Cyber Hobby Peiper, SS Panzer Kommander and Ostfront Veteran he led Battle of the Bulge to breakthrough Allied forces, Ardennes, Christmas 1944. History, Joachim Peiper (January 30, 1915 - July 13, 1976) more often known as Jochen Peiper from the common German nickname for Joachim, was a senior Waffen-SS officer and commander in the Panzer campaigns of 1939-1945. By the end of his military career, Peiper was the youngest regimental colonel in the Waffen-SS, officially known as: SS-Standartenführer Joachim Peiper, 1st SS Panzer Division, Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler. Peiper was recruited into the SS-Verfügungstruppe in 1933. Sepp Dietrich reviewed his application and admitted him into the "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler " (LSSAH) honour guard regiment. Initially he served as an Adjutant on Heinrich Himmler's staff before moving onto command various Panzer units within "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler". While on Himmler's staff, Peiper met and married his wife, Sigurd, with whom he had three children: Heinrich, Elke, and Silke. Himmler was particularly fond of Jochen Peiper and took a keen interest in Peiper's ascension towards command. At age 29 Peiper was a full colonel of the Waffen-SS, well respected and a holder of one of wartime Germany's highest decorations, the Knight's Cross with Swords personally awarded to him by Adolf Hitler. Peiper was a skilled combat leader and took part in a number of major Panzer battles of the war. His men were fiercely loyal to him, regarded by many as a "charismatic leader." Peiper participated in some of the most notable battles of the war to include the two battles for Kharkov and the Kursk offensive of 1943 on the Eastern Front of Russia. Most notably, he commanded the Kampfgruppe Peiper of the LSSAH (assigned to the 6th SS Panzer Armee under Sepp Dietrich) during Operation Wacht am Rhein (Battle of the Bulge). Kampfgruppe Peiper advanced to the town of La Gleize, Belgium, before running out of fuel and coming under heavy fire from American artillery and tanks. Peiper was forced to abandon over a hundred vehicles in the town, including six Tiger II tanks, and made his way back to German lines with 800 men on foot. He was later implicated in the Malmedy Massacre of disarmed American troops, and like all SS German officers and troops, stood trial for war crimes in Allied/UN courts after WW2. Joachim Peiper was murdered by communist sympathizers in 1976, he was living in France after the war. |
|
|
|
|
|
|