by Rob - WSSOB on 10 Jun 2003 16:55
"Sepp" Dietrich was indited in Case #6-24 - The United States vs. Valerin Bersin et. al. (aka "The Malmedy Trial") in May 1946 at Dachau. He was charged with violations of the laws and usages of war, specifically in regards to the actions of KG Peiper in at least 14 separate incidents (not just the Baugnez crossroads) of the mistreatment, torture, abuse and killing of several hundred GI PWs (prisoners of war) and over 100 Belgian civilians between Dec 17, 1944 and January 13 1945 during the Battle of the Bulge.
It's important to note that Dietrich wasn't charged for materially participating in the events (e.g. meaning he wasn't physically there at the Baugnez crossroads during the killing of GI PWs) but for passing down an order to kill POWs and terrorize civilians during the advance.
There's a lot of conflicting evidence and a lack of primary documents as to whether or not Dietrich did or didn't order PWs shot. There were many different types of evidence - e.g. forensic (autopsies of the slain, etc.) photographic, statements from GI and Belgian civilian suvivors, transcripts and surviving documents from various German HQ's. The most contraversial evidence presented by the prosecution were the extrajuducial confessions by the SS men, which may have been obtained under duress and were recanted at the trial. The American Colonel Everett, the defense lawyer, unsuccesfully attempted to have the extrajuducial statements rendered indamissable.
The accused, including Dietrich, were found guilty, but serious doubts regarding the treatment under which the extrajudical statements were made and the rather ad hoc rules of procedure cast the whole trial and verdict into doubt. Colonel Everett, Senator McCarthy, The New York Herald Tribune and Dietrich Ziemmssen's book "The Malmedy Trial" and a US congressional committee kept these doubts alive, and eventually the US military authories commutted the death sentences and released the guilty (including Dietrich).
Did Dietrich issue a "take no prisoners" order? Let's not open THAT can of worms! Dietrich did admit in the trial to saying at his Dec 14, 44 staff meeting with his officers "Prisoners...you know what to do with them" - a maddeningly ambigious phrase if there ever was one.
Sepp was paroled in 1955, but by 1957 he was appearing before a West German court for his role in the "Night of the Long Knives." He was charged and convicted of manslaughter under exisiting (ie. 1934) statues. Dietrich spent most of 1958-59 in jail, but was released due to health reasons.
Did Dietrich have anything to do with the Holocaust? No, not directly. I'd be interested in learning the exact source for the "Dietrich complained to Hitler about the treatment of the Jews" which I've read on the internet several times but to date have not seen a published source. It may be an apocrypha, similar to the medals-in-a-chamberpot-Hitler-kiss-my-ass story he supposedly said in the spring of '45 but didn't.
However, Sepp Dietrich's relationship to and thoughts about National Socialism is a subject that has yet been unexplored. Most biographers such as Charles Messenger, concentrate on the military aspects of Sepp's career and tend to downplay or ignore whatever non-military ideological motivations Sepp had. But Dietrich, if not a major player in the rise of the Third Reich like Göring, Himmler, Goebbels, etc., was an extremely important minor character. He had become a Nazi in 1928, he (literally) formed Hitler's bodyguard, he murdered SA members in 1934 for Hitler. It is unfortunate that Dietrich did not write of his experiences and motivations 1928-45, because they would be extremely useful to postwar historians. However, given his long affiliation with the NSDAP and his personal relationships with many of the III Reich leaders, I doubt that his personal beliefs were as straightforward and as benign as some claim. However, Dietrich didn't leave much (if any) writings on himself for posterity.
