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Massacre At Malmédy During the Battle of the BulgeWorld War II | 23 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post
Flack’s body was found in the field with a bullet hole in the head. Stabulis’ body was not found until April 15, 1945, but since it was more than half a mile south of the field, his initial escape bid was presumably successful. Subscribe Today
It would seem therefore that there was a minimum of one successful escape from the field before the main shooting started, in addition to the five men who got away from the front of the Battery B convoy soon after it came under fire from Sternebeck’s tanks. It is also clear from various survivors’ testimonies that there was quite a lot of movement and jostling in the field before the shooting started, and that once the first pistol shots rang out, several men attempted to push their way to the rear of the group. A number of survivors mentioned an American officer shouting, Stand fast!
In summary, it can be said that there is no evidence to support the idea of a premeditated massacre–particularly in view of the fact that over half the Americans in the field survived both the main shooting and the administration of coup de grâce shots by the Germans who entered the field. Nor is it reasonable to suggest that the main body of the Kampfgruppe mistook the men in the field for a fresh combat unit, or that there was a mass escape attempt that caused the Germans to open fire.
So how do we explain the shootings at the Baugnez crossroads on December 17, 1944? There seem to be only two reasonable explanations. The first is that it started in response to a specific escape attempt. Someone saw two or three Americans make the break described in a sworn statement made to Lieutenant Schumacker in October 1945; that person then opened fire and this in turn caused a commotion in the field as some of the prisoners tried to push through their comrades to the west. But this movement, and the fact that at least one and probably two Americans had by then escaped from the field, only exacerbated the situation, and other Germans in the vicinity then fired. Even if this theory is accepted, however, it in no way excuses the deliberate killing of wounded prisoners by those Germans who then entered the field.
The other explanation is that faced with the problem of what to do with so many prisoners, someone made a deliberate decision to shoot them. And it is significant that the majority of the American survivors spoke of a single German taking deliberate aim with his pistol and then firing two shots at the prisoners. The sheer number of Americans in the field and the fact that they were standing in a group meant that many were physically shielded by the bodies of their comrades. This explanation would then require that, after the main shooting, it was necessary to send soldiers into the field to finish off the survivors.
On May 16, 1946, Peiper and 70 members of his Kampfgruppe, plus his army commander, chief of staff and corps commander, were arraigned before a U.S. military court in the former concentration camp at Dachau, charged that they did willfully, deliberately and wrongfully permit, encourage, aid, abet and participate in the killing, shooting, ill treatment, abuse and torture of members of the armed forces of the United States of America. The location chosen for the trial and the number of defendants was clearly significant, and it surprised no one when all the Germans were found guilty. The court of six American officers presided over by a brigadier general took an average of less than three minutes to consider each case. Forty-three of the defendants, including Peiper, Christ, Rumpf, Sievers and Sternebeck, were sentenced to death by hanging (Poetschke had been killed in March 1945), 22 to life imprisonment and the rest to between 10 and 20 years. The Law of the Victors, as it has been called in postwar Germany, had prevailed. But none of the death sentences was ever carried out, and all the prisoners had been released by Christmas 1956. Peiper was the last to leave prison. Sadly, incomplete and rushed investigations, suspicions about the methods used to obtain confessions, and inadequate or flawed evidence ensured that guilty men escaped proper punishment, and there can be little doubt that some innocent men were punished during the trial. In the final analysis, justice itself became another casualty of the incident. Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, World War II
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23 Comments to “Massacre At Malmédy During the Battle of the Bulge”
Can anyone supply a link to actor Charles Durnings relationship to this event. He was describedby CNN as a a survivor.
By Thomas R Miller on Aug 1, 2008 at 10:58 am
Please ignore previous request, I have found an abundance.
By Thomas R Miller on Aug 1, 2008 at 11:33 am
This is a very interesting, thought provoking account. The author’s final conclusions seem unbiased and well supported by the (known) facts.
Sgt, USMC 68-71
By Will S on Aug 3, 2008 at 11:15 am
Different estimates of casualties are reported on different pages. How many were killed, wounded?
