German Wehrmacht driving in to surrender near Prague (1945)
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- Опубликовано: 3 авг 2021
- In April 1945, near Prague in Czechoslovakia, the German Wehrmacht was disarmed and their soldiers taken prisoners of war.
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0:07 Passing the queue of German POWs, resting alongside the road, getting up to resume marching
0:27 Confiscated weapons
0:44 "Limit of advance All U.S. Troops" sign
0:52 Major, Artillerie-Regiment
2:26 German officers in a convertible handing out their pistols
4:14 Convertible, with Red Cross sign (what car model is this?)
4:56 Two German officers, one with a bandaged eye, speaking with U.S. Army colonel
5:30 U.S. Army radio operator sending morse code with a leg mounted military straight key
5:51 U.S. Army soldier showing slightly harassing behaviour towards local women
Music track "Revolution" by courtesy of Antoine Marsaud
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I have no words to express how much the music was a holy match with those images. Whoever did this is a genius.
Absolutely
Haunting.
Soul shattering.
i get vibe from terminator movie with this music
Eh
I muted the sound because I thought it was extraneoua
My father was in that area of the war. He told me a story about being assigned to guard German prisoners back to the stockade. he was sitting on top of the cab guarding six German soldiers. Snow on the ground, the truck hit a shell hole, and flipped, tossing him and the prisoners. He figured they'd run, instead, they picked him up, his rifle on the ground, brushed him off, handed him back his rifle, then up righted the truck, got everyone back inside, and climbed on board. When asked why they didn't run...They had been promised hot food, they hadn't had hot food for a very long time,
If they did not do exactly that, they'd be hunted down like wild animals..
@@SuperIv7 Most of them were probably Conscripts, that hated the war in the first place and being in a POW camp they'd go home eventually, and not end up dead.
No surprise. A 'tour of duty' for German soldiers was the duration. By 1945 most were just plain sick of it. Superlv7 suggests that they were afraid of being hunted down. Not likely. Many Germans just went home without processing.
They were probably so happy not to be prisoners of the Red Army
@@vansnyder9499 That is because they feared that USSR will pay back on what they've done to the USSR people
I wonder what people will think when they view this 2000 years from now? Imagine having footage of ancient Rome after a war.
With the return of Jesus Christ being next year (2022), they won't exist.
the next war will be at south china sea
I see what you are saying but we have only about 60 to 90 years left before we are all gone.
@@mvp2526 true.
All of these men were bad asses. Much respect to all of them..
My (Austrian) grandfather celebrated his 17th birthday as an American POW. His unit got handed over to the Americans in Czechia without a shot being fired. They fortunately escaped the red army.
He could have been one of these soldiers. After they got released, a lot of them walked back to the American ruled part of Austria, which was Salzburg. There he reunited with his family including his also captured father. Shortly afterwards he continued attending high school for electrical engineering. Some of his classmates wer already a bit older and experienced years of war. Also the teachers were all veterans.
He had contact with all of his classmates until their deaths.
I see the sign stating: furthest American advance.....which means you stay on the other side you're in Russian hands. Not a good idea.
Saludos desde Argentina....increible historia
Ваш дед был солдатом? И не понёс наказание?
Your grandfather killed children in Russia, and ran to the Americans to surrender. The scoundrel.
17 years? That doesnt make sense
The restoration and colorization of the footage adds SO much value. It gives a lot of contrast so it's much easier to see what's going on as opposed to blurry jittery black & white footage. This video makes the event much more human.
I think it's originally color footage
Great footage! Notice the RUSSIAN flag patch on the soldier at 1:12 - this is not the Red Army, but the so-called Vlasov army, made up of Soviet POWs who had first been fielded by the Germans to fight against Stalin (who refused to allow assistance to Soviet POWs in the camps), but who later turned against Hitler and fought the Wehrmacht during the last ten months or so of the war. The Vlasov army were viewed as traitors by both Berlin and Moscow, and its men were killed on sight by both, but still managed to play a military role - and they were the ones who liberated much of Prague, before the Red Army had got there.
Solzhenitsyn devoted some angry, eloquent pages in "The GULAG Archipelago" to the history of these betrayed and badmouthed Russian soldiers (most of whom later ended up in Siberia).
@@louise_rose I am not sure about vlasov army in this footage... cose this colours are weared by "civilians" - czech milition during uprising... but order of colours are wrong, czechs have red in the middle and blue is downstare... different from russian flag...
@@pieronem9311 The guy I indicated is a soldier, and he's clearly part of the army units "booking" or guarding the German POWs.
@@louise_rose u can see multiple of these flag on "civilians" in the video. They are czechs. I can also recognise uniforms of czech police in a crowd. This flag was one of main sign of the czech uprising. We can see it also on some vehicles withh german soldier.... maybe for passage through the enemy sector. Also lot of czech militionman weared a parts of germans uniforms.
I know about vlasov army. Only they helped in Prague and saved the city. After that, they got to the american sector but US army handed them over to the Soviets.
I had a teacher in highschool in 70s who was a staff officer for Gen Patton his name was Col. Vaughn. He told lots of war stories. He said a Brig. General and him was liberating eggs from an abandoned chicken house. They came out with their helmets full of eggs and were surrounded by a German mechanized unit of over 300 men. He thought this will look great 2 officers caught stealing until he found out the Germans were running from the Soviets trying to surrender to the USA or other allied troops. He got a medal. I loved his class.
lol that is fricken awesome
Yeah better surrender to a future allie fascist trash
@@mentalrevolutiongg2940 ??????????????????
