Battle of The Bulge - The Malmedy Massacre (WW2 Documentary)
On 17th December 1944 Hitler’s famous ‘Last Gamble in the West’ was one day old. Leading the northernmost of his westwards thrusts through the Ardennes were the SS troops of Kampfgruppe Peiper. Blocked and slowed at every turn by determined American defenders, they exacted a horrific toll on any who fell into their hands. This is the story of just one such event during the Battle of the Bulge, which took the name of the Malmedy Massacre.
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Written References:
- D. Parker, Fatal Crossroads (2013)
- S. Remy, The Malmedy Massacre: The War Crimes Trial Controversy (2017)
- C. Whiting, Massacre at Malmedy (2007)
- J. Weingartner, Crossroads of Death (1979)
- D. Cooke, Kampfgruppe Peiper: The Race for the Meuse (2005)
General Sources:
- Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive)
- Imperial War Museum Sound Archive (IWMSA)
- US National Archives (NARA)
- British Newspaper Archive (BNA)
- The National Archives, Kew (TNA)
- Google Earth Pro & Web Versions
- Maptiler Pro (Desktop Version)
Credits:
- Research: Edwin Popken, Shane Greer & Dan Hill
- Script & Narration: Dan Hill
- Editing: Shane Greer
- Thumbnail Design: Linus Klassen
- Image Optimization: Linus Klassen
- Music & Sound Effects: Shane Greer
I met a gentleman, Harold Billows of the 285th FAOB who was a survivor of the massacre. He lived about 15 miles from me. And I also have a buddy who’s uncle was a survivor, he was an ambulance driver.
My Dad served in a AAA unit and was very close to this chaos. He knew two fellas murdered in the massacre. Your excellent presentation here clarified this battle better than anything I've seen.
Many thanks to your dad. If you want for men like can we would enjoy the freedom that we have today.
My Uncle and his bubby escaped the massacre.
@@user-hu4lv2ml4q many thanks to your dad if it wasn’t for heroes like him we wouldn’t enjoy the freedom we have today.
@@Americanpatriot-zo2tkwe are losing our country. If we didn’t side with Russia we wouldn’t live in a cesspool of corruption and immigrants in every former first world country. Also, saying soldiers were “murdered” in open war discredits the Americans that died. They were bested in a war of brothers. Crying over “murder”… your ancestors are flipping in their graves
Malmedy and Stavelot are names famous to most Formula One motor racing fans (Spa-Francorchamps race track), however I dare to doubt if most of them are familiar with this tragic background to the area. Rest in peace to those who lost their lives. Thank you for the video and for keeping the lost souls alive by remembering them. 💔
4:24 the modern track made it into the video, bottom left of the frame
What a superbly made video, the detail and research is fantastic, clear narration without overbearing music, just a thoroughly great production.
Wow, thank you!
My father served there then (Us 3rd Army 687th FAB).... He missed the Massacre by hours... They had passed thru there shortly before this happened...... He always just referred to "The crossroads Massacre"......Ot just "the crossroads"....
Very high quality documentary. Pacing, editing, voiceover all superb. Modern map overlay is fantastic and really brings to life the actual location. Subscribed for future productions👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
I love the mapping technology used in these videos. I miss this kind of connection in books with flat black and white maps. Keep up the great work!
