Enjoy handy playlists with all the stories of the soldiers! ruclips.net/p/PLME26KOruKR3xPuLzIorw0d1RTk7KYoJf Waffen SS. Diaries and memories of German soldiers. ruclips.net/p/PLME26KOruKR3CTzfue93twWQ7k_d4yOzc Personal Diaries and Memoirs of Soldiers.
My dad was probably in battle with this guy. He attended the Battle of Mount Olympus too. My dad's side lost the battle. My dad never won in battle. He was later wounded and lost his eye in another losing battle.
My father was as a young Austrian 🇦🇹forced to join the German army in WWII too. His story is almost as crazy as this one. I wrote all his stories up in a small book and sent it to my daughter and nephews. Nobody should ever forget what they had to suffer for those crazy politicians at those times. People did not learn for all this misfortunes of the past. Greetings from Linz Austria 🇦🇹 Europe!
Yeah, back then the politicians were totally crazy! They actually tried to save their homelands! Imagine that! Nowadays the politicians are much more sane. They simply flood Europe with millions of criminals who murder and rape their way through Europe while receiving welfare checks from hard working natives. That sounds very nice. I'm glad you got to enlighten us all.
I have had a neighbour, who is still alive and is 105 years old. He was a German soldier from the first to the last day of WW2 as a Gebirgsjäger and inside his unit the First Tine he was a Panzerjäger. He had driven a van with a Anti-Tank-Cannon. Later he was driver of the Commander of 1. Gebirgsdivision, Generalleutnant Walter Stettner Ritter von Grabenhofen and 1994 he visited as a Officer candidate an education camp to become a Lieutenant but after two months all participants were sended to the italian front. There he became a prisoner. After two months he already was dismissed and he went home. He expierenced a lot of dangerous situations, but he never was hurt only a littlebit.
I knew a german officer who served throughout WW2, was wounded six times and ended up living to be 99. He claimed that his recovery periods saved him, as most of the units he served with were either wiped out or captured/disappeared.
@nickjohnson710 Nick, I'm either lying or telling the truth. Just like the poor bastard in this documentary. Your call I and he have nothing to prove. If I stole Valor shame on me. If I'm telling the truth, shame on you. In fact, I should have never mentioned this bad on my part. I had no idea people were like this. Usually, you thank a veteran for his service and move on. There's something really wrong with you. Seriously, you should have moved on already. What do I have to prove to a total stranger. My service records and DD214 are my business, not anyone else's. Here's the deal if you're in the american southwest near Phoenix AZ, I will meet you for coffee to get you off my back. I will bring my DD214 ribbons, and you can and for my service. There's a Starbucks on 40th a Greenway in Phoenix AZ. I will meet you there and you will see the truth. You're also going to write in this post that I was telling the truth. Fair enough? Or put your email here. I will be glad to send it without my ss number. I just made it easy for you, ok nick the ball is in your court. Either meet in person or give me your email. Then , thank you for my service and tell these people I'm not lying. OK, Nick, just took down my post. Can't take the bs. But my offer stands.
Arrogant Germans turned from thinking they were the master race when things were going in their favor to getting their payback from the Soviet army and becoming cowering cowards
You could be shot if you seemed to be retreating without orders. While American forces had one execution for desertion, the Germans had close to 20,000.
Interesting and informative. Excellent photography job making it easier for viewers to better understand what the orator was describing. Class A research project. Historians did a very good job presenting actual facts from fiction. Special thanks to the veteran solders that shared their personal combat experiences making the documentary more authentic and possible. Fighting/surviving/perishing knowing certain death/debilitating wounds were often possible. Still moving forward regardless of the odds. That's true grit style determination to succeed. Fortunately
I remember reading a memoir about 8-10 years ago by an American soldier named Rocky something. Paratrooper that fought in the Bulge from what I remember. They took 2 German prisoners (SS maybe?), but they were expecting a immediate German counterattack so his squad leader told him to shoot these 2 guys. He walks them outside the house they were in and shoots the first one in the back. The second doesn't run, but ducks down because he didn't know where the shot came from. He then shoots him too and said he felt bad because the poor guy didn't even get a chance to run. Sad story and props to the guy for not brushing past what really happened. War is not glamorous or ethical
0:42 For our historians: This is probably an error on the witnesses side: Westphalia was nowhere close to the French border thus no border fortifications for the Westwall were built there. He means the town of Rastatt in the Upper Rhine valley, which was only a gunshot away from the French border and in the state of Baden, of which Breisgau is a small region, but that around the city of Freiburg, and not Rastatt.
honestly, this is the most visceral stuff I've heard on YT in a while and I love it. it reminds me of the video interviews recorded in the 60s of WW1 veterans by the National Archives. fascinating and impactful stuff. thank you man
Indeed. Some of the images, as well, are staggering. At 14:25 in that pic of the ear of the medical truck - clearly marked as such! - with all the bullet marks was shocking.
A Good Leader would have laughed Too. Rommel would have , most certainly, laughed at his own predicament, diving into a latrine. The ability to laugh at oneself is an indication of a good leader and a well balanced person. That German Officer blew the chance to bond with his unit. Had he laughed, Respect for him would have been immense. Punishing soldiers for laughing at that was Stupid. I think Patton would have laughed too.
You're surely right that a chance to bond and relate with one's subordinate soldiers can occur when a freak situation like the "mud" story occurs. But I think high officers, like Rommel and Patton, would not have laughed if put into such a humiliating predicament in front of enlisted men. The whole apparatus of war hinges upon a great gulf existing between those who look at strategic maps & command, and those who must execute orders that may involve great personal peril or may otherwise be exceedingly odious. I can see a lieutenant breaking into a smile, or a platoon sergeant maybe -- but not really anyone higher. Such ranks are supposed to be like Gods, almost, to the lower soldiers. And I think in most cases the reaction would be, and should be, harsh, to reestablish the proper hierarchy of respect. If it was me, I would say, "You think this is funny, soldier? Do you think war is funny?" And that's what I'd expect to hear as well, if I had laughed, before learning of my punishment.
