this is madly underrated, truly a hidden gem

@t.r.l.4377

2 жыл бұрын

@@EXCEDRIN10 exept from my Insane granddad.......but they seated him on the wrong coast were he could not harm...... ✌😁

@leezaslofsky4438

2 жыл бұрын

@@EXCEDRIN10 They were the best trained and best fighting army. But they were defeated, and surrendered unconditionally to the poorly trained and lousy fighting enemy. How do you explain this? Perhaps their Chief Strategist was an incompetent fool who managed to unite the whole world against Germany, in a suicidal bid for world domination? Maybe they should never have obeyed the orders of this fool! Maybe they should have gone on strike the minute he demanded that they swear total obedience to him personally, instead of to the Constitution? No doubt that would have caused angry outbursts in the Chancellery and threats to resign and go back to painting postcards instead of taking on the burden of telling the ungrateful German people to worship him. But it would have saved many millions of lives, including those of millions of German soldiers and civilians. Instead of refusing to obey the fool, however, they chose to follow his suicidal orders, and died in their millions to please him. In the end, he wrote off the Germans as "unworthy of me" because they lost the war, which showed they weren't good enough to rule the world.

@monke5723

2 жыл бұрын

@@EXCEDRIN10 id join the wehrmacht, i heard they hand out cocaine tablets

@leezaslofsky4438

2 жыл бұрын

@@EXCEDRIN10 But Germany DIDN'T have the resources the Allies had! And Germany knew that from the start! But Germany still started the war. A good army doesn't go to war when the odds are so heavily against it. That's bad, suicidal strategy. It doesn't matter if the troops are well trained if they don't have the material to fight with. That's like a basketball player who doesn't have a ball, or a pole vaulter without a pole. They may be well trained, but they will LOSE. Besides, Germany is a midsize country that attacked major powers like the British Empire, the USSR and the US. Its economy was nowhere near the size of the Allies' economies; they lacked oil; their balance of payments was a disaster, and their command structure was dominated by a fake "warlord". Hitler's "strategy" was to bring down upon Germany the full power of the rest of humanity, so that Germany would lie in ruins. At the last moment, Hitler intended to commit suicide while his country burned and starved and bled to death, in a magnificent Gotterdammerung. In his last days he said "We will go down. But we will take a world with us." That was his lifelong dream! The good training and ready obedience of the German soldiers only made things worse.

@lablackzed

2 жыл бұрын

@@monke5723 Pervatine go pills.

I forgot my view on the matter (I shall mention upfront, that I derive from an old Prussian military family) : The male members of my family have all been officers for the past hundreds of years. They also felt the shame cited by movies/documentaries that the Versaille Treaty had put on Germany. However, none of them was a true Nazi (but been in the Nazi Party as expected by the Government). My Grandfather told me stories about how his father, a high ranking officer, felt about WWII. He said my great-grandfather entered the war all excited to take revenge on the french and later, the other allies. Being a good Prussian, he thought the War was a holy and important one for the country in the first place. Later in the war (past 1941 according to his narrations), the war took a drastic turn and regular soldiers were involved in killings of CIVILLIANS. He never understood and heavily opposed that. Unfortunately, and due to the Prussian ethic of following the leader without questioning him, great-grandfather just went along as his officer honour didnt allow him to speak up against his superiors. He later referred to the NAzi officials as war criminals. So, was the Wehrmacht "Clean"? From what I heard : no I wish for mine and all future generations to not have to go through such a complete madness. Mankind has got a lot of stupid differences, but much more stupid things in common. Lets keep that in mind and thanks for this very intersting piece, Hipstorian! Regards

@Hipstorian

2 жыл бұрын

Some very interesting insights! Thanks for sharing these!

@codecampbase1525

2 жыл бұрын

Du machst dich besser bereit, wenn dir dein Land nicht komplett egal ist. Ich bin genau so gegen den Nazi Mist, weil es letztendlich Europa und Deutschland geschadet hat . Warum ein Nicht Deutscher das Recht hatte uns deutschen zu sagen wer deutsch ist und wer nicht und auch noch absolute Macht über unser Militär bekommen hat, werde ich auch nie so ganz verstehen. Die Österreicher würden jedenfalls einen deutschen, der sich zum Kanzler ernennt aus dem Amt raus jagen. Wir deutsche müssen endlich selbstständig unser Land leiten, zusammen halten und unsere eigenen Interessen vertreten. Das geht sehr wohl auch ohne dabei auf eugenisches Halbwissen zugreifen zu müssen. Grüße aus dem Süden! sicherlich kein Nazi, aber garantiert auch nicht Anti Deutsch.

@JoJo-vm8vk

2 жыл бұрын

I'm French, and I'm sick to read/ hear how unfair Versailles treaty was for the poor Germany after WW1. France has been deprived from a part of its territory after 1870 war, and this territory was important for heavy industry and had to pay a war compensation to the Prussian on top of that. France was the battlefield during WW1, with heavy destruction and a huge demographic bleeding on a smaller population compared to the Germany of the time. At the end, the Versailles treaty was a pain in the ass of the Americans, because money going to France for reparation didn't went to USA for business. And the Germans were eager to seek revenge because the civilian population didn't saw the war destruction at home. Between the 2 wars, Germany went bankrupt because of close ties with US economy and 1929 crisis, and the Soviets were messing with internal politics in Germany. But everyone keep blaming France who had a 1/4 of the territory destroyed during WW1, 1 million casualties and many more injured... I get this was the thinking of German population of the time. But this kind of thinking keeps being pushed forward even today...

@l.u.rehuher3714

2 жыл бұрын

@@JoJo-vm8vk no worries France is a permanent member of UNSC alongside Russia China England USA. Germany will never be a member of that club.

@kristiedrazenovich2866

2 жыл бұрын

It would be nice to hear more stories from the German perspective. We know there were good, decent soldiers, but they seem to be forgotten and overlooked. I only found 1 book similar to this, would love to learn more!

total shame was sending 14 yr olds to attack russian and american tanks in spring, 1945 when the war was clearly lost. Sickening that any wehrmacht officer consented to these orders.

@mercomania

2 жыл бұрын

Total shame of the Allies firebombing cities that had no military importance.

@catherinelw9365

2 жыл бұрын

@@mercomania Who started it? "They sowed the wind; let them reap the whirlwind".

@mercomania

2 жыл бұрын

@@catherinelw9365 Just like testing Atomic weapons on civilian cities. So pure and clean of war crimes.

@Jinxohh

2 жыл бұрын

@@catherinelw9365 actually Judea started it in 1933 when they waged war on Germany

@obiwaankenobi4460

2 жыл бұрын

@@mercomania "The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else and nobody was going to bomb them..."

Excellent presentation. My Grandfather fought in the Wehrmacht from 1939 until wounded in Russia in 1943. He never spoke to me very much about it (he died in 1979 when I was 16). However, this presentation and some diaries that I have recently been listening to make me contemplate so many questions about what he knew, witnessed or may have even participated in. One of the really striking things I have noticed about the diaries of soldiers in the East is how frighteningly quickly they become brutalised…..within days!

It's sad how the high virtues of honor and duty can be so easily corrupted.