I'm really enjoying your videos on specific battles..l am 64 and have always been interested in WW2..I'm extremely proud to say that my dad landed on Omaha beach on Dday..he said it was horrendous..they were being picked off before they even reached the beach due to the tides the landing craft couldn't get any further so they had to wade in in neck high water holding their guns and ammo over their heads..but you obviously knew that already..proud of mom too..she worked in a munitions factory. 🇬🇧💞✝️🙏👍🇺🇸
Wow! My dad served in the Pacific and I was so blessed to go to many of his Navy reunions and meet the great people he served with. I taught history and always wanted to meet someone who had been on the beaches on DDay. One day in a Goodwill in San Antonio I saw an old man with a cap that said D-Day. I couldn't believe it and I asked him if he had actually been there. He said yes and I got so excited, telling him how much I had always wanted to meet a survivor. As I animatedly talked to him people started stealing glances, thinking he was some celebrity. To me he was better than any celebrity! With tears in his eyes he said, "Young lady. I'm 84 years old and I lost my wife six years ago. I never dreamed of remarrying but if you weren't so young, I'd ask you to marry me right now. Thank you for making me feel like life matters." I wanted to cry and I regret not getting his information so that I could have called to check on him. This was about fifteen years ago. I lost my dad ten years ago. Not a day goes by that I am not proud of his service as you are of your dad's. The Greatest Generation
@rebecajohnston1135 .Thank you for your lovely reply..its great that we are proud of our parents generation..what they went through for 6 yrs from '39 to '45 was awful..l lost my dad to cancer in 79 when l was just 19 yrs old..l was a 'daddy's girl' and grew up following him wherever he went whatever he did..so l grew up being able to put up shelves..decorate..created cement paths..a patio with 2 x 2 slabs..l tiled my kitchen and bathrooms myself 😂 my parent raised 3 very self sufficient girls..they were l suppose ahead of the game there.. my dad was stationed over here 🇬🇧 doing specialist training and met mom on a blind date..6 months later they got married on 17th Feb 1944.. dad had 2 days leave then went back to training..little did he know it was for DDAY.. my mom moved to USA as a 'G I Bride'.. but came back 5 yrs later to look after her mom.. who actually didn't go to her wedding because she was marrying "a yank'.. however over the next 4 years my wonderful dad was fantastic in helping to look after my nan..l obviously wasn't born then..but after 6 months she turned to my mom and said Sylvia l was so wrong you have a good man there..!! In all my years l never heard my dad call her by her name..he ALWAYS called her Honey.. we moved back to the states in the early 70's as it was rather grim here in the UK..but after 7 yrs came back ..it was meant to be as 2 yrs later we lost my wonderful daddy.. l lost my mom in 2002 after looking after her with Alzheimers for 7 yrs..l miss them so very much but know when it's my turn they'll be there waiting for me ready to give me a big hug...🇬🇧💕💕🙏✝️👍👏🇺🇸
Isn’t it horrific what took place in this video? SMH!
Great video. Didn’t know of this event which took place in my own country. Forever grateful.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic production , narrating , editing. Overall an amazing video from a brilliant channel !
Wow, really appreciate that Josh, thanks very much!
The actor Charles Durning was one of the few who survived the massacre. He was also the only one from his landing craft to survive the first wave of Omaha.
Jeffbosworth8116: I always liked Charles Durning, a great actor in my opinion. I would always watch anything he appeared in, knowing it would be good.
Bull..... it is well documentedthat the order was given to EXECUTE THE USA troops and that was not Peiper's only war crime.... " In 1949, a US Senate investigation concluded that in the thirty-six-day Battle of the Bulge the soldiers of Kampfgruppe Peiper murdered between 538 and 749 U.S. POWs,[13] other investigations claimed that the Waffen-SS killed fewer U.S. POWs, and put the figure of the dead as being between 300 and 375 US soldiers and 111 civilians executed by the Kampfgruppe Peiper.[14][15] And the sentences were not commuted due to ameican war crimes on the prisoners here is an excerpt from an article which summarizes the commuted sentences very well From The Washington Examiner. "The Truth, and Untruth, of a German Atrocity by Gabriel Schoenfeld June 13, 2017 10:50 AM.....excerpt below investigates the commuting of sentences " "As Everett and like-minded personages floated their accounts of German prisoners subjected to physical abuse, stories began to appear in various quarters of the American press. On the left, the Christian Century reported that American interrogators had employed "torture, both physical and mental," so cruel "as even the Nazi sadists never surpassed." The Progressive regaled its liberal readers with tales of "American Atrocities in Germany," as one of its articles was titled. On the right, Regnery published Freda Utley's The High Cost of Vengeance: How Our German Policy Is Leading Us to Bankruptcy and War (1949). One of the book's thrusts was to liken the depredations