Schnelle Gruppe Knittel - hardcover (english)

A week of horror in the Ardennes: an investigation into the war crimes of Schnelle Gruppe Knittel. December 1944: Stavelot, Parfondruy, Renardmont, Ster and Trois-Ponts.

Timo R. Worst • Boek • hardback

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  INTRODUCTION
  
  In November 1984, a 60-year-old war veteran from Gariboldi, Oregon, wrote a letter to the mayor of Stavelot. In the Second World War, Frank Warnock had been a 1st Lieutenant in the 117th Infantry Regiment, 30th US Infantry Division. On the 22nd of December 1944 he had discovered the remains of twenty-three murdered civilians in the garden of the Legaye-Crismer house in Stavelot. He shared some of his recollections and this resulted in an extensive exchange of letters between him and local historians. In one of these letters Warnock reflected on what he had written to them: “Is there anything in these pages to suggest that haughty, arrogant bestiality is exclusive to the Hitlerite German? Certainly not. It was there long before Hitler and will remain among all races, cultures, colors, religions for a hundred or thousand generations to come. Until sanity comes to the human race. All groups on each of the continents have committed horrors on others or to each other. We have all tried to sweep our own horrors under the rug, but if we dare to peek a little, there they are. Staring back at us. All of us.”After I had written and published my Gustav Knittel biography, a feeling remained that the victims of the 'Schnelle Gruppe' had been neglected. I had named them and had described their fate, to the best of my ability with the available sources, but they were still people who only came into view when they were murdered. They had no face, no life, no history before that horrid day in December 1944. I had to try to rectify this and, in fact, the same was true for the perpetrators. I mentioned them in Knittel's life story, but the lower ranks in particular remained one-dimensional perpetrators. The seed for this new book had been sown. All the veterans who helped me with my first book have passed away but I could go back to their children, back to the archives, the written memories, fellow researchers and, above all, back to Stavelot. The judicial documents had been embargoed for decades, but now the Belgian archives finally begun to reveal their secrets. And with the help of tireless 'Sherlock' Vincianne Boulanger, the new research gained momentum. She interviewed the last living eyewitnesses and their relatives told her about the victims. This includes her own father, Yvon Boulanger, whose grandmother, aunt and cousins were murdered by the SS.While I finalise the manuscript for this book about a massacre that took place seventy-eight years ago, there is war in Ukraine and reports of new outrages echoe what happened in Stavelot all those years ago. Sadly, we have to conclude that Frank Warnock was right.Timo R. Worst, the 30th of April 2022
• Productinformatie
  Binding : Hardback
  Distributievorm : Boek (print, druk)
  Formaat : 170mm x 240mm
  Aantal pagina's : 473
  Uitgeverij : Timo R. Worst
  ISBN : 9789464435498
  Datum publicatie : 06-2022
  
• Inhoudsopgave
  CONTENT
  
  Chapter 1
  1.1 Something might be amiss in Parfondruy’
  
  Chapter 2
  2.1 SS-Obersturmführer Heinz Goltz
  2.2 SS-Untersturmführer Dröge and his Pionierzug
  2.3 SS-Untersturmführer Erich Kollatschny and his Fahrradzug
  2.4 SS-Obersturmführer Manfred Coblenz and his 2. (le.SPW) Kompanie
  
  Chapter 3
  3.1 The initial advance and the first killings
  3.2 Back to Stavelot: the killings on the Route de Trois-Ponts
  3.3 The children’s home in the Château de Petit-Spay
  3.4 Ster and Renardmont
  3.5 Parfondruy
  3.6 The garden of the Legay house
  
  Chapter 4
  4.1 The American Counterattack
  4.2 The demise of the Pionierzug
  4.3 SS-Mann Kilat
  
  Chapter 5
  5.1 Dachau
  5.2 The investigations by the Liège War Council
  5.3 On trial
  5.4 The War Council visits the scene of the crimes
  5.5 The public hearings
  5.6 Indictment
  5.7 The verdict
  5.8 Aftermath.
• Reviews (9,7 uit 7 reviews)
  Wil je meer weten over hoe reviews worden verzameld? Lees onze uitleg hier.

  
  

  11-08-2022
  Recommended!
  This book is by far one of the better written ones regarding an aspect of the Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge). The author has done a terrific job piecing together the dramatic events as well as gathering information about those responsible for them. Caution: it is a very hard book to read, as it should be. What happened in those dark winter days should never be forgotten. Looking forward to reading more of this author.
  
  

     Very detailed account.
  
  Geplaatst door Erwin , leeftijd 50-59
  Waardeert het boek met een 9.5 uit 10

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  11-08-2022
  Awesome research work
  Meticulously researched and documented analysis of one of the grimmest events of the battle of Stavelot. The author brings you to the heart of the events, his unbiased research work of the actions and characters is emphasized by many photos, many of them adding a face to the victims names. Extremely well documented. Definitely a must read.
  
