Massacre at Malmedy

by Charles Whiting

Book Overview

Drive on recklessly, give no quarter and take no prisoners; everything that comes into our sights should be mown down' - Jochen Peiper. Then the machine-guns started to chatter. The massacre had... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812880277
• ISBN13: 9780812880274
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Stein & Day Paperback
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A step towards the truth

I read this when it was first published in UK before Peiper's death. It was only later I learned of that. I found the book fascinating in that "monsters" became real human beings. No better or worse than their adversaries except for one salient thing. Something which to my mind far transcends the massacre at the crossroads instigated by one of the LAH "booty Germans";and that is the persistant and almost systematic killing of Belgian civilians; women & children included, throughout the entire operation: some 140+ in all for which no one in Kampfgruppe Peiper was ever brought to book. Until this book came out I had no idea of such things. The americans NEVER mentioned it. Simultaneously, the prisoners that were actually taken were decently treated. To the extent that one of them voluntarily testified on his behalf at Peipers' "trial" - parentheses deliberate, illustrating that the delusionary and farcical aspects of "American Justice" were in place long before the O.J Simpson trial. The other interesting aspect of the trial was the devotion of Everett, Peipers' American council in defending someone who he clearly felt was innocent. Quite true as to direct involvent in the massacre. Untrue as to Peipers' level of responsibility. Noone mentions that George Fleps who fired the first round was not brought to book by the Germans themselves at any stage. The reality was that this "incident" was nothing to Peiper and his fellow commanders as this sort of thing was "routine" on the Eastern Front where as someone once put it; "the armies were angry". It was that ethos that carried over to the West - particularly amongst the denizens of the Waffen SS. At the same time one comes away with a measure of admiration for Peiper as a soldier, and I recommend Whiting's follow-on book "Peiper" which fleshes out the man plus his life and times more fully. My only criticism is the style tends towards journalese rather than a pure work of history. In that sense the book is a colourful one and a good read. But some exaggerations and colourful tales inhabit the book: hence 4 rather than 5 stars. Nevertheles, a book that needed writing!

The truth

The poster called 'reader' who claims that those americans killed were 'escaping pows' is full of it.During the Nuremberg trials Lt. Virgil Lary positively identified Pvt George Fleps as having shot GIs before any escape attempts were made.The fact that "reader" uses the German expression "amis" tells me he is probably a former Wermacht soldior, who is trying to falsify the past.Even 60 years later, there are those who cannot accept responsiblity for their terrible crimes.