of American interrogators-those, in particular, with Jewish surnames like Kirschbaum and Metzger-to the crimes of Heinrich Himmler, Martin Bormann, "and other Nazi bullies." It did not take long for the story to seep into the mainstream media and central institutions. Time hailed Everett for revealing abuses that "read like a record of Nazi atrocities." In the House, Rep. John Rankin (D-Miss.) declared that "a racial minority" was hanging not only German soldiers but also "trying to hang German businessmen, in the name of the United States." In the Senate, Joseph McCarthy, then a freshman, explained that the American interrogators from Fort Ritchie "did intensely hate the German people as a race." They were, he said, "men whose wives were in concentration camps," operating as a "vengeance team." The problem with all of this is that the allegations of abuse were false. Remy meticulously pursues the origins of the torture reports to a coordinated campaign devised by the SS defendants themselves while awaiting trial. He also reviews the numerous official inquiries prompted by Everett's insistent accusations, all of which turned up nothing resembling torture or any other form of illicit coercion. Colonel Everett's claim that the defendants "were given severe and frequent beatings and other corporal punishments" was based upon no evidence other than the statements of the SS men themselves. There had been no physical abuse. It was all a tissue of lies, tinged with anti-Semitism. Those accusing the Jews of operating on the basis of racial hatred were themselves driven by that base force. Truth always prevails, goes the saying. It did not prevail in this case; instead, the fake news won. One of Remy's contributions is to demonstrate that more than a few reputable historians of World War II have failed to do their spadework and accepted a pernicious myth as fact. He does not shrink from naming names and citing chapter and verse. Far more important, justice was not done. By 1957, all the SS murderers behind the Malmedy massacre were set free. None of the death sentences was carried out. The only retribution for the murder of American servicemen came decades later in less-than-perfect form: Joachim Peiper, the ranking SS officer responsible for the atrocity, was assassinated in 1976 by unknown assailants believed to be former members of the French Resistance. BTW. that bit of research took all of five minutes..take your flimsy bull somewhere else and read the article BTW the trial was held in Dachau prison 1945 to 1947....by then the inmates had been liberated and there is some discussion the American troops were so enraged by what they saw they did execute some of the camp guards and allowed inmates to beat others to death.Considering the circumstances no war crimes were charged...justifiable homicide after seeing dachau...very one of those germans at Malmedyshould have been executed and all of Germany, man, woman and child were complicit in the war crimes of the second world war...germans wore clothes and shoes from the jews for years after the war while the Marshal Plan rebuilt Germany financed and implemented by the USA and USA businesses. Germany got off light. It should have been broken into hundreds of small countries none bigger than Switzerland. It's not done yet. George Soros an old nazi is still financing chaos just like he did in world War two selling the possessions of jews sent to be gassed for a commission from the third reich ..... l@@williamzk9083
I never knew that about Durning, thanks. I liked him as an actor and now I like him as an American GI
I've read that but I've never seen any corroborating evidence. The fact is the Germans were busy killing American prisoners in a number of places. The lowest estimate is over 300 were murdered. US Army units involved in the Battle of the Bulge exacted their vengeance. The most notorious act of revenge was on New Years day when an estimated 80 German prisoners were reportedly murdered by members of the 11th Armored Division at Chenogne, Belgium. Patton heard about it and wrote in his diaries that he hoped news of it would not get out. It did and Eisenhower was furious. He demanded an investigation, but nothing much ever came of it. To the victors go the spoils. All else gets buried in the fog of war.
His life was protected by a higher poiwer...
I was at the massacre site in June. It was a humbling experience
And why?
And why what Kal? Self-centered child!
@@TC-dw6wg Too stupid to understand? Not my problem.
Mel Brooks served with the 78th Infantry Division as a forward artillery observe in Belgium during the Bulge. He later transferred to the engineers locating land minds. Another actor you'd never think was a badass was Jackie Coogan, better known as Uncle Fester on the Adams Family. He graduated from glider pilot school then volunteered for hazardous duty. He was assigned to the 1st Air Commando Group and sent to India where he flew in British Commandoes under Gen. Orde Wingate in their night invasion of Burma. Once a glider is down, the pilot and co-pilot, if they survive or are uninjured, then have to go on and fight with the troops ( D-Day excluded). Hats off to all the brave men.
I hate autocorrect. It's LAND MINE not Land minds.
A great video that really clarifies how KG Peiper crashed headfirst into the guys of Battery 'B' of the 285th FAOB!
