Beginning Of The End: The Leadership Of SS Obersturmbannführer Jochen Peiper PDF
Preview Beginning Of The End: The Leadership Of SS Obersturmbannführer Jochen Peiper
This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING— www.picklepartnerspublishing.com To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – [email protected] Or on Facebook Text originally published in 2004 under the same title. © Pickle Partners Publishing 2013, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder. Publisher’s Note Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit. We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible. BEGINNING OF THE END: THE LEADERSHIP OF SS OBERSTURMBANNFÜHRER JOCHEN PEIPER by HAN BOUWMEESTER, MAJ, ROYAL NETHERLANDS ARMY M.A., Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2000 TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ACRONYMS TABLES ILLUSTRATION CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION Preamble Research Questions Research Methodology Thesis Structure Limitations, Explanations, and Basic Assumptions CHAPTER 2 — LOYALTY IS MY HONOR Preamble History of the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS and the German Army Leadership in the German Army and the Waffen-SS The Climate of the Waffen-SS Training of the Waffen-SS The Special Place of the Leibstandarte -SS within the Waffen-SS Analysis CHAPTER 3 — THE POSTERBOY Preamble Peiper’s Early Life Peiper’s War Experience up to October 1944 The Relationship with Himmler His Decorations His Family Life His Personality and Way of Leading Analysis CHAPTER 4 — AUTUMN 1944 Preamble The Leibstandarte and Peiper’s regiment Hitler’s Plan for the Offensive The Last Preparations Other Commanders in the Leibstandarte Analysis CHAPTER 5 — PEIPER’S ADVANCE Preamble 16 December 1944 17 December 1944 18 December 1944 19 December 1944 20 December 1944 21 December 1944 22 December 1944 23 December 1944 24 to 26 December 1944 Analysis CHAPTER 6 — FINAL REMARKS Preamble Summarizing analysis Conclusion Discussion and Recommendations Closing notes REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER APPENDIX A — MAP OF UKRAINE APPENDIX B — MAP OF UNTERNEHMEN “WACHT AM RHEIN” REFERENCE LIST ABSTRACT BEGINNING OF THE END: THE LEADERSHIP OF SS OBERSTURMBANNFÜHRER JOCHEN PEIPER, by Han Bouwmeester. SS Obersturmbannführer Jochen Peiper was one of Germany’s most colorful military commanders of World War II with a reputation for conducting extremely daring operations. The name Peiper will always be linked to the Malmédy Massacre, the death of Belgian civilians and more than seventy American soldiers. Peiper at the very young age of twenty-nine had been chosen to lead the spearhead unit (Kampfgruppe Peiper) during the Battle of the Bulge, the German offensive through the Ardennes in December 1944. Peiper commanded a platoon up to a regiment within the Leibstandarte, one of the most elite divisions within the Waffen-SS. He was an exponent of the tough SS leadership. Peiper was charismatic and extreme loyal to his unit. He was also a smart independent thinker. His men trusted him as a leader, even under the most extreme conditions. It was a logical decision that Peiper became the commander of the spearhead unit, but there were factors other than leadership leading to this decision, such as tactical considerations and a “we-know-what to-expect”-principle. Last but not least, Peiper was lucky that he was still serving in the Leibstandarte in December 1944. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “Beginning of the End” is the title of this Master in Military Art and Science (MMAS) thesis on the leadership of SS Obersturmbannführer Jochen Peiper. The Battle of the Bulge was indeed the turning point in Peiper’s life. In the years prior to this operation Peiper was heroic and a very popular German tactical commander. He became Germany’s poster boy, but that changed dramatically after the Battle of the Bulge: Peiper was accused of committing war crimes at Malmédy without real hard evidence. He was sentenced to death; later changed into life imprisonment. Finally, he spent almost ten years in prison in solitary confinement. After release he was not able to make a living in Germany. He was disappointed and went to France, where he has been murdered by what is believed French communists. It is still very sensitive to study the leadership of a Waffen-SS officer, who was sentenced to death. Many people see Peiper only as a representative of a very evil organization. I can imagine that. There is a very dark side to Peiper’s leadership. Nevertheless, World War II took place more than sixty years ago. The time has come to reflect on all aspects of this war; not only glorifying the actions of the Allies and stigmatizing the proceedings of the Germans as evil. Units as the Leibstandarte achieved a lot of success. There are many positive things to learn from these German units; even for today’s modern armies. In the case of Jochen Peiper: Why was a twenty-nine year old Waffen-SS officer the first choice for commanding the spearhead unit during Germany’s most important offensive? He must have impressed his seniors with his leadership in the period prior to the Battle of the Bulge. But, what made him such a successful leader? These interesting questions became the nucleus of my research. I would like to thank my thesis committee, Dr. Richard Olsen (Chair), LTC John Suprin (2nd Reader) and Dr. Mike Ray (3d Reader), for their tremendous support, advice and sometimes challenging academic discussions. I would also like to thank LTC Joseph Ryan of the Combat Studies Institute for the excellent help he gave to win my “War on the American English Language.” Another person to thank is Mrs. Helen Davis, the secretary of the MMAS Program and a real specialist on Kate Turbanian’s A Manual for Writers, for all the advices she provided to make this thesis a real MMAS thesis. Last but not least I would like to thank my family for all their support. Unbelievable how much patience my wife Joke had with me. I spent many hours behind my computer doing MMAS. Many other international officers with their families discovered the New World during the weekend holidays; we stayed at home for the MAS thesis. Joke always supported me very much: cooking, cleaning, being charming at the many international parties, running the family and entertaining the children in the weekends, because Daddy has to concentrate on the MMAS thesis in his study. And during Sunday evenings, when I had finished another chapter, Joke advised me to take some rest while she could read my crappy draft versions; making corrections and asking me nasty academic questions on black holes in the text. In return of all this, I promised my family to show all the nice places, discussed in this thesis, in the Belgian Ardennes as soon as we are back in Europe. Not doing a battlefield tour, but spending quality time with my family in a very nice surrounding. ACRONYMS AAA—Anti Aircraft Artillery C of S—Chief of Staff Hrs—Hours MMAS—Master in Military Art and Science NATO—North Atlantic Treaty Organization Nazi—National Socialismus OKH—Oberkommando des Heeres (High Command of the Army) OKW—Oberkommando des Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces) SA—Sturm Abteilung SS—Schutz Staffel SS TV—Schutz Staffel Totenkopf Verbande SS VT—Schutz Staffel Verfügungstruppen WSSOB—Waffen-SS Order of Battle U.S.—United States III LAH—3d Battalion Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler
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