The Malmedy Massacre and the Wereth Eleven

[Kaptlt.Endrass]

Researching the Battle of the Bulge, I came across the two massacres that are the title of this thread. The Malmedy Massacre occurred during the opening phases of the battle. Elements of the US 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion were captured by Kampfgruppe Peiper of the 1st SS Pander Division. Some time thereafter, the POWs were put into an open field for no apparent reason when the German troops opened fire and killed 84 of them. Survivors say that they don't think the order came from Joachim Peiper, as they had been treated almost on the same level as the German troops. A survivor even defended Peiper at his trial after the war.

The Wereth 11 massacre took place in a small village one km from St.Vith, where eleven African-American troops from the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion were killed after surrendering by other elements of the First SS.


I think that this just goes to show that there are different types of people on each side of a war. Peiper, a Eastern Front vet, tried his best to treat the American prisoners well, whereas whoever gave that order to open fire was not. Let all these men rest in peace. They died to keep this world free.