| Original caption: “The bodies of Belgium men, women, and children, killed by the Nazis, await indentification before burial. (As the Germans launched a counter-offensive into Luxemburg and Belgium, their vengance was wreaked upon innocent Belgium civilians.” This house on Route de Trois Ponts in Stavelot was sheltering Belgian civilians during combat between elements of Shultzstaffel (SS) Kampfgruppe Knittel and the 30th Infantry Division. As the SS drove the Americans from the town, they were enraged by the casualties they had taken, and had already killed American prisoners at Malmedy. They massacred an indeterminate number of civilians in Stavelot. 23 people were executed by gunshot at Route de Trois Ponts, including 5 children under the age of 10. Kampfgruppe Knittel was under the overall command of SS-Standartenführer Joachim Peiper (January 30, 1915 – July 14, 1976). He was convicted of several massacres, but his death sentence was commuted. He was later assassinated by French anti-Nazis. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0319.jpg |
| Image Size | 839.04 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2960 x 2280 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | December 20, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Stavelot |
| State or Province | Wallonia |
| Country | Belgium |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-74591 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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