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People were not so naïve about the reality of the world they lived in back then .They knew America was a great place to live and accepted that there prices to be paid for the good life they lived.

Once the American Authorities could separate the German prisoners of war from the hardcore SS Nazi’s and the ones who were conscripted it made a huge difference. I recall a televised interview an American woman gave her local news station. Her father was a farmer who grew many crops and maintained a dairy operation. She said to the German men’s surprise her mother cooked up a super nice meal for them and was thanked over and over. She as a little girl would grab a POW by the hand and show him her Pony. The POW’s work ethic was outstanding. The guards did their Job’s and the Germans they could trust they maintained a pleasant exchange of humor. The main thing our Country maintained the agreement of the handling of POW’s. Some once they settled back into the post war life of their home country would make annual visits to check in with the families, farmers and guards. We can be proud of Nation during these times of European unrest. The POW’s were shown films of the Concentration camps of the Holocaust and many teared up and were disgusted with Hitler and his Cronies. This definitely is a unique story in our Nation’s History.

Thank you for posting this. He's in rare form and obviously enjoying himself! What a Man! What a Legend! One of a kind.

This was so very heartwarming!

5:47 "We came to Aliceville, Ala-BAY-ma."

History is always written by victors

Bill was asked about Kenny Baker playing one time & he said it is out there!

Ya! Back then, they observed that the Germans were just human beings just like that but they never considered the black citizens of Americans as Human beings back then. What an irony

Does anyone know what year this was filmed?

8:50. Dr. Strangelove makes an appearance

top banana

Great just outstanding

Bill was a "white hat" He was 100% USA with is music!

B 4 Kenny.....hummmm

I am interested in books about the German POW experience in America. Does anyone have recommendations?

Thanks for posting this , 30 years ago when I was in my 20's I spent a lot of time with Mr. Moon and his wife Inez . They were the kindest people I've ever known, and had the best since of humor. They would have you laughing all the time . He taught me how to build dulcimers. I miss those folks .

I will never have the nice sentiment toward the Taliban and Pakistani ISI that those Americans have toward Nazis. I certainly will never have a damn bbq with them.

Where in Germany was he from? My grandmother was from Potsdam and my grandfather was from Kaiserslautern. They came here just before WW1.

My first guard duty was an ammunition dump. The jeep driver dropped me off and before he picked me up I was given a 45 pistol belt and hoslter. After the jeep left I found out there were no bullets! I called central guard and said I have no bullets. The reply was yep. But you got a gun and they hung up. I was really alert the whole shift! Next day I got a short pass. Went in town to the local hardware and bought a box of 45 bullets. Was I worried about the enemy? No! I was worried about bears. By the way that was 1952 and I was 17.

Only in America and only the greatest generation could hold a POW(prisoner of war) camp reunion and the ex-prisoners show up to it. That speaks volumes to me.

By sheer luck that they were treated so well . All it would have taken is 1 or 2 sadistic bullies to turn their experience into a nightmare

I knew Mr Peter Ertel personally. Great man. Loved music.

Dempsey was such an innovator so far ahead of his time!

Boat Of Love , That's great singin' and playin'.

Love her. First listened to her on public radio, KCRW.

The German soldier conquered Europe many times. What the accepted actual history of these men is 360° opposite from the truth. Germany is where warriors were honed to knights

Our barber emigrated after the war.

My dad was a camp guard for German POW's. He said they had strong work ethic and were very industrious. They liked working on the local farms and they were always making things. Some make all wood coo-coo clocks to sell to camp personnel or the locals they work for.

great video, thanks for sharing

This is a perfect example of what American greatness is all about. Are we perfect, no way, we learned from our past mistakes and continuing to make up some atrocities, that's why America whent ape shit on how we treated the insurgents from the Iraq war, remember those photos, THATS NOT WHAT WE ARE ABOUT!!!!

Interesting and informative. Excellent photography job enabling viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing. Professional class A research projec!!! Special thanks to veteran ( POW ) inmates/civilians sharing personal information/experiences of camp life. Making this documentary more authentic and possible. Very humane incarceration/treatment in comparison to Russian incarceration.

My dad was a POW guard after being lightly wounded in combat, he could have been discharged, but he asked for lighter duty, so they sent him to a prison camp near Ft. Benning, GA. I can confirm the taboo on discussing politics. I don't know if it was a regulation or not, but by universal agreement with both guards and prisoners, nobody ever brought it up. Religion, he didn't say, so I don't know, but there were both Catholic and Protestant services on Sundays and Holy days, attendance was voluntary, but the ladies auxiliaries of nearby churches would serve coffee and treats. Sugar was rationed but a couple of farmers were also beekeepers, so they would drizzle honey over deep fried bread dough, so these were well attended. The Catholic Mass was done in Latin which was the norm among the Italians and German and American Catholics anyway. For the Protestant service, there was a local Lutheran church assistant Pastor that would preach in tolerable German. I don't think that there were any Protestant Italians, duh. So religion may have been discussed but not in a contentious way, everybody knew better than to cause a ruckus.🤔

Super interesting.

Lord knows I wish the Black soldiers would have been welcomed when they returned home from WW2 also. It’s nice they treated the German soldiers with such kindness, but I do wish they would have carried that over to the brave & courageous Black soldiers too!😢

18:15 RIP Hermann Blumhardt Katherine Blumhardt Member of German-American Association, the Alabama Prisoner of War Museum, and the St. Mary of the Lakes Catholic Church in Eustis, FL, where his funeral mass was held on August 27, 2010. Katherine Blumhardt -- 16 Juli 2014

Alan Mills is the absolute greatest entertainer and emcee you will ever see in any genre!

My all time fav Lost and Found band! Wilson and Parker are my heros!

Very interesting to watch this and hear these men’s story. Since this was filmed. Almost All these people have passed on

You know who My Blue Eyed Darlin is, right?

What a lovely story.

Had Hitler won the war....then what would these depictions portray?

She is a star in so many ways!

Page 120 Soybeans are grown extensively in the Black Belt and around Mobile Bay.

What amazing women With God gifted talent never giving up on their beautiful work. Keep on keeping on the Lord is with you NC 🙏💕

It makes me proud as an American and Marine, that we treated our POWs so well.

How quaint and charming that these German POWs had such a wonderful time! Many Americans in these areas were of German ancestry, still speaking German in many cases. African - Americans, serving in the US military were rarely, if ever, afforded such hospitality by their 'fellow Americans'. Germans, especially officers, traveled in the first class carriages, whilst African-Americans of all ranks, especially when journeying down South, were relegated to the lowest of compartments. Furthermore, whilst German POWs could sit and eat in restaurants, AA troops had to collect their food from out back!

I have lived in Demopolis all my life. It’s a beautiful place and I’d suggest visiting the Christmas on the River festival on the first weekend of December

So sad how no one mentions Arnold Shultz who played with Uncle Pen and later taught Bill Monroe. More whitewashing black men out of American History. If you get tired of hearing this, perhaps stopping the lies to continue.

Thank you for the video. My father was a U.S. Army MP during WWII and he was a prison guard at a German POW camp here in the States. I never asked him nor did he ever told me where he was a guard but I wouldn't be surprised if he was a guard at Aliceville since he was Alabama born and raised in Hartselle.

I can’t believe what those guys were able to do with beef bones.