Think about the weeks and months after the war ended, that 1st Fall, Winter, Spring or Summer where the young man that was sent off to war, never came out. How empty those homes must have felt to the Mother, Father, the family. Imagine all of those Mothers sitting at home, resting, lost in thought, the extreme sorrow they must have felt. It's heartbreaking to consider. My very 1st job was at McDonald's in Topeka, Kansas around 1984. I was 17 years old. One of our customers was a German man in his 60s I think. He even kept the same hairstyle from his youth, which very much looked like the typical youth, military style haircut from the 30s and 40s. He always got coffee and water, and occasionally an ice cream cone. I wouldn't see him all the time, but occasionally. One Friday after school, I came in to pick up my check, and he was in the lobby. We noticed one another and nodded to one another. After waiting at the counter for my check, I decided to sit down and wait while sitting. After just a bit, the German man spoke to me from this table. He said, is it worth your time working here, to which I replied, I don't think so, but for now it will do. He said, life is short, and you should fill your days with purpose. Not word for word but very close. I said thank you, looked toward the counter, and my check was there. Over the coming months, we had half dozen or so additional conversations. I've told this story a few times and does change here and there, only because, this was 40 years ago and my memory is not exact. I probably add in something I might have remembered and omit things I've forgotten. However, what had never been forgotten is that I learned this man was a young German soldier who moved to Kansas in the 1950s from Germany, maybe the early 50s. He said that he had lost a Brother and Father in the war that only he and his Mother, an Aunt, survived and made their way to America for a new life. The Aunt may have already lived here in the states. I do not remember exactly as he explained it to me. I was careful never to ask him if he had killed anyone, but I did ask what war was like, and he simply sold me, it was boring most of the time. That they would often drink, horse around and wait for orders. He said the TV makes it look like every day is a battle, but he said, it's not. He said they would dance, write home, talk about girls, and drink when they could. What I remember the most about him was that he said I should be lucky to have never known war. That life is precious. Things of that nature. He also seemed grateful to in the USA. He said that at the end of the war, that many German POWs stayed in America and never returned and that many German people came from Germany to live in the USA. I found that shocking at the time but believed him. He told me the war ended for him when American troops came into their small detainment camp in Germany and arrested some officers. He said that at war's end, that many Germans started to head home on their own, but that the Germans themselves were activity looking for deserters. He was eventually was found with 3 or 4 other men and that the group of them had spent a handful of days looking for food and water and places to rest and sleep before being picked up and taking to this small detainment camp, tor questioning. He said depending on your story, you stayed, or were taken off to be shot. He said that the American's game him some paperwork, he thinks, and he was allowed to make his way home a few days later. I've always wondered if he had killed any US soldiers. He was always kind, and when I would think about the things I didn't know about him, it did bother me what he might have done in the war. It wasn't until I was older that I realized, all soldiers from all sides have things they want to keep secret, and the worry about him slipped away. I do remember that he was in the Hitler youth. I didn't use that term but said he was in the German military youth with other kids which, as an adult, I think might have meant he was in the Hitler Youth.

@mikeofbosnia

Ай бұрын

Thank you for the comment. To truly know a person it would take so much more time. I guess at start of the war he was young just as you were when you guys met. What did you know about life at that point? What did he know when he joined the army? Very little. Like US troops going to Vietnam or Iraq. Unfortunately little of it is od true purpose. However most soldiers go with pure heart until it is changed by dirty face of war. Most wars are fought in vain. What do Persians and Byzantines have from it today? What do Ottoman have? What will peoples that come after us. I would not blame a soldier for killing in combat. I would blame him for killing out of combat, after he wins a battle or in villages against civilians. I always blame the individuals. In Bosnia we had that ugly world. I know personally some men who would rather die in war than stain their honor.

@helcioj.tagliolatto3214

Ай бұрын

@@mikeofbosniaVery well said!

@Useaname

Ай бұрын

Thank you. We must remember both sides.

@5isalivegaming72

Ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing that. I like to think much of the actual oral history of persons are hiding in these random KZread comments, and i genuinely and truly appreciate them. Much of the truth of the matter is hidden in these comment sections for all the modern conflicts from first hand persons too.

@connornial8237

15 күн бұрын

Thank you for commenting. I agree with what you said, when you have been in war, a lot of soldiers feel shameful about what they have done, and don’t want to share. That man must have trusted you a lot, or seen a bit of himself in you.

Your work is so important reminding later generations of what and who have gone before us. Thank you for your dedication and to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

RIP to all those lost to war.

I can't imagine how much work finding all those locations took but I really appreciate the time and effort you gave especially for the ones that included a fallen soldier. Tragic times for so many families in so many countries.

@CrocodileTear

Ай бұрын

The hard part was findind the period photos. I actually found that soldier's body in real life in 2006: kzread.info/dash/bejne/dWWitsaIY5O2mdI.html

Thank you for this video - was really haunting and very sad in many ways.

Thank you Jean-Loup. It really felt like I was looking right back in time. Some of those soldiers were SO young, didn’t even have time to live.

i really like the pictures in the end with the mourning parents at the grave of their children. It reminds the viewer that with the death of a soldier, only the suffering of the soldier itself ends.

It brought tears to my eyes, thinking about the people shown. They were the same as us, yet worlds apart. Thanks.