  

  
  Geplaatst door JP Speder (Stavelot, Belgium)
  Waardeert het boek met een 9.5 uit 10

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  22-07-2022
  ´ Personalities instead of just names... ´
  I'm almost afraid to read this book by longtime Internet friend Timo Worst. This focuses very narrowly on a series of atrocities in and around Stavelot, Belgium in which my dad was intimately involved. Succinctly, the German advance through the Ardennes in the Battle of the Bulge involved two German Panzer Armies. The 6th Army was the northern wing with a spearhead (schwerpunkt) of heavy armor led by the famous Joachim Peiper, 1st Waffen SS. The column was cut in half at Stavelot by two companies of my pop's 1st Battalion, 117th IR, 30th Division. The all-important bridge across the Ambleve at Stavelot was held, keeping supply and reinforcement from reaching Peiper and keeping Peiper from retreating, while ahead of them they were stopped by blown bridges a few miles beyond Stavelot. This powerful German force was trapped there along this rain swollen river; Panzers, Panthers. King Tigers with almost no gasoline. This was not the Heer, the regular German Army that fought by a certain code of honor, but Waffen SS that had committed many atrocities on the Russian front. Many of these troopers, maybe most of them, really thought this big advance to cut the western allies in half would win the war. That's what they were told by the propaganda machine. Now, two days into the advance they were trapped in the snowy hills of backwater Belgium. Most of them would die there and by the end of the 18th of December they began to realize that. American task forces thrown together from many units began hitting them from the north. The river blocked movement in any other direction. Artillery from all over the region was drawn in to pound them. In the advance on Stavelot they had massacred 80 American prisoners at Baugnez, near Malmedy. Each of them knew about that even if they weren't personally involved, and they knew the Americans would be in no mood to take Waffen SS prisoners after that outrage. Many of them simply lost their freaking minds and began retaliating against the only targets that couldn't shoot back. The Belgian civilians around them. This is that story. Timo has researched this for many years. He interviewed a number of the surviving SS men, many since deceased. He has interviewed the Belgian families who lost so much, and even surviving witnesses of the killings. Most importantly, he fleshes out these many people that are just names in post-war trial records. Farmers, housewives, children, along with those SS men who come from mundane backgrounds and then inexplicably went on these killing sprees. He makes them personalities instead of just names. My father was right there. He saw the bodies of children piled in gardens. Ordinary men and women lying dead in snowy fields. I am connected in that way and can only wonder how these events changed him, if he woke in the night with these images in his mind. He never spoke of this. This will not be something I can read over a few evenings. This is bitter medicine that can only be taken in small sips.
  
  

  
  Geplaatst door K. Rogan, U.S.A.
  Waardeert het boek met een 10 uit 10

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  21-07-2022
  Schnelle Gruppe Knittel
  Following on for the well received ‘Career, Crimes and Trial of Sturmbannführer Gustav Knittel’, author Timo Worst’s new work focuses on the events that culminated in the murder of innocent civilians by ‘Schelle Gruppe Knittel’ in the scattered hamlets around Stavelot during the Battle of the Bulge. Worst’s use of primary archival documents and privileged interview material from both German veteran’s and the victim’s families ensure that the full picture of this grim week and its aftermath has been forensically pieced together. The book itself is of superior quality, crammed with original photographs and documents. A must-have addition to any serious scholar’s collection.
  
  

  
  Geplaatst door C. M. Byrne, Ireland
  Waardeert het boek met een 9.5 uit 10

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  20-07-2022
  Gripping story & Thorough research
  Nothing's missing, everything is reviewed in detail, it's all there. The analysis is unbiased for a grim part of WW2 history. The format I find convenient with plenty of photos with hefty captions, most of which never seen before. Hard to let down once you've started it. Waffen-ss blood 'n guts !
  
  

     Researched & documented.
     Unbiased though gripping.
  
  Geplaatst door Blanluet (Boudard), France
  Waardeert het boek met een 9.5 uit 10

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  17-07-2022
  Schnelle Gruppe Knittle
  The book was great. Well written, well researched, and overall great book. The publishing was incredible. It’s a beautiful book, high quality, one of the nicest book in my library! Thanks to the author and the publisher.
  
  

  
  Geplaatst door Jamie O uit USA , leeftijd 50-59
  Waardeert het boek met een 10 uit 10

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  15-07-2022
  An important and essential work
  A very important scholarly work by an accomplished researcher and a perfect and very neccessary accompaniment to "Gustav Knittel". A sobering account of the horrors suffered by innocent civilians at the hands of SS troops under the command of Gustav Knittel. Not an easy read, dealing as it does with some horrific events, but an essential one. Very, very highly recommended.
  
  

     Illustrated with many rare photos.
  
  Geplaatst door Gordon Williamson uit Scotland , leeftijd 70+
  Waardeert het boek met een 10 uit 10