Peiper was the youngest regimental colonel in the Waffen-SS,
officially known as: SS-Standartenführer Joachim Peiper, 1st SS
Panzer Division, Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler.
Apart from being respected among his men, he had the unenviable
task of keeping his men from shooting POWs. Incidents such as this
came to light in the wake of the infamous Malmédy Massacre.
The following are some of his quotes:
"I
recognize that after the battles 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 Köln thousands of mangled corpses after
a terror raid had passed. Their hatred for the enemy was such; I
swear it and I could not always keep it under
control."
~ comments made in reference to the men he commanded in the most
difficult of times towards the end of the war.
"It's so long ago now. Even I don't know the
truth. If I had ever known it, I have long forgotten it. All I know
is that I took the blame as a good CO should and was punished
accordingly."
~ in response to questions on whether his men murdered defenceless
POWs
The more i read about him, the more i'm convinced he was one of the
few upright officers of the Waffen-SS, one of the more murderous
units of the Wehrmacht.
It's a pity that the events leading to his demise were never truly
investigated, even after spending almost 11 and 1/2 years in
prison, mostly in solitary.
Any man who survived the rigours and horrors of world war II
regardless of side deserves to live a long life in peace.