Joachim “Jochen” Peiper (1915–1976) was a Waffen-SS officer who served as Heinrich Himmler’s adjutant before commanding tank units in the Second World War. In Himmler’s entourage, Peiper witnessed mass killings and the machinery of Nazi persecution; later, he fought on the Eastern and Western Fronts. His troops became notorious for massacres, including the killing of 84 American prisoners at Malmedy during the Battle of the Bulge. A US military tribunal convicted Peiper of war crimes and sentenced him to death, but the sentence was commuted, and he was released in 1956. He later worked for automobile companies and as a translator. In 1976, his house in France was set on fire, killing him. After the war, some admirers recast him as a military hero, obscuring his criminal record.