WWII Veteran Visits Concentration Camp He Liberated 77 Years Ago
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- 77 years ago the holocaust ended thanks to the efforts of the allied forces in WWII. Bill Casassa was one of those heroes. In 2021 we took Bill back to the concentration camp in Ahlem, Germany that his unit helped liberate.
On 30 November 1944, an advance commando consisting of around 100 concentration camp prisoners from the Stöcken satellite camp reached Ahlem, where they were forced to set up huts on property belonging to Continental Gummi-Werke AG and build washrooms and housing for the SS. On 30 November 1944, most of the prisoners from the Stöcken satellite camp were transferred to Ahlem, bringing the total number of prisoners to over 750 men.
SS-Hauptscharführer Otto “Tull” Harder, a well-known former Hamburg football player, was commander of the A 12 satellite camp in Ahlem. Many survivors also remember the feared SS-Rottenführer Wilhelm Damann.
The prisoners, most of whom were Jewish, were used to construct an underground tunnel to house the operations of the Continental Gummi-Werke rubber factory and the Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen Hannover. This difficult work and the terrible conditions underground led to a high death rate. In January 1945, a transport consisting mostly of Soviet prisoners from Neuengamme main camp reached the Ahlem satellite camp. These prisoners were meant to replace prisoners who had died or become “unable to work”.
On 5 April 1945, preparations began in camp A 12 for the planned “evacuation march”. A day later, the prisoners who were still able to walk left the concentration camp and set off in the direction of Bergen-Belsen. It is not known how many prisoners were murdered by SS men along the way.
Around 200 sick prisoners were liberated by American soldiers in Ahlem on 10 April 1945.
#takingcareoftheoneswhotookcareofus
MB01I7TGOTLHHLQ
To all the men that liberated these horrible places thank you
"Turns out it wasn't cattle and sheep, but it was a slaughter house." Man.
That's my Dad😊✌🇺🇸
Human slaughter house 😢😢
I don't see how anyone could deny these atrocities happened when tens of thousands of Veterans (All in their 70s, 80s and 90s with no reason to lie) from all the allied nations all told the same tale of what they saw when liberating these camps without ever having met each other.
Roughly 95-99% of Holocaust deniers are antisemites, the remainder are simply uninformed.
It amazes me too that people can think it a lie when I've heard stories in multiple languages from multiple soldiers
Its rather like Israel denying their genocide of Gaza?
Antisemitism plus centuries of hating Jews.
@@oldmansportsog2514If you ask them what happened to all of those European Jews, they will be silent.
The Greatest Generation
These men are of the greatest generation still alive today. They deserve our greatest respect and we should honor these men who went through so much.
I honor all veterans who served during this war with a salute and handshake because it is always such an amazing honor to have met them and heard any stories they wish to tell.
I joined the Army because of my Great Grandfather who served in WW2 but I never got to meet him. So me meeting anyone who has served is just an experience that I can't put into words.
From my deepest part of my heart I say thank you to all veterans of WW2 who are still around today and I say RIP to all the ones who have left this world to rejoin their brothers in arms up in the great halls of heaven.
God Bless these men and thank you for allowing us to learn of these men and listen to the stories they tell.
The "greatest Generation" are the peoples who fight against the Nazis but the number of soliters is incredible low in comparsion to the number of the complete US citizen
I agree wholeheartedly, these men were true heroes.
The universities should require stories like this to be watched for an education.
Agree
More important to learn about the bigger atrocities that happened, like the H0l0domor
@@francisdotso8594as bad as the holodomor was I’m pretty sure the Holocaust was much worse
as a gen z kid it's up to me and my entire generation to continue these stories of these amazing hero's...we can't allow them to be forgotten.
You do your generation justice young man. You just gave me a sliver of hope for the future
Thank you young man! I hope you generation NEVER has to deal with that .
My Father was one of the best generation thank you ALL for your service
I will never understand the Holocaust deniers. I mean this happened. It's so heart breaking! Never forget!
The Nazis themselves documented everything. How could anyone deny what the perpetrators admitted to????
To me, this is the greatest generation to have ever lived. I appreciate all that they have done for us and humanity around the globe. There will never be enough "Thank You's" to adequately say what I feel. They all deserve more than just our words of gratitude. xoxo
"I was, my unit..."
An incredible hero, who no one would question his choice of words. Yet he still, hoping no one would notice, talked about we, instead of me...
Thank you for noticing that! ❤
So touching, so humbling, and so much respect to these guys who liberated Europe from the Nazis. As a soldier my self, I salute you, sirs, and I would like to thank you for what you have done.
To think, if Churchill had accepted Germanys peace offers, Europe would still be free, and the cold War might have been avoided altogether
The prisoners of these abominable camps are of course the biggest victims of the Holocaust but I wish we'd also talk a bit more about the Allied soldiers who discovered the atrocities.
