Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidence?

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steve248
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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#16

Post by steve248 » 06 Mar 2014, 10:46

Re Peiper.

If any Forum members knows Danny Parker, he has written a so far unpublished manuscript entitled "Jochen Peiper".
I do not have a copy but apparently is well known.

Peiper, along with Dinse and Gührs were questioned by the West German police in 1967-1968 about LAH crimes in Boves/Italy on 19 Sept 1943. No doubt he gave a full if not incriminatory career list. Available at Bundesarchiv Ludwigsburg, B162/6371 and 6372.
Open to any researcher.

Bundesarchiv Ludwigsburg have at least six other investigation files about LAH and war crimes; most concern Poland, Italy, France and the Ardennes. No investigations about possible crimes in Russia. Whether any mentioned in the different files and not pursued I cannot say.

As an example, there are 4000 pages available at Ludwigsburg about "Tötung von ca. 30 Juden durch Angehörige der SS-Leibstandarte 'Adolf Hitler' im Sept./Okt. 1943 am Lago Maggiore, in Meina, Ravenna, Intra u.a.O. in Italien". Persons involved included Meir, Röhwer, Krüger, Schnelle, Schulz, Leithe; from personal knowledge of other investigations, no doubt these files include many interrogations of others not charged.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the multi-volume work on LAH by Rudolf Lehmann (Munin Verlag). I have only Vol 2 covering July 1941-Jan 1943 (published in 1980)

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#17

Post by seaburn » 06 Mar 2014, 13:01

Thank you for posting Steve. Yes, Lehmann's volumes would be an enormous help, it was very helpful in pinning Meyer to Jefremowka and will no doubt be helpful again when evidence arises of named villages and dates. If anyone decides to pursue this to any great extent, they will have to avail of the volume that covers Feb/March 43. I have been told the unfortunately Danny Parker will not be covering this area and time frame in his forthcoming books. So there is room for some other author to research this intriguing puzzle!

In the meantime, this is what I have found in a very preliminary way.

What is becoming more apparent is that the three villages that have been referenced here and have been tagged to Peiper since 1945 all seem to have emanated from the interrogation of Jackob Hanreich (TS26/856-230/1/2/3). This is the file that mostly concerns the accusations against the 12th HJ for the murder of Canadian POWs. Hanreich was captured in Normandy and questioned about the crimes of the LSAH. He proceeded to give details of the various crimes:

1. Muller-John shooting 50 Jews in Poland in 39,
2. recalled Albert Frey telling him about the massacre of the Jews in Mariupol and Taganrog by the SD Einsatzkommando
3. Stanitschnoje - burnt by retreating LSAH led by Witt
4. Staroverovka - led by Wisch
5. Jefremowka and the involvement of Kurt Meyer
6. He then mentions as above the eagerness of Peipers Btln to enact the 'Burn order'
7. He tells of hearing stories of crimes by the LSAH in Milan, those involved being severely disciplined
8. Finally he again mentions Peiper and a village 'S. of Turin' where two members of the Btln had been held captive.

We are of course only concerned here with the 'Russian' villages(they are all referred to as Russian, but they are of course now in Ukraine). Certainly Peiper could have been in these three villages at some time as they changed hands so often, But as has been already posted, the massacre of Jefremowka was not him, nor according to Hanreich was Stanitschhoje (although this needs to be verified,so far no luck with even finding information about it, Can someone check Lehmann, the date is supposed to be March 4th, pls verify if Peiper was there). The only one that looks feasible at the moment is Staroverovka . There is a website dedicated to life past and present for this village:

http://staroverovka.ucoz.ua/publ/5-1-0-1

Here there are some testimonies from members of the Soviet forces who fought in an around this area at the time in question. The village changed hands many times and there is reference to the 'March 3rd' attack, and the unit 'Adolf Hitler', but it does not allude to a 'massacre' in the sense that the whole village was razed. There is a list of 67 villagers who were killed, (presumably many would have been killed in an action of this sort) but their ages only range from 14-57. If there was a whole scale massacre, there would be younger and older people too I would presume, again there is no mention of these being singled out to be killed. This is the page listing the names and dates of birth:

http://staroverovka.ucoz.ua/publ/5-1-0-19

However, what happened after the village was captured is not obvious at the moment, there is a posting on the site from one individual who claims that 30 men were brought to a barn and the barn burnt,( which does appear to be the MO of others in the region at the time). The poster then goes on to name these men, he says they were at a military recruiting office, its not clear if they were rounded up and brought there first or found there (which seems unlikely if it was a night time attack). These names do not appear in the listing of villagers killed as posted.

Its also interesting that Paul Hausser was questioned about these same three named villages, I don't know how or why Peiper in particular has been also linked to the three of them, he may well have been in all three but from Hanreich's interrogation answers he wasn't linking him directly to them. But these are the allegations so far seen in print and they have been re-referenced by many as already discussed.

Personally I do believe the 'blowtorch' was used to heat the armour, I do believe that sparks caught the thatch and set it on fire, but I also strongly believe the assertion of 'Schutze' that the 'blow torch' insignia on the armour was a badge of honour to bond these men together and served as a boast and a warning to the enemy that they were dealing with a ruthless foe. I believe that Peiper has probably been linked to the wrong villages but that there are as yet un-named villages that may well have suffered at the hands of the 'Blowtorch Btln', the task is to try and find the evidence. I will be keeping an eye out for any more evidence, but again I would ask that anyone who has come across anything relevant would post their findings here.


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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#18

Post by steve248 » 06 Mar 2014, 13:41

Do not be too eager to dispense with the idea of "blowtorch" being used to heat the armor.

First of all there is evidence from other German sources that the Russian winter played havoc with the engine oils used in German truck (not tanks, here) and during many Russian winter nights they burned small fires under the engine blocks to stop them from freezing and affecting the oils.

So returning to "blowtorches" which to my mind indicates metal cutting with oxy-acetylene the cylinders of which may not have been readily available. I wonder whether this was a mis-translation of "blow-lamps" that would have used paraffin (kerosene, to our North American friends) which was widely available.

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#19

Post by seaburn » 06 Mar 2014, 14:37

Tks Steve, Interesting point, in Hanreich's case they were translated as 'Soldering lamps'. In Schutze's it was 'Blowlamp btln', his tapping doc is dated Feb 12th 1944, well before Malmedy and before Peiper came to the attention of the Allies so this information was more than likely new to them . I would presume that both were transcribed by German speaking British subjects or German refugees who worked in the 'tapping' section as they are filed in Kew.

My personal take on it is...Why paint them on the armour ? What made this object so special that it became their 'mascot/symbol'? That's what makes me wonder... ?

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#20

Post by krichter33 » 07 Mar 2014, 02:55

I agree about the blowtorches. A lot of units probably used them for benign purposes like heating up the armor. But why on earth would Peiper's battalion paint it on their vehicles as a badge of honor if that was the only way they used them....I personally think they used them as well for other dubious reasons...

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#21

Post by Harro » 07 Mar 2014, 07:41

Regarding the blowtorches, my post on page 1 of this topic...
Harro wrote:Wisch was Peipers regimental commander at the time. Witt led the other Panzergrenadier-Regiment of the LSSAH. On March 3, 1943, Peiper's battalion launched a night attack on Staroverovka. For his description of the attacks on Staroverovka and Stanitschnoje, Westemeier refers to Oswald Siegmund: "Meine Ehre Heisst Treue", p. 54:
"Without orders to do so, on 3 March the blowtorches were broken out: the torches, which were used to preheat the engines of the vehicles, were turned into flame throwers. They spewed a jet of gasoline 8 to 15 meters long, and this was ignited, producing a jet of flame. Everyone feared a jet of flame, and the Russians in particular. In this way Stanichnoyed was attacked and taken on March 4."
Siegmund served in Peipers battalion in the 11. Kompanie led by Paul Guhl. As noted above, the same Paul Guhl Malmédy defendant Paul Zwigart held responsible for the killing of civilians (11. Kp. was renumbered 9. Kp. in 1944).
"Meine Ehre Heisst Treue - Von der Leibstandarte ins Landsberger Kriegsverbrechergefängnis" written by LAH veteran and Malmédy defendant Oswald Siegmund and published in 1992. Here we have a former member of Peipers battalion who described in his post-war memoirs the use of blowtorches as flame throwers against Ukrainian villages.