Thank you for another excellent video. You are to be congratulated on the quality of these presentations and the clarity and detail they contain which enables the viewer to properly follow the story you tell. The maps and graphics are particularly helpful. Thanks again.
Thank you very much!
@@BattleGuideVT you are a liar because the allies and the reds killed much more innocent people!!!!
Such an underrated channel, well put together and scripted
Who "underrated" it?
I’m still amazed at how great quality you produce.. Keep it up 👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks very much!
Gotta love self-centered comments!
@@TC-dw6wg … Well don’t post them 🙄
Great video. I love your productions. It’s also important for us to remember that awful atrocities like this were a daily occurrence on the Eastern Front - by all sides. War is awful.
My dad was 101st and he told me that as word of the malmedy massacre got out, battlefield revenge was a factor in the victory of the Battle of the Bulge and beyond. Please don’t misunderstand, it wasn’t an “eye for an eye” type revenge, but the intense anger and the will to defeat the enemy. Why Peiper kampfgruppen had their sentences commuted he never talked about but I surmise the vigilante justice that eventually caught up to Peiper himself may have come from French civilians. The ruthless and barbaric method of attacking villages and people with flame throwers was Peiper kampfgruppen signature method of killing and his death was an “eye for an eye” justice.
Peiper fought in Russia with great skill, he was highly decorated, and there his units often killed Russian POWs, it was a common practice on the Eastern front --civilians were often killed as well, many civilians were killed by Germans during the battle of the Bulge
loved the graphics, a really well made video and I thoroughly enjoyed it... well done Boss
Much appreciated!
My uncle Del, who was in Patton’s 7th Army, told my parents, news of the Malmedy massacre, quickly went viral through the American Army. They knew it was SS that had committed the murders. He said they did not take SS prisoner after that, but killed them on the spot if they attempted to surrender.
Patton commanded the 3rd Army
7th pre D Day, 3rd post D Day.
So what had been their excuse for killing prisoners in Lorraine, Normandy and Sicily beforehand? Face it: Americans and German SS had a similar track record when it came to treatment of prisoners of war:- 1) Bit nasty in Western Europe. 2) Unspeakable in the East: SS with Russians; ‘Murcans with Japanese (and later, Koreans, Vietnamese, Eye-raqis and so forth) That’s always amazed me. The Germans produced Goethe, Schiller and Brahms; the USA produced… err… Walt Disney. But give them a gun and power over the helpless and both behave like sociopaths. I suspect it’s down to the racism. The Germans appear to have changed, thankfully.
@@user-bf2cv9xo7x7th army was under Patch next to 3rd army territory.
lol
Brilliant docu! Love the use of maps, and explaining movements of troups ect
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very well done, one of the best I've seen on this atrocity.
Amazing video!! Wow what a great job you did here! Keep up the great work!🤘🏻🤘🏻
My grandfather was in the 23rd Regiment, 2nd Division, and was wounded the first day of the Bulge. He got back to the front in late January, 1945, and said that his unit never took another SS prisoner alive.
spoiler: they were killing regular german surrendered soldiers long before Malmedy ever happened.
americans committed atrocious crimes too, all way to the Vietnam wars
Fantastic work. Might I suggest you put a North arrow in the map perspective to help the viewer. I have been to Malmady several times but that would help me to orient. Thanks again for the excellent work!
Tha ks very much, re the arrow, we are working on it but its tricky with a dynamic screen, hopefully coming soon!
@@BattleGuideVT In some programs like Google Earth you can draw a few colored lines on the ground surface, a simple arrow, maybe an N for north.
this is the greatest effort ever put by historians...World class documenting 👍
This is incredibly well made and narrated. Really enjoyed watching!
I always enjoy your content and appreciate the work you put into it. As an American, thanks for this video.
No problem, thanks for taking the time to watch!
This undoubtedly cost a lot of Germans their lives too - due to the outrage from our guys finding dead bodies unarmed prisoners
Yet those are never spoken of. They will say "the horrors of war scared their minds so they commited these atrocities"
@@jeramysamarawickrama7633the Chenogne massacre is well documented. And although not correct and definitely a war crime.the German army had a childish mindset that they could fuck around with everyone else and not face any revenge. If you go around shooting prisoners in fields, you set the tone for how your enemy might treat you.
