An Army unit apologized for posting on social media the photograph of a Nazi convicted in connection to the World War II massacre of American prisoners of war. The since-deleted post appeared on several Department of Defense social media accounts on Monday, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.
Facebook accounts belonging to the Department of Defense, 10th Mountain Division, and XVIII Airborne Corps posted a photo of Joachim Peiper, a Nazi SS officer who led Germany’s final major offensive during the war. In addition to featuring a colorized picture of Peiper, the accounts featured a retelling from Peiper’s perspective.
“Today we gamble everything,” Peiper wrote in his diary, according to the post. “If this does not work, we are doomed.”
The posts triggered a swift backlash. “I am dumbfounded by the decision to prominently display a Nazi on military social media on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge,” Brian Fickel, a U.S. Army soldier, wrote in a tweet Monday night. They were taken down about 7 p.m. on Monday, after a Facebook follower told the Corps that Peiper’s image could be considered offensive, Maj. Allie Payne, a spokeswoman for XVIII Corps, told the Washington Examiner.
“We regret the use of the photograph of Joachim Peiper,” XVIII Airborne Corps spokesman Col. Tage Rainsford said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “The Facebook post containing his image (and others) was the first in a series telling the full story of the Battle of the Bulge. In an attempt to tell the full story of the fight, we also presented the perspective of the German commanders involved in the counterattack.”
“This was in no way intended to glorify the German forces, but to fully portray the odds stacked up against the Americans by December 19th,” Rainsford said. “The story of the Battle of the Bulge will run multiple times each day over the course of the next 6 weeks.”
Troops from the airborne group based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, played a key role in beating back Peiper’s advance. American forces suffered 75,000 casualties during the brutal winter offensive, though the German side suffered as many as 100,000.
I am dumbfounded by the decision to prominently display a Nazi on military social media on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. pic.twitter.com/Do0mB7Guvj
— Brian Fickel (@USArmyPAO) December 16, 2019
Peiper was tried after the war for his role in the Malmedy massacre in December 1944, during which 84 American prisoners of war were executed by firing squad. Peiper had ordered that no quarter be given to U.S. forces. He was convicted and sentenced to death, but his sentence was later commuted.
The 10th Mountain Division and Pentagon did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