@marc2638

7 ай бұрын

Yeah cause look at our country we are such a shining light of exemplary leadership and human kindness and not corrupted at all 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@frontgamet.v1892

5 ай бұрын

They were both.. Criminals and Soldiers. You can't put everybody in one pot.. That doesn't work. Although I think most officers were really bad.. But not every soldier. There was a big difference between Nazi, German and Wehrmacht soldier. Your reality = "The common soldiers of the wehrmacht murdered 1.5M jews 3.3M POWs + 5-7M Non-Jewish" " Wehrmacht troops would entertain themselves with the so-called 'jew games' where they would torture or kill jews for fun, one of these games had them rounding up jews, taking them to the forest and releasing them before hunting them down like they were animals " My words = It is absolutely fatal to bring all the soldiers of the Wehrmacht under one roof. My grandfather fought in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front and reported that many Wehrmacht soldiers were disgusted by the SS and their actions against Jews. Let's look at Rommel or Stauffenberg. These were extremely high-ranking people in the Wehrmacht and even they recognized the truth and didn't like the Nazis. Then the general foot soldier will notice this too. But of course I agree with you that there were also soldiers who liked the Nazis and their ideology. But these were mostly officers who gave the orders. On the next point: There are an enormous number of stories and reports of Wehrmacht soldiers who gave chocolate or other food to children or prisoners in the occupied territories. Many American soldiers described the Wehrmacht soldiers as the bravest and nicest soldiers they had ever met. That somehow doesn't fit your description. So my conclusion is that everyone sees what they want in the Wehrmacht, including me. I'm definitely no exception to false facts and propaganda, but neither are you. So I will explain my interpretation: I think that both existed in the Wehrmacht. I think that many many Wehrmacht soldiers didn't like Jews, mainly because of thousands of years of anti-Semitism. You can understand why the common people didn't like Jews. It was just jealousy. Because many Jews have always been very rich merchants. Which of course doesn't justify the actions. But I believe, as with Ford, that if many normal soldiers had seen the mass killing machines and how the SS treated Jews, many normal soldiers would find it disgusting. But of course there were also the other soldiers who probably played games like that. We will never know whether that was the minority or the majority. But you also have to consider the human aspect. Nobody is in the mood for war, especially not the frontline soldiers. Many of the soldiers were probably afraid of not following an order, that's human. Especially when you have seen what the SS does. I also believe that many soldiers only received orders without knowing what the end goal was. The ordinary soldiers didn't know that. They thought it would be over after the French campaign (many of the Wehrmacht soldiers also celebrated the French campaign, understandable because that was the place where they failed) but then they said they were heading east. Especially at the end of the war, many of the Wehrmacht knew Soldiers that it was over.. For most soldiers it was ultimately about protecting the people in the Reich, because they knew if the Russians got through the same thing would happen to the people that many Wehrmacht soldiers did in the East. Once again you have to see the human aspect here. The war makes you cold and sick. About the numbers... I believe, as I said, that the Wehrmacht soldiers followed orders without knowing the end goal. As you said, we don't know if there were punishments for soldiers who didn't follow orders. But if we take into account the human part and the brutal Iron Fist of the Nazis, the answer should be clear to me. That normal soldiers, not higher-ranking people, were punished or killed. In the end it was said, you kill this Jew now or you're gone. It's war.. And no front-line soldier is so keen on killing all these POWs or Jews with pleasure.. That would mean that every single soldier had as much hatred for POWs or Jews as the Nazis, or simply a psychopath was. But that's not true. There were those too, but not all of them. In addition, Hitler was more likely to get psychopaths for the SS

@Toxodos

3 ай бұрын

maybe they're not so virtuous then. Honor, Duty, they all mean nothing if they don't serve good

I have seen a lot and I mean a lot of history videos on KZread and this video is probably the best I have seen. Incredebly well written and extremely well researched. This deserves 1 millions views.

@sgtmayhem7567

2 жыл бұрын

and a million likes too.

@thecofieldcollection3792

2 жыл бұрын

The first 5-6 comments makes me think the production team ran over here to praise themselves.

@TheRst2001

2 жыл бұрын

Excellent detail in a 30 min video

@robothunter1035

2 жыл бұрын

And a super-awesome microphone.

Thank you for bringing up the Barbarossa decree. I was just about to mention it. That alone should be enough evidence to put the myth to rest

@MaryMantous

2 жыл бұрын

And Stalin? 20 million dead, 6,000 Polish military massacred in Katyn, Red army raping anyone they could... should we ignore or forget that the Russians were a damn sight worse than than the Nazis

@XavierbTM1221

2 жыл бұрын

@@MaryMantous these bolschevist apologists aint never gonna acknowledge the brutality of the marxist regime But we've finally realized who were the TRUE enemy

@carrion-fairy

2 жыл бұрын

@@MaryMantous nice whataboutism, we're not discussing Soviet war crimes

@ananthu8534

2 жыл бұрын

the same way the British empire is "Clean" for Indians and Africans 😅

@quronmccovery881

2 жыл бұрын

@@MaryMantous Yes, the soviet union committed many atrocities. Now can we continue discussing the nazis without you derailing the conversation?

Great coverage of a very difficult topic that shouldn`t be simply generalized - one way or the other. Your channel deserves way more viewers!

Whenever a war starts somewhere lots of young men volunteer to join the fight on every side. What seems to suck them in is the idea that it will be a great adventure - not thinking of what war, seen as an 'adventure', is all about : Killing fellow human beings. I'm of the opinion that war lets out 'the inner beast' in every young men. When I lived in Australia and the war in Yugoslavia started, hundreds of young men, born in Australia with Yugoslavian parents who had migrated to Australia, eagerly gave up everything in Australia to fight in Yugoslavia.

@didih3339

2 жыл бұрын

In Russia you could steal , rape and murder without any punishment , because of the Führerbefehl . He told us , that most soldiers wouldn't have done it normally , but they almost did never anything against these crimes , and sometimes they helped or even joined , because of peer pressure . Some commanders forbade their soldiers to rape and kill civilians , but the only thing they could do was to put these soldiers into other units The Full stoey is here： According to user @Heinisauerkraut said: My Grandpa was a military pastor with a rank of a major in the German Wehrmacht . Then | was a young boy ( about 1980 , I was 10 ) he took me and my older brother hiking , because he mapped wild graves of unknown soldiers who were fallen in the last days of the war , mostly from strafing fighter planes . He organized that they were put in proper graves in local graveyards and was later honored for this work . There he told us many stories about the war , especially in the east . Until almost the end of the war he had no own front line experience , but many soldiers came to him to confess their own experience to get some relive from the horrible things they saw or did . It took some years to really understand the things he told us . He told us , that the main difference between the campaign in France was , that you were at risk to get court martialled and shot if you stole only a chicken . In Russia you could steal , rape and murder without any punishment , because of the Führerbefehl . He told us , that most soldiers wouldn't have done it normally , but they almost did never anything against these crimes , and sometimes they helped or even joined , because of peer pressure . Some commanders forbade their soldiers to rape and kill civilians , but the only thing they could do was to put these soldiers into other units . And even the commanders who acted against rapes and murders , allowed or even encouraged to confiscate any food from the civilian population , so that they were condemned to starve to death . The result was almost the same in the end . He told us , which is now in accordance to my own experience , that were are only a few people are really evil , but on the other side there are also only a few people morally good . Most people are opportunists , and they act according to the circumstances , and if the circumstances allowing to do otherwise socially unacceptable acts , they will do it , if they get an advantage from that . So my Grandpa really know about the crimes on the eastern front , and because of that he tried not to get in soviet captivity . 1945 he was on leave at home south of Frankfurt , then he decided to dessert and hide in the woods . A thing he only told his children and later his grandchildren , and did not even write in his own memoirs . That is telling something about the German mindset , even long after the war . It was counted as more shameful to desert your unit , than to obey orders from a criminal regime . The military police told my grandmother , that if he returns he wont be shot , and in the end the pressure on was to high , and he surrendered two weeks before the Americans occupied his viage . He was court martialled ,degraded to the lowest rank and put into a penal battalion . His unit stand against the " Russians " in the area around Berlin . The Russians used loud speakers to demand the surrender , and after that someone in the unit shot the commanding officer , and the whole unit surrendered without a fight . My Grandpa was at this time quite sick from his time in the woods , and then they were inspected by a soviet female doctor , she asked him if he has children . He answered correctly that he has 8 children and showed photos of them . After that he got his release papers , and was allowed to go home . So in a lucky twist of fate , he survived his short time as soviet POW . If he were captured as military pastor in a rank of major , his fate would have been for sure much darker . I am very thankful for that experience with my grandfather . But even for me , it took some time , to remember the stories of my grandpa , then in the late 80's the discussion about the crimes of the Wehrmacht came up . This was the first time realized the full weight of the information in my head . Maybe it was so convenient to blame the SS and other nazi party organisations for all the bad things happened in the war

This gets back to the issue here in Australia over possible war crimes committed by Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan. The matrix in which soldiers operate makes even the most disciplined soldiers open to evil. Especially when you dehumanize opponents, as hap[ped both in WW2 and in the current war on terrorism. Anyone can do this.