@@jeramysamarawickrama7633 Committing and defending systematic genocide tends to make people feel no sympathy towards you.
@@CoyoteBrandChili you know your justifying war crimes yourself now. Your doing the classic "they started it"
@@jeramysamarawickrama7633lol no I didn't. I just said I don't feel much sympathy for people who enact and defend genociding other people.
Love your videos man, such high quality. You need more subscribers
Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it! Do feel free to share, it's really helpful! :)
Big with my history! This channel hits differently compared to others! Brilliant stuff!
Thanks for watching Darty!
A fantastic video. I will be there in the New Year to see where this horrible act was committed
Thanks very much mate, its a great spot to visit!
This is an excellent portrayal of the events. Would you be willing to do a couple of videos on the defense put up by the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion that so frustrated Pieper, and the remarkable stand made at the Battle of Lanzerath Ridge the day prior by an 18-man reconnaissance platoon and four forward observers. From what I've read it was their actions that forced Pieper to seek an alternate route that unfortunately led them past Malmedy.
Hi Paladin, we covered the I&R action at Lanzerath some time ago, there is a video here on YT :)
@@BattleGuideVT Thanks, I'll look it up.
@@michaelpielorz9283 No, because I've never heard of an American general who ever said that. It would be a good way to get fired.
This is very well done. Kudos to you for also pronouncing German and French names/words properly. (It's a pet peeve of mine to hear "Reich" with a /k/ sound in the end.) Cheers and Happy New Year from Vietnam.
Hmm. The French is passable; the German is dreadful. I take it you don’t speak the latter?
@@robertcottam8824where did I go wrong with the German (we have German team members who didn't raise anything)? Did I mispronounce something? I do speak French btw.
Thanks very much!
The 291st Engineer Battalion is mentioned in this documentary. There is a great book “First Across The Rhine” about them. They did so much damage to the road and bridge network that the German Tigers needed to reach Antwerp that the German general staff referred to them as “those damned engineers.”
There is also a book called 'The Damned Engineers" by Janice Holt that recounts the history of the 291st.
Letting you hear it, thanks for an outstanding job on making this. The script and editing is well done, and you got the point across. I know about making docs and the detail and work efforts.
I worked with a guy who's father was an a intelligence officer during the war. One day he brought some of his fathers war booty that was handed down to him. He must have over a hundred rings. Some were regular army units but most were SS units. I always wondered if they were from executed prisnors or not.
lol
I think one of the reasons the executions weren't carried out was because it had come to light that the Americans had committed at least a couple of massacres on German troops in retaliation for Malmedy. It had been kept secret and they didn't it to come out.
The Americans committed a lot more than “a couple” of massacres of German soldiers. There were about a hundred cases where the Americans killed German POWs after they had surrendered. One time in 1976, I met a guy about 50 years old, who was in the US army during the Battle of the Bulge. He said that one time they trapped 33 German soldiers inside a French church. The Americans ordered them all to come out with their hands up. The German soldiers came out and were searched for guns before the Americans killed them all. And in 1991, a different old man who was in the Battle of the Bulge told me that every time the Americans took any prisoners, the sergeants and lieutenants would tell their men to march the prisoners to the trucks and drive them to a POW camp. The problem was that there were never any trucks. Whenever they said that-it was just code for killing the prisoners!
@@georgewolfiii1170 Oh, I agree but I meant they had a couple of massacres of over a hundred prisoners at a time in direct response to Malmedy and they had been ordered not to take any Nazi SS prisoners, but they executed regular Wehrmacht prisoners as well, many of them being young boys. General Patton had an entry in his diary where he said that he had heard of the killings and hoped that it would not get out.
lol
@@keithday3658 Imbecile
@georgewolfiii1170 mu uncle said they killed all and Hitler youth same way March then back be back in 5 minutes, code for excute them. He said they nothing you could do with them they were brainwashed. My step grandfather said same thing.
German field marshall von ruhstead was furious and went into a rage when he caught wind of what happened.He told his officers that by doing that,the americans would fight to the death,and would fight with a stick if they had to.He said that action was the biggest mistake the germans made on the western front.He knew many german soldiers would also meet the same fate.
