During the battle , SS - '' Obersturmbannführer '' Joachim Peiper left a path of destruction , which included Waffen-SS soldiers under his command murdering American POWs and unarmed Belgian civilians in the Malmedy massacre . Captured SS soldiers who were part of '' Kampfgruppe Peiper '' were tried during the Malmedy massacre trial following the war for this massacre and several others in the area . Many of the perpetrators were sentenced to hang , but the sentences were commuted . Peiper was imprisoned for eleven years for his role in the killings
Malmedy massacre
Malmedy massacre
Schutzstaffel