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#22

Post by DargesFlyKiller » 07 Mar 2014, 13:02

What i don't understand about that though is Rudolf Sandig's II/SS-PzG.-Rgt. 2 were supposed to have taken Staroverovka on the 2nd of March according to George Nipe's "Last Victory In Russia" this is from pages 247 and 248:

"The divisional attack group on the northern flank of the division,II/SS-PzG.-Rgt. 2 "LAH," led by battalion commander Rudolf Sandig, pushed along a stream that branched off the Berestovaja to the northeast and flowed through the town of Staroverovka. The column first made contact with 3rd Tank Army troops, supported by a few tanks, at Staroverovka. In the fighting, one Russian tank was put out of action and a second was captured when its crew abandoned their undamaged T-34. After leaving Staroverovka, the battalion attacked due east,approaching the Berestovaja River at a point just west of Peiper's battalion in Melechovka. At 1400 hours,Sandig's battalion occupied several surrounding villages after light fighting."

Why would Peiper need to attack Staroverovka on the 3rd when it had apparently been taken on the 2nd by Sandig? It raises the question why was the village burnt down after it's capture? Because he was there on the 3rd as evidenced by Oswald Siegmund and by this taken from page 257 of George Nipe's "Last Victory In Russia" note this is the 4th of March:

"Peiper's SPW battalion left Staroverovka at 1500 hours and made its way northward. By 1700 hours, the battalion reached
Nikolskoje, a small town northwest of Staroverovka. Peiper halted in the town and established defensive positions for the night."

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#23

Post by seaburn » 07 Mar 2014, 20:17

Tks DFK...That's intriguing - the deeper one digs the more anomalies that come to light. Hopefully someone on the Forum will be able to help with this puzzle piece. I have taken Steve248's wise words on board and ordered R. Lehmann's Vol 3 today, this should be very helpful to the search. I have also ordered 'Schutze's' initial interrogations as his tapping file mentions that he had previously talked about the allegations he made, but as he talked about a lot of things, its not apparent yet if there will be anything of substance in it. I have also emailed the people at the Staroverovka website to see if they can add anything to the evidence...hopefully they will reply. Its great that you are adding to this DFK, hopefully it will inspire others to follow suit !

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#24

Post by seaburn » 09 Mar 2014, 19:41

I found an interesting piece of a purported eye witness statement as to what happened in Jefremowka. As previously posted, it appeared that local documentation had linked Peiper personally as the man who carried out the destruction of the village on February 17th 1943.

The following was posted on a Russian Website.

http://forum.chuguev.net//index.php?act ... 7ce02bb443

It contains disturbing details of how many of the villagers were killed, many who were personally known to the man. For our purposes here, we are only interested in details about the accusation that Jochen Peiper was the culprit, so I am not going to post the full text here but only the relevant passages. (It should be noted that the person who posted this piece was banned from the site, not sure why but we have to keep this in mind)

This is how it starts:

'This text - a verbatim transcript of the story from a resident. May Day Efremovka region Kharkov region. In February 1943, the 3rd Battalion pantsergrenadersky SS Division Leibstandarte "Adolf Hitler" under the command of SS-Obergruppenführer Joachim Peiper arranged in villages and Semenivka Efremovka local "Khatyn". I had an interview with one of the few survivors, and only dozhivshim to the present day people. The text of the interview - or rather, I decided to actually monologue verbatim play and expose to public inspection'........
.
(very disturbing details follow about the killing of individuals know to the man, but the part that adds to our investigation follows, pls note that 'paper' refers to Peiper:)