Absolutely superb video mate,just to let EVERYONE know,this was about Malmedy,not anything else ffs. 🙄🙄😡😡
Excellent put mate....Good young man ....
Excellent documentary. Thank you for revealing the truth of this horrible WW2 event.
Thanks for the great vids and helping preserve history.
Thanks for watching!
I am blown away by the attention to detail and thought you put into this video! Wow amazing!! Love it
The wheels of Justice grind exceedingly slow.
Thanks for an interesting and informative video.
Glad you thought so, thanks for taking the time to watch Simon.
My Dad was in the Ardennes. I think of him in the mud and snow. God bless the Fallen.
My dear father served with 1 ST Army, 30TH Division, European Civil Affairs and was in the thick of combat from D + 3 , Hurtgen Forrest and the Bulge. He was surrounded for 6 weeks during the terrible winter and barely survived until Patton arrived...The terrible Nazi soldiers were NOT taking prisoners and his "H" (for Hebrew) dog tags would have made him a candidate for an unpleasant death if captured. GOD BLESS all of the American and Allied soldiers who served us then and now...
Yet another amazing video. The truth must always be told however old that truth is. Justice must always be seen to be carried out. Thank you for keeping their memory alive 🙏
I enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up
Awesome thank you!
A friend of mine was one of the soldiers in the 291st Engineers who had to clean up the bodies from the Malmedy Massacre. He was upset at the way a 2nd Lieutenant was handling the the dead soldiers. He was also involved in blowing up the bridges to stop the German Panzer column at Stavelot.
Prove it
lol
My father moved into that area soon after that event and from then on on he didn't take any prisoners!
This, an other incidents, convince me that the US military and government don't care at all for their soldiers. Even US POWs held in horrible conditions and forced slavery in Japan were not able to sue the Japanese companies that abused them. That right had been given away to the Japanese immediately after the war.
Yours is an asinine conclusion.
Surrender to an army already known for its brutality is a death sentence
Malmedy miatt nagy hírverést tudtatok csinálni, bezzeg arról nincs szó, hogy az Atlanti-falban védekező, magukat megadó katonákat egyszerűen legyilkolták, nem ejtettek foglyokat! De ugye, "A történelmet mindig a győztesek írják."
Thank you
Good video, so around 6:30 in the video, the Lt Col was quoted and the voice read what was quoted, not to be picky, but I wonder if the guy had a southern accent? Just asking🤷🏻♂️
Great story, really well told, thanks! The 'actor' narratives can be a bit much, tho, they're narratives, written by the original person to describe original events, and not a play.
Love the video, got some feedback if you don’t mind. I couldn’t help but notice the edited photo of Pfc. Mario Butera at 12:00. It seems like it’s been upscaled but kinda looks a bit too cartoonish and “plastic”.
Thanks very much, glad you liked the video and we will certainly take that on board 👍
@@BattleGuideVT Great stuff man, thanks so much for the content.
Such disturbing times ,respectfully presented
My father PFC Headquarters Company First Battalion JO5 Parachute Regiment 82 Airborne Division WWII. When I brought up a question about this massacre he was visible disturbed. I never brought it up again and wished I hadn't brought it up at all. What he said was, "A lot of innocent Germans died because of that." My study of the history revealed that we gave no quarter in response. I pass no judgement.
wow! superbly done video,
Thank you very much!
Pieper got his reward
No one talks about german soldiers who was murderer by allied troops. Both sides comitted warcrimes.
Yes, Chenogne a short while later. The American troops who carried that out were just regular armored division troops.
no Adolf no war.
Theres a few videos on KZhead. Especially Patrons treatment of German POWs in concentration "death camps'.
They do though? Even Hollywood movies ect show this. Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, Fury. All show U.S. soldiers killing surrendered soldiers
But it acts like this that the spurred allies to do it in revenge. The SS fucked around and found out during the war. There is a difference between an I’ll disciplined soldier taking his rage out on a prisoner (still completely wrong) and force marching a large group into a field that has a pre organised machine gun there.
You should do a video on the Canadians executing prisoners of war from the 12 SS Hitler Jugend...
