The
Malmedy massacre refers to a
war crime.War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war"; including "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war", the killing of hostages, "the wanton destruction of cities, towns...
in which about 90
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
prisoners of war were murdered by their German captors. The massacre was committed on December 17, 1944, by
KampfgruppeIn military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I.-Nature:The Kampfgruppe was an ad-hoc combined arms...
PeiperJoachim Peiper 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...
(part of the
1st SS Panzer DivisionThe Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler founded in September 1933 was Adolf Hitler's personal Bodyguard Regiment...
), a
GermanNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
combat unit, during the
Battle of the BulgeThe Ardennes Offensive was a major German offensive , launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes Mountains region of Belgium , France and Luxembourg on the Western Front...
.
This massacre, as well as others committed by the same unit the same day and on the following days, was the subject of a trial during the Dachau Trials of 1946.
Context
Within the framework of plans developed by Hitler for what would become known as the
Battle of the BulgeThe Ardennes Offensive was a major German offensive , launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes Mountains region of Belgium , France and Luxembourg on the Western Front...
, the principal objective of breaking through Allied lines had been given to the 6th SS Panzer Army under the command of General
Sepp DietrichJosef "Sepp" Dietrich was a German Waffen-SS general, an SS-Oberstgruppenführer, and one of the men closest to Adolf Hitler...
. He was supposed to break the Allied front between
MonschauMonschau is a town in the west of Germany, located in the district Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia.- Geography :The town is located in the hills of the Eifel, in the narrow valley of the Rur river....
and Losheimergraben, cross the
Meuse RiverThe Meuse , is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
and subsequently capture
Antwerp||-||-||-||}Antwerp is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp province in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions. Antwerp's total population is 472,071 and its total area is , giving a population density of 2,308 inhabitants per km²...
.
Kampfgruppe Peiper, named after and under the command of SS-Standartenführer
Joachim PeiperJoachim Peiper 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...
, composed of armoured and motorized elements, was the
spearheadA spearhead is the sharpened tip of a spear.Spearhead may also refer to:-In Armed Conflict:*Armoured spearhead, a tactical formation*Spearhead, nickname of the U.S. 3rd Armored Division in the U.S...
of the left wing of the 6th SS Panzer Army. Once the infantry had breached the American lines, Peiper’s role consisted of advancing via Ligneuville,
StavelotStavelot is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006, Stavelot had a total population of 6,671. The total area is 85.07 km² which gives a population density of 78 inhabitants per km².-History:...
,
Trois-PontsTrois-Ponts is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. On January 1 2006 Trois-Ponts had a total population of 2,445. The total area is 68.90 km² which gives a population density of 35 inhabitants per km². It is situated at the confluence of the...
and Werbomont and seize and secure the Meuse bridges around
HuyHuy is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the sillon industriel, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia, home to about two-thirds of the Walloon population...
.
The best roads were reserved for the bulk of the 1st SS Panzer Division
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. It was intended that Peiper use secondary roads, but they proved to be unsuitable for heavy armoured vehicles such as the
Tiger IITiger II is the common name of a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger VI Ausf. B , with the ordnance inventory designation Sd.Kfz. 182...
tanks attached to the
Kampfgruppe.
The success of the whole operation was highly dependent on the swift capture of the bridges over the river Meuse. This required a rapid advance through US positions, circumventing any points of resistance whenever possible. Another factor that Peiper had to consider was the shortage of
gasolineGasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture, primarily used as fuel in internal combustion engines...
: the fuel resources of the Reich had been greatly reduced since the fall of Romania.
Finally within this context one should not lose sight of the fact that specific orders were given by Hitler that the battle needed to be carried out with brutality more common on the Eastern Front in order to scare the enemy. Sepp Dietrich confirmed the fact during the trial relative to this case. According to certain sources, during the briefings preceding the operation, Peiper stated that no quarter should be granted, not to take prisoners and to show no pity towards the Belgian civilians.
Peiper's break out and first massacres
Right from the start, German operations on the northern front did not go smoothly because of obstinate resistance by American troops. Peiper had hoped to be able to exploit an opening as early as the morning of December 16 - the first day of the offensive. In reality, he had to wait in massive traffic jams behind the front while the German infantry, which was supposed to open a breach in the US lines, waited for him to arrive. It was only around daybreak on December 17, after moving his
Kampfgruppe into the frontline that he succeeded in breaking out in the direction of Honsfeld, where elements of his force would kill several dozen American POWs.
After capturing Honsfeld, Peiper left his assigned route for several kilometers to seize a small gasoline depot in
BüllingenBüllingen is a largely German language-speaking municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1 2006 Büllingen had a total population of 5,385. The total area is 150.49 km² which gives a population density of 36 inhabitants per km²...
