Malmedy massacre trial

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The Malmedy massacre

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The Malmedy massacre trial (U.S. vs. Valentin Bersin, et al) was held in May–July 1946 in Dachau to try the German Waffen-SS soldiers accused of the Malmedy massacre of December 17, 1944. The highest-ranking defendant was the former SS general, Sepp Dietrich. It attracted great attention because of the nature of the crime and the later disputes about the conduct of the trial.

1 Trial
2 Verdicts and aftermath
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Trial

General Sepp Dietrich

The Malmedy massacre trial was held before the Dachau International Military Tribunal. 74 soldiers of the 1. SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" were accused of killing 77 American prisoners of war (POWs) during the Ardennes offensive.

The way this tribunal conducted its trials was criticized in Germany and in the United States. Although the occurrence of the massacre is generally not disputed, the manner in which the trial was conducted is. The defending attorney, Rudolf Aschenauer, claimed that the defendants had been tortured and forced to incriminate themselves. Also, he apparently did not receive access to the hearing documents. Later 51 soldiers submitted affidavits (in some cases identical almost to the word) in which they claimed to have been mistreated.

The defence counsel for the 73 Germans tried at Dachau was a U.S. appointed Atlanta lawyer named Willis Meade Everett Jr. He later submitted a report to the U.S. Supreme Court and to the U.S. Army in which he alleged that the defendants had been subject to mock trials and tortured in order to extract confessions.

On July 29, 1948 an Army commission headed by Gordon Simpson of the Texas Supreme Court was set up to review the records. The commission corroborated Everett in regards to the mock trials and did neither confirm nor dispute the torture allegations. (Time Magazine, Jan. 17, 1949)

[edit] Verdicts and aftermath

On July 16, 1946 the verdict was delivered on 73 members of the Kampfgruppe Peiper.

43 sentenced to death by hanging
22 sentenced to life imprisonment
2 sentenced to 20 years imprisonment
1 sentenced to 15 years imprisonment
5 sentenced to 10 years imprisonment
the commander of the unit, Colonel Joachim Peiper, was sentenced to death by hanging. His request for death by firing squad was denied.

The sentences were commuted at the behest of a U.S. Senate armed services subcommittee led by Senator Robert Taft. In no case was a death penalty carried out.