Malmedy massacre trial

The Malmedy massacre trial (U.S. vs. Valentin Bersin, et al.) was held in May–July 1946 in the Dachau concentration camp 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.

The Malmedy massacre was a series of atrocities committed by members of Kampfgruppe Peiper (part of the 1st SS Panzer Division) of the Waffen-SS against American prisoners of war and Belgian civilians during the Battle of the Bulge. Though the main massacre nearest Baugnez (Malmedy itself was not the location of any massacres) resulted in the murder of over 80 American POW and was the primary subject of the eventual trial, it was only one of a series of atrocities and executions committed by Kampfgruppe Peiper between mid-December 1944 and mid-January 1945. In total, over 750 POWs were murdered, mostly executed at close range by gunshots to the head (though the eventual U.S. Senate investigation would tally the official total at 362 POWs and 111 civilians).

Most of the testimonies provided by the survivors state that about 120 Americans from the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion (FAOB), with only light armament, were surprised by the German armored advance on Baugnez, and surrendered. They were gathered in a field near the Baugnez crossroads, at which time the SS troops suddenly fired on their prisoners with machine guns. Several SS prisoners later testified that a few of the prisoners had tried to escape. Others claimed that a few of the prisoners had recovered their previously discarded weapons and fired on the German troops as they continued their progress toward Ligneuville. Of the 84 bodies recovered a month later, most showed wounds to the head, seemingly much more consistent with a deliberate massacre than with self-defense or with injuries inflicted on prisoners who were attempting to escape.

As soon as the SS machine gunners opened fire, the American POWs panicked. Some tried to flee, but most were shot where they stood. A few sought shelter in a café at the crossroads. The SS soldiers set fire to the building, and shot all who tried to escape the flames. Some in the field had dropped to the ground and pretended to be dead when the shooting began. However, SS troops walked among the bodies and shot any who appeared to be alive.

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