A Belgian servant in the Antoine Farm, Knittels CP near Stavelot, overheard a conversation of some SS-soldiers that they wanted to kill the civilians once the officers were gone. Knittel then assured the family that he would leave the farm as the last man. He kept this promise and Madame Antoine, well over ninety years old, still says that Knittel was correct in his behaviour towards them. Perhaps as their commanding officer he was responsible for the misdeeds of his men, but he never gave orders for any warcrime and here Belgian civilians support his defense. He earned my respect by doing things like this. Being a soldier is not just about fighting. A shame that he was framed for murder at the Malmédy trial. He was human in every aspect, not just in the above example. Timo [ 18. January 2003, 04:23 PM: Message edited by: Timo ]
Hi Timo and thank you for posting this. Also--the allies were just looking to punish anyone they could--JUST because they were Waffen SS men.
I decided to replace the short, outdated and error riddled article on wikipedia with one I wrote myself... Gustav Knittel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Well, that original post is seven years old and by now I realize that it wasn't the simple act of chivalry I believed it to be. With his battlegroup surrounded and the Americans closing in on him every hour he could use some goodwill because he knew the Americans had found out about the civilians his men murdered in Stavelot and the nearby hamlets. Just like Peiper could use the goodwill of McCown in La Gleize. Still, it still seems that Knittel never actively ordered his men to murder.