@maddyg3208

2 жыл бұрын

The only reason that waging war itself is not a "crime" is because the same people (governments) who start wars also get to decide what is or isn't a crime. One rule for us, another for them.

@Brough1111

2 жыл бұрын

Best explanation, and the by standers that weren't there love to point the finger, it makes them feel superior.

@tpxchallenger

9 ай бұрын

Except that the Germans and the Japanese committed war crimes as national policy. That's the difference.

@Emanresuadeen

2 ай бұрын

Excusing the massive, planned out genocides of Nazi Germany with whataboutism. The state of Nazi Germany planned out their genocide of Jews, and other undesirables, and Eastern Europeans in general, in great detail. They had organized shooting squads whose only purpose was rounding up and efficiently executing populations. By plan and policy, these populations were hearses into ghettos, put on trains, and transported to extermination centers, to be efficiently gassed as cremated to eliminate entire populations. This is what genocide is. To equate this with incidents of individuals or certain units committing crimes, is stupid and dishonest.

What an amazing video, thank you. Important knowledge that needs to be recalled, remembered and recounted. Lest we forget.

@frontgamet.v1892

5 ай бұрын

They were both.. Criminals and Soldiers. You can't put everybody in one pot.. That doesn't work. Although I think most officers were really bad.. But not every soldier. There was a big difference between Nazi, German and Wehrmacht soldier. = "The common soldiers of the wehrmacht murdered 1.5M jews 3.3M POWs + 5-7M Non-Jewish" " Wehrmacht troops would entertain themselves with the so-called 'jew games' where they would torture or kill jews for fun, one of these games had them rounding up jews, taking them to the forest and releasing them before hunting them down like they were animals " My words = It is absolutely fatal to bring all the soldiers of the Wehrmacht under one roof. My grandfather fought in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front and reported that many Wehrmacht soldiers were disgusted by the SS and their actions against Jews. Let's look at Rommel or Stauffenberg. These were extremely high-ranking people in the Wehrmacht and even they recognized the truth and didn't like the Nazis. Then the general foot soldier will notice this too. But of course I agree with you that there were also soldiers who liked the Nazis and their ideology. But these were mostly officers who gave the orders. On the next point: There are an enormous number of stories and reports of Wehrmacht soldiers who gave chocolate or other food to children or prisoners in the occupied territories. Many American soldiers described the Wehrmacht soldiers as the bravest and nicest soldiers they had ever met. That somehow doesn't fit your description. So my conclusion is that everyone sees what they want in the Wehrmacht, including me. I'm definitely no exception to false facts and propaganda, but neither are you. So I will explain my interpretation: I think that both existed in the Wehrmacht. I think that many many Wehrmacht soldiers didn't like Jews, mainly because of thousands of years of anti-Semitism. You can understand why the common people didn't like Jews. It was just jealousy. Because many Jews have always been very rich merchants. Which of course doesn't justify the actions. But I believe, as with Ford, that if many normal soldiers had seen the mass killing machines and how the SS treated Jews, many normal soldiers would find it disgusting. But of course there were also the other soldiers who probably played games like that. We will never know whether that was the minority or the majority. But you also have to consider the human aspect. Nobody is in the mood for war, especially not the frontline soldiers. Many of the soldiers were probably afraid of not following an order, that's human. Especially when you have seen what the SS does. I also believe that many soldiers only received orders without knowing what the end goal was. The ordinary soldiers didn't know that. They thought it would be over after the French campaign (many of the Wehrmacht soldiers also celebrated the French campaign, understandable because that was the place where they failed) but then they said they were heading east. Especially at the end of the war, many of the Wehrmacht knew Soldiers that it was over.. For most soldiers it was ultimately about protecting the people in the Reich, because they knew if the Russians got through the same thing would happen to the people that many Wehrmacht soldiers did in the East. Once again you have to see the human aspect here. The war makes you cold and sick. About the numbers... I believe, as I said, that the Wehrmacht soldiers followed orders without knowing the end goal. As you said, we don't know if there were punishments for soldiers who didn't follow orders. But if we take into account the human part and the brutal Iron Fist of the Nazis, the answer should be clear to me. That normal soldiers, not higher-ranking people, were punished or killed. In the end it was said, you kill this Jew now or you're gone. It's war.. And no front-line soldier is so keen on killing all these POWs or Jews with pleasure.. That would mean that every single soldier had as much hatred for POWs or Jews as the Nazis, or simply a psychopath was. But that's not true. There were those too, but not all of them. In addition, Hitler was more likely to get psychopaths for the SS

Great content and brilliant editing...glad I subbed this channel.

the algorithm may have found you, great vid man.

@Hipstorian

2 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately, I don't think the algorithm likes me very much, the more controversial topics and symbols I throw into my videos! It has a rather complicated love-hate relationship with me.

Very interesting and well researched, enjoyed all the old movie clips,too.

Great video! Thank you for taking the time to make it!

Lucky to stumble on this excellent bit of work. I have a friend here in the US who is a descendant of Helmut James von Moltke and conversing with him has sparked in me a deep interest in diverse attitudes held in WW2 Germany

Thanks for letting us participate!

@Hipstorian

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks again for helping out! Much appreciated!

@HistoryandHeadlines

2 жыл бұрын

@@Hipstorian You're welcome!

I am happy to see you again with a new video in less than a month.

I am glad to have found this channel, quite objective and unbiased analysis. Subscribed!

Great video on a difficult subject. Good to see solid examination of Romer and Neitzel's work.

Individuals in every army since the dawn of time have committed atrocities. If you don't understand this you are living in a dream world. The sad thing is that it is still happening today.

@maxgrozema1093

2 жыл бұрын

Whataboutism

@fazole

2 жыл бұрын

@@maxgrozema1093 No, perspective on historical reality to learn from it. Politicians put soldiers into inhuman conditions and then prosecute them for acting inhumane. Germany forced the soldiers to live off the land, so civilians were cast out of their homes and their food confiscated. Einsatzgruppen were special units sent to execute partisans and others. The Wehrmacht soldiers were ordered to kill civilians and it is known Wehrmacht leadership objected strongly to this. Therefore the notsee leadership created the Einsatzgruppen. You can see interviews of US soldiers who openly speak of prisoners being executed as well. Check out the Biscarri massacre as an example.

@maxgrozema1093

2 жыл бұрын

@@fazole Generalplan Ost was drawn up by the german military leadership in part because they decided they simply couldn't supply their army fast enough for the blitz. It was a war crime part of their strategy to win, with the added goal of the natsocs to depopulate the east. Germany didn't force shit, they planned for this. The original comment trivialized how war crimes (which at the time were also already classified as war crimes) were an inherent part of the goals of the german regime and part of their overall strategy. It is not about the individual soldiers, it's about that Wehrmacht as an organization willingly planned and participated in war crimes, and that war crimes were part of their strategy. Oh, and einsatzgruppen and similar units were already a thing since the invasion of Poland, the army leadership complained that their soldiers had to assist them, and that it costed to much ammunition and manpower, not because they had pity for the victims.

@annapolismike

2 жыл бұрын

Very well put. The victors WRITE the history, especially if they CONTROL the press. We NEVER hear ANYTHING regarding the 10's of Millions of civilians starved, worked to death in Gulags and outright MURDERED by that Bolshevik regime. Did Hitler's campaign kill, work and starve people to death in the German camps, of course. THAT is only half the story. The is WHY I say a solemn prayer for those killed, especially those mostly slaughtered, Caucasian and Christian. After the Bolsheviks reached the Polish border in 1944 (and in '39-'40), A blind eye at the very least was turned to their behavior. After they reached Germany, the rapes and murders sky-rocketed. You will read that the soldiers had a 'Right" to seek "Retribution". How can you claim morality when YOU (NKVD) participate in the same barbarism as your enemy? There wasn't much control, in some instances, condoned at the highest levels. READ what Alexandr Solzhenitsyn has to say about this and draw your OWN conclusions. Don't trust the media, they only want you to have sympathies for what they write about, not the whole story!