@@charlesfoutch1132 very nice you were lucky, no teachers like that anymore, sad.
@@mentalrevolutiongg2940 OK snowflake.
One often forgets how recent this war really was, only 70 or so years ago. Only 2-3 generations back, many of our grandfathers were around at this time. It's kind of incredible.
Especially seeing vivid color footage like this puts things into perspective, makes it feel much more real.
I am in my 60s. My father fought in the Black Forest of Germany. He was wounded twice. He never romanced war. He had experienced and seen to much. He used to say you better have no options before going to war. He lost many friends and fellow soldiers. We rarely talked about the war.
@@mtadams2009 Interesting! I have been to the Black Forest area to visit a couple times. I love visiting Germany.
Yes some of us older people had parents and uncles who fought in the war. My parents were quite young at the time but one of my older uncles fought in WW II and was part of the Dachau liberation. He gave my mother a dagger from a German rifle. I have it now...somewhere.
@@Ellecram That is interesting. Hopefully you can find it. Take care
@@mtadams2009 I will look for it this coming weekend.
A new war is coming dont worry.
4:55 When the German officer with the busted eye casually salutes the U.S. colonel and the 3 proceed to have a conversation, it looks cool. Like 3 guys at uni discussing their term papers, or at work talking about the office printer :)
Es waren ja auch die Amerikaner, und nicht die Russen, denen sich die Deutschen ergaben!
The German is doing a HH salute no?
Diese Videos sind fantastisch und ich danke Ihnen, dass man sich das fast 70 Jahre später anschauen kann! 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Notice the Russian flag patch on the soldier at 1:12 - this is the so-called "Vlasov army", not the Red Army. The Vlasov army did most of the hard work of liberating Prague, before the Red Army had got there.
My uncle was captured in that area, managed to escape and walked home to Heidelberg by foot. He was only 16 years old.
I hope he was caught by Soviets
What a badass
He could thank God that he wasn't catched by the Czechs!
so he was a nazi?
RESPECT, HE MUST HAVE BEEN "BAD TO THE BONES"!
Fascinating video. The Germans for the most part looked OK and almost happy riding by. In the late 1960s I was in a meeting for my company when my boss and a German fellow speaking softly decided that both were in the same battle in North Africa facing each other. A rather strange conversation, one with nothing but interest on both sides.
How old are you then? 80?
Germans were happy because they knew that by surrendering to the US and British forces, they would be treated “well”…. Quite the opposite had they surrendered to the Russian troops.
@@sandtoy11510 german got a polite treatment - much more than they deserved
@@sandtoy11510 yes they treated the civilians very well when they bombed mainly civilians to death. the main targets in their mindless mass bombings had been children and women.
@@eranboko6431 you have to target the ones that promote wars and benefit from them - its not civilians but some filty politicians and their friends. apart from that it had been mainly children and women who had been killed deliberately in the mindless mass bombings of the british and us army - another war crime. some things never change if you look at more recent wars made up from a bunch of lies in the middle east.
music really fits to the video. Well done. Keep it up.
My Grandfather was a combat engineer there and lived to come back home here in the US. Incredible man he was as well as my Grandmother.
My grandpa was a surgeon during this period, from a non-beligerant country (Spain), he helped in campaign hospitals around France and later in Germany. He passed away when I was very little but he told me stories about how he made good friends on both sides. Some German guy used to visit him every year with an amputated hand which I thought was terrifying, but always seemed very grateful. I remember the last time he came my grandpa was already convalescent, and he held his hand very gently and speak to him in German -which my grandpa didn't understand-. We never knew what he said but it was touching. I wonder what was of him after that.
@Shapiro Shekelberg damn your great grandpa Beta asf
No luck asking around people? Maybe there's a military historian that might know, maybe your grandmother would know?
Non-combatant country? Spanish “Blue Division” fought near Leningrad
@@rossomachin yeah but thouse were volunteers, and there were volunteers on both sides
@@MrPakurfulo it sucks for the spanish people franco didn't join the axis, then they would have been free from fascism in '45... lot's of idiot volunteers from the occupied countries, straight to the eastern front was their destiny, to be mauled by the red army.. what brutal times.. my grandfather was resistance in the west flanders region blowing up trains, after his brother was shot by the germans when the belgian, french and british armies ran for their lives to dunkerque..
My grandfather was drafted into Volkssturm at age 16 he told my father that in training they were thrown into a pool and told to swim since most people couldn't swim back then he was then sent to the front after training and was captured by the russians somewhere in yugoslavia then sent to the gulag in gorki after the war he returned home where his brother picked him up in the nearest city and told him he thought he would never see him again he then lived a happy live and died in 2007 with 5 children and 6 grandchildren
Well God bless him. He is very blessed not to have spent years after the war in the Gulags.
Volksturm was for older veterans of the war, not teenagers.
@@capoislamort100 that isn't correct. Male Teenagers who could hold a weapon and the veterans too had to join the '' volkssturm'' ask the Wikipedia for more details.
@@detroitandclevelandfan5503 ему очень повезло что его не расстреляли при сдаче в плен Советские солдаты
The younger Germans who were sent to the Russian front were often the most rabid of Nazis.
My dad was born in Prague. He was a kid during the war. He has lots of stories. He remembers snipers around town after the war ended.
Prag has german culture. Theater. Writings etc...frieden
@@dagmarvandoren9364, ne. Praha má a vždy měla svou vlastní kulturu. Českou. A toto video vůbec není natočeno blízko Prahy.
@@dagmarvandoren9364 we have our own culture, we are central, not east not west. Wer mix and thats the beauty of it.
