Peiper's escape route 1945...

[TimoWr]

Does anybody know which route Peiper and his fellow officers took to get from Austria across the Alps back to Germany in May 1945? Where was he between May 9 and May 28, what part of the route did they travel together and when and where did each of them (Rettlinger, Guhl, and others) go their own way?

Thanks in advance,
Timo

[phylo_roadking]

Timo, his Wiki entry of all things gives a few limited details to start a search...

On 8 May, the SS Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler received the order to cross the Enns river in direction of the West and to surrender to the American troops[89].

Accompanied by the SS Paul Gühl, Peiper tried to escape captivity. He was doing his way to Rottach but, on 28 May 1945, he was captured near to the Schliersee, less than 30 kilometres from his home and interned in the Dachau concentration camp[90][91].

Seems like a bad translation of something else...but you've got a rough starting point on the Enns and end point at the Schliersee there, with a final intended destination at Rottach for extrapolation.

I've got Charles Whiting's book on the "special ops" behind the Bulge at home, but won't be there until tuesday. It gives some considerable details IIRC on what happened to each of the major players in the German ops' at Xmas '44 through to the end of the war and their ultimate fates, I'll see if it gives any more detail on Peiper's route.

P.S. the references 89 and 91 above refer to P133-4 of Westemeier, Jens (2004). Jochen Peiper: zwischen Totenkopf und Ritterkreuz- Lebensweg eines Fuehrers der Waffens SS. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf ISBN 3-7648-2318-6. Note 90 to Agte, Patrick (2000). Jochen Peiper: Commander Panzerregiment Leibstandarte. J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-921991-46-0 (no page reference) Whiting greatly predates both of those, so (suprisingly) might be worth a look...as he comes at their later careers from a slightly different tangent.

EDIT: might also be worth a look at the trial transcripts, the circumstances surrounding his arrest might be covered there...

[TimoWr]

Thanks! Westemeier's book is my source for the info I gave in my OP, hence my mention of May 9 and 28. I've also checked Agte's book but he gives the same info. My guess is that they crossed the Alps as a group, then all went their own way once they had reached Bavaria. Peiper arrested near Rottach and Knittel showing up in Neu-Ulm both on May 28 can hardly be a coinsidence, so I wonder what destinations Guhl and Rettlinger reached to see if there's a pattern.

[Paulus II]

Timo,

Since I don't have Westermeiers book I don't know if this is already known to you but in Agte's 'Michael Wittman and the Waffen-SS Tiger commanders of the Leibstandarte in WW II, Volume 2' there is a bit from the memory of Ernst Kufner of 501sPzAbt:

"We moved to the exit from Waidhofen, to the road to Weyer-Markt on the Enns. We waited there impatiently until the morning hours of 9 may 1945. Soldiers from every branch of the service streamed by us, including the regimental commander, SS-Standartenführer Peiper. He saluted and wished us all the best."

When he reached the Enns river at Weyer he could chose between North toward Steyr (relatively open land south of Linz that the Americans hadn't reached just yet) or South into the Alps proper. That is assuming that he stuck to main roads, it may also be that he chose to take backroads right there and continued due West.
Well, whatever the case may be it at least gives a startingpoint for his 19-day Alpine Tour.

As an afterthought........
Did he "know" or believe anything about the Alpenfestung that never existed? Could he have been looking for it?

[phylo_roadking]

Did he "know" or believe anything about the Alpenfestung that never existed? Could he have been looking for it?

was captured near to the Schliersee, less than 30 kilometres from his home

More likely trying to get home to lie low. How widespread and publicised was the search the perpetrators of Malmedy BEFORE the end of the war???

[Paulus II]

More likely trying to get home to lie low

Hmm......wouldn't 'home' be a very dangerous place to lie low when one is searched for by the countrymen of those one has allegedly murdered?
Personally speaking 'home' would be the last place I would try to hide!

[phylo_roadking]

Paulus...a lot did! Werner von Braun and his top scientists come immediately to mind; they got to the Western sector, and had split up and were all back home before Paperclip came a'knocking...

[TimoWr]

Knittel went home for sure but kept his head very low once he was there because he soon realized the allied forces were looking for him.

[phylo_roadking]

Timo, I couldn't turn that up yesterday, but I'll be back there on saturday and have another go (several thousand paperbacks to go through) It SHOULD have been easier to find than that, I had it a month ago for the Gehlen reference...