......"About the tragedy of this is known in Italy, in France, I have a newspaper, printed. We investigated the case together with the Italian comrades, members of parliament - and Giuseppe Giuseppe Byankani Brunotti who fought in the brigade. Garibaldi. And here we are on the trail went here this criminal who was in Dachau sentenced to death. Paper. And, therefore, all materials collected about this tragedy ... Here they are, see? (Showing pictures).That's who shot. Here's a look. This here was awarded personally here for these shootings, we had, Paper .... That division commander "Adolf Hitler" (Signed: Commander Panzer Division "Adolf Hitler" SS-Obergruppenführer Josef Dietrich). And this one, who led the operation here, here this Paper. For these acts of destruction, they have been in the reports as "clearing near Kharkov" Hitler personally awarded him the highest award of Germany - Knight's Cross with oak wreath. Two villages were destroyed. According to the data was in the beginning, it was a half thousand, because there were many strangers - from Kharkov, from Merefa"
........

And so its apparent from this piece that the locals only learnt the name of Peiper in relation to the destruction of Jefremowka from the accusations made at the 'Malmedy' trial, thus further consolidating the view that these accusations have all emanated from the evidence of Jacob Hanreich (who as previously posted, did not link Peiper but Kurt Meyer to Jefremowka).

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#25

Post by krichter33 » 09 Mar 2014, 19:55

It is curious that some of the locals refer to Peiper as the culprit, when most of the evidence points to Meyer. Maybe it was Peiper's postwar reputation?

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#26

Post by seaburn » 09 Mar 2014, 20:39

The reason they think its him is because they were shown the post war newspaper cuttings of his trial and the fact that he was named by the Western allies as the culprit. Its only now that we have collated the evidence to prove that it was Kurt Meyers Recon Btln who were in the village that day and its Meyer who was accused personally by Hanreich in that now 'infamous' interrogation. The villagers had no idea at the time who it was and it appears that it was due to the incorrect facts being presented at Peipers trial which has facilitated it entry into local accounts.

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#27

Post by seaburn » 16 Mar 2014, 22:40

My search for evidence of suspected war crimes is ongoing. I have been supplied with a chronicle of Peiper’s movements from Feb/March 1943. This involves translating the names of towns and villages from German into their Ukrainian name and then into Cyrillic text. Apart from the three villages already named (which I am still looking into) any other suspected targets of the ‘blowtorch btln’ appear to be merely whispers and innuendo with scant reference to actual village names. So it will take time to investigate the area that he covered in this time period.


Here is a sample of the innuendo I am talking about. The following account comes from G. Nipe’s ‘Last victory in Russia’ (p. 118). This covers the return of the relieved 320. Inf. Div. with Peiper to the Udy river crossing.

I have included the ‘google earth’ map to verify that this is the actual place. The Germans name for the village is: ‘Krassnaja Polyana’. The Ukrainian is: ‘Krasnaja poljana’and in Cyrillic its: Красная Поляна.

When the leading detachment of the column neared the bridge at Krassnaja Polyana. They were fired on by a Russian ski Battalion. The bridge was partially destroyed and the small German guard detachment, as well as a number of medical personnel and wounded had all been killed. Their bodies lay in the snow in piles along the town streets. Peiper launched an immediate assault and took the town from the Russians. Little imagination is required to guess what happened to any Russian survivors after the SS Grenadiers and Medical personnel were discovered

I have also seen an unsourced account that Peiper took revenge on the town and people for this event so I felt it warranted a closer look. On searching for any mention of the destruction of the village from local sources, I came across the following:

Our troops came to the village of Krasnaya Polyjana in mid-February 1943.