@@valicourt You think Patton was an easy-going guy as a general? Or was he, instead, legendary for being a stickler for discipline?Think Rommel was down with his enlisted homies, slapping his knee at their jokes? How 'bout once he became Field Marshal Rommel? You think dropping your dignity in front of the men comports with Prussian tradition? Japanese tradition? In the end, you guys are crazy. I'm crazy too, I guess, but I know history and was in the real army to boot. I think I know what I'm talking about. I think the knowledge of most of you stops after football coaches and other civilian leaders. But you don't salute them, do you?
After reading some comments, and having watched the video, you can notice that: 1. The report does not follow an strict order or chronology. It's clearly that's just parts of a bigger narrative, and some segments were cut off. 2. When he mentions the Tigers , it's clear by the context that it was AFTER Stalingrad. And the same as for the incident with the SS men. 3. He NEVER said he "was" in Stalingrad (the city), but "near" that place. He never took part directly in the battle. I hope this helps...
@@skidfrog... frankly, I suspect this and other diaries are fake. He talks about an attack of "600 bombers" somewhere (how was he supposed to know?), wich is a huge number even in the Western front...
Feld gendarmerie were notorious for summarily executing soldiers. I'm not surprised he threw a grenade and ran away from them. It kind of boggles the mind that even then when the war was obviously lost and allies closing in from east and west, the Feld gendarmerie were still in the field harassing soldiers. I'm surprised more were not killed by their own retreating soldiers.
It was the Feld gendarmerie that guarded the Rhine meadows camps in 1945, for the Americans. The Western allies made use of them even after the rest of the Wehrmacht had been disbanded. One even shows up at the end of Band of Brothers.
Read and heard a lot of horror stories on these guys, they literally got off on harassing soldiers while shying away from the combat/battles the soldiers fought.
*_I have never been in the military and I am glad to learn how young soldiers acted during WWII. It was impossible for me to visualize certain events recalled here such as the ability to shoot at SS troops and get away. Similarly, how could it happen that it was possible for this soldier to get away from the gendarmery by using a grenade? Still, it was worth hearing the account._*
Interesting, thanks for sharing. The human prespective of war(s) is extremely harsh no matter which side one is on. "War is a Racket", by Major General Smedley D. Butler, USMC wrote 90 years ago and spoke about.
The "Rad" mentioned in the first 35 seconds of the video is the R. A. D., or Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich's Work Service). If I recall, young men in school took the summer off to travel to various worksites. Kind of like the CCC during the depression in the U.S. Someone with a better memory than mine might check what I have written here. --Old Guy
Oh, one last note. Hiwis were civilian helpers, usually Russians or Ukrainians who might otherwise be starved or shot. The name is a short form of Hilfswilliger (I learned it as something like Hilfs Freiwilligen), which basically means volunteer helper. Hiwis brought mail, ammo, and food to frontline soldiers, and ran a million errands such as an army might need. I guess that most of them were shot by the Russians at the end of the war. Why am I now Ed-ig7fj? I was just Ed. --Old Guy
@@sebastiansuteu1829yeah, those photos of Auschwitz' liberation in December, with zero snow and a smokestack not connected to anything. Theatres, swimming pools....
My grandfather served in WW I as a soldier in Austro Hungarian Army. He also fought in Spanish civil war with Nationalists, and then again in WW II as Yugoslav partisan against invading and domestic fascists. He was wounded few times but recovered and lived to ripe old age of 93. Oh, the horror stories he could tell...
That was very interesting. My thanks to the veteran who recorded his memories. My father had five and a half years in the New Zealand infantry. He didn't even tell me which campaigns he fought in. This is just what I wanted to hear from him. He was still having nightmares 20 years after returning home, and he did tell me he avoided talking about even funny incidents as they could lead to the nightmares. Interesting to hear how the army sent him all over the place. Army administration is a weird beast😊
My grandfather was a Gebirgsjäger in Greece 1943. He was 19 when he was orderd to shoot italien prisoners one by one. It is known as the the war crime of Kefalonia (2500 italiens were killed) . He could have said no, without being shot, but if you are in a military unit far from home the commrades are your family and you do not let them down. Beside that if he would have shown weakness, he knew that he would have been the guy to be put up front at any given oportunity. He could not get over it until the end of his life. War is hell.
Terrible. But if its any consolation this is what I read from the German point of view. The Italians agreed to surrender. They agreed not to turn over any of their weapons to the Greek guerrillas. The Italians went back on their military surrender word and fought the Germans. They gave weapons to the guerrillas. The German point of view is once they went back on their military surrender word (something dishonorable) and joined with the guerrillas they became bandits themselves not subject to military POW status. It was standard policy to execute guerrillas. If your grandfather said no they might have had him before a firing squad. Vietnam My Lai 7 massacre had one soldier who refused to kill unarmed civilians. He refused though threatened to be shot on the spot. He was lucky that did not happen.
As a Greek I have to state the obvious: we did not invite neither the German Nazis nor Italian fascists to come and destroy our country. No sympathy for those who came to pillage in the name of their “superior race”; they deserved worse than what happened to them.
What you have said Is untrue at all , this Is a nazi lies . No weapons was given to the green partisans , only later few italian soldiers fought with greek people. The criminal german were Wermacht and not SS , and they killed italian soldiers with deceit . The Italians didn't kill the germans soldiers , they have taken prisoners , contrary to the germans , Who killed also the wounded soldiers in the hospital. No Honor for Wermacht, the italian general had iron cross to have fight in Russia and was killed by a liutenent. Your history Is full of lies , the tale of CINDERELLA IS MORE SERIOUS.
My father enlisted when war declared. Trained in South Wales, stationed in Aberystwyth, posted to Katsina in October 1940 where he learned Hausa and was on constant manoeuvres to fend off potential German push south through Africa, then to India for training for Burma jungles, then kicking supplies out of aircraft to isolated troops on ground, then via Kohima south to Imphal and down rivers and coast to Rangoon (75% loss of subaltern in 3 months). Royal West Kents travelled even further as they started in France, had Dunkirk, then fought in North Africa before being in Kohima for the Japanese siege. The few who survived all that really did travel!
While relating a narrative is good, I dislike being misled by the pictures presented in support the narrative. The image of German soldiers crossing a river in a rubber boat, with one soldier's leg hanging over the side, is presented as if it was part of the Russian campaign. Actually, that particular picture was snapped during the 1940 blitzkrieg in France.