Один мой дед попал в лагерь, дважды бежал, его ловили и били колючей проволокой после этого он не снимал майку. Когда сидел в лагере говорил немец пройдет даст сигарету или сухарь а пройдет полицай обычно ударит прикладом или травили собаками. На третий раз сбежал и партизанил в Югославии после выйдя на советские войска опять попал в тюрьму пока не прошел проверку. Немцы были добрее полицаев. Это история только одного деда.
All those STG-44's just laying around would be worth about 30-40K each now.
Thousands of them were shipped to Syria and have been used in the civil war there since 2011.
@@megamillionfreak You are correct some German-made weapons were so good they still use them and the Americans copied some of them
I believe the first true assault rifle?
@@ronaldburns7877 AK 47, the most famous, was also based on StG 44.
@@naturbursche5540 ak works komplett different
Nobody on here commented on buddy near the end on the M8 Greyhound armored car banging out Morse code like it was his first language! Crazy fast and just looking around the whole time!
That is not all that fast. Maybe 10-15 words per minute. Back in the day (I'm 73 got licensed first about 1965) US radio amateurs had to send and receive 13 wpm for general class ticket, 20 I think for extra class license
Funny too, I thought at first that he was tapping in time with the video's music!
anyone know whats being said lol?
@@fourfortyroadrunner6701 great to hear your response boss!
@@easiesteevee2532 The message read " Hi Honey, I'm on my way home,.... do we need milk? " :)
Sorry, I just couldn't resist this!
It’s crazy to think how big/strong Germany was as a nation that they still had so many men (not as many), material, etc. in their time of absolute defeat. It’s crazy. 6 years of war, millions of men lost, etc.
But big confused why german so strong participate in war 1 and 2
@@jerichofiselindo2305 Because France and Britain humiliated a proud people.
It was the last pocket that was organized and relaltively strong...they stood no chance against against their enemies. But still, this vid is very sad...i dont want to know what happened to the girls...
@@starsandnightvision that pride is what destroyed them in the end.
To be fair they've pretty much scrapped the barrel so much that that they went through the bottom and is just straight up digging into the ground at this point.
Those German officers even look dashing in defeat.
Those fools still did think Americans will join them in their battle against Bolshevism I guess
Да, выглядят борзо, особенно сс
The relief on the part of both civilians and soldiers is palpable.
By the this time the Germans had enough as well and were relieved they were able to surrender to Western Allied forces.
I couldn’t imagine! The relief of “It’s finally over” had to have been crazy on both sides. You can tell the Germans were happy to be surrendering to the western pincer and not the eastern one.
@@A_10_PaAng_111 They surrendered because of RED ARMY... not allied forces
@@TsarOfRuss It was a joint effort. No one denies that the USSR suffered the most at the hands of the Nazi's and the fighting was brutal. Lets not forget that the USSR and Germany also conspired together to carve up Poland and that the Soviets were mauled by Finland. Stalin's purges of the officer corps nearly doomed them.
They didn't know that the red army is coming and soon they are going to be abandoned (yet again) by West.
I think it’s incredible how just adding colour to these videos, makes the people in them look just like you and me
Sadly - they are. Just depends on the - sometimes bad - choices we make.
it wasn't colored?
@@eniff2925 I think the colors are too consistent and match my imagination of what color film looked like at the time, sometimes including discoloration at the edges of the frame. AI colored black and white film is very inconistent and everything has the same muddy flickering between muffled greens and browns. Here you can pick out small details on uniforms and more colorful womens clothing is also present. Color film was somewhat readily available, but was very expensive. People used it more on special occasions, which this seems to be. You dont get to film an army surrender that often, so better put the good stuff in your camera.
@@yoshisaurusrex3767 thats what i meant as well but probably communicated it badly. I thought orginal comment said it was colored afterwards and i meant to say it was originally colored
@@eniff2925 Its alright :) The channel could communicate this a bit better.
Huge respect to the girl who didn't let herself be kissed..
That dumbass doughboy thought he was going to get a big smackeroo and she shut that shit down hard.
I have no repect for her what was she doing up there?
such great footage. which cam was used and how come so high FPS rate?
A lot of these are restored and upscaled
I was able to translate the morse code at 5:30 - it says .... "Your cars extended warranty is about to expire."
In broken English-Hindi?
Good one.
Nice
There is just no escaping the bastards!
Curious if anyone could or did
My mother was a nurse in the german red-cross at that time. She was part of this. She joined a military convoy that was evacuating to the west, and they were shot at by chech partisans when passing through each village. No blaming here. Just remembering my mother's stories of how she had to flee, most of the time by walking, from Prague to Munich, during 3 weeks without any food. She was aged 20 at that time.
impressive story, in my opinion your mother is a hero. German red cross is by many very underestimated
she was lucky not to be caught by Russians god knows what would happen then
@@doposud
Actually, mass killings of fleeing Germans and Hungarians (few people know about this) were done not by the Russians but by Czech partisans.
зато из Мюнхена в Прагу она ехала ,наверняка, с ветерком
What is the term "Chech" ?
1:25 live soldiers going toward the camera. Followed by dead soldiers going away from the camera. I find this oddly metaphysical.
Вот это кадры исторические, поразило, спасибо за хронологию!Операторам, реставраторам-респект!!! Музон вообще в тему!
Так же будет с рфскими вояками и зеками мобиками
чё там российский флаг делает)
Этот подарок символ внешнего управления как проигравшим наша элитка взяла а мы проглотили...
@@DjonniDi таймкод
@@DjonniDi РОА наверное.