@maxgrozema1093

2 жыл бұрын

@@annapolismike you don't cite sources and the victors write history is not a fact or can be used to present 'facts', it's just a quote by Winston Churchill (among alleged others) used for propaganda. Alexander Solzhenitsyn is not a historian, but a valuable eyewitness report about life in a gulag. The right to seek retribution came from soviet propaganda and the leadership of the soviet union was shocked when they heard about the rapes and murders, this is why the NKVD was send in (there are multiple accounts about NKVD mission statements used in multiple books, like Berlin by Anthony Beevor and The End by Ian Kershaw). Also through its whole runtime, No 10's of millions died in the gulag system, through it's whole runtime I believe it was at most about 4 million, look up the black book of communism debunked, you see that a lot of soviet brutality myths stems from that book. Were the soviets brutal authoritarians? Yes. Were they the moral equivalent of the germans during ww2? No, not by a long shot.

Thank you for this video. I’ve often wondered about both of my grandfathers’ thoughts and actions while serving in the Wehrmacht. My father was a very young member of the Hitler Youth, and does not discuss his experiences of that time whether out of regret or personal pain. I have learned from history that the true measure of a person’s character is what they do when nobody is watching; I can only hope that my ancestors knew this as well.

Great video that provides some very useful insight and helped me form my own opinion on the matter, you just earned a sub, and very deserved it was! Greetings from the UK

Wow ! When i first saw this pop up in my suggested videos I ignored it because I thought it was just another video on the vermacht and their use of amphetamines or yet again another video on how sharply dressed Nazi officers were compared to officers and soldiers of other countries and that Hugo Boss designed their military uniforms and blah blah blah. This is a problem with the English language and it’s ambiguous nature many words such as clean contain within them by meaning different things based on context. Today I decided to watch this and I’m so glad that I did. Truly sir , a very well made and obviously well researched video. I sincerely hope you are eventually compensated for your efforts in producing this. In any case I am now a subscriber and you have earned the like 👍 I have given to this video. Bravo ! I can’t wait to see more content from you !

brilliant video!

Exceptionally good. Thoughtful and balanced. Also worrying, enough conditioning and we're all capable of criminality.

@MaryMantous

2 жыл бұрын

And Stalin? 20 million dead, 6,000 Polish military massacred in Katyn, Red army raping anyone they could... should we ignore or forget that the Russians were a damn sight worse than than the Nazis

@frontgamet.v1892

5 ай бұрын

They were both.. Criminals and Soldiers. You can't put everybody in one pot.. That doesn't work. Although I think most officers were really bad.. But not every soldier. There was a big difference between Nazi, German and Wehrmacht soldier. Your reality = "The common soldiers of the wehrmacht murdered 1.5M jews 3.3M POWs + 5-7M Non-Jewish" " Wehrmacht troops would entertain themselves with the so-called 'jew games' where they would torture or kill jews for fun, one of these games had them rounding up jews, taking them to the forest and releasing them before hunting them down like they were animals " My words = It is absolutely fatal to bring all the soldiers of the Wehrmacht under one roof. My grandfather fought in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front and reported that many Wehrmacht soldiers were disgusted by the SS and their actions against Jews. Let's look at Rommel or Stauffenberg. These were extremely high-ranking people in the Wehrmacht and even they recognized the truth and didn't like the Nazis. Then the general foot soldier will notice this too. But of course I agree with you that there were also soldiers who liked the Nazis and their ideology. But these were mostly officers who gave the orders. On the next point: There are an enormous number of stories and reports of Wehrmacht soldiers who gave chocolate or other food to children or prisoners in the occupied territories. Many American soldiers described the Wehrmacht soldiers as the bravest and nicest soldiers they had ever met. That somehow doesn't fit your description. So my conclusion is that everyone sees what they want in the Wehrmacht, including me. I'm definitely no exception to false facts and propaganda, but neither are you. So I will explain my interpretation: I think that both existed in the Wehrmacht. I think that many many Wehrmacht soldiers didn't like Jews, mainly because of thousands of years of anti-Semitism. You can understand why the common people didn't like Jews. It was just jealousy. Because many Jews have always been very rich merchants. Which of course doesn't justify the actions. But I believe, as with Ford, that if many normal soldiers had seen the mass killing machines and how the SS treated Jews, many normal soldiers would find it disgusting. But of course there were also the other soldiers who probably played games like that. We will never know whether that was the minority or the majority. But you also have to consider the human aspect. Nobody is in the mood for war, especially not the frontline soldiers. Many of the soldiers were probably afraid of not following an order, that's human. Especially when you have seen what the SS does. I also believe that many soldiers only received orders without knowing what the end goal was. The ordinary soldiers didn't know that. They thought it would be over after the French campaign (many of the Wehrmacht soldiers also celebrated the French campaign, understandable because that was the place where they failed) but then they said they were heading east. Especially at the end of the war, many of the Wehrmacht knew Soldiers that it was over.. For most soldiers it was ultimately about protecting the people in the Reich, because they knew if the Russians got through the same thing would happen to the people that many Wehrmacht soldiers did in the East. Once again you have to see the human aspect here. The war makes you cold and sick. About the numbers... I believe, as I said, that the Wehrmacht soldiers followed orders without knowing the end goal. As you said, we don't know if there were punishments for soldiers who didn't follow orders. But if we take into account the human part and the brutal Iron Fist of the Nazis, the answer should be clear to me. That normal soldiers, not higher-ranking people, were punished or killed. In the end it was said, you kill this Jew now or you're gone. It's war.. And no front-line soldier is so keen on killing all these POWs or Jews with pleasure.. That would mean that every single soldier had as much hatred for POWs or Jews as the Nazis, or simply a psychopath was. But that's not true. There were those too, but not all of them. In addition, Hitler was more likely to get psychopaths for the SS

Interesting content, and great production quality!

This is very quality, thank you.

Excellent work. I feel the need to mention that the pathway to ordinary soldiers becoming (at least temporarily) of committing atrocities was not and is not a phenomenon unique to the Wehrmacht. The Wehrmacht was the modern army that found itself in the center of a perfect storm of circumstances that enabled and accelerated it.

@thanos_6.0

2 жыл бұрын

I agree

@jamescreek1319

2 жыл бұрын

Very true and our own government is guilty of crimes against humanity and atrocities during ww2 and every war since including Iraq and Afghanistan most of the suicides by American soldiers are because of the guilt and atrocities that they were involved in not just because of post traumatic stress of their friends being killed it was because of the mental problems that they are having from their own crimes and atrocities against the people in the country they invaded. Sad but true

@jodon2271

2 жыл бұрын

@@jamescreek1319 Vietnam.

@cecil123

2 жыл бұрын

It took years/decades of German society teaching that other groups were subhumans or Germans superhumans to allow the average German to either want to participate or turn a blind eye to what happened during WW2. Brainwashing children who would become soldiers and pervasive Völkisch propaganda. The Japanese had a similar route. While war crimes can be attributed to other armies throughout history, they are often isolated, whereas for German and Japan, they were typically part of the main agenda during the war.

@thanos_6.0

2 жыл бұрын

@@cecil123 True

Superbly made and narrated! I am impressed by your pronunciation of German words. Subbed for more good stuff

@pultsari9036

2 жыл бұрын

I got an impression that he is German himself (hence the pronounciation), but I may have misunderstood.

@irresistiblle

Жыл бұрын

@@pultsari9036 i think he is from limburg

@suzannee6673

8 ай бұрын

Lovely accent you have...New Jersey?

extraordinarily well done. you articulated multiple factors and showed how they all form integral and essential parts of the greater, and singular question. i very much enjoyed your narration and organizational flow to the material.