I personally met one of SS Ukrainian division veterans in Toronto. He was 80 years old. He joined SS division at the age of 14 because his brother and sister were starved to death in 1933. I believe, he had all reasons to hate Soviets. He was the founder of the first school of Ukrainian dances in Toronto
This is an important document of history. But just in the beginning at 0:45 something makes me wonder. Westphalia is a region in the nort-west of germany and Radstadt im Breisgau is located in the very south. In between there are round 450 km.
Good to hear about how soldiers actually behave in war, instead of the Nazi propaganda version of how inspired they are by the Fuehrer, and similar BS.
You'd be surprised. In peacetime, you can afford to provide soldiers with decent training over several months. In the midst of a war, with the situation desperate, they will impress soldiers into new duties with little or no training. Some years ago, I interviewed a WWII vet who served in a "bastard tank battalion." During the Italian campaign, at a certain point, they needed more tankers and so the guy I interviewed went from driving a truck to driving a tank after just some familiarization training.
I remember a few years ago i found an interview of a Russian red army veteran, the interview seemed from the 80's and possibly recorded on vhs then uploaded to youtube. Basically he was explaining that at the end of the war they were so angry at German soldiers and in one occassion they were processing pow's in some location in Russia inside a shack, inside was a female russian soldier along with other red army soldiers ,they had a line of pow's outside bringing them in one by one interrogating them and the man giving the interview was in there as well hiding in the back, once they finished interviewing the soldier he would come out from hiding and slit the german's throat and then throw him out back and leave him moaning until he died while they brought the next one in and so on. I remember he expressed it felt really good to do that and then told the reporter, "don't look at me that way, it was a long time ago and different times". Have not been able to find the interview again and was probably taken down from youtube i'm guessing. But that kinda tells you how a war brings out the worst in humans. Couldn't imagine living in those times.
I remember it too, he also said that his job was to arrest the last few remaining pockets German soldiers. They used a loudspeaker with a German interpreter and for the most part it was going smoothly until this group of Hitler youths were holed up in a building. They were asked to lay down their weapons and come out with their hands up but instead they fired on the Russian soldiers. When they eventually gave up they were told that there would be tea and biscuits for them but instead the Russian officer killed them all with his knife and he said later they were all kids.
We never learned from all the misery of the past did we? Stupid waste of good men on all sides .Europe would be a better place if those 2 wars did not happen .
His experiences were all over the place, so many different outfits and jobs etc. The germans were such record keepers, but i dont know how anyone could have kept up with this guy. I believe the story, but it sounds like he was everything but a cook and a pilot.
soldiers were dying, you can even gain ranks fast, people get scrambled, and leaders just care to fill up the spaces, he was some sort of specialist and he was taken as such
You forget that his experiences occurred over a 4-yr span, ‘Major.’ Why do you find that unusual in a soldier on the front lines? Units were constantly suffering casualties and soldiers were being sent everywhere.
Yeah, we had a kid during basic training at Ft Knox Ky while at the firing range shoot himself in the foot. I guess he wanted out. One DI said to us as we gathered around the kid , he will be recycled and he wasn't going anywhere. That was said for effect most likely, and the kid got a bad discharge which no doubt he later regretted and will follow him the rest of his life. Maybe he thought he would fall into the hands of the NVA?
I will probably piss many people off but I don't feel sorry for any of the German soldiers because of how cruel they were. Many people they killed and all the Jews they slattered. They showed no sympathy
It is very hard for me to believe that this is not embellished. How could one guy have been assigned to so many different roles in just a few years? Each of those roles requires different training - and even if we add up the amount of time he says he spent at each, it would seem to be more than the duration of the war.
A story such as this one would only be believable if the soldier was a Brandenburger. They were some of the very best special forces units at the time, and they believed in cross training every member.
@@Gr8thxAlot In the German Armee there were no Specialist Trainee. They were Allrounders- Do or die. No Fiction. But believe what you want. My Uncle was trained as Stukapilot- then he had to go to the Waffen SS Infantrie. Doin Jobs whatever comes.
Sorry,sir,the fighting,for a belief,like Mom and apple pie is a friggin,myth!You fight for the guys you are with,to live another day!Thomas A.Filipiak 1st Cavalry,Viet Nam 1967 1968!!!
je conseille à ceux qui ne l'ont pas vu de regarder l'excellent film allemand de 1993 "stalingrad" résumant bien l'absurdité de la guerre en général et de celle-ci en particulier avec des situations analogues à celles décrites par ce soldat.
beaucoup plus realiste est "Chiens a vous de crevers" (Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben) de 1959 - la plupart des acteurs avaient au moins une certaine experience de premiere ligne et de vraies munitions etaient souvent utilisees....... en outre, de nombreuses sequences originales allemandes et sovietiques ont ete utilisees......
These are memoirs from a German solider for something that happened a long time ago, long before the internet and cell phones. How can you possibly find any links🤷🏼♂️
I would say that you are wrong. Hitler's National Socialism was an all encompassing movement whose goal was not just to defeat Communism, but also Capitalism as well as the extermination of the Jews and other undesirables of Europe. Defeating communism was a big part of Nazism but it was far from the only reason.
@@clovergrass9439it’s a disgrace but I think we will see another drastic pendulum swing towards nationalism sometime in the next 20 years. Weimar problems require Weimar solutions.
TIL Rouen is in the south of France, LOL Other than that, I would have really appreciated seeing a photo of the officer's white uniform after the attack. ^ ^
Many wars are therefore decided by the little guys - and not by the big generals. During the 30 years war, Gustav Adolf, the Swedish king has been shot by his own soldier. So, this little guy decided a 30 year war - and nobody else
This guy was great. None of the usual heroic, stoic nonsense Germans are so fond of writing about - this guy was all about himself surviving - eff his comrades.
War memoirs I have, a request of my deceased parents., they had from my foreign service. I have not revisited it. I've managed to forget most of it save those I seem unable to lose. Surplus field entrenchment tools I don't touch. Ditto, all military rifles I used overseas. I've only met one Nazi, in a Canada Trade Fair, then free to wear Jewish gold with relish.
schade das das Video trotz deutschem Titel und Videobeschreibung auf Englisch ist. Auch wenn es einen deutschen Untertitel hat hab ich beim Klicken erst mal was anderes erwartet. Die Geschichte ist interessant aber 15min mitlesen und teilweise mal pausieren weil es zu schnell ist macht für mich die Videos unatraktiv.
