History lesson - Just watched a documentary on the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion in WW II. It was one of several black FA units. Eleven of its members were executed by the Germans, but oddly it was never cited as one of the crimes committed by Kampfgruppe Peiper in the Battle of the Bulge. In that regard, I guess black lives didnt count in those days. Well, naturally, the program progressed to the post-war war crimes trials. Peipers KG was also involved in the so-called Malmedy Massacre, which actually occurred in Baugnez. (I was at the site.) Peiper, himself, was sentenced to death by hanging. More on that later. Of course, the documentary portrayed Peiper and his troops as bloodythirsty murderers. Heres where MY knowledge of history takes over. Much of the war crimes trials evidence involved paper trails, in which orders could be traced back to commanding officers. In the case of Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler 1st SS division, they had recently been shipped west from the Russian Front only a few months earlier. While fighting the Russians, they were under standing orders to take no prisoners. As was the case, lower level officers merely passed along orders from higher level officers, without actually putting their own names on them. In the instance of Kampfgruppe Peiper, no one had ever bothered to countermand the orders from the Russian Front under which they operated. As a result, it was commonplace for 1SS LAH to execute prisoners. Business as usual... Well, its rather ironic that an AMERICAN lawyer from the Judge Advocate Generals office was assigned Peipers appeal. It turned out that American interrogators would bring members of 1SS LAH in groups. They would tell them that they had to implicate Peiper personally, or they would be shot. Then they would take his troops out the back door, and the Americans would fire their guns into the air, making the awaiting prisoners believe they had been shot! Naturally, the frightened remaining prisoners all gave false testimony to the effect they had been personally ordered by Peiper to shoot prisoners. When Peipers American appeal attorney made this public, there was an outcry in the United States! Even German SS had RIGHTS! Peipers sentence was commuted from death by hanging to about 6 or 8 years in prison, including time served. I think it was Winston Churchill who said, The victors write the history. Well, this is the REAL history. This is why I so believe in history as a serious subject. When enough time has passed, and the facts become aired, history reveals the TRUTH! Those honorable American prosecutors tried to frame Peiper by illegal means. Peiper and his wife went down in a blaze of glory, though. He had moved to France after his prison sentence was served, and lived in a remote house up a long drive with his wife. The house couldnt even be seen from the street through the woods. Someone leaked his identity to the townsfolk, and a swastika and arrow were spray-painted on the main road, pointing to his house. During the middle of the night (typical of the French) some brave former Maquis attacked Peipers house and fire-bombed it. His and his wifes burned bodies were found, amid several thousand spent automatic weapon cartridges. He died like he fought...guns blazing.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 07:33:28 +0000
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