Paul Hausser
Peiper later attended an SS-Junker School (SS officer training camp) in Braunschweig that, under the direction of Paul Hausser, prepared future SS leaders. In addition to military training, the courses aimed to instil a proper ideological worldview, with antisemitism being the main tenet. Instructors such as Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (an army has-been and alcoholic), or future war criminals, such as Franz Magill of the notorious SS Cavalry Brigade, were of questionable competence. Peiper attended from 24 April 1935 to 30 March 1936 and was then posted to the LSSAH. On 1 March 1938, Peiper received his Nazi Party membership card with the number 5.508.134. After the war Peiper tried to deny, or at least obfuscate, his membership in the party, as it was inconsistent with the image that he had constructed for himself as being "merely a soldier".