Lippach Massacre: US Troops Executed Teenage Nazi Prisoners of War in 1945

World History: True Stories of the 20th Century · Apr 27, 2026 · 11m

The Lippach massacre in 1945 saw U.S. troops execute unarmed German soldiers in one of the most controversial and little-known incidents at the end of World War II. On April 22, 1945, as the Second World War neared its end, the quiet German village of Lippach found itself in the path of advancing U.S. troops from the 23rd Tank Battalion of the 12th Armored Division. Expecting surrender from a retreating SS unit made up largely of teenage conscripts, the American soldiers instead responded with extreme violence. Over the course of a single day, 36 unarmed German soldiers—some as young as…