Jewish Congress Protests Release of Nazi Commander Who Burned Jews

The American Jewish Congress today protested to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles against the recommendation for parole of the Nazi SS Col. Johachim Peiper, commander of the Blowtorch Battalion” which burned Jews to death. Col. Peiper was termed at the Nuremberg trial of Nazi war criminals as “the principal” in the massacre of Allied soldiers in Malmedy in 1944.

“The American Jewish Congress finds it incredible that the American representative on the International Review Board should acquiesce in the decision to release the Nazi war criminals and thus deprive American military officials of all discretion to withhold clemency.” the AJC protest stated. “Such a policy is intolerable and demands immediate investigation. The long-range effect of a deliberate policy to commute the sentences of Nazi war criminals are certain to be calamitous. The most reactionary and recalcitrant nationalist elements in Germany are thus strengthened and encouraged. They are given leadership with American halos replacing their Nazi helmets.”