Hi Marc, is that something you'd like to see?
@BattleGuideVT Yes, I'm really interested in the psychology of men in combat. There is a reason for what they do, combatants on all sides do this.
@@BattleGuideVT Yes, I think it would make a great video just like this one. The massacre occurred on June 7, 1944 near the town of Authie in Normandy near an abbey. The perpetrators were the 12th SS Panzer Hitlerjugend Division under the command of Colonel Kurt Meyer. The victims were over 150 Canadians of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, 27th Armored Regiment (Sherbrooke Fusiliers), Royal Winnipeg Rifles & possibly a couple of British prisoners. They were supposed to be transported as POW's but somehow a decision was made by Meyer to execute them instead and conceal it. His future was similar to Peipers in the sense that he was tried after the war, but did little time for the crime and even worked for Coca-Cola in France and or Germany after the war, much to the chargrin and protests of many citizens. I believe it would make an outstanding video such as this one.
So hard to watch. Such brutality we inflict on one another. War is truly an evil means to have peace.
This is really an excellent documentary. I appreciate the superb maps, the timeline, and the colored dots. It is a travesty that the cold-blooded, brutal war criminals got off virtually Scot free. Their brutality had the unintended consequence of stiffening US resolve and this probably contributed indirectly to the failure of the Ardennes Offensive. It’s said that US troops showed less mercy for captured SS after the massacre. I wonder if Peiper really died in the fire or if that was staged so he could disappear.
As my Army drill sergeant kept saying, "Sooner or later it all comes around." It does.
Such Malmedys were an everyday reality in Eastern Front starting from 1939 but just some singles came to popular knowledge and western interest.
Agree. There is much about the eastern front that needs to be taught in the west. Not just that, but how Russia contributed to the defeat of the third Reich.
The history of the world. Why do you think I was told in the US Army as an enlisted man in the 1960s to never surrender? The answer, to my knowledge and belief, not one captured US enlisted man in the US Army in Vietnam was released by the NVA or the Viet Cong from captivity. Conversely, NVA and Viet Cong prisoners were turned over to the South Vietnamese and imprisoned.
I read 3 US POWs were released at some point in the Vietnam war for propaganda reasons, they were captured in battle and held prisoner for a time then released, can't give you more details yet
My stepfather served in the Fifth Division, Third Army. He said Americans routinely executed German prisoners if circumstances demanded it, although they were usually sent to the rear. They didn't have any particular hatred of the Germans, who they regarded as good soldiers. He said they didn't rob German prisoners, but would trade with them. For example, he traded two drinks of whiskey with a prisoner for his Nazi Wound Badge.
How is this possible? Murderers, all of them...
i would be interested into an investigation into allied war crimes in the interest of justice and even-handedness
I've actually read the book gi journal it's the published letters and the journal of a sergeant in the 291st I highly recommend it
You left out the part about Stephen Ambrose in "Band of Brothers" documenting the 101st ABN's unprovoked execution of German POWS at Normandy. I served with a former corporal who jumped into Normandy as a member of the 101st and he told me about his personal experience witnessing the shooting of German POWs. Payback is always a Motha.
Hello, which part of this video about the Malmedy Massacre do you feel that relates to?
@@BattleGuideVTThe trigger of the shooting is still debated today, some accounts claim the Americans disarmed some of the SS and attempted a breakout. The scene was depicted in Saints and Soldiers
The video is not about contrasting war atrocities, so it's unclear how an entirely separate story about the war was "left out" of this one. it's not as though any of this is unknown to even the average amateur historian of the war, much less to professional historians, or is hidden in some way. There ARE videos about "Allied executions of German POWs," if you're really interested. Just try that as a search term...you'll see.
1 can spend so much time over the years addicted to WWII with so much info you forget certain things.. I was certain he fought to the death & was killed in battle, I know that all his tank groups were mauled & very few survived. This video says "100's of vehicles abandoned?" in any case many did run out of fuel & were sitting ducks for 3rd army & tank busters.
What "he" are you talking about?
no time to take prisoners. charles durning got away
In a war like this, it has always been, don't play it with us here, as superior morals and supposedly righteous humanitarians, the Americans, French and mainly the English did the same many years before the world war.
