Jochen Peiper
Coloured by me.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/german-forces/51911/jochen-peiper
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/german-forces/51911/jochen-peiper
Joachim Peiper (German pronunciation: [ˈjoːaxɪm ˈpaɪpɐ]; 30 January 1915 – 14 July 1976), also known as Jochen Peiper, was a field officer in the Waffen-SS during World War II and personal adjutant to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler between November 1940 and August 1941. Peiper fought on both the Eastern Front against the Red Army and the Western Front against the Western Allies, and he won the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for extreme battlefield bravery and outstanding military leadership. By 1945, he was an SS-Standartenführer and the Waffen-SS’s youngest regimental colonel.
Peiper, who had three children with his wife Sigurd (Sigi) Hinrichsen, was convicted of war crimes committed in Belgium and imprisoned for almost 12 years. He was accused of war crimes in Italy, but Italian and German courts concluded that there was insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution.[1]
After his release from prison, Peiper worked for both Porsche and Volkswagen, before moving to France where he translated books from English to German under the nom de plume Rainer Buschmann. Peiper was murdered in France in July 1976, when he was shot by unknown assailants who then burned his house to the ground using Molotov cocktails.
Probably taken during Himmler’s visit to the Berghof, 10 July, 1940, at which time Peiper was one of Himmler’s personal adjutants. Peiper was a particular favourite of Himmler, who subsequently appointed him his First Personal Adjutant (?October, 1940).
Apart from his formidable military skills, Peiper appears to have been an impressive individual generally, and was obviously trusted to discharge high-level administrative duties, even pre-war. As a result, he had an exceptionally varied career for a Waffen-SS officer, and was well-connected with the SS organization at the highest levels. Best regards, JR.