Following the Italian surrender on 8 September 1943 the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was stationed in northern Italy , having recently returned from the Eastern Front . At this point the division had strict orders not to commit any violence against civilians . Despite this , a unit of the division under Joachim Peiper committed the Boves massacre on 19 September in retaliation to the capture of two German soldiers and murdered 23 civilians despite the release of the two soldiers
Boves massacre
Boves massacre
Lake Maggiore massacres