A very interesting & portrayed verisimilitude of the accounts; shooting SS, collusion of Russian women with the Wehrmacht: a dog’s breakfast of events. I could easily imagine in the fight for survival that this type of scenario here played out on the Eastern Front.
A report you have listen too a many times--this was only my first one --so the producer speaks very fast --THATS OK!!--I have to catch the locations where these soldier was --google earth will help possible--GREAT REPORT---thx rollf
Yes and Russia will win again same as before. Ukrainians of all people should know this. They are about to find out how little the average westerner cares about Ukraine and how little hatred there is for Russia save for a few insignificant countries like the UK and Poland as well. You little dogs have stood around barking at the bear and you are about to be silenced.
Which only tells you how bad the Russians were. A friend's dad was born in Ukraine. When he was 12 years old the Russians came through his village and press ganged him into their army. His mother tried to stop them, protesting that he was just a boy. The Russians shot her dead on the spot.
![ATEEZ(에이티즈) - [GOLDEN HOUR : Part.2] Preview](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/X4PfgRPBUVo/mqdefault.jpg)
Enjoy handy playlists with all the stories of the soldiers!
ruclips.net/p/PLME26KOruKR3xPuLzIorw0d1RTk7KYoJf Waffen SS. Diaries and memories of German soldiers.
ruclips.net/p/PLME26KOruKR3CTzfue93twWQ7k_d4yOzc Personal Diaries and Memoirs of Soldiers.
But where are the SS soldiers? There's the Wehrmacht. What war club are you? First learn the subject, after than talking with peiole.
My dad was probably in battle with this guy. He attended the Battle of Mount Olympus too. My dad's side lost the battle. My dad never won in battle. He was later wounded and lost his eye in another losing battle.
My father was as a young Austrian 🇦🇹forced to join the German army in WWII too. His story is almost as crazy as this one. I wrote all his stories up in a small book and sent it to my daughter and nephews. Nobody should ever forget what they had to suffer for those crazy politicians at those times. People did not learn for all this misfortunes of the past. Greetings from Linz Austria 🇦🇹 Europe!
We fought the wrong enemy and now all of Europe and our race faces extermination.
Publish those books to show how crazy war is
In 1932 hitler became german. I think it was in Braunschweig.see Internet.
Yeah, back then the politicians were totally crazy! They actually tried to save their homelands! Imagine that! Nowadays the politicians are much more sane. They simply flood Europe with millions of criminals who murder and rape their way through Europe while receiving welfare checks from hard working natives. That sounds very nice. I'm glad you got to enlighten us all.
@@Schwaobabua he was a german since 1932. See information given by Internet.
Absolutely crazy this guy served on at least 3 fronts and survived the entire war as an enlisted german soldier.
and killed more Germans than he did Allies. The Germans are their own worst enemy it seems.
I have had a neighbour, who is still alive and is 105 years old. He was a German soldier from the first to the last day of WW2 as a Gebirgsjäger and inside his unit the First Tine he was a Panzerjäger. He had driven a van with a Anti-Tank-Cannon. Later he was driver of the Commander of 1. Gebirgsdivision, Generalleutnant Walter Stettner Ritter von Grabenhofen and 1994 he visited as a Officer candidate an education camp to become a Lieutenant but after two months all participants were sended to the italian front. There he became a prisoner. After two months he already was dismissed and he went home. He expierenced a lot of dangerous situations, but he never was hurt only a littlebit.
Sounds strange it's not hard when you're running the other way
I knew a german officer who served throughout WW2, was wounded six times and ended up living to be 99. He claimed that his recovery periods saved him, as most of the units he served with were either wiped out or captured/disappeared.
This is probably the most honest recollection of the war I've ever heard. Thank you
I agree
113
@@barryrammer7906 *_Were you in your armchair or in bed when you wrote your brave words, I wonder._*
@@barryrammer7906can I see you're DD214?
@nickjohnson710 Nick, I'm either lying or telling the truth. Just like the poor bastard in this documentary. Your call I and he have nothing to prove. If I stole Valor shame on me. If I'm telling the truth, shame on you. In fact, I should have never mentioned this bad on my part. I had no idea people were like this. Usually, you thank a veteran for his service and move on. There's something really wrong with you. Seriously, you should have moved on already. What do I have to prove to a total stranger. My service records and DD214 are my business, not anyone else's. Here's the deal if you're in the american southwest near Phoenix AZ, I will meet you for coffee to get you off my back. I will bring my DD214 ribbons, and you can and for my service. There's a Starbucks on 40th a Greenway in Phoenix AZ. I will meet you there and you will see the truth. You're also going to write in this post that I was telling the truth. Fair enough? Or put your email here. I will be glad to send it without my ss number. I just made it easy for you, ok nick the ball is in your court. Either meet in person or give me your email. Then , thank you for my service and tell these people I'm not lying. OK, Nick, just took down my post. Can't take the bs. But my offer stands.
There were a lot of self-inflicted wounds among the Germans to stay out of Russian hands. Can't say I blame them.
Rubbish
Can't say I blame the Soviets for wanting retribution.
Arrogant Germans turned from thinking they were the master race when things were going in their favor to getting their payback from the Soviet army and becoming cowering cowards
You could be shot if you seemed to be retreating without orders. While American forces had one execution for desertion, the Germans had close to 20,000.
The Russians dont behave better today in Ukraine.
Interesting and informative. Excellent photography job making it easier for viewers to better understand what the orator was describing. Class A research project. Historians did a very good job presenting actual facts from fiction. Special thanks to the veteran solders that shared their personal combat experiences making the documentary more authentic and possible. Fighting/surviving/perishing knowing certain death/debilitating wounds were often possible. Still moving forward regardless of the odds. That's true grit style determination to succeed. Fortunately
I remember reading a memoir about 8-10 years ago by an American soldier named Rocky something. Paratrooper that fought in the Bulge from what I remember. They took 2 German prisoners (SS maybe?), but they were expecting a immediate German counterattack so his squad leader told him to shoot these 2 guys. He walks them outside the house they were in and shoots the first one in the back. The second doesn't run, but ducks down because he didn't know where the shot came from. He then shoots him too and said he felt bad because the poor guy didn't even get a chance to run. Sad story and props to the guy for not brushing past what really happened. War is not glamorous or ethical
Rocky Blunt perhaps?