God rest everyone who was murdered and bless these men for rescuing the survivors. 🙏🏼🕯⭐️
I had a privilege and I was honored to meet this brave man at the Utah Beach 78th D-Day ceremony. His age confused me but he explained that he cheated about his age when he was enlisted, he was 16 at the time!! I am so glad that he survived the horror of the war, I wish him all the best and I hope to meet him again in Normandy next year!!
He is my Dad and I am so proud of him and all who fought to save the world. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
PS: he will be there!😊
I am so appreciative for these men.🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
Lest We Forget….especially now
Oh, they want a lot of things forgotten, so badly that they make it illegal to even discuss.
Many years ago I worked with a WWII Army Cook who helped liberate Concentration Camps. He talked about the medical orders they were under to reintroduce prisoners to food. Liquids, then soft soups, then soft foods. Took many weeks. He described them as walking skeletons barely alive. The inhumanity he witness affected him all his life. Sickening that any human could treat anyone in such an inhumane way. It must never happen again. ❤❤🙏🙏
These men are amazing. What they had to go through to keep America safe and the things that they saw was incredible. They are my hero's. Without them we would not be free. I love watching your videos. I learn something new each time I seem them. Really wish I could give them a hug and show them how much I appreciate all they have done for us.
Keep america safe form what.
@@TheGovernor-vw9cf jerk!
@@TheGovernor-vw9cf jacksss!!!
@@audreycasassa1683 safe from what? Explain. The Austrian painter didn’t want world domination. Like Patton said we defeated the wrong enemy.
We shouldn't forget about the Korean war veterans either.
I'm so grateful for these men and their massive sacrifice. They truly are the bravest and greatest generation to walk this earth.
SPOT ON..TY..👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
murdoch murdoch greatest generation
Sir: you are a hero! Thank you for your service!
❤❤❤
Well Deserved, thank you for your service!
In my senior year of high school one of my classmates grandfather told us what it was like to be a German boy soldier at Verdun in the trenches. Then a week or two later, his son.. my classmate’s uncle, told us what it was like to liberate a concentration camp as an American soldier
i cannot even imagine what they had to go through.may the good lord bless these incredible man
Damn this guy aged well
These stories cannot be forgotten, and it is fair to recognize that the Allied soldiers showed the horror of war; history thanks these men for their bravery for going to fight far from their families and their country, and with the sole purpose of not allowing evil to take over an entire continent.
It is the greatest generation that has walked the earth.
Greetings from Colombia.
2 continent. Don’t forget the other front.
Thank you to EVERY SINGLE one of you! God Bless you all ❤❤ To all the men and women Thank you for your service God Bless you all!!
dad had nightmares about that place till he died. he was in b company 638th td battalion.
Why these and all Veterans do not get more respect is a crime.
It's obvious why. The Americans after WW2 came home and treated blacks almost as bad. I'm pretty sure this comment will be deleted by RUclips.
@@SuperRtrtrtr ridiculous comment
They helped the bad guys win
@@francisdotso8594 another absurd comment!
We're the soviets, who were responsible for at least 3-4 times as much murder as the national Socialist in the 20th century, the good guys? That's what we fought for for half of Europe.
GOD bless these brave men and women-most are gone now....may their families be proud.
Thank you for sharing your story all of you brave soldiers Thank you 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Good man, thank you for what you did for us.
Warriors of America and Martyrs of America we love and appreciate every second you gave us, may god watch over all your families and loved ones
Thank you.
Right on My Brother Bill LH&R
I can't imagine what these men witnessed
My heart & soul goes out to you my friend. Im so glad your here. Sending prayers & love from Canada
Hero! Thank you!! For you’re sacrifice. 🥺
Why does this channel not have millions of subscribers??
Right!?!?!? Thanks for your support!
And pass this video along!
I wanna cry just hearing about this
The Americans came to liberate!!!!
My grandad was liberated from one of these prisoner of war camps by the americans. I never learned much about his ordeal other than he was captured in a church graveyard while fighting in the war and he spent quite a long time as a POW. My dad said he would never talk about what happened to him there but that he had nightmares for the rest of his life about it
Interesting how timing is…I had just watched the ninth episode “Why We Fight” of Band of Brothers, and this video came up the next day!
It’s incredible how these men went through so much, simply for us and to retain the freedoms we have today.
Me too that was a touching half of that episode when they liberated the camp
Thank you to all Vets, everywhere, for your selfless service to our country. To other countries, on this Memorial Day, 20024. God bless & keep you & heal your nightmares. ❤
Matthew 6:15
But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
When he prayed for forgiveness of the perpetrators, my heart exploded in love and grief. The ultimate justice is redemption and peace for all. What amazing people to have lived through such a thing.
That part got me. What an ultimate display of forgiveness. That short few seconds showed me the power of forgiveness and ill never forget it.
I've always wanted to know how the sights of the Holocaust and the horrors of Nazism influenced how white GIs saw racism and Jim Crow in the USA after the war and during the civil rights movement.
