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Originally posted by AndyW:
The responsible NCO was SS-Sturmbannführer Werner Plötschke, carrier of the Oak leaves to the KC. Most probably the U.S. POW's were executed to free up the SS-men guarding the U.S. POW's for a further advance.
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Sturmbannführer Werner Pötschke, Kommandeur I./SS-PzRgt 1 "LSSAH", had nothing to do with Baugnez. He was a convenient scapegoat for his former comrades who stood trial for Malmédy because he was killed in action in March 1945 and thus could not defend himself.
Quote:
Originally posted by AndyW:
Details on this crime can be found in Volker Riess' study: "Malmedy - Verbrechen, Justiz und Nachkriegspolitik" ("Malmedy - Crime, Justice and post-war politics") in: W.Wette/G. Ueberschaer: "Kriegsverbrechen im 20. Jahrhundert" ("War Crimes in the XX. Century"), 2001, pp. 247-258, with more examples of mass executions commited by LSSAH during the Campaign in the Ardennes (Baugenz, LaGleize, Stavelot).
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
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All very nice sources but all very much based on the "findings" of the American and Belgian prosecutors who tried to prove the alleged orders from LSSAH high command to shoot all prisoners. De decision for this was made under pressure from the home front, which wanted revenge and were hardly interested in the real killers.
This was a big mistake. The decision to make up an order to kill all prisoners kept them from doing fact based research to find the real criminals, which means that 60 years later we still don't know what happened. Those who were responsible for the massacre might have been among those we were tried, but if they were this was a coincidence because they simply tried everybody who could be linked with the LSSAH at the time.
On the other hand the SS veterans who do know what happened keep their mouth shut. Because they feel it would not make a difference. Their wartime comrades were tried and sentenced to death in 1948, despite the fact that most were innocent and if they bring out the truth it would not make a difference because public opinion had decided, based on the absurd 1948 Malmédy trial, that LSSAH was a bunch of murderers. Nobody would believe them anyway.