@losthwy

2 күн бұрын

You're being ridiculously sentimental. Moments in time are always lost, their context can never be recreated. What about now with war once again at Europe's doorstep, are you thinking of Ukranian soldiers dying in the dirt unknown and unnamed? Or how about the Africans and Arabs murdered at the hands of the colonial powers, any tears come to your eyes? WW2 solved NOTHING.

All I can say is WOW. A picture speaks a thousand words. Excellent work Crocodile Tear.

I once was a soldier in the German Army "Bundeswehr" I served in the SFOR Mission with the NATO in Sarajevo in 2003. The French Company and ours was the best friends there. I never understood how our Nations was at war TWICE!!!!!!. I really loved the French soldiers and the camaraderie. i will never forget these guys

Amazing video!!

They look great. Very sharp pictures. Your labor was not wasted on these pics. Thank you again for a really good presentation.

Very nice , I love the old before and after , as it tells the story of time !

This is an updated and better quality version of my classic "before and after" video showing the liberation of the French Riviera in August 1944. In part 2 of the video the story behing each photo is given: kzread.info/dash/bejne/kYlquauznbuogrQ.html

@tomrobb9974

Ай бұрын

a superb post and and astonishing piece of work.

@mattskustomkreations

Ай бұрын

Thanks. I thought I’d recognized this from your earlier video. The transition editing was well done. And hauntingly beautiful music.

@NickHaus683

Ай бұрын

Explain what is happening in every photo. I’d like to know wether I’m looking at nazis or Americans or Brit’s

@1978JonBullock

Ай бұрын

Thanks for remembering these young men and women.

@CrocodileTear

Ай бұрын

@@NickHaus683 There is a part 2 in which the history of each photo is given: kzread.info/dash/bejne/kYlquauznbuogrQ.html

Superbe et émouvant, grand merci pour le travail. "le débarquement de Provence" reste un de mes livres de chevet. 👍

@CrocodileTearenFrancais-cg9np

Ай бұрын

Merci. Comment ce livre est il arrivé entre vos mains?

@sandrinepons7084

Ай бұрын

@@CrocodileTearenFrancais-cg9np , cela fait un moment que je le possède et j'avoue ne plus avoir de certitudes, je crois que je l'avais acheté dans une bourse locale. Je suis dans le 06.

Very sad and moving.

Astonishing research - an amazing 'then and now' montage. Thank you.

Very moving 😿

Many of these men. Younger than I am now. I think of what I've experienced in the 10 years since I was their age. Cut down before they could truly live out their own ambitions. Truly heartbreaking.

Thank you for bringing this to us.

Thank you Dr. Gassend. So many amazing pictures -- some of them brought tears to my eyes. I think you're correct -- "haunting" is the term to describe many of the scenes.

@CrocodileTear

Ай бұрын

We are living amongst ghosts

Thank you Jean-Loup; it's crazy isn't it - the whole world was upside down in WW2.

Poignant and sobering - thank you very much for your work.

THANK YOU,,CHILLING!

Very touching to see the past pulled into the present like this. Amazing how little has changed in some areas.

You do amazing videos and enjoy them always but doesn't always notify me of new videos and seeing such a needless waste of these young men on both sides

Great Video.

I had some friends who were renovating a Más outside Bonnieux in the Luberon 20 years ago. There was a lot of 1944 German, then English graffiti carved into the plaster of the barn walls, presumably by bivouacing troops. I suggested they preserve it, but sadly it was hacked off and replastered.

@CrocodileTear

Ай бұрын

Were some photos at least taken?

Amazing! It's sad to see all the "development" and how ugly everything is today.

With any luck, we’ll all meet on the other side and we can hear their stories first hand 🍀🍀

@CrocodileTear

Ай бұрын

Bismillah

they might have been 17 years old but they still had more balls than most of us viewers i salute this generation!

Humbling.

its sad to think they gave their life for the people that could not fight or not even born yet and we dont have any month or week to say thanks

This shits always so Damn haunting to me. The lives lived and ended in such a short period makes you realise life it short. Fuck war

Very thought provoking Jean-Loup, i toured this part of France back in 2003, going to all the towns in the video. Whilst at the time i was aware that southern france was liberated by a sea bourne invasion, from memory 'operation Dragoon?'...but i hadnt been aware of the level of fighting and destruction that is apparent in this and the earlier video. Did all the german bodies in the cemetery get taken back to German post war?, thanks 😊😊😊😊

@CrocodileTear

Ай бұрын

All the Germans are buried in this cemetery in France: kzread.info/dash/bejne/rH1ozseEnt3JftY.html

@steelhelmetstan7305

Ай бұрын

@@CrocodileTear thanks Jean-Loup, yes I've seen this video, thanks for joining up the dots as they say 🙂🙃🙂

We all know now who the bad guys were back then.

@macgonzo

Ай бұрын

We've known for nearly 100 years ago the bad guys were. I'll give you a clue. It rhymes with patzies.

@MI-mx3rh

28 күн бұрын

True that

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Yes , this is not Stalingrad .

@CrocodileTear

Ай бұрын

Did you get confused by the title or the scenery?

I asked where you are from because the accent did not match eastern Europe...where most of ur vids are from

Amazing comparison, Jean-Loup. Thanks for your respectful research on the fate of combattants on both sides. I remember my mother telling me that the shaving of girls who entertained a relation to a German in her village only affected the lower classed. The upper classed would have their head shaved "the next day", as she was told. This was never to happen . . . .

Thats why God gave us mouths.to talk and reason with each other.not kill each other.so many young,senseless lives lost in war.when you think about it,its actually foolish and very stupid.