Super video! Very interesting and important topic. Great job!

With the age of the internet and misinformation it is very important to highlight the actual truth of what happened in the darkest years of humanity. Learning and understanding what happened is the most important thing you can do to honor the people who lived back then.

@frontgamet.v1892

5 ай бұрын

They were both.. Criminals and Soldiers. You can't put everybody in one pot.. That doesn't work. Although I think most officers were really bad.. But not every soldier. There was a big difference between Nazi, German and Wehrmacht soldier. Your reality = "The common soldiers of the wehrmacht murdered 1.5M jews 3.3M POWs + 5-7M Non-Jewish" " Wehrmacht troops would entertain themselves with the so-called 'jew games' where they would torture or kill jews for fun, one of these games had them rounding up jews, taking them to the forest and releasing them before hunting them down like they were animals " My words = It is absolutely fatal to bring all the soldiers of the Wehrmacht under one roof. My grandfather fought in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front and reported that many Wehrmacht soldiers were disgusted by the SS and their actions against Jews. Let's look at Rommel or Stauffenberg. These were extremely high-ranking people in the Wehrmacht and even they recognized the truth and didn't like the Nazis. Then the general foot soldier will notice this too. But of course I agree with you that there were also soldiers who liked the Nazis and their ideology. But these were mostly officers who gave the orders. On the next point: There are an enormous number of stories and reports of Wehrmacht soldiers who gave chocolate or other food to children or prisoners in the occupied territories. Many American soldiers described the Wehrmacht soldiers as the bravest and nicest soldiers they had ever met. That somehow doesn't fit your description. So my conclusion is that everyone sees what they want in the Wehrmacht, including me. I'm definitely no exception to false facts and propaganda, but neither are you. So I will explain my interpretation: I think that both existed in the Wehrmacht. I think that many many Wehrmacht soldiers didn't like Jews, mainly because of thousands of years of anti-Semitism. You can understand why the common people didn't like Jews. It was just jealousy. Because many Jews have always been very rich merchants. Which of course doesn't justify the actions. But I believe, as with Ford, that if many normal soldiers had seen the mass killing machines and how the SS treated Jews, many normal soldiers would find it disgusting. But of course there were also the other soldiers who probably played games like that. We will never know whether that was the minority or the majority. But you also have to consider the human aspect. Nobody is in the mood for war, especially not the frontline soldiers. Many of the soldiers were probably afraid of not following an order, that's human. Especially when you have seen what the SS does. I also believe that many soldiers only received orders without knowing what the end goal was. The ordinary soldiers didn't know that. They thought it would be over after the French campaign (many of the Wehrmacht soldiers also celebrated the French campaign, understandable because that was the place where they failed) but then they said they were heading east. Especially at the end of the war, many of the Wehrmacht knew Soldiers that it was over.. For most soldiers it was ultimately about protecting the people in the Reich, because they knew if the Russians got through the same thing would happen to the people that many Wehrmacht soldiers did in the East. Once again you have to see the human aspect here. The war makes you cold and sick. About the numbers... I believe, as I said, that the Wehrmacht soldiers followed orders without knowing the end goal. As you said, we don't know if there were punishments for soldiers who didn't follow orders. But if we take into account the human part and the brutal Iron Fist of the Nazis, the answer should be clear to me. That normal soldiers, not higher-ranking people, were punished or killed. In the end it was said, you kill this Jew now or you're gone. It's war.. And no front-line soldier is so keen on killing all these POWs or Jews with pleasure.. That would mean that every single soldier had as much hatred for POWs or Jews as the Nazis, or simply a psychopath was. But that's not true. There were those too, but not all of them. In addition, Hitler was more likely to get psychopaths for the SS

My grandfather was on the eastern front in the romanian army, they knew that the germans were hating the russians , but they also did the same because of the soviet massacres in Bassarabia. He told us about one instance when his unit killed russian civilians: not far away from a village they were resting and taking a bath in a river when a partisan shoot 2 soldiers, one died and the other was wounded. They followed the traces and find the village, the lieutenant ordered to gather the village and ask for the guilty one. The village representatives (3 men) denied the fact but later the soldiers got the culprit , it was the son of the village elder. The lieutenant ordered the shooting of all 3 leaders and the culprit.The soldiers do it with out a remorse because of their dead comrade.And their lieutenant was a kind man. Imagine if the he was an evil one, one village extinct.The partisan was defending his country , and the elders were defending their kin, the soldiers were defending their comrades and the war against USSR was to defend their country also, who was right? War is a horrible thing and my grandfather told us that it makes humans inhuman.

@reinokarvinen8845

2 жыл бұрын

Partisans in the movies are the good guys but soviet partisans in Finland and the baltic states just managed to rape rob and murder the locals

@tavish4699

9 ай бұрын

from a law point of viiew the romanians were right since partisans had no rights to be taken prisoner or rights in general when caught it could be argued the village elders were partisans themselves or atleast were aiding the partisans by hiding the son sad story

Amazing video. Great for historical context. Keep up the great work!

Very well thought out presentation.

Me as a german....thats some extremely hot topic. You cannot argue about both sides of the Wehrmacht in nowadays Germany without being labelled as a nazi.

@leezaslofsky4438

2 жыл бұрын

@Thunder Cloud That movie is nothing but disgusting Nazi propaganda. It is one long series of lies.

@fazole

2 жыл бұрын

Can u even fly the current German flag? My German friend said her father took a lot of contempt for daring to fly the BRD flag on his farm in the 90s. I did see Merkel throw it aside in some kind of ceremony.

@leezaslofsky4438

2 жыл бұрын

@@fazole The BRD (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) used the "Black Red Gold" flag, and that flag is still the German flag. Someone has been telling you fibs. You could have checked it very easily, but you couldn't be bothered.

@tavish4699

2 жыл бұрын

@@leezaslofsky4438 nope its true acually back in the day you were already susbiciouce when flying the german flag in your garden or so in german culture it only realy suddently seems okay to do that if its football worldcup at the moment otherwise its allways seen as a little weird

@leezaslofsky4438

2 жыл бұрын

@@tavish4699 Yeah. Uh huh. Sure. No doubt about it. Yes sir. Right you are. "Back in the day" things were all screwed up, that's for sure. I don't need evidence because I trust you.

Native german here. I have the full spectrum of possibilities in my 4 great grandfathers. All of them fought in the war and 3 of them died. First one was an actual member of the Waffen SS. My grandfather never talked about him until he lay on his death bed so we don't actually know too much about him, but we do know that he was a fanatical Nazi to the point of incriminating his own wife to the SS for sedition during the later stages of the war. He was killed in Russia in 1944 and my Grandfather grew up in an orphanage. Second one was pretty much the polar opposite. He was a member of the SPD (german socialist party) and refused to leave the party until it was forcefully dissolved. He continued to oppose the NSDAP openly. As a result he was forcefully conscripted at the very start of the war and later transferred to a penal battalion for reasons we dont know but can imagine. He didnt get out of that one and was severely wounded clearing out a minefield in russia during Unternehmen Barbarossa, later dying because he was not cared for. Third one was 16 when the war broke out and was conscripted in 1942 at 19 years old, by which point he had already married and had my grandmother. We obviously don't know too much about him either, as all we know about him comes from my great grandmother. But we do know that he was not in the party, though he also wasn't opposed to it. It's hard to say to what degree he was brainwashed, but it's likely that especially because of his young age he grew up with quite some Nazi ideals. He was killed by a sniper during the retreat somewhere between 1944 and 1945. His family didnt learn about his fate until 11 years later. Last one may be the most interesting one, as we know the most about him. He was also a member of the SPD until it was dissolved but unlike #2 he didn't continue opposing the regime as he "didn't want any trouble". My mother and grandmother remember him well. He stated to them that he and many other germans of course knew about the prosecution of the jews even in the years before the war. He knew they were being deported to labor camps but he claimed he did not know about the extermination camps, which to me at least, is believable. He was also conscripted in late 1939. He fought in France, Greece and later in Russia. He was part of the attack on Leningrad, but was court martialed and sent to a penal battalion for refusing to burn down a civilian farmstead. I think that speaks positively for his character. He managed to survive that one by some miracle and returned to the regular Wehrmacht in 1944. He was peppered with shrapnel in August 1944 in Romania and didn't quite recover until 1946. He was lucky enough to be moved to a more permanent hospital in southwestern germany, so it was the allies who captured it, not the russians. He finally returned home in 1948. So that's my families stories about the war. I felt I had to tell them here. Take it or leave it.

