Description
Hitler’s Warrior: The Life and Wars of SS Col. Jochen Peiper
By Danny Parker. SS Col. Jochen Peiper was one of the most controversial figures of World War II. Handsome, intelligent and impetuous, he volunteered for the Waffen SS at an early age and dedicated his life to the German cause.
Peiper was Heinrich Himmler’s ever-present personal adjutant in the early years of the war—a witness to momentous events in Hitler’s Third Reich.
He was on the fighting front with the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. After the war, Peiper became the central subject in the Malmedy war crimes trial, where he was condemned to death but released due to the efforts of Sen. Joseph McCarthy.
After moving to France in 1972, he was harassed by the French Communists and died in a gun battle at his home on July 14, 1976. His assassins were never identified.
In Hitler’s Warrior, Parker highlights the fascinating personalities of Peiper’s story. The rich narrative is bolstered by previously unseen archival sources as well as extensive interviews with German veterans, Belgian, Italian and French civilians, and even participants from the Malmedy trial.
Criticism: The author does take a few politically correct jabs at Hitler and Himmler and is misguided on the “Holocaust,” but otherwise a very well written book.
Softcover, 464 pages
