Lippach massacre
| Lippach massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | near Westhausen, Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern (48.897, 10.253) |
| Date | 22 April 1945 |
Attack type | Mass murder War rape |
| Deaths | 36 Waffen-SS POWs |
| Perpetrators | 23rd Tank Battalion, 12th Armored Division (US Army) |
The Lippach massacre was a war crime committed by the 12th Armored Division of the US Army on 22 April 1945 during the Western Allied invasion of Germany. Some 25 US soldiers from the 3rd Provisional Company killed 36 Waffen-SS prisoners of war and allegedly raped 20 women.[1][2][verification needed]
Battle
At noon on 22 April, the 12th Armored Division's 23rd Tank Battalion attacked 300 Waffen-SS troops at the village of Lippach.[2][3] German artillery, Nebelwerfer, Panzerfaust and small arms fire held the Americans back until 16:00.[3] 36 SS soldiers in total were killed in the battle and following war crime.[1][verification needed]
Massacre and mass rape
As the rest of the 23rd Tank Battalion advanced toward Lauchheim, the 3rd Provisional Company came across an alcohol warehouse.[3] Some 25 drunken US soldiers then shot 10 German prisoners of war in the back of the head at a meadow, while six more had their skulls bashed in.[4] Thirty-six Waffen-SS soldiers lost their lives near Lippach, two-thirds of them killed after the battle.[1][2] The US soldiers proceeded to rape about 20 women in the village. The average age of those killed was 16, with the exception of one soldier who was born in 1909.[1][2][5]
Citations
- ^ a b c d Fritz 2004, p. 182.
- ^ a b c d Zigan 2015.
- ^ a b c Fritz 2004, p. 180.
- ^ Fritz 2004, pp. 180–182.
- ^ Winfried Kießling (2003), 850 Jahre Lippach, Förderverein 850 Jahre Lippach
Bibliography
- Fritz, Stephen (2004). Endkampf: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Death of the Third Reich. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2325-9.
- Zigan, Harald (16 April 2015). "Kriegsende 1945 (Teil 10): US-Soldaten nehmen blutige Rache in Jungholzhausen und Ilshofen". swp.de (in German). Südwest Presse. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.[dubious – discuss]