@applesandgrapesfordinner4626

9 ай бұрын

That is very interesting. Your whole family seemed to sum up the attitudes of the war in microcosm.

A very compelling and necessary addition to the history of WW2. Quite astonishing too that such a treasure-trove of information remained hidden in the archives for so long. One has to wonder if there are other gems yet to be discovered.

I think this video is amazing. VERY well done.

This debate is so stupid because every military was not clean, someone in the military did warcrimes, not many or a lot. War crimes are a running thing in war. A quote from a German Miniseries "War brings out the worst in us."

@modest_spice6083

10 ай бұрын

None have done as the fascists have done. They are literally the worst of humanity, the dregs, the waste, the absolute, most evil filth. There is nothing even remotely comparable to the tens of millions of lives killed by the fascists during WW2.

@gon2soku273

8 ай бұрын

@@modest_spice6083 Found the jew.

@danilapolesciuk4316

8 ай бұрын

​@@modest_spice6083the tankies: why did you leave me out 😢

Good job. I am a historian and a former military man (US Navy). I would like to think that I would have resisted illegal orders, such as Wehrmacht soldiers experienced, backed by ingrained loyalty to one’s country and culture. It is easy for some to say what they would or would not do in war. Even the US military guys did things that they could never speak of when they got home. I thank God that I was never put in such an impossibly horrible situation....

Excellent Video! One Question, where did you find all the footage that is used in this Video?

Eye opening video, very thought provoking. Thank you.

Compelling, blows away the "I was only carrying out orders " defence

Thank you for an excellent multi-faceted look at the complicity of the Wehrmacht in WW II crimes. Hopefully we will never see another war like it or any war for that matter.

Hi, Thank you for upload… I like to ask you if there is any way to reach those documents that been recorded by British?

Most interesting Thanks for making the video!!

Great video with a really hard subject. This is one of the questions that change the outlook on the war. In general I don't believe in the "clean wehrmacht" however I feel like propoganda and civil obedience have more to do with the crimes that the wehrmacht commited. In my opinion the most important lesson that we had to learn from Ww2 German is that free discussion of different ideas is necessary. You don't object if everyone is doing the same even if you don't agree with it.

@Hipstorian

2 жыл бұрын

Very well said! Herd mentality certainly seems to have played a large part in this - and often has throughout history in either joining the bandwagon or looking the other way.

@JukeboxTheGhoul

2 жыл бұрын

Free discussion of ideas? Does that include Nazi ideas? Secondly, wouldn't this suggestion only work if it applied to armies? The Armed Forces and contractors commit war crimes up to this day, and most people don't speak up today. Would you say we need a more democratic armed forces in order for the ability to speak up to work? Because people in the armed forces didn't just choose not to speak up, they were suppressed, by their commander. Even if they spoke up to their officers, it was worthless, those were the orders. You could probably convince your squad and rebel, but can you really get enough to match the army, atleast in the local area? Probably not. I think much more important is to resist racism and racist parties when they present themselves. Once in power Hitler would be difficult to dislodge, and so the main aim should be to focus on making sure nobody like Hitler rises again, ie essentialist racial ideologies and obedience to the state. This would probably require conservative parties to boycott any alliance with extremist groups, especially if they are similar in these ways. Another interesting thing was how the German Nazi party's agenda was not resisted by the high up generals. These were the people with the actual power to resist Hiter's objectives, but they didn't because many of them were "politically conservative, ambitious, obedient, ultra-nationalist, anti-semitic and racist with a long-standing tradition of anti-semitism and anti-communism and authoritarian leanings" (24:03) This suggests to me that these are ideas that need educating against on a wider scale as well as requiring some people who are willing to stand up against these things amongst the department of defense.

@lrw3984

2 жыл бұрын

yet the small hats who run google, etc. don't allow anything to contradict their narrative.... wonder why?

@JukeboxTheGhoul

2 жыл бұрын

@@lrw3984 Ah great, what we needed on this video comment thread about the horrors of the ww2, someone spreading anti-semitic conspiracy theories about "small hatted" (kippa) wearing people "controlling google, etc" for a "narrative." Would've worked better in the past - who the fuck wears hats nowadays? Try harder next time, nazi.

@fazole

2 жыл бұрын

@@JukeboxTheGhoul The Furrier paid off his generals to go along--basic bribery! So much for the honourable Prussian nobleman officer!

This turned out perfectly, though I don't think I have a career in voice acting

@Hipstorian

2 жыл бұрын

Haha! You don't sound bad at all! Did you hear me in most of my videos? I sound pretty constipated myself!

Thoughtful analysis and makes a complex topic accessible to the uninformed. Thank you.

Great job, the video was well done and gives a very good degree of information. I liked it.

"Crazy madmen on a leash or young men who lost their way?"

I also want to add that I have been twice to the WW11 German cemetery in Cannock Chase, and have heard that it is the best kept cemetery for the Wehrmacht in the world. 6000 soldiers are buried there, many unknown, up to 4 in a grave. I took 80 artificial poppies there and I knelt down 80 times to place a poppy on their graves. Eventually I will try and place poppies on every grave for those fallen in WW 11. Most of them hadn’t even made 21. RIP, I remember you and the sacrifice you all made. Bless you, you had no other choice

@simonpierre8283

11 ай бұрын

Ww11 when was ww3?😂

@milchpackungszertreter6769

9 ай бұрын

Bruu

@kampfkartoffel8994

9 ай бұрын

Respect to you

@robertomeneghetti6215

9 ай бұрын

Do you also bless their victims for sure!?

Lol i thought I was going insane or something but yeah that's definitely Persona 5 music playing quietly in the background. I'm playing it right now so I were instantly able to recognize it and wondered how it would be possible to hear it now if i left it on or something. Although I wonder, is it really fully okay to use any music as long as it's from a game? Because it's obviously possible to play a game and then put it on KZread but it feels a bit different to use the music for something else entirely.

Excellent analysis great video.

This is an extremely good answer to the question.

great research and historical details,y thanks for that.Bill in Ireland

awesome... a new take most definitely... good work.

lest we forget William Golding talked about the "veneer" of civilisation in Lord of the flies !

In war, no army is clean. Even in the "best case scenario" it is not.

Excellent analysis!

I lived in Germany from 1976-1986 both as soldier and civilian. I'm now 64. My wife was from Stuttgart. The in-laws from Austria. I became totally enthralled in the truth about WWII from listening to the stories they sometimes told. They saw it first hand and they likely never told a lie in their lives. I felt humbled and honored to have known these two blessed kind souls. The crap you see in the movies and what they taught us in school is not even close. This is one of the absolute best videos I have ever found that states the facts as they were and are. The fighting men were soldiers, on both sides, doing what they were ordered. Duty bound as all soldiers are. Instant LIKE and SUBSCRIBE! Greetings from Alaska.