, where another massacre of American prisoners would later be reported. At this point, Peiper was in the enemy's rear. If he had advanced from Büllingen towards Elsenborn in the north he could have trapped two US divisions (i.e. the 2nd and the 99th Infantry Divisions). However, Peiper decided to head back to his assigned route and capture Ligneuville, passing by Mödersheid, Schoppen, Ondenval and Thirimont.
This move was difficult due to the nature of the terrain and the poor quality of the available roads. Eventually, at the exit of the small village of Thirimont the spearhead was unable to take the direct road in the direction of Ligneuville. As a result, he was forced to turn away from his planned route once again. Rather than turn to the left after the Thirimont exit, the spearhead veered right and advanced towards the crossroads of Baugnez which is equidistant between
MalmedyMalmedy is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. It belongs to the French Community of Belgium. On January 1, 2006 Malmedy had a total population of 11,829...
, Ligneuville and
WaimesWaimes is a Walloon municipality located in the province of Liège, in Belgium. On January 1 2006 Waimes had a total population of 6,728. The total area is 96.93 km² which gives a population density of 69 inhabitants per km²....
.
Massacre at Baugnez
Between noon and 1 p.m., the German spearhead approached the crossroads. Meanwhile, an American convoy of around thirty vehicles, primarily made up of elements of the American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion (FAOB), was negotiating the crossroads and turning right in the direction of Ligneuville in order to reach
Sankt VithSt. Vith is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, and in the German speaking community in Belgium. It was named after Saint Vitus....
where it was ordered to join the 7th Armored Division, to which it was attached and which was dispatched there to reinforce the defense of the city. The spearhead of Peiper’s group spotted the American convoy and opened fire, immobilizing the first and last vehicles of the column, forcing it to stop. With only rifles and other small arms to defend themselves, the Americans were forced to surrender.
While the German column led by Peiper continued on the road towards Ligneuville, the American prisoners were taken to a field, where they were joined by others captured by the SS earlier in the day. The majority of the testimonies later collected from the survivors state that approximately 120 men were gathered in the field. For reasons which still remain unclear today, the Germans suddenly opened fire on their prisoners with machine-guns. A number of Germans later claimed that some prisoners had tried to escape, others alleged that while left alone in the meadow they had somehow recovered their previously discarded weapons and fired on the German troops who continued their progress in the direction of Ligneuville. Of the 88 bodies recovered a month later, the majority showed wounds to the head, evidence more consistent with mass execution than with an act of self-defense or an attempt to prevent escape.
As soon as the Germans opened fire, the Americans panicked. Some tried to flee; the vast majority were gunned down where they stood. A few of the soldiers attempted shelter in a cafe located at the crossroads. German soldiers set fire to the building, and shot any who tried to escape from the flames. Some of those in the field had dropped to the ground and feigned death when the shooting started. However, SS troops walked among the groups of bodies, and any who were found to be alive were promptly shot through the head.
Much later, a few survivors, though wounded or shocked, emerged from their hiding places and managed to make their way back through the lines to nearby Malmedy, where American troops were defending the town. Eventually, 43 survivors managed to find refuge in the Allied lines, some with the help of Belgian civilians. Testimony made by the survivors was collected during the hours following the massacre. All the survivors' accounts were similar and corroborated each other, even though they had had no opportunity to discuss the events and agree to a common story. An account of one survivor is recorded in
Medicine Under Canvasis both a book and a documentary about the during WWII. The very rare book is 200 pages long and is arguably the most detailed history of an evacuation hospital in the European and North African theatres of war...
on page 141 of the second edition. Details of 77th Evacuation Hospital's role in notifying Army Intelligence and their questioning of the wounded man is also noted.
The first survivors of the massacre were picked up by a patrol from the
291st Combat Engineer BattalionColonel David E. Pergrin was commanding officer of the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion during World War II. Before the war he earned an engineering degree at Pennsylvania State University, graduating in 1940. While at Penn State he participated in the ROTC program...
around 2.30 p.m. the same day. The inspector general of the First Army learned of the shootings three or four hours later. By the late evening of the 17th, rumors that the enemy was killing prisoners had reached the forward American divisions. As a result one U.S. unit issued orders that, "No SS troops or paratroopers will be taken prisoner but will be shot on sight." In this atmosphere there are claims that American forces killed German prisoners in retaliation,
e.g. in the alleged
Chenogne massacreThe Chenogne massacre refers to the alleged war crime committed on New Year's day, January 1, 1945 where several dozen German prisoners of war were killed by American forces near the village of Chenogne , Belgium....
on January 1, 1945.