By mitchell kaidy on Aug 22, 2008 at 1:55 pm
My father 84 year old father, John L. Harnack, a sergeant with the 285th Observation Battalion Battery B, was driving vehicle B1. He had a lieutenant with him. The way he describes the incident, they arrived at a crossroads, and were directed down the road ahead. As they started down the road, the lieutenant kind of “went berserk” and demanded that they turn around. AT that point, my father turned the car around and went against traffic and the two serials following him, to transport the officer to a hospital in St. Vith. When he returned to the crossroads, the MPs told him he could not go on, that there was some small arms fire heard ahead. From this point he cannot remember how he heard what happened, though he thinks he might have gone back to the Hercken Forest to wait for further instructions. I realize this was a traumatic experience for him as he had been with the battalion of men since training at Fort Sills, OK, and at Hendrix College in Arkansas before shipping overseas. I believe the loss of memory of the details may have been a strategy of his subconcious to keep him from despair or PTSD. We are trying to confirm the rest of the story for him.
By Lauren Rafael on Sep 15, 2008 at 2:58 pm
although i agree that in this instance, the charge that eyes of the soldiers being cut out was probably unfounded, it is not at all past comprehension knowing the crimes against soldiers in the Pacific by the Japanese. The statement in the article that no soldier, however depraved or crazed would have done such a thing does not reflect the horrors inflicted by the Japanese, even to the extent of much worse than those mentioned here.
By Heidi Peaster on Sep 22, 2008 at 2:41 pm
I have just recieved over 60 pictures of the men of the 285th battery B FAOB and the Christmas dinner menu from 1943( which is signed by about 60+ persons from the company). These items belonged to my great-uncle, Lee Lucas, who was captured and later died in stalag 4b, I believe. I also have his “diary” from the stalag. IF ANYONE can help me identify the persons in the pictures or give me additional info in reference to my great uncle I would certainly appreciate it. Please contact me at Athos0620@hotmail.com or call me at (215) 676-3098. Please ask for Lonnie Clausson. Also I have done a little leg work and identified several names on the photos and the menu as persons who were murdered at Malmedy.
By Lonnie Clausson ` on Oct 1, 2008 at 10:17 pm
IN ref.to my previous post I have just discovered that my great-uncle was known to us in his family as “Lee” Lucas, But in fact he was Cpl. David Lucas who is listed as allegedly dying in stalag 4b on march 3rd 1945 from wounds sustained at the Malmedy massacre…..however in his diary he has a self made calender, which for some reason has a notation that he was ” wounded and captured the 7th of jan. 1945″ and has X’s covering the calender up to the date of march 30th. I could really use some help figuring this out. Please help me clear up this historical abnormality.
By Lonnie Clausson ` on Oct 1, 2008 at 10:54 pm
My uncle Thomas Frederic Watt was among the victims. I could probably identify him in pictures if not previously located.
By Thomas Novak on Dec 20, 2008 at 8:35 am
Contact information: humbug@wizard-deluxe.com
By Thomas Novak on Dec 20, 2008 at 8:38 am
You may be interested in hearing Frank Zingers account of walking back to his company from the hospital near Malmedy days before the massacre. I have posted it as a podcast at http://www.AudioMemories.org.
By David Boeve on Jan 21, 2009 at 8:25 pm
My Dad has told the story of the only surviver that showed up at his camp. What is his name and is he still alive . My Dad is 90 and he was Cpt. Knox
By rknox2@tx.rr.com on May 26, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Just talked to my Dad he said this scared kid 18 or 19 came into their camp 1st Army 32nd Field Artellerie . Said it was the start o f the Bulge “My Dad Said” He said he thiught he was the only survivor
By rknox2@tx.rr.com on May 26, 2009 at 9:22 pm
My dad fought with the 2nd division from Omaha and through to Elsenborn Ridge and the Rhine, etc. He met a Belgian girl in Burg-Reuland before the Bulge. She later married him and came to the US. As my mother, she provided an insight into The War that I have not gotten from any history books. One of her many ’stories’ was about the extremely young German soldiers whom her family encountered shortly before the Americans retook the area for the final time. They had little to no food rations, and although it was the dead of winter with thick snow on the ground and temperatures well below freezing, some of the German soldiers had no boots, only newspaper and cardboard, wrapped with burlap and tied with cord. Her non-military thoughts regarding the massacre were that if the German army could not feed its own, it certainly couldn’t feed its prisoners. Another cruel reality of war.
My dad, on the other hand, told few ‘war stories,’ only tales of some of his fellow soldiers. I saw my dad cry three times in my life. The first was when President Reagan commemorated the 40th anniversary of the D-Day invasions at Normandy. He did not cry for long, but clearly his pain was deep. The second was when his mother died. The third time he cried was when I had finally convinced him–at the age of 70–that he and my mom needed to ‘go back.’ He resisted long and hard. Then, suddenly he said, “I just want to see where those boys are buried” and choked back a ragged sob. Both my mother and I knew what he meant.