American war criminals
The Allied killed millions of unarmed
Politicians like to banter about the term "War Crimes" when ultimately, they are the ones who approve the ultimate war crime, the war itself.
Thats a war crime. Now I don't have a single ounce of remorse for all the Americans the SS executed.
0:42 For our historians: This is probably an error on the witnesses side: Westphalia was nowhere close to the French border thus no border fortifications for the Westwall were built there. He means the town of Rastatt in the Upper Rhine valley, which was only a gunshot away from the French border and in the state of Baden, of which Breisgau is a small region, but that around the city of Freiburg, and not Rastatt.
honestly, this is the most visceral stuff I've heard on YT in a while and I love it. it reminds me of the video interviews recorded in the 60s of WW1 veterans by the National Archives. fascinating and impactful stuff.
thank you man
Indeed. Some of the images, as well, are staggering. At 14:25 in that pic of the ear of the medical truck - clearly marked as such! - with all the bullet marks was shocking.
A Good Leader would have laughed Too. Rommel would have , most certainly, laughed at his own predicament, diving into a latrine. The ability to laugh at oneself is an indication of a good leader and a well balanced person. That German Officer blew the chance to bond with his unit. Had he laughed, Respect for him would have been immense. Punishing soldiers for laughing at that was Stupid.
I think Patton would have laughed too.
You're surely right that a chance to bond and relate with one's subordinate soldiers can occur when a freak situation like the "mud" story occurs. But I think high officers, like Rommel and Patton, would not have laughed if put into such a humiliating predicament in front of enlisted men. The whole apparatus of war hinges upon a great gulf existing between those who look at strategic maps & command, and those who must execute orders that may involve great personal peril or may otherwise be exceedingly odious. I can see a lieutenant breaking into a smile, or a platoon sergeant maybe -- but not really anyone higher. Such ranks are supposed to be like Gods, almost, to the lower soldiers. And I think in most cases the reaction would be, and should be, harsh, to reestablish the proper hierarchy of respect.
If it was me, I would say, "You think this is funny, soldier? Do you think war is funny?" And that's what I'd expect to hear as well, if I had laughed, before learning of my punishment.
I noticed that this is also true for all dictators throughout history. No sense of humour. This includes Trump by the way.
@@valicourt Trump tells quite a few jokes at his rallies.
@@polarvortex3294 that’s true actually
@@valicourt You think Patton was an easy-going guy as a general? Or was he, instead, legendary for being a stickler for discipline?Think Rommel was down with his enlisted homies, slapping his knee at their jokes? How 'bout once he became Field Marshal Rommel? You think dropping your dignity in front of the men comports with Prussian tradition? Japanese tradition? In the end, you guys are crazy. I'm crazy too, I guess, but I know history and was in the real army to boot. I think I know what I'm talking about.
I think the knowledge of most of you stops after football coaches and other civilian leaders. But you don't salute them, do you?
After reading some comments, and having watched the video, you can notice that:
1. The report does not follow an strict order or chronology. It's clearly that's just parts of a bigger narrative, and some segments were cut off.
2. When he mentions the Tigers , it's clear by the context that it was AFTER Stalingrad. And the same as for the incident with the SS men.
3. He NEVER said he "was" in Stalingrad (the city), but "near" that place.
He never took part directly in the battle.
I hope this helps...
True. He specifically says he wasn't there but defended a bridge in the general area.
sounds like they were part of a failed mission to try to reach the army surrounded in Stalingrad ?
@@skidfrog... frankly, I suspect this and other diaries are fake. He talks about an attack of "600 bombers" somewhere (how was he supposed to know?), wich is a huge number even in the Western front...
Feld gendarmerie were notorious for summarily executing soldiers. I'm not surprised he threw a grenade and ran away from them. It kind of boggles the mind that even then when the war was obviously lost and allies closing in from east and west, the Feld gendarmerie were still in the field harassing soldiers. I'm surprised more were not killed by their own retreating soldiers.
It was the Feld gendarmerie that guarded the Rhine meadows camps in 1945, for the Americans. The Western allies made use of them even after the rest of the Wehrmacht had been disbanded. One even shows up at the end of Band of Brothers.
Read and heard a lot of horror stories on these guys, they literally got off on harassing soldiers while shying away from the combat/battles the soldiers fought.
*_I have never been in the military and I am glad to learn how young soldiers acted during WWII. It was impossible for me to visualize certain events recalled here such as the ability to shoot at SS troops and get away. Similarly, how could it happen that it was possible for this soldier to get away from the gendarmery by using a grenade? Still, it was worth hearing the account._*
Interesting, thanks for sharing.
The human prespective of war(s) is extremely harsh no matter which side one is on.
"War is a Racket", by Major General Smedley D. Butler, USMC wrote 90 years ago and spoke about.
Britain and USA seized the industries of Germany and still own them.
Smedley Butler is where it's at! He is an American hero.
@@archlich4489 He won the Congressional Medal of Honor twice, and thwarted an attempted coup of the U.S. federal government.
The "Rad" mentioned in the first 35 seconds of the video is the R. A. D., or Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich's Work Service). If I recall, young men in school took the summer off to travel to various worksites. Kind of like the CCC during the depression in the U.S. Someone with a better memory than mine might check what I have written here. --Old Guy
Oh, one last note. Hiwis were civilian helpers, usually Russians or Ukrainians who might otherwise be starved or shot. The name is a short form of Hilfswilliger (I learned it as something like Hilfs Freiwilligen), which basically means volunteer helper. Hiwis brought mail, ammo, and food to frontline soldiers, and ran a million errands such as an army might need. I guess that most of them were shot by the Russians at the end of the war. Why am I now Ed-ig7fj? I was just Ed. --Old Guy
The starving and Shooting Part is seldon. Most of them where red Army Troopers that Changed Sides
@vyhozshufake photos made by soviet propaganda 😂
@@sebastiansuteu1829yeah, those photos of Auschwitz' liberation in December, with zero snow and a smokestack not connected to anything. Theatres, swimming pools....