But before that, through our village were German troops, but are not the same - covered in scarves, leg wrapped in rags, who shod in that it was the Italians and Hungarians, Germans,except for commanders, not was”.

http://www.kracnajpoljnascola.narod.ru/selo.htm

And Also:

‘466 villagers (from Krasnaja Poljana) fought the Nazis in the Great Patriotic War, 214 of them were killed, 272 - were awarded orders and medals of the USSR. During the period of temporary occupation of the Nazis shot eight villagers.’

http://ukrssr.ru/Donezkaja.obl/Velikono ... ljana.html


Article one corresponds to the tale of a rag-tag band of soldiers which matches descriptions of the returning 320 Inf Div but the website gives no account of the destruction of the village or the murder of its inhabitants. Article two maintains that in the course of the war 8 villagers were killed, which of course does not indicate a large scale reprisal. So intriguingly, no evidence here of an atrocity although alluded to over the years. If anyone has further information to concur with these findings or of course to rebut them, please post.
Krasna Polyana.jpg
Google earth

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#28

Post by seaburn » 24 Mar 2014, 23:35

I have a little more information about Krasna Poljana that adds to the intrigue about whether this village was the scene of a revenge attack by Peiper. As per the previous post, this is the village beside the Udy river that Peiper crossed in Feb 43 during his units rescue of the 320th Div. He left behind him a small detachment of SS and medical personnel to guard the bridge. On the return journey they found all the group had been killed.

Nipe maintains that the attack had happened very soon after Peiper had passed through the village.

'The following column of vehicles snaked through Krassnaya Polyana and crossed the bridge after a brief halt due to a Soviet counter attack that destroyed several vehicles and caused havoc for a time before it was driven off. Burning vehicles were pushed off the road into the deep snow and the lead vehicles left the river and its platoon of guardians behind.
'
Nipe (Last victory in Russia p.117)

This account of burning lorries is backed up in the following interrogation I received with gratitude from a forum member.

Interrogation of : Rotfue. Otto Sierk - British National Archives (WO208/3650)
Unit : SS Vers Kp III/2 SS Pz Gren Reg ‘LSSAH’
Joined LSAH 1937
Captured: Sept 44 in Louvain
Interrogation dated: Nov 44

He was asked about Muller-John in Poland and confirms the story (shooting of 50 Jews). He also confirms the order to burn villages when retreating in 1943. He was asked about the Recon Btln being encircled, confirms he heard about it but did not know the name of the village. He maintained the III Btln and the Tank Btln were ordered to create an opening to rescue them and then he states:

"It was on this occasion (Feb 43) that Stubafue Peiper and his Bn distinguished themselves by using their soldering-lamps".

Coy Comds were:
Hptstufue Guhl (9 coy)
O’Stufue Preuss (10 Coy)
O’Stufue Pinter (11 Coy)
Hptsufue Kohlitz (12 Coy)

"One or two weeks after this incident III Btln with (Peiper in Comd) a number of assault guns and a tank squadron received the division order to create an opening for the retreat of ‘Herz Ass’ Div encircled with 2-3,000 men near SMYEV and to remove approx. 1000 wounded. The Division supplied for this purpose 3 med Coys and two petrol LKW’s. In a village name unknown the two petrol lorries were burnt and 25 Germans killed by partisans and Russian soldiers. As a revenge Peiper ordered the burning down of the whole village and shooting of its inhabitants"


There are two discrepancies in this testimony but they do not affect our interest (His timing is incorrect as the recon btln were encircled about the same time as Peiper was rescuing the 320th, this would make it doubtful that Peiper would have received orders to rescue Meyer). But the 'lorry' part of the story ties in with Nipe's version,(unless they are the same source, Nipe does not quote his source). Interestingly, Sierk also alludes to the 'soldering lamps' being used for nefarious purposes.

I did find the following which has been reported as Peipers own account of the incident, again there is no citing to confirm the source, this is translated from a Ukrainian website:

http://www.xliby.ru/voennaja_istorija/k ... _ss/p1.php

"When we finally got to the river, we saw that the bridge remained only smouldering piles. Russian ski battalion occupied the village, killed and mutilated many German drivers and doctors remaining in the village yesterday. The column from all sides opened fire. My battalion occupied the village after heavy fighting for every house, restored bridge and ferried our comrades saved on ice and temporarily restored the bridge to the other side, where they were safe. When the last car had reached the opposite shore, the battalion moved back to the dragons and joined our forces after a long raid on the territory occupied by the enemy".