Брату моей бабушки, воину Красной Армии, разведчику 247-го гвардейского пушечного артиллерийского полка, к сожалению не суждено было дожить до этого дня. Он погиб 14 марта 1945 года во время боя в районе словацкого города Банска-Штявница.
@@user-ye4zn9fe6l Он был убит во время отражения атаки немцев на наблюдательный пункт, откуда он корректировал огонь артиллерии, о чем сказано в его наградном листе на посмертное награждание.
@@user-og7pv7mv3c врят ли...там тогда эти наградные листы клепали пачками, не разбираясь...
I'm sorry to hear that
@@user-ye4zn9fe6l клепали пачками приказы, вели учет. Если узнаешь что такое архив? - так это сделали штабные писари! А не секретутки на печатных машинках, где только отвечали по радио!
@@user-ny3nv2rp9l путин засекретил архивы...В на тушение закона Кстате
Many of the German army were kept in uniform and used as construction teams, rebuilding Germany. The Allies used entire German engineer battalions, under German officers, to rebuild roads and bridges. The German Military Police were even allowed to keep their weapons, Nazi insignia and didn't actually "surrender" until late 1946. They were the last German Army units to surrender to the Allies. They were used by the Allies to Marshall German POW's, refugee columns and road junctions.
Because they both know that the real enemy are Russians.
@@internettroll1985 not russians but the soviet union. It was even te biggest enemy of the russians starving them, sending them into war through death threats, sending them to the gulags.
@@internettroll1985 Soviets*
@@jfc6132 - Russians*
@@internettroll1985
Deep in politics US UK didn't really know who do they wat to support Hitler or Stalin. Only when they saw USSR was winning they decided to help in 1944.
And it was done for $$$ and gold. Russians stopped paying US in 2007?
Even after WW2 Churchill had a plan to attack Russia.
Now look at Biden who started a proxi war with Russians using Ukrainians. Shameful merica!
Who need enemies if you have friends like this?!
just seeing them speak with each other at the 5:00 mark is mind blowing.. wow.
Here are the places from this video: city of Rokycany, villages: Mýto, Borek, and final destination is village Ejpovice, wher the prisoner camp was established by US Army. All German solders are happy as they already avoid a Russian captivity. All these German solders were interviewed by US officers in order to find the ones with war crimes. As I know, the ordinary Wehrmacht solders were back home before the end of year.
I also noticed that Americans communicate with Nazi soldiers very nicely, like good old friends
My late Uncle was a Major in US Army Intel. His unit stayed behind, but near the front line following the Normandy Invasion. He was close enough to the front that German soldiers could walk into his camp to surrender. This was accomplished with leaflet bombs explaining to Germans how to surrender without getting shot. They were also told they would not be murdered or tortured and that they'd get food & medical care. My Uncle didn't speak any German so he used his German/American mess hall NCO as his interpreter. He practiced a form of "soft" torture by promising his new POWs they'd get chow as soon as the interrogations were over! They talked plenty. The Germans he interrogated were very disciplined, patriotic soldiers, but they were starving.
So lies then?
Germany was raped and tortured in its defeat, something all allied nations should be forever ashamed of.
Lots of those soldiers were starved to death in the rhine meadow camps.
@@feolender2938 Yes, my heart bleeds for the poor mistreated Knott Zees.
@@glocen nope because they didn't create it
@@glocen yes, it was totally that simple. Don't tell me, poor ukraine are totally innocent right, putin man bad?
@@feolender2938 ("Sgt.J."). ON THE Other note! 🎵 That's Mr. Les Paul. Not Leo G. Fender. I, Have had the Pleasure of owning some of those very good playing things. I, Suggest Both of you, Read Some College Level books 📚. At a Library. Instead of "ask Jeeves." Internet Crap! I, understand there was a S..t head C.o. that caused a problem with German p.o.w.s. that is a shame. And, A U.S. Captain, Whom had a brother among the dead on telephone poles. And, Trees. Where their parachutes took them. And, Gunned by the S.S. troops. He ordered a an old officer. And, Young draftees to be Executed. To include pointing his 45 @ the Soldiers that refused to Shoot those ppl. What little i, read here... Makes you 2 look and, act like Dorks. No probs with the Major. But, Frightening the p.o.w.s for a joke was kinda cold. I, may have teased a few myself? There's a couple of Former C.O.s I, Would've rather beat em with an Entrenching tool ("one of those old green ones. Not the Smaller black ones.")Than go to war with those A.. Holes. I'm thankful that someone took the time. And, Evan endangered themselves to document 📄📃, 📷 📸 🖼️💽💿🎥🎙️ History. When I, younger. Had the same rants. Chill. It's over. Is it not some of our responsibility to make sure Dumbs..t don't happen again? Some friends are now passed that told me of eating black cheese, Fricken cold. A German officer asking his driver. And, A Jr. Officer "Vas is Nuts?" A short time later. The battle was back on. And, 2 old guys at the V.A. Hospital. "What are those badges guys?" Stalag #14. And, 17 Survivors. So... I, Was not there. You most likely were not there. And, I'm not ashamed I, made Good $$ playing music in Bars, Clubs, V.f.w s. And, an American legion post. Just No more Pvt. Parties. Only did few. Ain't doing none if those. Hmm... Continue to rant? Naw... It may have been nice if "Churchhill." Woulda let the brit cost guard/ Navy warn the Lusitania, That a German Submarine was near by.
This is an amazing video, and such well chosen music. The image and music together make this a powerful of the event. Subscribed!
I had to turn my PC audio off, I hated the "music" so much.
Music? It was more like the sounds you hear at the spook house in an amusement park.