Since the Baugnez crossroads had been a no man's land until the Allied counter-offensive, it was not until January 14, 1945 that US forces were able to reach the massacre site and perform a criminal investigation. The frozen, snow-covered bodies of the various victims were photographed in situ, then removed from the scene for formal identification and post mortem examinations. The examinations were detailed and exacting. The intention was that the evidence gathered would be used as part of the prosecution case against the culprits. Eventually 72 bodies were found in the field on January 14 and 15, 1945. Twelve other bodies, lying further away from the pasture, would be found between February 7 and April 15, 1945.
The autopsies of the bodies revealed that at least twenty of the victims had suffered fatal gunshot wounds to the head inflicted at very close range. These were in addition to wounds made by automatic weapons. An additional 20 showed evidence of small calibre gunshot wounds to the head without powder burn residue. Another 10 had fatal crushing or blunt trauma injuries most likely from a rifle butt. Another fact of importance is that some of the bodies showed only one single wound within the temple or behind the ear. Moreover, the majority of the bodies were found in a very small area, which suggested that the victims had been gathered together just before they were killed.
Peiper moves on
The opening carried out by
Kampfgruppe Peiper through the US lines was marked by other massacres of prisoners of war and, thereafter, Belgian civilians. Among others, members of his unit killed at least eight other American prisoners in Ligneuville.
New massacres of American POWs were again reported in
StavelotStavelot is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006, Stavelot had a total population of 6,671. The total area is 85.07 km² which gives a population density of 78 inhabitants per km².-History:...
, Cheneux, La Gleize and
StoumontStoumont is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. On January 1 2006 Stoumont had a total population of 3,006. The total area is 108.45 km² which gives a population density of 28 inhabitants per km²....
on December 18, 19 and 20. Finally, on December 19, 1944, in the area between Stavelot and
Trois-PontsTrois-Ponts is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. On January 1 2006 Trois-Ponts had a total population of 2,445. The total area is 68.90 km² which gives a population density of 35 inhabitants per km². It is situated at the confluence of the...
, the Germans tried to regain control of the bridge over the Ambleve river in Stavelot, which was crucial for getting reinforcements and supplies in fuel and ammunition, Peiper’s men were the perpetrators of the massacre of 100
BelgianThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
civilians.
American engineers finally managed to block Peiper's advance in the narrow
Amblève RiverThe Amblève or Amel is a 93 km long river in eastern Belgium in the province of Liège. It is a right tributary of the river Ourthe. It rises near Büllingen in the High Fens , close to the border with Germany.Tributaries of the Amblève are the rivers Warche, Eau Rouge and Salm...
valley by blowing up the local bridges. Additional US reinforcements succeeded in surrounding the
Kampfgruppe in Stoumont and la Gleize. Peiper and 800 of his men eventually managed to escape this encirclement by marching through the nearby woods and abandoning all their heavy equipment, including several
Tiger IITiger II is the common name of a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger VI Ausf. B , with the ordnance inventory designation Sd.Kfz. 182...
tanks. If he had by-passed the Amblève bridges, Peiper could have gained higher ground and access to practicable roads to the Meuse.
During their battle around Gleize, the men of
Kampfgruppe Peiper captured an American officer, Major Harold D. McCown on December 21, who was leading one of the battalions of the 119th Infantry Regiment. Since he had heard about the Malmedy massacre, he raised questions to Peiper about his fate and that of his men. According to McCown, Peiper told him that neither he nor his men were at any risk and that he was not used to killing his prisoners. McCown himself noted that his men were not threatened in any manner. Indeed, he testified for Peiper's defense during the trial of 1946 in Dachau.
Kampfgruppe Peiper, re-equipped, had taken part again in the
Battle of the BulgeThe Ardennes Offensive was a major German offensive , launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes Mountains region of Belgium , France and Luxembourg on the Western Front...
and other killings of POWs were reported on December 31, 1944 in Lutrebois and between January 10 and 13, 1945 in Petit Thier. The precise number of prisoners of war and civilians massacred attributable to
Kampfgruppe Peiper is still not clear. According to certain sources, 538 to 749 POWs had been the victims of war crimes perpetrated by Peiper's men. These figures are, however, not corroborated by the report drawn up by the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
subcommittee which inquired later into the trial that ensued. According to the Committee, the number of dead would be 362 prisoners of war and 111 civilians. According to this report, the count of POWs or civilians killed at different places is as follows:
| Place |
Prisoners of war |
Civilians |
| Honsfeld |
19 |
|
| Büllingen |
59 |
1 |
| Baugnez |
86 |
|
| Ligneuville |
58 |
|
| Stavelot |
8 |
93 |
| Cheneux |
31 |
|
| La Gleize |
45 |
|
| Stoumont |
44 |
1 |
| Wanne |
|
5 |
| Trois-Ponts |
11 |
10 |
| Lutrebois |
|
1 |
| Petit Thier |
1 |
|
Aftermath and trial
American forces recaptured the site where the killings took place on January 13, 1945. The cold weather conditions and low winter temperatures had preserved the scene well. The bodies were recovered on January 14 and January 15, 1945. The memorial at Baugnez bears the names of the murdered soldiers.
