What Was The American Peiper's Trial

It is the winter of 1944, and 84 Americans lie dead in s field by the town of Malmedy. These were the men of Battery B, who were slaughtered by the tank formation of Kampfgruppe Peiper. A man by the name of Joachim Peiper would later be tried for the death of these men and found guilty. He would later be lease on the premise that the trial was unfair. Though Joachim Peiper was released from his sentence, it is commonly known that Peiper was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent people and should have been punished. Joachim Peiper was one of the youngest SS officers of all time, and achieved an extraordinary high rank for his age while assisting Himmler with his work on the eastern front. Peiper would serve as the personal advisor and consultant to SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler who, "was the key and senior Nazi official responsible for conceiving and

Just because one soldier claimed that he was treated well, does not account for the fact that eighty four American soldiers were slaughtered by Peiper 's division, which makes Peiper accountable. Peiper 's sentence lawfully and fairly punished him for his ruthless actions and disregard for human life. After an officer stated that the trials were "unlawful" the US senate would soon be debating on the matter and Peiper would be released. Approximately one year after the trials, an officer claimed that the interrogations had been unlawful, "the trials were tainted by later testimony that SS men had been tortured by US investigators before their trial" (Cummins). Without acknowledging the fact that the SS were notorious mass murderers, there was never any proof that the men were tortured, including Peiper. Peiper was never retried on the evidence of a