Incredible footage!
My Farther in Law was a British Naval fighter pilot in the war. After the war he completed his studies and became a civil engineer building dams, railways etc all over the world.
I the late 40,s he was surveying in Tasmania for a dam for hydro….mainly on horseback and camping.
He took charge of the engineering team for about 20 people. Every single one was from the same engineering battalion that had been captured and sent to a POW camp in the UK.
They all came from Russia Occupied Germany. None wanted to go “home” with many having nothing to go home to.
He found this team extremely skilled and very driven. He remained very good friends with 4 of them, all of whom were alive and came to his 80th Birthday.
They all remained family friends until they all died….but as we speak we are in Erlanger in Germany staying at one of the Grand children’s house.
The history is still there….the biggest lesson being that we are all the same and the futility of war.
The people are better dressed at the end of a horrid war than how we dress today.
They had pride in themselves. Something society has lost
True. Today everyone looks like total trash.
@@megamillionfreak yeah you'll see people at Walmart wearing shorts halfway showing their damn underwear!
Depends on the country/ place.
He was well dressed, but the look into the camera was deep stare of contemplation. it's almost as if history being recorded can't be erased. Regardless if the tape is lost or the book burned. Humanity remembers.
This documentary montage is brilliant. i guess the music makes half of the thumbs-up.
Great job. I am richer for that. (My dad was wounded in August 1944 at St. Malo. he is almost 96.)
God bless your dad. Glad he’s still here
Respect.
And if your Dad had known he was going to live this long he would've taken more care of himself. Lol. Respects to you and of course your dear old Dad.
My regards to your father wounded in the city of our celebrated corsair, the great Robert Surcouf. All the best from St Germain en Laye, the native city of the ancient kings of France.
Not many left now. My grandfather, a regular, fought quite a famous (at the time) rear guard action at Dunkirk (at which the first VC of WWII was awarded), fought his way across France in 1944 and was shot dead by a Hungarian sniper in April '45.
makes a welcome change... excellent choice of music!
Any chance of getting a narrative as to what is being shown on the video?
Back in 1945 seeing an American or a Brit was like winning the lottery to the German soldiers
Only the americans, the british were still seen as unreliable, one time they returned a whole population of cossack refugees back to the soviets
It depends, sometimes they would give them up to the Soviets but only those who fought on the Eastern Front I believe.
@@yibithehispanic cossacks refugees or Cossacks soldiers fighting for the Axis ?!
@@HoboTango Both, yes.
@@UhtredOfBamburgh They were not soviet soldiers and if I remember well kozak is just the ethnic name of the cossacks, there's not a lot of difference.
5:31 Even the dude is tapping morse code in sync with the background music.
He was probably sending morse to Snoopy! 😄
Yeah this generation would look at that thing like: WTF???
Lmao
Looks like part of a music video
@@scottburns2600 They would probably think it was some primitive Wi-Fi device.
Liked #492. Watching from Los Angeles, California USA. Time check in LA is 5:39pm. It's sunny and warm. Great broadcast!!
its an odd thing seeing so many soldiers on the losing side smiling, they seemed very relieved the fighting was over
I think they were just only too happy to get food & shelter......
their nerves were likely shot to hell tho....
despite this it's quite possible some of the younger ones here are still alive !
Some never wanted to be there in the first place and likely assumed they were dead men walking. They had just been given the gift of life. Let that perspective sink in.
Not everyone in WW2 Germany was a fanatical knot-z (thanks algorithms) some just liked their country or town, some were drafted and didn't have a choice.
That's the thing about wars. Usually the people that cause wars are the A-holes and those who suffer the most are regular people who would be equally served having a beer together and shooting the bull together instead of trying to kill each other because their leaders told them to do so.
Relieved to escape the wrath of the Russians
Relieved to not be going to Russia.
5:50 lol at that soldier trying to sneak in a kiss. Lady would have none of it.
Yeah, it took a little away from the feel of the video. When he first tried to kiss her and she pulled away he should have stopped right there. He looked a bit like a degenerate.
Imagine what would have happened after the cameras were taken away. Probably, even the camera is not able to show us the true face of war.
@@mtungare In France (and of course Germany) some thousand women got raped by GI's. It is not comparable with the amout in the east but happened also.
she probably got worse when the russians took over Prague.
@@neinnein9306 Raped almost entirely by Russian soldiers!
True color videos like this one are like the holy grail for everyone who is into WWII model building and needs some perfect reference material on german camouflage. especially 4:00 and 4:28 are great for that. Too bad there are not many videos like this one with german tanks and visible camo. Thx for posting this.
Cheerful retreating, looks more like an oktoberfest than anything else. I'm looking for my friend, a one legged general that left prague by foot, literally. If someone sees him say hi
Честно сказать я поражен, как происходила капитуляция. Все улыбаются, даже фашисты! И эти кадры, на фоне цветущих деревьев потрясают!!! Конец зиме, конец войне. Весна пришла, победа!!!
Так советские войска уже идут и гонят фашистов, они все понимают и погибать не хотят. Вот и радуются что их отправляют на укрепление других рубежей. Уезжают довольные с девками, думая что наши до Берлина не дойдут. Знали бы, Дума б что улыбок было бы меньше.
живы остались вот и радуются и в плен к советским войскам не попали
Вот это улыбается возродили это войну с Украиной
@@Voldemar112 бухой? Иди проспись
@@user-lv9dx8ek8i Когда уже вы, россияне, проспитесь? Походу, никогда.