Got to remember there was two America's basically the north and the south, I'm guessing it probably did stick to some southerners
I’ll say it. Wow.
Gracias a estos héroes estas historias dejarán huella para las futuras generaciones.que dios los cuide
I salute you fine and brave men. Thank you for your service.🕊
Literally saved the world. Bar none.
Well, they are responsible for the current state of the world, you're right about that.
@@l337pwnage Wrong!
People w/attitudes like that are.
@@timturrill lol, that doesn't even make sense. There are only two sides, you're either on one or the other. They chose their side.
@@l337pwnage not if you're a spy.
I pity foo !!
@@l337pwnage and dont forget corn
What a hero. Thank you sir.
Thank you, these men were real life heroes!
I wanna meet a ww2 veteran before there all gone..
Just like my grandpa...
I hope you get to!
God Bless 🙌 All of you in that Hot Shitty Mess!! Words can't describe! I am 64 but never forget about you and what you have done.... My Prayers are with you 🙏 this is such a bad thing that are War Heroes had to go through, I can't even fathom the stench !! God Bless you 🙌 🙏 all Love from Michigan U.S.A ...5- 30 - 24
wow, thats just amazing! i want to do the biggest thing i can do for these veterans
To think the public didn't know about this is absolutely nuts
Ww2 vets are the real super heroes of history. Saving the world from totalitarian fascism and pure evil.
RIP grandpa and happy Memorial Day
They are responsible for the current state of the world, you got that right.
Thank you for your service gentlemen. Bless you all.
I have smelt death and cannot even fathom what that would have smelled like, it would be stuck to the ground, the buildings, the fencing, everything. The people who worked there can in no way deny they knew what was going on at the time. Nor can any person deny this is our history. These warriors have no reason to not talk about mere facts.
Thank you !!!
Thank you for liberating the prisoners and the rest of those who were forced to live under Hitler s terror. My father was 5 when the war finally ended, his father was lucky enough to elude the Russians, and make his way home.
Why doesn’t he talk about the pow camps on the rhine
The Greatest Generation of the modern era. I am incredibly sad that subsequent generations failed to live up to your standards
Hooyah!
these are a definition of a real man our hero’s thank you for your service i can’t even imagine what horrific things they saw or heard my grandfather could never talk about it was too traumatic
I knew a army soldier who helped liberate dachau concentration camp said the odor & what he witnessed would be with him till the day he died
Never Forget!
Never Forgive!
Yam Yisrael Chai!
🇮🇱 ✡️
Thats my hometown, i born and raised there. Thank you guys for your service! God bless you all
Wow! A lot of history there!
@@BestDefenseFoundation Of course it is. We have the Bergen Belsen Memorial here, the German Tank Museum Munster is also nearby. We have a lot of historical places here. Everthing was created to make sure that we did not forget about the terrible crimes committed against the jewish people and the rest of the world!
They thought they beat the persecution of the Jews with the death of Hitler.
Their sacrifices shouldn’t be in vain.
Evil tends to get persecuted a lot. Tough to stop that.
“Why We Fight.”
As far as the Germans are there is an old saying times change people don’t
Bingo, and that especially applies to you.
" For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth
for the manifestation of the sons of God.
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."
~ Romans 8:18-23
Lest we forget…
That guy is a hundred years old? He looks more like a Vietnam vet.
My late father-in-law, Sgt.Henry Lewandowski, was in the 333rd, Co. A
It's amazing that with the stories of the veterans and the chronicles of events which took place in both World Wars especially World War II we are getting ready to do it all over again. With leaders drunk with power China North Korea and Russia on 1 side US and Europe on the other, Russia wanting to take Ukraine and threats of nuclear war. When will man ever learn or is it with our egos and unquenchable thirst for power and the desire to pepetuate misery are we doomed to repeat history over and over again. Heaven help us all.
Absolutely the greatest generation.
Do not let the efforts of this generation be undone by following generations.
Do not let their efforts be undone by foreigners in our countries who have no respect for their efforts, nor are they willing to even learn about it.
Never ever forget the ultimate sacrifices that were made by millions of people who put it all on the line.
🇳🇱🇨🇦♥️
My grandfather was there 2 ive heard the stories 😢
Every kid growing up should see this video and many more like it. Put in the High School curriculum.
😥only thing my Grandpa told me was that smell of war is not forgotten. He was correct 🫡
Hey lets not interupt a guy who is telling a story that is older than you.
GOD directed you there GOD IS GOOD! 🙏 ☝️
Forgive them, I don’t think so…
I will remember always ‼️‼️
I cried watching this …😢
Powerful stories.
Yeah
.sure 😅
Остался пепел от людей.
College students want to do the same thing these days.
Thank you to all of you for your service. and for liberating the concentration camps and saving the poor souls that were savable. God bless you all 🙏🙏🙏🙏
From 90% in 1965 to hardly 60% now. Tik tak, amerimutts.