Joachim Peiper - Italy and The Village of Boves

Italy and The Village of Boves

After Italian forces capitulated to the Allies, the LSSAH was moved to Italy for two months to assist in disarming the Italian military and prevent them from attacking German forces. Beginning in August, Peiper’s battalion quarters were near Cuneo. On 10 September, they received orders to disarm Italian garrisons in Alessandria and Asti.

On 19 September, partisans in the village of Boves captured two of Peiper's men. Faustino Dolmazzo, an advisor to the partisans, reported that when Peiper arrived in Boves, the Germans appointed two Italians, one the village priest, to arrange the men's freedom. Peiper promised the Germans would not engage in any reprisals.

The two men were freed, but the Germans then set fire to the houses in the village and killed 22 men when they tried to flee. The burned bodies of the two Italian intermediaries were found among the victims.

Peiper insisted his unit massacred no civilians in Boves. He stated that he sent members of his unit to search for the two kidnapped officers taken by partisans into the nearby Bisalta mountains. A platoon was ambushed and, while attempting to rescue it, the Germans came under heavy fire from the partisans. It was the response of the German artillery to this fighting that triggered the fires reported in the village. According to Peiper, the artillery section remained in Boves to destroy the remaining weapons and ammunition.

Peiper himself reported on the action, now known as the Boves massacre: "I am of the opinion that our action to free our encircled comrades in Boves nipped in the bud the Italian army's attack, for the army fell apart and no attack ever took place on Cuneo or Turin. However regrettable the consequences of our action was for the affected residents of Boves, it should not be overlooked that our one-time intervention prevented further immeasurable casualties which would have resulted from continued Italian attacks." In 1968, an Italian court concluded there was "...insufficient suspicion of criminal activity on the part of any of the accused to warrant prosecution".