Malmedy Massacre Investigation Malmedy, Belgium December 17, 1944

On December 16, 1944, the German Army began the Ardennes offensive known as the Battle of the Bulge.  On December 17, 113 American soldiers surrendered to a German armored column under the command of SS Colonel Joachim Piper. After the American prisoners were disarmed, they were assembled in a field near Malmedy, Belgium, and shot. The German soldiers involved in this massacre of the American prisoners were later prosecuted by the U.S. Army for war crimes. In March 1949, in response to charges concerning the unfair conduct of the prosecution in the Malmedy cases, the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services appointed a subcommittee to review the Army’s investigative and trial procedures. The Hon. Raymond E. Baldwin, chairman, presided over the subcommittee hearings, which were held in April, May, June, and September 1949. The subcommittee report was released by the full committee on October 13, 1949. The full text of these hearings as well as the subcommittee report are linked below.
Library of Congress Call Number KF26 .A7 1949h (Hearings), D804.G43 D36 1949b (Report); OCLC Number 10451881 (Hearings), 20915993 (Report).

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Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Armed Services . . . Part 1: April 18, 20, 22, 29, May 4, 5, 6,    9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, June 1, 2, 3, 6, 1949 (PDF)

Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Armed Services . . . Part 2: September 5,6,7,8,13, and 28,    1949 (PDF)

Report of Subcommittee of the Committee on Armed Services . . . October 13, 1949 (PDF)