Peiper house - then and now

[mdj]

Peiper had a nice house, in a lovely countryside which was hidden in the woods. He thought he would live there peacefully and anonymous.
He moved from Germany because of his wartime period.

Too bad they tracked him down in that little unknown town of Traves, which I will visit one time myself.

Does anyone know (background etc.) about his german neighbour Erwin Ketelhut who served as an SS - Obersturmbahnfuhrer ??
I can not find anything about this person.

Martin

[Dan P]

I watched a documentary that said an empty rifle was found near or next to his body in the charred remains. I guess they were implying he emptied against his attackers or maybe he was looking for ammo?

[Mccallion]

i read the the book Jocham peiper about a year ago, the book talked about his whole life from being himmlers bodyguard to his death in 1976. In the book it said that he had lived in france peacifully as a translator of books and was writing his own about his exsperiences durring the battle of the bulge, for 2 nights before his house was burned down and he died he was involved in 2 gun fights with communits both times no one was hurt but there were some bullet holes in peipers house, he was interviewed shortly before his death and said that he will not leave becuase for his whole life he had been leaving and getting out of the way for the things he was accused of so he stood his ground. At the end of the book it included the only part of peipers book to surivive the fire

i reccomend this book to all and sorry if i went alittle off topic but this is the story of what happened

McCallion

[DaveNZ]

Too bad they tracked him down in that little unknown town of Traves, which I will visit one time myself.

you are a strange man MDJ

on the one hand, in a now deleted thread, you tell a former camp guard to "rot in hell" or some such term, even though he could not be convicted for any crime other than simply "being there".

On the other hand you express remorse that an SS man, convicted of war crimes, was murdered and further more, that you would like to visit his house sometime.

bit of a dichotomy isn't it

[PerMilitaria]

Please don't start to insult eachother in a new thread...

I am also thinking of going to this place in the future.

[mdj]

as far as I know, the property is still in hands of his son Hinrich Peiper.

Does anyone has recent pictures from his ruined house ??
The pictures in the weblink were dated 2003 so thats a while ago.

martin

[Dan M]

Interestingly, Youtube has quite a few videos about Peiper, including the trial at Dachau. It shows Sepp being sentenced to life in prison and Peiper being sentenced to hang. There is also a video or two about his death and grave.

[Jochen S.]

Martin,

Ketelhut was also a former member of the LAH. As an SS-Ustuf. he served in the 11./LAH in 1941. Born 22.02.1918(3 years younger then Peiper), he was later tranferred to 16.SS Pz.Gren.Division. Attached you will find an image of him.



Reg. Peiper: he certainly wasn't 'hunted down' as the authorities knew whom he was and were aware of his past, he was 'discovered' by accident. Peiper loved France but didn't particularly like the French. He had to leave France anyway 'cause his permit would end in Feb. of the following year. He asked his former adjutant Arndt Fischer if he could find a nice location, preferably in the 'Großraum Munic' area. As we all know, this was not to be.

I have visited Traves back in 2001 and the place had an odd feeling about it. The property is still in possession of the family.

Sad but understandable - Hinrich Peiper wrote me a few years ago that he doesn't answer anymore questions about his father.

HTH.

Jochen S.

[mr bridger]

Thanks for sharing, The Devils Adjutant by Reynolds gives a background to his final days.

[mdj]

Martin,

Ketelhut was also a former member of the LAH. As an SS-Ustuf. he served in the 11./LAH in 1941. Born 22.02.1918(3 years younger then Peiper), he was later tranferred to 16.SS Pz.Gren.Division. Attached you will find an image of him.



Reg. Peiper: he certainly wasn't 'hunted down' as the authorities knew whom he was and were aware of his past, he was 'discovered' by accident. Peiper loved France but didn't particularly like the French. He had to leave France anyway 'cause his permit would end in Feb. of the following year. He asked his former adjutant Arndt Fischer if he could find a nice location, preferably in the 'Großraum Munic' area. As we all know, this was not to be.

I have visited Traves back in 2001 and the place had an odd feeling about it. The property is still in possession of the family.

Sad but understandable - Hinrich Peiper wrote me a few years ago that he doesn't answer anymore questions about his father.

HTH.

Jochen S.

Hello Jochen,

Thanks for that picture of Ketelhut...I have searched for hours without any result.

Great that you corresponded with Hinrich Peiper.

martin

[Jochen S.]

You're welcome Martin. After Peipers accidental discovery it did become a carefully orchestrated hate-campaign. Not only in Traves but also in nearby Vesoul walls and streets were covered with Peiper, SS, swastikas aso.(org. images in my possession). Attached an org. Press-photo of a wreath placed by a person or persons unknown on July 23rd 1976 in the ruins of Peipers burned-out house.

[Paul E]

Great additional info Jochen and thanks for the photo !

[mdj]

yes, very interesting to see those rare and seldom seen pictures....

Thanks for sharing Jochen

martin

[Snarka]

ttached an org. Press-photo of a wreath placed by a person or persons unknown on July 23rd 1976 in the ruins of Peipers burned-out house.

Dear Jochen, thank you very much for sharing such details! And especially, this photo of the wreath, good to know somebody did this.

Seems that it is inscribed "A Mon Ami Joachim" (To my friend Joachim). Correct?

[Jochen S.]

Yes, you are correct. The original caption of the photo reads:
"A crown of flowers was laid in the ruins of the house of Joachim Peiper, ex SS colonel, on 23/7/1976. It carried the inscription "To my friend Joachim" and was left by an unknown person who was seen by several people from the village. The man left without being bothered in a car registered in the Doub area."




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