My grandfather served in WW I as a soldier in Austro Hungarian Army. He also fought in Spanish civil war with Nationalists, and then again in WW II as Yugoslav partisan against invading and domestic fascists. He was wounded few times but recovered and lived to ripe old age of 93. Oh, the horror stories he could tell...
No passeran!
@@dansweeney4530 Oh, yes. He would say it frequently...
That was very interesting.
My thanks to the veteran who recorded his memories.
My father had five and a half years in the New Zealand infantry. He didn't even tell me which campaigns he fought in. This is just what I wanted to hear from him.
He was still having nightmares 20 years after returning home, and he did tell me he avoided talking about even funny incidents as they could lead to the nightmares.
Interesting to hear how the army sent him all over the place. Army administration is a weird beast😊
Let the politicians who lust for war, run off and fight in those wars.
My grandfather was a Gebirgsjäger in Greece 1943. He was 19 when he was orderd to shoot italien prisoners one by one. It is known as the the war crime of Kefalonia (2500 italiens were killed) . He could have said no, without being shot, but if you are in a military unit far from home the commrades are your family and you do not let them down. Beside that if he would have shown weakness, he knew that he would have been the guy to be put up front at any given oportunity. He could not get over it until the end of his life. War is hell.
Terrible. But if its any consolation this is what I read from the German point of view. The Italians agreed to surrender. They agreed not to turn over any of their weapons to the Greek guerrillas. The Italians went back on their military surrender word and fought the Germans. They gave weapons to the guerrillas. The German point of view is once they went back on their military surrender word (something dishonorable) and joined with the guerrillas they became bandits themselves not subject to military POW status. It was standard policy to execute guerrillas. If your grandfather said no they might have had him before a firing squad. Vietnam My Lai 7 massacre had one soldier who refused to kill unarmed civilians. He refused though threatened to be shot on the spot. He was lucky that did not happen.
As a Greek I have to state the obvious: we did not invite neither the German Nazis nor Italian fascists to come and destroy our country. No sympathy for those who came to pillage in the name of their “superior race”; they deserved worse than what happened to them.
Sounds worse than that scene in Captain Correli's Mandolin
What you have said Is untrue at all , this Is a nazi lies . No weapons was given to the green partisans , only later few italian soldiers fought with greek people. The criminal german were Wermacht and not SS , and they killed italian soldiers with deceit . The Italians didn't kill the germans soldiers , they have taken prisoners , contrary to the germans , Who killed also the wounded soldiers in the hospital. No Honor for Wermacht, the italian general had iron cross to have fight in Russia and was killed by a liutenent. Your history Is full of lies , the tale of CINDERELLA IS MORE SERIOUS.
Captain Corelli 's mandolin Is a Novel for young girls, full of prejudices , the real history Is more tragic
Talk about a well traveled soldier!!!
Try reading Guy Sajer's epic memoir, The Forgotten Soldier. Well worth it. --Old Guy
@@Ed-ig7fj - thanks I will definitely look it up,,,,👍
My father enlisted when war declared. Trained in South Wales, stationed in Aberystwyth, posted to Katsina in October 1940 where he learned Hausa and was on constant manoeuvres to fend off potential German push south through Africa, then to India for training for Burma jungles, then kicking supplies out of aircraft to isolated troops on ground, then via Kohima south to Imphal and down rivers and coast to Rangoon (75% loss of subaltern in 3 months).
Royal West Kents travelled even further as they started in France, had Dunkirk, then fought in North Africa before being in Kohima for the Japanese siege. The few who survived all that really did travel!
While relating a narrative is good, I dislike being misled by the pictures presented in support the narrative. The image of German soldiers crossing a river in a rubber boat, with one soldier's leg hanging over the side, is presented as if it was part of the Russian campaign. Actually, that particular picture was snapped during the 1940 blitzkrieg in France.
The man who they could not Mute, Shoot or Electrocute!!! What a champion, fought on 3 different fronts and SURVIVED this evil war.
I personally met one of SS Ukrainian division veterans in Toronto. He was 80 years old. He joined SS division at the age of 14 because his brother and sister were starved to death in 1933. I believe, he had all reasons to hate Soviets. He was the founder of the first school of Ukrainian dances in Toronto
I met a Ukrainian SS in Winnipeg, guy was like a mormom or something
I also met a Ukrainian "Kossack" from WWII. My friend asked him if he had any children. He said "Nicola, I was all over Europe"!
Many Ukrainians and Latvians joined the SS because they were highly oppressed by the J founded Soviets... People should know the Holodomors. I do...
*_Some of the worst Ukrainian Nazis were gladly welcomed into Canada after WWII._*
Visit the Ukraine you will meet some modern day ones.
This is very interesting! I'm loving these memoirs.
5:58 An upside-down horseshoe is bad luck. Left front.
This is an important document of history.
But just in the beginning at 0:45 something makes me wonder. Westphalia is a region in the nort-west of germany and Radstadt im Breisgau is located in the very south. In between there are round 450 km.
Cool video. Interesting to say the least. Thank you.
this mfer just blastin' SS and Military police left and right
Because the MPs would just accuse and execute. They have to justify their cowardly job.
Nazi era military police/ss police were notoriously brutal and arrogant, frontline soldiers hated them generally
The definition of a survivor!
War is horrible, we should have learned that by now.
Every generation forgets.
Thanks again for these, such a valuable insight.
Awesome story and photos, thank you.
Good to hear about how soldiers actually behave in war, instead of the Nazi propaganda version of how inspired they are by the Fuehrer, and similar BS.
The German army at the world war 2 was no doubt the best soldiers in the twenty century
No they where not the best.
They just seen more conflict and where experienced and battle hardened facing green allied troops. The allied troops caught up quick.
Riiiiiiiight. So how come they lost?
How the hell did this guy jump from one role to another in such short periods of time ? Seems impossible to me
They switched your role easily, whereever they had a need. A common practice where "specialists" where missing.