Here Peiper confirms that on the return he found the dead and mutilated German 'drivers', he also states that they fought 'house to house', this should have damaged the buildings in the village, and killed many civilians in the cross fire at the very least. So why does the account from the village itself as previously posted make no mention of this encounter ? I am continuing to look into other German accounts of this incident and I am also still searching to see if there is any record of it locally in Ukraine. I also am looking at the neighbouring village of 'Wodjanoje' which is present day 'Vodyne'. Its marked in the map on the previous post. The encounter could well have happened here, but so far I have found no record locally of any reprisal or killing of the villagers there for this time period.

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#29

Post by seaburn » 28 Mar 2014, 19:28

Lehmann reports that on the 10.4.1976 J. Peiper wrote his own account of the return to the Udy river crossing as follows:

“The next day (14.2)…..we finally reached the stream, we discovered that the long wooden bridge spanning it was nothing more than smoking posts. A Russian ski battalion was in possession of the town and had massacred many German medics and drivers (stragglers from the day before) and had mutilated their bodies. These Russians now fired on the Divisions column from all sides. My Battalion finally captured the town after vicious house to house combat, established a bridgehead, dragged our rescued comrades over the ice and secured the hurriedly repaired bridge”. (The Leibstandarte III, Rudolf Lehmann p.64)

This account confirms Sierk's testimony and Nipe's account that the drivers of the destroyed lorries were killed in an attack by Soviet forces. In Lehmann's records both villages of Krassnaja Poljana and Wodjanoje (sic) are mentioned as locations for the bridge.......but either way there is still no evidence at the moment from local sources that either village was deliberately burnt and villagers murdered.

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Re: Peiper – War crimes on the Eastern Front – Cited Evidenc

#30

Post by seaburn » 01 Apr 2014, 00:26

DargesFlyKiller wrote:What i don't understand about that though is Rudolf Sandig's II/SS-PzG.-Rgt. 2 were supposed to have taken Staroverovka on the 2nd of March according to George Nipe's "Last Victory In Russia" this is from pages 247 and 248:
Getting back to the original accusations against Peiper and specifically the village of 'Staroverovka'. Rudolf Lehmann's account of the action there corresponds with Nipe's and is obviously Nipe's source. From Lehmanns account the village appears to have been taken on the 2nd of March.

Lehmann reports that on that date "The 2./Sturmgeschuzabteilung (under Wiesemann), subordinated to the II./2. was engaged in house to house combat in Starowerowka"

But on this date Peiper was elsewhere as per Lehmann again:

"At 10.20 hours, the 1./2. and elements from the III (armoured)/2. captured Berestoweja on both sides of the stream bearing the same name" and by 16.00 hours he reports that "the reinforced III(armoured)/2. had moved to follow the large enemy columns as far as seven kilometres north of Melechowa. As night fell the unit assembled in Melechowa on orders from the Division"

In the early hours of the following morning:
"On the 3.3.43 at 01.00 hours the SS Panzerkorps issued its orders for 3.3.1943. It commanded that all forces from the right wing were to assemble in the Staroverowka area as soon as they were free to do so."

And later that day (3.3.43)
"Around noon, the reinforced III (armoured)/2. assembled in Starowerowka. At the request of the Division, it received orders from the 2. Panzergrenadier-Regiment to set out to the north of Nikoloskoje and the hills east of there"
(all. R. Lehmann 'The Leibstandarte III' pp.141/142/143)

As previously discussed above. The civilian deaths noted on the villages website, state the date of death as the 2nd of March, thus ruling Peipers Btln out of the equation. There is no record that I have found that this village was subsequently burnt as Per Jakob Hanreich. Anyone who may have evidence to the contrary, please post.
http://staroverovka.ucoz.ua/publ/5-1-0-1,
030343.jpg
http://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2013/
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