Editing Malmedy massacre (section)

== War crimes trial ==
[[File:Malmedy 2 Joachim Peiper.jpg|thumbnail|right|{{lang|de|SS-Obersturmbannführer}} Joachim Peiper during the [[Malmedy massacre trial]]]]
The [[Malmedy massacre trial]], from May to July 1946, established that the commanders in the field bore [[command responsibility]] for the {{lang|de|Waffen-SS}} killing surrendered U.S. POWs; specifically {{lang|de|Waffen-SS}} General Josef Dietrich (6th Panzer Army); {{lang|de|SS-Sturmbannführer}} Werner Poetschke (1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler); and {{lang|de|SS-Obersturmbannführer}} Joachim Peiper ({{lang|de|Kampfgruppe Peiper}}) whose soldiers committed the actual war crime at Malmedy.<ref name="Parker"/>

Regarding command responsibility for the actions of his officers and soldiers, Dietrich said he received from Hitler [[superior orders]] that no quarter was to be granted, no prisoners taken, and no pity shown towards Belgian civilians.<ref name="Gallagher">{{cite book |title=Malmedy Massacre |first=Richard |last=Gallagher |publisher=Paperback Library |year=1964 |pages=110–111}}</ref>

The war-crime cases of the {{lang|de|Wehrmacht}} and {{lang|de|Waffen-SS}} soldiers and officers were conducted at the [[Dachau trials]] held in the deactivated [[Dachau concentration camp]], in [[Allied Occupation of Germany|occupied Germany]], from 1945 to 1947.<ref name="Parker">{{cite book |first1=Danny S. |last1=Parker |title=Fatal Crossroads: The Untold Story of the Malmedy Massacre at the Battle of Bulge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=68oBAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA239 |page=239 |isbn=978-0306821523 |publisher=Da Capo Press |edition=paperback |date=13 August 2013}}</ref> The Dachau Trials prosecuted and punished war criminals by imposing 43 death sentences (including Peiper and Dietrich), 22 sentences to life-long imprisonment, and eight sentences to short imprisonment. However, none of the death sentences were carried out, and Peiper and Dietrich were released in 1956 and 1955, respectively.<ref name="Parker"/>