You'd be surprised. In peacetime, you can afford to provide soldiers with decent training over several months. In the midst of a war, with the situation desperate, they will impress soldiers into new duties with little or no training. Some years ago, I interviewed a WWII vet who served in a "bastard tank battalion." During the Italian campaign, at a certain point, they needed more tankers and so the guy I interviewed went from driving a truck to driving a tank after just some familiarization training.
@folgore1 fair enough just seems a little extreme
. I've just finished Anthony Beevers book Stalingrad was a great read
soldiers were dying, you can even gain ranks fast, people get scrambled, and leaders just care to fill up the spaces
I remember a few years ago i found an interview of a Russian red army veteran, the interview seemed from the 80's and possibly recorded on vhs then uploaded to youtube.
Basically he was explaining that at the end of the war they were so angry at German soldiers and in one occassion they were processing pow's in some location in Russia inside a shack, inside was a female russian soldier along with other red army soldiers ,they had a line of pow's outside bringing them in one by one interrogating them and the man giving the interview was in there as well hiding in the back, once they finished interviewing the soldier he would come out from hiding and slit the german's throat and then throw him out back and leave him moaning until he died while they brought the next one in and so on.
I remember he expressed it felt really good to do that and then told the reporter, "don't look at me that way, it was a long time ago and different times".
Have not been able to find the interview again and was probably taken down from youtube i'm guessing. But that kinda tells you how a war brings out the worst in humans. Couldn't imagine living in those times.
I saw that too, i never forgot it either
I read a similar story from the more recent Bosnian conflict with prisoners being taken out of column and having their throats cut.
I remember it too, he also said that his job was to arrest the last few remaining pockets German soldiers. They used a loudspeaker with a German interpreter and for the most part it was going smoothly until this group of Hitler youths were holed up in a building. They were asked to lay down their weapons and come out with their hands up but instead they fired on the Russian soldiers. When they eventually gave up they were told that there would be tea and biscuits for them but instead the Russian officer killed them all with his knife and he said later they were all kids.
A knack for survival or does it just seem that way because he survived?
We never learned from all the misery of the past did we? Stupid waste of good men on all sides .Europe would be a better place if those 2 wars did not happen .
He wanted to survive more then anything. And did anything to live.
His experiences were all over the place, so many different outfits and jobs etc. The germans were such record keepers, but i dont know how anyone could have kept up with this guy. I believe the story, but it sounds like he was everything but a cook and a pilot.
soldiers were dying, you can even gain ranks fast, people get scrambled, and leaders just care to fill up the spaces, he was some sort of specialist and he was taken as such
You forget that his experiences occurred over a 4-yr span, ‘Major.’ Why do you find that unusual in a soldier on the front lines? Units were constantly suffering casualties and soldiers were being sent everywhere.
Hmmm that sounds like an army norm outfitted with Africa Corp uniform and sent to Russia
I certain the mosquito netting made it to the unit supply in January.
Greetings from Thessaloniki!
It is a great city, I just visited. Also visited the military museum there which is fantastic.
Again , from these diaries , the Germans knew full well of the atrocities.
This chap is a survivor, and an honest man. Also, he may be the luckiest man in the German army.
Yeah, we had a kid during basic training at Ft Knox Ky while at the firing range shoot himself in the foot. I guess he wanted out. One DI said to us as we gathered around the kid , he will be recycled and he wasn't going anywhere. That was said for effect most likely, and the kid got a bad discharge which no doubt he later regretted and will follow him the rest of his life. Maybe he thought he would fall into the hands of the NVA?
Has,a young soldier,Viet Nam 1967 1968,respectfully,I can say,none of us realized the horror of war,until we were in it!
I wonder if some allied soldier or pilot used those red crosses on the ambulance as target practice?
I wonder if the SS party piece was putting children in a building and lighting it on fire when they were bored of shooting and hanging civilians.
Allied pilots were notorious for committing war crimes
My grandfather died Stalingrad 1943
Покойся с миром. Храбрый солдат
Fascinating
That was great to listen to 👍
Interesting and well-writ for the most part, but overall spurious, I'm afraid to say...
I will probably piss many people off but I don't feel sorry for any of the German soldiers because of how cruel they were. Many people they killed and all the Jews they slattered. They showed no sympathy
some hero, shoots himself to surrender? what a mess.
It is very hard for me to believe that this is not embellished. How could one guy have been assigned to so many different roles in just a few years? Each of those roles requires different training - and even if we add up the amount of time he says he spent at each, it would seem to be more than the duration of the war.
Agree. This is pure fiction.
A story such as this one would only be believable if the soldier was a Brandenburger. They were some of the very best special forces units at the time, and they believed in cross training every member.
@@Gr8thxAlot In the German Armee there were no Specialist Trainee. They were Allrounders- Do or die. No Fiction. But believe what you want. My Uncle was trained as Stukapilot- then he had to go to the Waffen SS Infantrie. Doin Jobs whatever comes.
There are so many obvious mistakes and discrepancies in this report, it's laughable.
@@Schwaobabua That's complete horseshit.
Stunning sequence of photos! Well done! One more subscriber.
Crazy thought, every soldier on every battlefield in evrey time period, fought for the right thing.
Sorry,sir,the fighting,for a belief,like Mom and apple pie is a friggin,myth!You fight for the guys you are with,to live another day!Thomas A.Filipiak 1st Cavalry,Viet Nam 1967 1968!!!
THAT Ambulance ?????ITS SHOT to Peices 😔😔😔😔😣GREAT FACTS g
je conseille à ceux qui ne l'ont pas vu de regarder l'excellent film allemand de 1993 "stalingrad" résumant bien l'absurdité de la guerre en général et de celle-ci en particulier avec des situations analogues à celles décrites par ce soldat.
That’s a good one
beaucoup plus realiste est "Chiens a vous de crevers" (Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben) de 1959 - la plupart des acteurs avaient au moins une certaine experience de premiere ligne et de vraies munitions etaient souvent utilisees....... en outre, de nombreuses sequences originales allemandes et sovietiques ont ete utilisees......
D'accord! Le fim "Stalingrad" est formidable!
Hard to imagine how often troops were moved
The most of my ancestors at that time served in the 44th Infantry Division "Hoch & Deutschmeister"
Our grand-grandfather documented his "journey" in the personal military photo album from this time.