My grandpa was...oh, phooey, you've heard it a million times. Fascinating footage, with really good colour. Thanks for the upload.
in wwII my grandfather was a postal clerk at camp McCoy Wisconsin,, so .
You know who was yours.
This is some of the most amazing video I've ever seen!
I'd thought I'd seen it all...
Not so...
I am not allowed to post the link to the map, but because many people wonder:
* Filmed in town Rokycany, Plzeňská street.
* Это снято в городе Рокицаны, улица Пльзеньска.
* C'est la ville de Rokycany, rue Plzeňská.
* Gefilmt in der Stadt Rokycany, Plzeňská-Straße.
* Nafilmováno v Rokycanech, Plzeňská ulice.
Thanks to you I was able to find it on Google Maps.
Great quality footage that has the look and feel of a 1970s news bulletin.
Couple interesting observations. On the GI talking to the Germans on the motorcycle at 1:07, you can see he's got a Mauser C96 rig slung over his shoulder, clearly a war trophy he's planning on bringing back. Also interesting, the Germans in the halftrack at 4:29 are not regular Wehrmacht, but actually Waffen-SS, probably part of the 6th SS Panzer Army. And finally, interesting to see a full bird Colonel directing traffic.
And the women with the Germans
Waffen ss look like fucking kids oldest dudes there seem to be the driver and the man to his right along with the guy in the middle of the back seat.
@@jd-if2fe whores hoping to hide in American zone of occupation too
@@wadimgrig5972 🤣🤣
Anything specific that makes you think the the Germans in the half track were SS? I watched the sequence a number of times and that particular bunch of guys have a different and ice cold vibe than the rest. I think you are right.
Excellent footage, soundtrack and production. Well done 👏👏👏👏👏👏🇮🇪
Interesting, thank you!
Totally fascinating color film.
The 1 singular thing I observed was so many smiles of relief. Relief that it was over and they were going to live and we're surrendering to the Americans knowing they would be treated as fairly as could be hoped for after the most brutal war in human history.
Wow. Powerful images.
Extraordinary color film, have never seen this footage. So cool to see the camouflage patterns on the half tracks.
Seek “lost German girl” for more colour footage.
The smiles on the faces say it all.... They're all just glad it's over.
They are glad that they surrendered to the Americans ... the Soviets would probably have shot them ... and sent the rest to Siberia.
@@VIS35 totally agree, many remnants of wehrmacht grateful they're in western front and surrender to allied than being in eastern front and surrender to ussr because they're all gonna die in gulag.
not on the cart full of dead soldiers.
They're just glad the Red Army didn't get them.
Some of the are Soviet collaborationist (with 3 color flags). And they are definitely happy (for a while) to surrender to the US.
Sortudos os que conseguiram chegar a esse momento, é incrível como o ser humano não aprende, depois de tudo que aconteceu nas duas guerras mundiais, ainda sim temos conflitos !!
Triste !!
Капиталы важнее всего!
Есть войны из за таких как они !
It’s a fallen world. man won’t learn till the King returns
УрокбылпреподанСССР, нофашистскаяэлитаоткупиласьивзрастилановуюгидру, котораяпородилаещебольшененавистиклюдям, ониопятьсчитают, что в праве решать, комужитьнаэтомсвете! Этобитваприведеткихокончательнойгибели. Иначе быть не должно!!!!!!!!!
Sim. 😢
Anybody know the general at the 1 minute mark? Seen video many times but always wondered if anybody knew his name, any help would be greatly appreciated!
I think that's an Oberst (Colonel). The shoulder pieces are silver, so he could be a Major/Lieutenant Colonel/Colonel. The colour red means he's an Artillery Officer
its colonel
I found it odd that many of them seemed to be quite relaxed and even smiling. Then I realised they're probably just grateful to have gotten away from the Red Army which was probably just a few kilometres in the opposite direction..
That is sooo true
@@Knjaz-opium Не обожествляйте наших дедов. Милосердие дальше детей и женщин, не распространялось. Наши деды были очень злы, и они жаждали мести, и они выпустили в себе зверя, чтобы победить фашистского зверя. Это война. Это кровь. Это грязь. Это месть. Иначе никак.
@@max-lz6rl I remember how in the early 90s your glorious Soviet army was chased away from the collapsing GDR (German Democratic Republic). At night, your soldiers and families had to climb into unlit trains at Schwerin's main train station and run away. Under derisive singing of the East Germans.
Я помню, как в начале 90-х годов вашу славную советскую армию прогнали из разваливающейся ГДР (Германской Демократической Республики). Ночью вашим солдатам и семьям приходилось забираться в неосвещенные поезда на главном вокзале Шверина и убегать. Под насмешливое скандирование восточных немцев.
Sorry for the translation.
@@Knjaz-opium I beg to differ. Sure, maybe the soldiers would have treated them nice but what after? They were all sent to Siberia as prisoners. Bad prospect I'd say. Also, the Ostgebiete were lost and without any transportation that would accept German war personnel except for other Wehrmacht units🤷🏻♀️
@20 ВЕК So what? Nevertheless, you are for example not able to build a reasonable car. "Lada Maschin" hahaha. If you wouldn't steal so many cars in Germany, you would all have to walk. You can't even tie your own shoes.
At the end, everyone was just glad to be alive and lived through the hell of war
0:54 what is the name of that commander?
What an event to witness. That must have been absolutely crazy
i can't even imagine the migration of so many people , Germans fleeing from Russians trying to surrender to Americans , Americans going east and Russia going west Germans infront of them running for their lifes becose out of every 100 German soldiers captured at eastern front 3 survived
@@doposud do you feel sorry for the Germans? If yes, then you are a completely sick person. 27 million Soviet people died, are you out of your mind?
