December 17-20, 1944 WW2 Murder of POWs and Civilians: By this date, SS Col. Joachim Peiper has murdered approximately 350 prisoners of war and at least 100 unarmed Belgian civilians at twelve different locations along his route: "During Peiper's advance on 17 December 1944, his armoured units and half-tracks confronted a lightly armed convoy of about thirty American vehicles at the Baugnez crossroads near Malmedy. The troops, mainly elements of the American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, were quickly overcome and captured. Along with other American prisoners of war captured earlier, they were ordered to stand in a meadow before the Germans opened fire on them with machine guns, killing 84 soldiers, and leaving their bodies in the snow. The survivors were able to reach American lines later that day, and their story spread rapidly throughout the American front lines. In Honsfeld, Peiper's men murdered several American prisoners. Other murders of POWs and civi...