Joachim Peiper
Joachim Peiper (30 January 1915 – 14 July 1976) was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) officer and war criminal convicted for the Malmedy massacre of U.S. Army prisoners of war (POWs). During the Second World War in Europe, Peiper served as personal adjutant to Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS, and as a tank commander in the Waffen-SS. German historian Jens Westemeier writes that Peiper personified Nazi ideology, as a purportedly ruthless glory-hound commander who was indifferent to the combat casualties of Battle Group Peiper, and who encouraged, expected, and tolerated war crimes by his Waffen-SS soldiers.
Joachim Peiper | |
|---|---|
Peiper in 1943 | |
| Born | 30 January 1915 Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Prussia, German Empire |
| Died | 14 July 1976 (aged 61) Traves, Haute-Saône, France |
| Cause of death | Assassinated by vigilantes |
| Resting place | Schondorf, Bavaria, Germany |
| Known for | Malmedy massacre Boves massacre |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
| Conviction(s) | War crimes |
| Trial | Malmedy massacre trial |
| Criminal penalty | Death; commuted to life imprisonment; further commuted to 35 years imprisonment |
| SS career | |
| Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
| Service/ | SS-Verfügungstruppe Waffen-SS |
| Years of service | 1934–1945 |
| Rank | SS-Standartenführer |
| Unit | Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS (as adjutant to Heinrich Himmler) 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler |
| Battles/wars | World War II
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| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords |
| Other work | Employee at Porsche; sales trainer at Volkswagen |
As adjutant to Himmler, Peiper witnessed the SS implement the Holocaust with ethnic cleansing and genocide of Jews in Eastern Europe; facts that he obfuscated and denied in the post-War period. As a tank commander, Peiper served in the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) in the Eastern Front and in the Western Front, first as a battalion commander and then as a regimental commander. Peiper fought in the Third Battle of Kharkov and in the Battle of the Bulge, from which battles his eponymous battle group – Kampfgruppe Peiper – became notorious for committing war crimes against civilians and PoWs.
In the Malmedy Massacre Trial, the U.S. military tribunal established Peiper's command responsibility for the Malmedy massacre (1944) and sentenced him to death, which later was commuted to life in prison, then 35 years. In Italy, Peiper was accused of having committed the Boves massacre (1943); that investigation ended for lack of war-crime evidence that Peiper ordered the summary killing of Italian civilians.
Upon release from prison, Peiper worked for the Porsche and Volkswagen automobile companies and later moved to France, where he worked as a freelance translator. Throughout his post-war life, Peiper was very active in the social network of ex-SS men centred upon the right-wing organisation HIAG (Mutual Aid Association of Former Members of the Waffen-SS). In 1976, Peiper was murdered in France when anti-Nazis set his house on fire after the publication of his identity as a Waffen-SS war criminal.