5:29 the music fits so well to this video, even the soldier is drumming on the telegraph machine
Great footage, thanks for posting. This is amazingly dramatic -- with the music too -- knowing that the war was drawing down, the Germans had lost and battlefield and aerial violence was ending in Europe.
Yet, the Cold War was about to heat up.
Who said time travel was impossible? These videos do indeed take us back in time.
The German officer with the makeshift eyepatch on the thumbnail is the epitome of ‘bad ass.’
The soldiers are happy to be home and all the commanders look like they know they are in deep trouble
This never gets old.
Powerful stuff, nice music choice.
Who is the officer with the bandage and what is the story behind it?
At 4:37 there are two Wlassow soldiers seen. An officer and his driver. Can anyone give some more details about them?
Not Prague... Holoubkov - Rokycany, some 70km west of Prague.
You might be right, although the plate at 0:27 shows "Prague" but that might be just the way they called the region. How do you know this place is Holoubkov? Can we verify that somehow? Thanks.
@@chronoshistory This video is notorious. Official US Army film from demarcation line. I know the places myself.
@@chronoshistory yep 100% that’s it in the link there.
@@Nonminusultra1 Yes, it's around Holoubkov direction Plzen there is also a separate page on Facebook about events, otherwise there was also a mysterious and beaten woman.
0:43- 3:52 it is in Rokycany, near the city slaughterhouse, where Karl Hermann Frank was detained
What a tragic waste of blood and lives. Without the uniforms you couldn’t tell who is on which side.
A German teen sitting on a truck in a uniform watched by a Czech teen, looking exactly the same.. what a crazy, useless war between European nations.
Absolutely. The irony is, Hitler viewed the war as a means to safeguard European ‘culture’ (in so far as he saw it). But the war was the most single destructive event, culturally and otherwise in European history. Tragic, every aspect of it.
Finally an intelligent and educated comment. Maybe one day the truth about WW2 will be told and the illogical propagandistic game will end. Respect to that sacrificed generation and its idealistic dreams.
Ultimately this war was a mass-psychosis that did vast damage to the European races and their magnificent culture and heritage.
Well, it was only useless from the point of view of the Germans trying to steal everything and kill everybody. from the point of view of everybody else, just trying to defend themselves, it was well worth fighting.
@@odysseusrex5908 Why the hell stupidity doesn’t hurt?
5:00 - Luftwaffe officer, anyone know his name?
The Luftwaffe OberLeutnant at the 5.00min mark looks badass. He even has the audacity to 'Sieg Heil' the American officer on approach.
Also, the backing track on this footage is spot on. Induces an unsettling sense of foreboding.
If it was a Hitler salute which is disputed by many here it had become the standard German forces salute months before and the OberLeutnant didn't mean anything more than delivering a normal military greeting. He would not have been provocative giving it.
I want those sunglasses
My dad was six or seven years old when the Americans and the British came to town in the spring of 1945. Even now, in 2022, there is a huge US flag in his living room. Back then, he was hiding behind a tree, scared of the soldiers. An American soldier saw him, walked up to him, and handed him an entire bag of sandwiches. Priceless !
Tell us more
Только вот американский солдат пришёл уже тогда, когда советский освободил эту землю от нацистов
@@Dmitry_Avtorskie_pesni_cavers Я согласен. Красная Армия сражалась сильнее всех.
@@jamesrobertson2712 and America didn't even have to get involved the war. Have fun fighting a war without trucks, you used them against us in the following conflicts. Scumbags.
@@Dmitry_Avtorskie_pesni_cavers я думаю вы согласитесь, что не стоит принижать заслуги солдат альянса в этой войне. Согласен, с тем, что советский союз понёс больше потерь в человеческих жизнях, чем другие страны участники этой войны, но это в том числе и из за бездарного военного руководства союза, которые не щадили и не ценили человеческих жизней, просто закидывали трупами. И стоит помнить, про ленд-лиз от США, по которому поставлялось продовольствие: военные паровозы, самолёты, танки, военный транспорт, боеприпасы, медикаменты, еда и прочее. Это серьёзный вклад. Кстати ссср так и не расплатился за этот ленд-лиз с сша...
As a German-American, I have thoroughly studied WW ii and the events leading up to it. I still can't wrap my head around the fact it actually happened.
Same for me, dude. I remember first hearing about the war in school as a wee lad and 30 years later am stilled as baffled about the incredibly bizarre policy and conformity that brought the war to reality. These days, my head-canon just accepts the events as a mass blood sacrifice to the blood gods by the occult elites.
It all starts with nationalism and 1 meglomaniac. I can think of a few of those right now...
@@lakecityransom not just Nationalism, Communism and Religion too! Both have killed far more than Nationalism. To be honest its all the same just a different name. Two groups of people brainwashed to attack each other!
@@David-bc4rh не только. война помогла США стать самой богатой и могущественной страной на планете. эта война была нужна элите США. как и сейчас нужна война, которая снова разрушит европу, иначе США провалятся в финансовую пропасть.
@@lakecityransom Biden?
Excelentes imagens.
An extraordinary historical video ... but immensely creepy too.
this is amazing and fascinating. Imagine how many places this was going on without cameras. Funny how both cars and truckloads of US soldiers and even the German soldiers both had girls in the cars with them. The fact the Germans were looking happier than you'd expect in this video is because they were heading towards US-surrender and therefore these men suddenly had hope that they will make it out of this war alive
these are ROA - russian liberation army. ofc they cant surrender to ussr
@@noname-sz4br roa pow get later on handed over URSS due to agrements, most of them didnt survive the gulags
Yeah, no wonder. After the atrocities commited by the nazis and tens of milions of dead on the soviet side, i wouldn't have expected for them to be treated nicely by the red army.