@didih3339

2 жыл бұрын

In Russia you could steal , rape and murder without any punishment , because of the Führerbefehl . He told us , that most soldiers wouldn't have done it normally , but they almost did never anything against these crimes , and sometimes they helped or even joined , because of peer pressure . Some commanders forbade their soldiers to rape and kill civilians , but the only thing they could do was to put these soldiers into other units The Full stoey is here： According to user @Heinisauerkraut said: My Grandpa was a military pastor with a rank of a major in the German Wehrmacht . Then | was a young boy ( about 1980 , I was 10 ) he took me and my older brother hiking , because he mapped wild graves of unknown soldiers who were fallen in the last days of the war , mostly from strafing fighter planes . He organized that they were put in proper graves in local graveyards and was later honored for this work . There he told us many stories about the war , especially in the east . Until almost the end of the war he had no own front line experience , but many soldiers came to him to confess their own experience to get some relive from the horrible things they saw or did . It took some years to really understand the things he told us . He told us , that the main difference between the campaign in France was , that you were at risk to get court martialled and shot if you stole only a chicken . In Russia you could steal , rape and murder without any punishment , because of the Führerbefehl . He told us , that most soldiers wouldn't have done it normally , but they almost did never anything against these crimes , and sometimes they helped or even joined , because of peer pressure . Some commanders forbade their soldiers to rape and kill civilians , but the only thing they could do was to put these soldiers into other units . And even the commanders who acted against rapes and murders , allowed or even encouraged to confiscate any food from the civilian population , so that they were condemned to starve to death . The result was almost the same in the end . He told us , which is now in accordance to my own experience , that were are only a few people are really evil , but on the other side there are also only a few people morally good . Most people are opportunists , and they act according to the circumstances , and if the circumstances allowing to do otherwise socially unacceptable acts , they will do it , if they get an advantage from that . So my Grandpa really know about the crimes on the eastern front , and because of that he tried not to get in soviet captivity . 1945 he was on leave at home south of Frankfurt , then he decided to dessert and hide in the woods . A thing he only told his children and later his grandchildren , and did not even write in his own memoirs . That is telling something about the German mindset , even long after the war . It was counted as more shameful to desert your unit , than to obey orders from a criminal regime . The military police told my grandmother , that if he returns he wont be shot , and in the end the pressure on was to high , and he surrendered two weeks before the Americans occupied his viage . He was court martialled ,degraded to the lowest rank and put into a penal battalion . His unit stand against the " Russians " in the area around Berlin . The Russians used loud speakers to demand the surrender , and after that someone in the unit shot the commanding officer , and the whole unit surrendered without a fight . My Grandpa was at this time quite sick from his time in the woods , and then they were inspected by a soviet female doctor , she asked him if he has children . He answered correctly that he has 8 children and showed photos of them . After that he got his release papers , and was allowed to go home . So in a lucky twist of fate , he survived his short time as soviet POW . If he were captured as military pastor in a rank of major , his fate would have been for sure much darker . I am very thankful for that experience with my grandfather . But even for me , it took some time , to remember the stories of my grandpa , then in the late 80's the discussion about the crimes of the Wehrmacht came up . This was the first time realized the full weight of the information in my head . Maybe it was so convenient to blame the SS and other nazi party organisations for all the bad things happened in the war

@Shipfixer

2 жыл бұрын

@@didih3339 This is truly an amazing and captivating story. I'm certain it is all truth and fact. It chills me when as I read this. Thank you very kindly for taking the time to share it. If only the history books had been compiled from first-hand truth like this, from people who suffered through it, we would perhaps be much wiser for it today. Greetings from Alaska.

@didih3339

2 жыл бұрын

@@Shipfixer Yes，But It’s shocked me that the Germans still refuse to admit it. Just like this chaplain, He didn’t write it in their memoirs. His grandson also deleted this story recently. Fortunately, I saved a screenshot before.

@roseg2239

Жыл бұрын

Doing what they were ordered, yeah sure. That's no excuse for committing war crimes. I'm reminded of a story I read about a German soldier who bayonetted a little Jewish girl to death because he was just "following orders". Though I don't believe in Hell I really wish it were real sometimes. The German Army was very much involved in exterminating Jews and other people they saw as "inferior" to them. The average German soldier probably didn't think much of it because he'd been brainwashed by Nazism. Also the average European back then very much hated Jews.

@roseg2239

Жыл бұрын

I would definitely not want to know anyone who fought for the Nazis during WW2 because the chances they'd participated in a war crime would be much much higher than someone who fought for the allies.

I have a Romanian friend who told me "the Romanians loved the Germans, they paid for everything, left the girls alone, never stole so much as a chicken".

@thegarfield2414

2 жыл бұрын

Because we were their allies lol.

@jstevinik3261

Жыл бұрын

@@Daniel-nb2sb Well, Romanians were useful collaborators of the N@zis.

@tavish4699

9 ай бұрын

yes and then the romanians turned over night jumped into the german postions and cut the throughts of their comrades who they had shared a beer with and laughed the night earlier

Informative!

Really well researched and a balanced presentation. Thanks for addressing a question so intellectually that I didn’t really know I had.

This was amazingly well done! Subscribed! Can you do something on imperial japan and its crimes against humanity? Cos the state still sweeps it under the rug and doesnt apologize although they commited crimes comparable to the dirlewangers on a mass scale

I don't think there were many "clean" soldiers on the eastern front on either side.

What a good channel. Subscribed.

great video

Liberators don't loot, abduct, torture, rape or murder.

@Brslld

4 ай бұрын

Idk why people still call the soviets as liberators.

@sherlocklucifer1190

4 ай бұрын

@@Brslld And research western allies war crimes. They committed the same even after WW2. Look up William Toel and what he revealed the last years. The allies planned in Bletchley a genocide on germans and committed it after war. And because it was so good they put it on all other western countries to destroy all culture and living. You don't believe I know. Look it up! Research. Patton for example was a war criminal. Wake up and see that they let us fight each other for centuries. We must unite and face them together.

Wow! What a great video! This was a topic that I've thought about but never really found any good conversations about it. Thank you!

@MaryMantous

2 жыл бұрын

And Stalin? 20 million dead, 6,000 Polish military massacred in Katyn, Red army raping anyone they could... should we ignore or forget that the Russians were a damn sight worse than than the Nazis

@terrioestreich4007

2 жыл бұрын

@@MaryMantous I guess historians must think its not worth talking about if you murder your own people

Absolutely magnific presentation. Cheers

Very well presented

I remember a colleague of mine originally from Estonia who served in an Estonian division at the Battle of Narva and in the SS Viking Division earlier claimed the common soldiers were not involved in war crimes. When they would take over a Russian village, they would tell them they were Estonians and did the Russians know what the NKVD did in their country. And then there were no problems. But there is plenty of evidence that among German soldiers it was not so. Also a Russian language instructor who had lived in Kuibyshev said that the Hungarians were worse than the Germans. German civilians were to pay for this later.

@adamhebert504

11 ай бұрын

you shouldve asked him where all the jews in Estonia went

@ethanedwards422

9 ай бұрын

The Russians were not even aware of what the NKVD was doing, everyone in the USSR knew it existed, but not what they were up to. Which is why Khrushchevs secret speech was such a dividing moment within the USSR and the communist world as well.

@markmitin7397

8 ай бұрын

BS, Estonians would execute prisoners of war.

I appreciate the objective view and I detest anyone that appoligizes for the crimes no matter what country.

fantastic vid well done

Thank you for busting the myth and explaining it. I really like your voice and accent. Going to watch Generation War tonight.

Young men that were thought to hate. Then sent to war in large groups. Then given the freedom to do what they pleased in the territorys they occupied. Of course a Large percentage would have committed some sort of crime . I would hate to think how many inicent people suffered at the hands of the German army. This should have not even been a debate. It should have just been known as fact.

My Dad was British Army Rifle Brigade 8th Army Desert Rats, He had the utmost respect for the German Afrika Korps, And was also part of the British Army of occupation of Hamburg after the War, where he found the ordinary Germans no different from the English

@azzazel225

Жыл бұрын

Well, considering the British colonial history and the for example the man-made famine in UK controlled India during ww2, I'm not sure that they were very different.

@agarlicsorbet6482

Жыл бұрын

@@azzazel225 They're the same. Not to underplay what Germans did, they were as-holes beyond anything ever occurred, but I can see why British, the Right wingers have "respect" for Nazi German army. They think it's some kind of game.

