Museum seeks to remember 84 U.S. POWs killed in WWII
By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and Stripes
European edition
MALMEDY, Belgium Ñ Three American veterans of World War II are scheduled to attend a dedication ceremony Monday for a museum commemorating the massacre of 84 U.S. soldiers at the hands of a German SS Panzer unit.
Near the city of Malmedy in eastern Belgium, the museum, called the Baugnez 44 Historical Center, recounts the events leading up to the slaughter of the American prisoners of war on Dec. 17, 1944.
It also details other atrocities committed against U.S. forces and Belgian citizens. There are more than 2,000 items in the museum, many of which belong to the centerÕs founder, Fabien Steffens.
ÒThe fighting in this area was very strong,Ó Steffens said as he stood in the museum on the eve of its dedication. ÒWe have a lot of material from the German and U.S. armies.Ó
SteffensÕ motherÕs home had been used as an infirmary by U.S. forces. When the German army overran the town during the Battle of the Bulge, the sick bay came under German control, only to fall back into American hands a short time later.
Between the two occupying forces, the family obtained a windfall of material, Steffens said.
The 48-year-old Belgian real estate agent broke ground on the two-story museum earlier this year. Steffens has been assisted by his son, Mathieu, and other supporters. When the museum opens to the public Tuesday, the standard entrance fee will be 7.50 euros, Mathieu Steffens said.
Ted Paluch, who survived the massacre, is one of the three veterans expected to attend MondayÕs dedication ceremony.
Paluch was one of 46 soldiers with the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion who lived to tell of his unitÕs capture and the horrific events that followed.
Also expected to attend Monday are Alfred Goldstein and Frank Garret of the 924th Observation Battalion, 99th Infantry Division. The two were among a group of U.S. soldiers taken prisoner and sent east to a prisoner of war camp in Germany.
Not far from where Goldstein and Garret were caught, PaluchÕs unit originally suffered the same fate. The difference was that many observers in his unit were summarily executed by machine-gun fire.
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