My dad worked on Liberty Ships, delivering weapons of death to the German soldiers.
Hello. Can you please post links to corroborate this story. Taking things at face value has been kinda difficult these days. Please and thank you
These are memoirs from a German solider for something that happened a long time ago, long before the internet and cell phones. How can you possibly find any links🤷🏼♂️
Imagine admitting to being a traitor. I disbelieve this entirely. Guy seems full of shit.
This is gonna be a great listen
Poor tanks! Otherwise, this diary was too confusing and lacked continuity. He's fighting Russians and the next thing fighting Americans?
Great video!
Thumbs down for computer voice
I would say that Nazism in general was an allergic over-reaction of European civilization on danger of Russian communism.
Uh no......commies and nazis are exact reciprocals of each other. If anything communism is far worse judging by body count......FAR worse.
I would say that you are wrong. Hitler's National Socialism was an all encompassing movement whose goal was not just to defeat Communism, but also Capitalism as well as the extermination of the Jews and other undesirables of Europe. Defeating communism was a big part of Nazism but it was far from the only reason.
Healthy reaction...Europe lost WW2 and now look what we have in this world.
@@clovergrass9439he said over reaction.
@@clovergrass9439it’s a disgrace but I think we will see another drastic pendulum swing towards nationalism sometime in the next 20 years. Weimar problems require Weimar solutions.
TIL Rouen is in the south of France, LOL
Other than that, I would have really appreciated seeing a photo of the officer's white uniform after the attack. ^ ^
Sounds like what my units were like in the late 1970s in the marines
Yep 25 countries in 48 months! SEMPER FI.
Many officers had been shot in the Wehrmacht and also Kettenhunde. Rarely is spoken about it, because it is too embarassing.
My grandfather told us about bad officers that didn't treat their men well, having "accidents" in combat.
@@82ismi Nobody speaks about this in the media. A soldier with an automatic gun is very powerful - also against its own officers.
Many wars are therefore decided by the little guys - and not by the big generals. During the 30 years war, Gustav Adolf, the Swedish king has been shot by his own soldier. So, this little guy decided a 30 year war - and nobody else
The Germans also executed their soldiers on the spot for offenses like rape & murder. Obviously the allies didn't follow anything like that principle.
ENJOYABLE WAY TOO LEARN OF GERMAN SOLDIER
Harsh experiences that are far more impressive than any of those taken into films ever.
Imagine looking for someone’s head.😳
There’s an old saying. “A Jack of all trades”.
This guy was great. None of the usual heroic, stoic nonsense Germans are so fond of writing about - this guy was all about himself surviving - eff his comrades.
You're still missing the point. He didn't f his comrades.
Great story. Not sure about the robot Yankee voice telling it
Great story, well presented. But 'PeeZee'?!! Try 'Panzer' 3, 4 , etc instead.
Thanks! Yes, perhaps you gave good advice)))
If the Germans were not defeated, this soldier could not tell these memories. Otherwise he would have been executed. If this is true!
War memoirs I have, a request of my deceased parents., they had from my foreign service.
I have not revisited it. I've managed to forget most of it save those I seem unable to lose.
Surplus field entrenchment tools I don't touch. Ditto, all military rifles I used overseas.
I've only met one Nazi, in a Canada Trade Fair, then free to wear Jewish gold with relish.
I hope you sleep better these nights.
What?
schade das das Video trotz deutschem Titel und Videobeschreibung auf Englisch ist. Auch wenn es einen deutschen Untertitel hat hab ich beim Klicken erst mal was anderes erwartet. Die Geschichte ist interessant aber 15min mitlesen und teilweise mal pausieren weil es zu schnell ist macht für mich die Videos unatraktiv.
A very interesting & portrayed verisimilitude of the accounts; shooting SS, collusion of Russian women with the Wehrmacht: a dog’s breakfast of events. I could easily imagine in the fight for survival that this type of scenario here played out on the Eastern Front.
My god that's mental!!
Pz. means Panzer = tank.
OK. We all know that. "Panzerkampfwagen" or just Pzkpfw... means "armored combat car".
By the way, do you know the origin of the English word "tank"?
The Victors write the History... Any way they want to.
Breisgau is in Baden, not in Westphalia. Radstadt is in Austria, not in Breisgau. Fairytale all that.
WILL LISTEN AT A LATER DATE HAD TO DO ERRANDS
That guy was a "survivor" in two different ways.
no other way to survive your own nazi regime
A report you have listen too a many times--this was only my first one --so the producer speaks very fast --THATS OK!!--I have to catch the locations where these soldier was --google earth will help possible--GREAT
REPORT---thx rollf
Liked and subbed.
Pz is not pee zee it is the abbreviation for panzer. Just at Lt is said in full, you dont say Ell Tee, you say Lieutenant.
These Sewing Machines were Singers and are hand worked or used with a Pedal.
No! Sewing machine (Nähmaschine) was a German nickname for Soviet Po-2 planes.
Shot myself in the arm for plausibility !?
Good grief.
6:48
11:50
12:17
13:22
Comeuppance.
Should we feel guilty for this breed of individuals after what they did to peaceful population, murdering and burning civilians?
Why only one?
I don't miss them!
In Ukraine, the German army is welcomed as a liberator, thousands of Ukrainians joined the ss. As thin as it is today.
Yes and Russia will win again same as before. Ukrainians of all people should know this. They are about to find out how little the average westerner cares about Ukraine and how little hatred there is for Russia save for a few insignificant countries like the UK and Poland as well. You little dogs have stood around barking at the bear and you are about to be silenced.
Yes, crazy. But now tell us, why they wanted to be liberated and from whom.
@@ckeuerlittle pants, how do I know?
@@izidorkohn1908 Just google Holodomor as one example.
I am glad, I could help you.
Which only tells you how bad the Russians were.
A friend's dad was born in Ukraine. When he was 12 years old the Russians came through his village and press ganged him into their army. His mother tried to stop them, protesting that he was just a boy. The Russians shot her dead on the spot.
Wow they marched from sterbersdorf to allentsteig 😳 for Training. Todays BH receuits would brake down metalle and physically
komisch der zerschossene krankenwagen,,wo die glassscheiben ganz sind