@agarlicsorbet6482

Жыл бұрын

Looking at the content of this video, I can see you're not very sharp.

@azzazel225

Жыл бұрын

@@agarlicsorbet6482 looking at the content of you comment, i can see you don't have any arguments to criticize it, and have decided to simply vent your frustration.

@azzazel225

Жыл бұрын

@@agarlicsorbet6482 the British were doing similar stuff all over the globe for centuries. They were the ones who invented concentration camps.

Love the video

I must say, this was one very well-put-together video. I, too, come from a German lineage. For years as I was growing up watching the various WWII tv documentary shows (ie. The War Years) my father used to say that what we were seeing was something horribly bad (what was construed as crimes), or on different occasions that what we were seeing was a 1/2 truth. The bottom-line of all that he was trying to explain to a youngster was that the Wehrmacht seemed to be judged/painted by a BIG brush. One thing that he wasn't shy to acknowledge was that war brings out the worst in Man, and this we know to be true, unfortunately. Totally clean? No, not totally... In reading @slavic transformer's post is absolutely right: this IS madly underrated, truly a hidden gem of a video. Danke sehr.

A clean Wehrmacht an interesting point of view, some may have disagreed with their rulers, but an awful lot followed along drank the cool-aid of Nazism, and obeyed without a second thought. And when things turned against the Wehrmacht on all fronts then the disobedience and plotting against Hitler started, some might be a little too late but that's for another day and another conversation. A very video nonetheless

Saying they "enjoyed" killing is pushing it a little. When the 'holocaust by bullets' came about, Himmler was taken aback at how much impact it had on his soldiers shooting people, so mobile gas trucks were utilized, later, the gas chambers. Even when someone claims they love to kill, it'll effect them shooting men like cattle. The value of life would diminish for anybody in that situation.

@duhni4551

2 жыл бұрын

Good example of this is found from Finnish - Russian war where Finnish MG troops had mental distortion because they had to keep shooting assaulting Russians who came in huge numbers, the amount of dead enemies were so great that these MG troops literally became mad from killing them. The true horror of war is that you have to dehumanize the enemy, you don't see them as humans so you are able to kill them. On top of this Finnish people really didn't have any love or sympathy towards Russia because of the history before the war (Russians committed several genocides in Finland in time span of 200 years), and yet the Finnish soldiers couldn't mentally cope the sheer numbers they had to kill Russians. Also in my opinion it is pointless to talk about German, Russian, US, UK or any war crimes of WWII. All countries has blooded hands and none of them are innocent what comes to war crimes. Killing and destroying the enemy is the essence of the war, it is horrible business and doesn't have anything to do with human rights nor laws. It is simply kill or be killed and only through complete destruction of the enemy you find victory. What comes to POW's, the war time priority goes like this: 1. army, 2. civilians, 3. prisoners, 4. POW's This means food, hygiene etc. conditions.

Excellent research and presentation

A very commendable analysis.

from barbarossa decree: German soldiers who commit crimes against humanity, the USSR and prisoners of war are to be exempted from criminal responsibility, even if they commit acts punishable according to German law. germans, including wehrmacht came into soviet union with only one mission, war of extermination. they got what they deserved. always surprised why people complain so many german pow died and never came back home. each german soldier came into russia thinking they will get many acres of land and russian slaves working for them. german soldiers got their pieces of land, just enough for them to be buried in.

The British and Soviets Empires weren't exactly boy scouts! As a New Zealander apparently you would rather be taken a POW by the Germans than the Italians as the German and Austrian Guards were more disciplined where as the Italians were prone to have out bursts of gun fire which mowed down the odd POW for some unknown reason; the untold stories! So sad, so called great civilizations verse other civilizations! Communists verse Nazi's, both are evil in my opinion. What a tragic waste of humanity, wealth, welfare, kindness and love!

@ededketra1

2 жыл бұрын

About the US in Vietnam

@politehammer9714

2 жыл бұрын

@@ededketra1 Pierre??!... The French were there 1st... I understand that the u.s.government is wicked... all governments are wicked... and wickedness supports wickedness! It's we the people who suffers... #Animal Farm!

Nice piece of work.

I find WW2 to be far more complex than just simply wrapping it up into one action and then judging it as if we are now morally superb individuals😮

This was good very very good , It was excellent , seeing those young kids who just got shoved into the grinder compared to the Battle hardened veterans was heart breaking .

Very interesting information, I wasn't aware the German soldier was as apolitical as mentioned but it would make sense as most soldiers typically are. SS units were often mixed in with Wehrmacht divisions on a regular basis. I imagine SS officers would give orders to regular army units. It's easy for us to say that the Wehrmacht soldiers should have defied immoral orders when given but we were not there in that moment and we would not suffer the consequences of death or imprisonment for saying "no". Also one's family would be harassed. Plus how rational is a soldier strung out on pervitin (meth) anyway? This isn't in anyway exclusive to the German army, many soldiers are pressured by their officers orders and peer pressure amongst there comrades to commit acts they otherwise would not want to. Few have the bravery to say no and are often severely punished (Desmond Doss) as a result. So keep this context in mind as well as the fact the the Wehrmacht was very large with units all over Europe. I wonder if the "clean" units who's veterans pound the table on no war crimes committed were merely in parts of Europe or under certain commanders where these things did not happen. The war ended 76 years ago, it's hard to tell at this point what is accurate especially with so many veterans dead. In the beginning of the war most of the killing of Jews/and civilians was done by the army but this took a massive psychological toll on soldiers, so most of these killings were moved to camps outside of Germany proper guarded and ran by the SS. In the late 30's Hitler tried killing mentally ill people in Germany and there were many protests on the immorality of the matter, so he knew he had to move these camps outside of the country where the people could not witness the crimes to protest.

@p.jolles4927

2 жыл бұрын

Did you know: about 40% of the WW2 Wermacht were not Party members? Hmm, casts a different light on things, eh? I bet 100% of North Koreans are Party Members, for example.

@tavish4699

9 ай бұрын

ss offficers had no juristiction over werhmacht soldiers the ss was under the command of the okw ( german high command of the army) when in combat what they did behind the lines was out of the juristictiion of the wehrmacht the wehrmacht was a fighting force ocupation was the smallest part of their duties

Whoa is the music in the background in part of the video from Grim Fandango?

@Hipstorian

2 жыл бұрын

Good catch! You might in fact hear a lot of adventure game soundtracks in my videos, as they're one of my great weaknesses!

Very smart and natural presentation!

I'm waiting for something like this to happen in Japan, The Warsaw Pact Nations.

We can talk about the crimes of the Nazi regime, but no army in WW2 was clean by any standard you can think off

@ATFshootsdogs

9 ай бұрын

No allied army, besides maybe the red army came close to what the Germans did

@donaldhysa4836

9 ай бұрын

@@ATFshootsdogs The Germans? You gotta specify a bit which part of the germans the Wermacht or SS?

@ATFshootsdogs

9 ай бұрын

@@donaldhysa4836 both

@donaldhysa4836

9 ай бұрын

@@ATFshootsdogs You cant put the peole guilty for the Holocaust and the people guilty gor Soviet Style reprisals on civilians in the same bucket

@ATFshootsdogs

9 ай бұрын

@@donaldhysa4836 no but they both committed war crimes, the Wehrmacht killed, tortured and raped their way through the Soviet union, France and many other countries as did the SS

Excellent video , I wonder if this partly explains why the german army did not capitulate when facing obvious defeat , was there a kind of collective guilt and they defended hard knowing they had something to hide and would be punished if found out . Many other reasons ofcourse for the cohesiveness in retreat

Great footage

Interesting, but theres no such "clean war" war turn people into beasts, and is no good or bad, just suffering

aint no myth that most of them were good chaps ....the army was 18 million men strong no way even half of that was bad.....its just common sense people my great uncle was a airplane mechanic during the war , he only left the airport when he went home or if there were german planes nearby that had to do an emergency landing on a field they would go out and try to get them running again . for every soldier on the front there were 5 in the back supporting him ......