The happy ending to this posting is that dad came back from his trip, a different man, a man far more at peace with himself. One of his photos from the trip showed him standing in front of the memorial at Malmedy with his arm around another man about his age, both of them smiling broadly. I asked who this gentleman was. He declared that it was Helmut (or someone) who was the curator (?) of the place. They had conversed and determined that they had actually fought against each other.
The commanders who gave the orders tend to make the history books. But, as these postings attest, the ones who carried out those orders, who actually made the history, are/were our dads and uncles, grandfathers, brothers, and husbands. Just Dads and Helmuts. God bless them all.
By Kathy H on Jun 11, 2009 at 6:40 pm
My mother Lois Detwiler(now deceased) was to marry one of the
victims killed at Malmedy.His name was Don from Altoona,PA.
I have a few pictures.I can find his last name if I dig.He was a
field surveyor .My mother never really got over over it.She was
only 18 at the time.There was always a sadness about her.When
she passed I was glad she could finally be with Don, the love of her
life.Does anyone out there have any knowledge of him?
By Judi Governale on Jun 16, 2009 at 5:23 pm
How would you find a casualty list from the Malmedy massacre? I have been told that my great uncle was one of the victims.
By James Tidwell on Jun 17, 2009 at 9:51 am
I have a casualty list from the Malmedy massacre.Also have
a group pictures with the mens names and a big list of names
and addresses last updated in 1971.Found in my moms things.
She was engaged to Sgt.Donald Geisler.He was in the front row
of the massacre.By the way the history cannel has a video of
the Malmedy Massacre.If you contact them you probably can
get a copy.My mother had sent for one and I may still have it.
My home phone is (928)758-5274.Need to know James
uncle’s name.Will look for him on the group picture also
casualty list.
By Judi Governale on Jun 18, 2009 at 12:15 am
Charles Whiting wrote a book called “Massacre at Malmedy. In
the book he examines the events through eyewitnesses including
two who never appeared at the Dachau Trial.Paul Pfeiffer, a 15
year-old school boy at the time and Henry Le Joly now in his
70’s and living across the street from the massacre site at the time
The enemy troops involved in the attack massacre of battery
B were believed to have been from 12th SS Panzer Division.Col.
joachim Peiper who led the SS Troopers into Belgium served
only 14 yrs in prison for the massacre.He was convicted on such questionable evidence.
I wonder how many of those SS are still living?
By Judi Governale on Jun 18, 2009 at 12:40 am
David Lucas and Thomas Watt are both in the Group picture I
have.The casuality list I have is only partial.According to the
paperwork I have, approx 150 americans were involved,43 escaped of which three-quarters of these had been wounded.
Only 25 men of Battery B roster of 138 reported safe after the
event.The report says:others may come in later but unlikely
as the area was still in German hands.Iam reading from
classified copies that somehow mom got.
By Judi Governale on Jun 18, 2009 at 11:14 am
Hello
My name is Mike Smeets.
I am a 38 year old historical researcher from Landgraaf, The Netherlands. For many, many years now I have been studying the exploits of the German Battlegroup Peiper and its US adversaries during the Battle of the Bulge 1944. Over the years I have been able to contact many German and US veterans – incl. Malmedy survivors – who helped me reconstruct the events as they happened so many years ago. I am also in contact with several wellknown authors. As I am living very near to the beautiful Ardennes, I have visited the actual battlefields numerous times already.
I am reading all of the very interesting messages and would be interested in correspondence with all of you concerning the crossroads, Dec.17 1944. Like I already mentioned I am in contact with/corresponded with serveral Malmedy survivors and even German eye.witnesses, so please do contact me so we can share information.
If you are interested contact me at: mwhp.smeets@hotmail.com.
With very best regards from The Netherlands,
Mike Smeets
Akkerwinde 27
6374 RD Landgraaf
THE NETHERLANDS
By Mike Smeets on Jun 19, 2009 at 8:48 am
To Judi:
I would like to add that I also interviewed every still living Belgian who witnessed the events at the crossroads incl. Robert Pfeiffer. Together with him I visited the new ‘Baugnez-museum’ and I can tell you, he was very disappointed.
I would love to hear from you.
Mike Smeets
By Mike Smeets on Jun 19, 2009 at 8:55 am
To: James Tidwell,There is a casualty list on this web site.Go to
Malmedy Massacre.US Army personnel involved in it.
Judi
By Judi Governale on Jun 19, 2009 at 5:34 pm