In which war have the English behaved worse than the Americans, Germans or French, poppet? Saying something doesn’t make it true. 💋
never forgotton Ritchie
Sad event and prayers to the lost young Americans, but the sad part is that all countries did this type of stuff, there is not a country in the war that don't have a few bad actions in their history. A good reason we don't need any more war.
Oh please. The "everyone did it" excuse for the Nazis. The Germans didn't have a few bad apples - it was institutionalised.
Tragic video and loss of life.
It's unconscionable infuriating and disgusting that none of these murders faced justice.
Did the bomber crews that fire bombed millions of German civilians face justice? I don’t think so….neither side can really point fingers. 50,000 dead in the bombing of Hamburg in 3 days. That side of the story seems to slip the mind
Every thing in this video for the most part is corroborated by actual printed histories, a very thorough presentation. One item is incorrect though at the beginning he mentioned 3 Panzer Armies were involved in the offensive. There were 3 German Armies involved but only 2 were Panzer. The Fifth Panzer and 6th SS Panzer. The other army was the German 7th. A good source for this is "No Time For Trumpets" written by Charles B. MacDonald, 23 Infantry, 2d Infantry Division. He also cited sources in regard to Malmedy that Peiper delegated the handling of the prisoners to a subordinate officer (i.e. Sturmbannfuhrer (equal to major) Potschke). It also verifies a shot came from the column from an unidentified soldier which led to others to open fire. Regardless if the officers didn't give the order, they were still responsible for the men under their command.
Someone did donuts in that feild!
RIP to the brave US soldiers that were victims to this war crime
Consent. Regards from Poland.
"Superior German tactics and training!"? Upon analysis, it's revealed that is a complete *lie*.
They were rather better trained than the Americans who were essentially an armed mob compared to the Germans - and Canadians, Poles, Brits and Free-French forces, for that matter. I’m their favour, there were a lot of ‘em by late ‘44. Best wishes
I often wonder what would life would be like if we had lost the war. These evil people would be in charge, good prevailed in the end. Lets us pray that nothing happens like that ever again. All those people that suffered as a result of the evil of that episode in history, my they rest in peace . ❤
Soldiers I knew from WW II said that they had heard of the massacre and were given orders to take no prisoners. They didn't.
I do not give a damn if Piper gave personally the order or not, the fact that he did nothing with the responsible officer and stayed with his men is sufficient to convict him. What the hell was he doing in France after the war ? Longing for a just punishment probably.
Lest we forget ❤
When I was stationed at Ramstein Air Base Germany, I travelled a lot through Bastogne and Luxembourg. The residents there always thanked me for the US Army and the sacrifices made so the Nazis would be defeated and their homeland protected.
Whoever did what to whom, when and why, |Malmedy was another dreadful episode of an already massive crime against humanity. Malmmedy was just yet another episode of brutality and revenge. War in itself is obscene, brutality and unhinged behaviour by people who have been normal until threatened by someone who feels the same way. With god on theior side, it justifies everything. Malmedy, is just a signature of what went on. The SS were too bloody arrogant for reasoning with. The US were too bloody sure of themselves, and in spite of it happening many times over the invasion of Nazi Europe, and retailiation committed by both sides, malmedy has become the watchword.
Amazing channel, the best conent ever. But you should really start banning and deleting the comments of the trolls. Seriously the whole page is overran by idiots.
Thanks very much, unfortunately with a subject like this we get flooded with that kind of stuff
@@BattleGuideVT What are even those people? Neonazis with multiple accounts? Edgy teenagers? Both??? If, in my wildest dreams, i ever had such a high quality historical channel as yours, i would ban them without a reply. They don't deserve this grade A free content!
Can't believe all these murders walk free
What happened to the SS officer that Peiper spoke to?
How many Americans were still alive after 2 days later,cover with snow??
And then you hear about the chenogne massacre.
Justice at last in 1974. Sad that his dog died too.
Don't forget about THE WERETH ELEVEN" !!!!
Im confused here,our troops killed prisoners also,when unable to care for them do to being in battle situations,84 is a large number,to large to excuse.im a lot older now,and no longer have romantic beliefs americans never did these acts.war is obscene.