Waffen SS Atrocities in the West Quiz

Answer: the Royal Norfolk Regiment

On 27 May 1940 elements of the 2nd battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment were cut off at Le Paradis in the Pas de Calais and forced to surrender after running out of ammunition. Ninety seven officers and men were taken captive during this engagement and murdered by the Waffen SS.

Answer: SS Totenkopf

Members of the number 4 company, 1st battalion of the 2nd SS Totenkopf were responsible for this atrocity. Two men, Bill O'Callaghan and Bert Pooley survived this massacre and the war to testify against the perpetrators of this crime.

Answer: Fritz Knoechlein

Fritz Knoechlein was tried and found guilty of the Le Paradis massacre. He was executed in 1949.

Answer: the British used dum dum bullets

The excuse the Waffen SS gave for the Le Paradis Massacre was the charge that British soldiers were using dum dum rounds in their rifles, a violation of the Hague Convention. That charge was never proved. The misuse of a flag of truce was a secondary charge that also was never proved.

The casualties that Totenkopf sustained were not severe, but their advance was halted by an understrength company that cost them time, which was valuable.

Answer: none. in fact, it was denied

The surviving members of the Leibstandarte disavowed knowledge of a tactical engagement at Wormhoudt, in the Nord department, France. There were survivors from the Cheshire Regiment, Royal Warwickshires and Royal Artillery who in sworn statements all state that members of a Waffen SS unit committed this atrocity.

There were also numerous civilians who testified to the same effect. Wehrmacht war records also identified the Leibstandarte as the unit operating and engaging the BEF in the same sector on 28 May 1940.

Answer: he was never tried

Incredible as it sounds, Wilhelm Monhke was investigated twice for the Wormhoudt Massacre and both times the German courts declined to prosecute. A campaign by the British Labour MP Jeff Rooker to have Mohnke tried came to nothing.

Answer: all of these

The atrocity at Oradour-sur-Glane, Haute-Vienne, France was a real tragedy. The 2nd SS Panzer Division was harassed by the Maquis during their march to Normandy in order to participate in the campaign, but not around Oradour-sur-Glane. They did receive information that an officer was being held captive at Oradour-sur-Vayres which was adjacent to Oradour.

The battalion commander's orders were to find the missing officer and to hold the mayor and 30 hostages in an exchange. By killing over 600 people of the village, he greatly exceeded his orders.

Answer: he was never tried

Former SS General Lammerding was never tried. He lived in the British occupation zone and the French government was never able to obtain extradition for a trial. He died in 1971 after a long and successful business career.

Answer: French

There were 21 defendants who made it to trial to answer for this atrocity. Of the 21, fourteen were Alsatians - and so Frenchmen of German descent. Thirteen of them used the defense they were drafted into the Waffen SS against their will. They were all convicted and served very short sentences, which caused an extremely bitter protest in the Limousin region where Oradour is located.

Answer: the SS did not want to take prisoners

The captured Canadian soldiers were apparently executed for the simple reason that they were an inconvenience to guard. The average age of the 12th SS Panzer Division's enlisted man was 19, but they did have plenty of seasoned NCOs and officers who had previous combat experience.

Answer: Kurt Meyer

Kurt Meyer was held responsible for this crime. He was in command of the 25th Panzer Regiment who initially took the prisoners. He was overheard saying that no prisoners would be taken. He served 9 years in prison for this crime.

Answer: the North Nova Scotia Highlanders

The majority of the Canadian soldiers who were executed were from the North Nova Scotia Highlanders. They were part of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division.

Answer: they tried to escape

The most frequently given reason for the incident at Malmedy is that the captive GIs, who were lightly guarded, attempted to escape. Survivors of the massacre reject this; and autopsies of the deceased, and other evidence, confirm that the these prisoners were shot without in the head at close range.

Answer: none

Over 70 defendants were indicted and brought to trial for the Malmedy Massacre. No one, not even Joachim Peiper, the principal defendant, was executed.

Answer: he was not German

George Fleps was a Romanian of German descent. He was without question positively identified as the first SS man who deliberately fired a pistol at the unarmed GIs that day at Malmedy.