooting 86 men, but 43 men escaped. While small compared to what went on in the East, the Malmédy Massacre was the worst atrocity committed against American troops by the Germans during the War. The Waffen-SS killed other American soldiers who had surendered as well as Belgian civilians, but the Malmedy massacre is the best known incident, in part because it was a botched attrocity and so many Americans escaped.
Many of the Americans who escaoed managed to get back to American lines and reported what had occurred. Rumors of the massacre spread rapidly throughout the American army. This affected how the Americans viewed surrender. It also affected the treatment of German soldiers trying to surrender once the tide of battle turned.
American soldiers were not the only target of the Waffen-SS and other German soldiers. Shooting soldiers occurs in all wars and can mnot be excused, althoug tragically not remrablke, especially in font lin condtions. Civilians are another matter. During the Bulge offensive, the Germns shot civilans, including women and children for no reason other than the Belgiand had welcomed liberation. The Germans were under no illusions about the sympathies of Belgian civilians. There were numerous incidents of Waffen-SS soldiers shooting civilians, including women and children. The most serious was committed by a SS unit commanded under Joachim Peiper's command. His officers knew that he would not be concerned by such murderous actions. The SS nen murdered 93 civilians in Stavelot, including children (figure 1). (A huge American fuel depot was located only about 1 mile from Stavelt. The Americans set it on fire before Peiper's Panzers could reach it.) Civilians told the American soldiers which retook the town that the Germans shot the children, because their crying was annoying. Here French journalist Jean Marin views the body of a 4-year-old Belgian boy, murdered with 163 other Belgian civilians by the German 6th SS Panzer Army Kampfgruppe 'Peiper'. The unit involved was the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler commanded by SS-Standartenführer Joachim Peiper. Peiper ordered his men to kill civilians in and around Stavelot, Parfondruy and Renardmont in Belgium who he suspected of harboring or aiding Allied troops. German soldiers, mostly SS men, systematically killed nearly 200 men, women and children of all ages (December 18-20, 1944). This action began just one day after the Malmedy Massacre, in which 80 American POWs were tortured and killed by Peiper’s men (December 17). After the war, Peiper and some of his men were tried for war crimes. Peiper was accused of atrocities in the Soviet Union, Poland, Italy, France and Belgium. A German court concluded, however, that there was insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution (1968). It was members of the World war II French Resistance who finally brought Peiper to justice. Peiper has settled in France and was murdered when his home was firebombed with Molotov cocktails (1976). There were numerous other such German actions. Civilins were not only shot at random. NAZI loyalists broughout newspapers and tried o intify civlind chering the rival of the Allies in Sptember and October.
After the War, the Americans made a major effot to track down and bring those responsible to judstice. The Army mihandeled evidence in the Malmédy investigation and ctrial trial (1946).
Parker, Danny S. Fatal Crossroads: The Untold Story of the Malmedy Masacre in the Battle of the Bulge (2011), 43p.
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