The size of the massacre, which apparently is the only one perpetrated on such a scale against American troops in Europe during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, caused an uproar at the time. However, the number of victims was quite low when compared to other German atrocities.
In addition to the effect the event had on American combatants in Europe, it seems that news of the massacre also had a great impact in the United States. This explains why the alleged culprits were deferred to the Dachau Trials, which were held from May to June 1946, after the war.
In what would thereafter be known as the "
Malmedy massacre trialThe Malmedy massacre trial was held in May–July 1946 in the Dachau concentration camp to try the German Waffen-SS soldiers accused of the Malmedy massacre of December 17, 1944. The highest-ranking defendant was the former SS general, Sepp Dietrich...
", and which concerned all of the war crimes attributed to
Kampfgruppe Peiper for the battle of the Bulge, the highest ranking defendant was General Sepp Dietrich, commander of the 6th SS Panzer Army to which Peiper’s unit belonged. Joachim Peiper and his principal subordinates appeared among the defendants. More than 70 people were tried by the Tribunal, and the Court pronounced 43 death sentences, (none of which was carried out), and 22 life sentences. Eight other men were sentenced to shorter prison sentences.
However, after the verdict, the way the court had functioned was disputed, first in Germany (by former Nazi officials who had regained some power due to
anti-CommunistAnti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism, especially Marxism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the growing popularity of the communist movement, and took on many forms during the 20th century....
positions with the occupation forces), then later in the United States (by congressmen from heavily German-American areas of the Midwest). The case was
appealIn law, an appeal is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision.The specific procedures for appealing, including even whether there is a right of appeal from a particular type of decision, can vary greatly from country to country...
ed to the
Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
which was unable to make a decision. The case then came under the scrutiny of a sub-Committee of the Senate of the United States. A young Senator from
WisconsinWisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
,
Joseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
, used it as an opportunity to raise his political profile. He came to the defense of the convicted men by stating that the Court had not given them a fair trial.
This drew attention to the trial and the judicial irregularities which had occurred during the interrogations preceding the trial itself. However, even before the United States Senate took an interest in this case, most of the death sentences had already been commuted due to a revision of the trial carried out by the US Army. The other life sentences were commuted within the next few years. All the convicted war criminals were released during the 1950s, the last one to leave prison being Peiper in December 1956. There was a schism within the
American LegionThe American Legion is a congressionally chartered mutual-aid veterans organization of the United States armed forces founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by the U.S. Congress. The American Legion was founded in 1919 by veterans returning from Europe after...
and
Veterans of Foreign WarsThe Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a congressionally chartered war veterans organization. VFW currently has 1.6 million members and is the largest American organization of combat veterans.-Membership:...
because World War II veterans that were members protested McCarthy's defense of the convicted. The leadership consisting of the earlier World War I veterans were reluctant to criticize him because of his anti-communist stance. The release of these war criminals has been cited by critics of the post-war trials of Japanese military personnel as an example of the racism which characterized the difference in treatment.
JapaneseThe are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries are referred to as...
military who were convicted of killing prisoners as a matter of policy were convicted and executed as per international law and custom.
The turmoil which followed the Malmedy trials and the early release of the condemned is often used by some people as an example of biased post-war justice applied at the discretion of the winner..
Eventually, a distinct lawsuit relating to the war crimes committed against civilians in Stavelot was held on July 6, 1948 in front of a Belgian military court in
LiegeLiège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the administrative capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium.The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse River, near Belgium's eastern borders...
(Belgium) against 10 men who were members of Kampfgruppe Peiper and who had been captured on December 22, 1944 by American troops not far from the spot where one of the massacres of civilians in Stavelot had taken place. One man was discharged, the others were found guilty and most of them were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment — two officers were sentenced to 12 and 15 years.
In popular culture
The massacre has been dramatized in two films — the
Battle of the Bulge (1965) and
Saints and SoldiersSaints and Soldiers is a war film released by Excel Entertainment Group in August 2004. The film is about a small group of soldiers who are trapped deep behind enemy lines following the infamous Malmedy massacre that took place during World War II's Battle of the Bulge...
(2004). It was also alluded to in
Hart's WarHart's War is a 2002 film about a World War II prisoner of war based on the novel by John Katzenbach starring Bruce Willis, Colin Farrell and Terrence Howard...
(2002), where the eponymous hero discovers the bodies of the victims.
External links