Traves

One of the most well known and mythical officers of the Waffen-SS is undoubtedly SS-Standartenführer Joachim (Jochen) Peiper. Peiper was a highly decorated military commander who quickly rose in the ranks for his accomplishments on both the eastern and western front, but his military career was also marked by various war crimes. Especially during the German Ardenner offensive in the winter of 44/45, 17 December 1944, when his unit, Kampfgruppe Peiper, was involved in the massacre of 84 American prisoners of war at Baugnez on, better known as the massacre at Malmedy. This massacre was not the only one that Peiper and his units were involved in, massacres also occurred on civilians during the Ardenner offensive.

After the war Peiper was arrested and between May and July 1946 Peiper and 74 other members of the SS-Leibstandarde Adolf Hitler (in which Kampfgruppe Peiper was included) were put on trial for massacres committed during the Ardenner offensive. Peiper and 42 other defendants were sentenced to death. But the trial had been marked by irregularities and it all turned into a political debate in the United States. Therefore, the death sentences were first converted into life imprisonment and later rendered in a release of all. Peiper was the last to be released in December 1956.

In 1957 Peiper got a job at the car company Porsche and quickly gor promoted. But his past was a burden to him, which meant that a future career in the company wasn’t possible. Peiper sued Porsche in 1960 but entered into an agreement where he received financial compensation in exchange for termination. Peiper, however, had a good network of contacts consisting of former SS members who helped him to a position within first Volkswagen and then the motor magazine Auto, motor und sport. In the early sixties there were a number of major lawsuits against the former SS members for war crimes, especially the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 brought war crimes into light.

People like Peiper were once again in the headlines regarding their actions during the war. This time it was not only about Malmedy but also other suspicions were directed against Peiper. He was suspected of being responsible for the deportation of Jews from northern Italy. In 1972 Peiper felt he had no future in West Germany and decided to move to his house in eastern France together with his wife. The house, just under 100 square meters, Peiper had bought with the help of good friends (formerly SS members) in the early sixties. It was in a hidden place in a wooded area just outside a sleepy little village called Traves.

Peiper hoped that the move to France would bring calm around his person and he even registered himself in his real name. Initially, he lived undisturbed, he socialized with his German neighbors, received visits from his adult children and former comrades-in-war. He supported himself partly on his pension and partly on various freelance jobs, including by translating books. However, Peiper never came to regret or make up with his past. But the calm lasted only two years, in 1974 it became common knowledge that he lived in Traves. In June 1976, Peiper received direct death threats from communist groups and he decided to send his wife back to Germany.

On the night of July 13 to 14, Peiper’s house was attacked by one or more attackers who threw firebombs. The house was ignited and a minor exchange of shots took place. The result of the attack was that Peiper died and the later autopsy showed smoke in the lungs and that he was shot in the chest. Although the house did not burn down to the ground, it was more or less destroyed. The subsequent police investigation never managed to find the culprits but they are believed to be communists or former French resistance fighters. After the police investigation, the house was left to its fate, which quickly began to become an integral part of nature.