An American soldier checks his rifle after the Chenogne massacre. Angered over the Malmedy massacre, in which the SS murdered 84 American POWs, U.S. soldiers massacred 80 Wehrmacht POWs in reprisal (Belgium, January 1, 1945).
An American soldier checks his rifle after the Chenogne massacre. Angered over the Malmedy massacre, in which the SS murdered 84 American POWs, U.S. soldiers massacred 80 Wehrmacht POWs in reprisal (Belgium, January 1, 1945).
4 comments
[The Chenogne massacre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenogne_massacre)
Nobody punished for this massacre. The killings were covered up quickly.
That said, ironically, while committing war crimes themselves, the American soldiers here likely unknowingly killed other war criminals.
One of the two units targeted in this massacre, [the 3rd Infantry Division](https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/3._Panzergrenadier-Division), was responsible for murdering nearly 300 civilians in Italy and France.
Several soldiers were prosecuted in absentia for these crimes after the war, but Germany, as usual, refused to extradite any of them.
In the late 1990s, Germany prosecuted one member of the unit for the [Caiazzo massacre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caiazzo_massacre). Wolfgang Lehnigk-Emden was convicted of multiple counts of murder for his role.
However, Lehnigk-Emden was freed on technical grounds. Although Germany had abolished the statute of limitations for murder, the German Supreme Court ruled that the old law applied retroactively to him, resulting in him being freed immediately.
In 1995, Lehnigk-Emden apologized for the massacre, blaming them on the chaotic situation near the front lines and his youth and inexperience. This apology was not accepted by the mayor of Caiazzo, who said that if Lehnigk-Emden was sincerely sorry, he would come down to Italy, where had been sentenced to life in prison in absentia.
>The events were covered up at the time, and none of the perpetrators were ever punished. Postwar historians believe the killings were carried out on verbal orders by senior commanders that “no prisoners were to be taken”.[2]
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenogne_massacre). Quite in contrast to the Malmedy Massacre, which resulted in 43 death sentences and 30 prison sentences.
Oh no, dead nazis, boohoo
There is no perfect world. Humans will be humans.