Millions of Germans would die to American Rhineland deathcamps. More German soldiers died after WW2 than during.
Americans really have no place telling Germans how "evil" they are for anything even if the atrocity propaganda was real.
@@Tonyx.yt. I hope so.
It is in Rokycany, near the city slaughterhouse, where Karl Hermann Frank was detained
Who was that?
@@Pioneer_DE Czech German, leader of pro nazi political party before war in Czechoslovakia, he was part of SS during war and he was on high political position during Protectorate, he was responsible for war crimes and murders, he was executed in 1946.
@@Pioneer_DE Sudeten German, SS-Obergruppenführer and basically number 2 in the Protectorate. Even before the war, he was a radical and during the war, many warcrimes were done by his order. He was a very hated person, even other German commanders disliked him, but Himmler liked him. He managed to surrender to Americans, but was later on given to Czechoslovaks and executed in public hanging. People who were invited to watch him die were the relatives of Czechoslovaks killed by his orders.
Jsem si říkal, že to asi nebude Praha 🙂
Yeah i was like "near Prague"? Western-allies weren't (sadly) allowed anywhere close to Prague "near Pilsen" would probably fit better. But I guess on the US scale (and compared to the whole Europe and overall span of 3rd reich it could pass as "near"). I just feel like then the whole fact that they kept fighting on the eastern front just so that they could surrender to the west.
Poor woman at 5:50 just wanted a lift but she got "light hearted" sexual assault. Armies!
Meh...she was still lucky one. 20 million jewish and Soviet murdered women were not that lucky enough I guess, huh?
Честно говоря я поражаюсь сколько еще в германии было и людей и оружия!!!!!
Наверное потому, что ваша страна вам промывает мозги, особенно по поводу своей истории
These German soldiers had two reasons to be happy:
1) the war ended
2) they surrenderd to the Americans and the British
Edit: I think "relief" is a better term to use in this case
Happy till they came to the Rheinwiesen...
....erkundige dich mal über die Rheinwiesen Lager .....da hinterm Stacheldraht war niemand happy ....gab nichts zu fressen....die meisten sind verhungert !
The americans and british extradited millions of prisoners of war to the russians. They often watched the war crimes that followed.
Actually Eisenhower killed many german POWs
@@helmortkuper2626 Yes, systematically starved them in fact.
The young Germans seem happy enough to be alive that I don't really sense gloom. Their side may have lost; but they themselves had just survived World War II.
qui pourrait localiser l'endroit, quelle ville ou quel village est traversé? merci
This shows part of the 16th armored division which suffered the lightest casualty count of all US Armored Divisions in Europe, with only 12 wounded, and spent 3 days in combat.
Imagine being soo used to death that wagons stacked with bodies seems normal and bears not much of a reaction on the faces of the people in the crowd.
Dam tires were great back then, just look at the weight they carried
Biasply…
@@andoryus I think tires were made of real rubber back then. Today they are made of synthetic crap.
@@chrish3720 Tires are they best they have ever been. The ones in ww2 never lasted long enough in rough terrain. In hot weather they melted. They were just made extra thick to hold most loads and that made the journey even rougher
@@chrish3720 Pretty sure those tires were synthetic on the american vehicles.
@@TheFreshSpam Ok
Who wrote the music? Good. ❤
My uncle Norman was in the 101st Airborne. When I was a kid I visited him in his house. He had a 5ft by 10ft swastika tapestry he's taken from a hotel in Berchtesgaden. Eisenhower thought Hitler had holed up there. But, he was dead by then. The troops just walked around taking it easy and liberating things. Norman became a judge in Blue Earth county, MN. Lucky he survived France.
bro .. swastika is a hindu symbol...nazi cross is different
„liberating things“ ^^
As in taking what they wanted?
@@Celisar1 yes. Stealing and raping
Americans are something. While they were so nice to the enemies (Germans) they were brutal with black soldiers who went back into a segregated country. I don't know who were worst the Russians or the Americans.
Excellent footage! It appears that many people are hopeful; the war is over, spring had arrived, and people can go back home to their loved ones.
They probably would have kept fighting if they knew they would have no home to go back to. Millions expelled from their native lands never to return.
Lucky ones. People rarely smile and surrender simultaneously.
I’m sure they were happy to surrender and get some food and possibly go back to there families one day alive.
They weren't surrendering to the Ruskkies thats why
Many of them were mere teenagers who had been conscripted during the last months of the war. They knew the war was lost before they put on a uniform, so getting out of it alive and not falling into the hands of the Soviets was really the best outcome they could have hoped for.
Relief at surviving and not being soviet captives.
Incredible footage.
They tried to save Europe.
They fought the wrong enemy to save it.
@@Jayson8888 Bolsheviks were the enemy. Not their fault the golems allied with them and ruined the world.
If this was today, everybody will have a phone trying to make tiktok videos.
Absolutely correct. We happen to be living amongst a collective group of imbeciles.
@@chop3625 I rather live among said imbeciles than among those folks in the video.
@@chop3625 good time create stupid man. Stupid man create hard time. Hard time create good man. Good man create good times. Good times create stupid man. Repeat.
@@charles5895 this has no sense.
@@chop3625 funny, I bet you see yourself as something above all other people.
An old mate of mine in Australia inherited a Luftwaffe Pilots silver ring from his grandfather. The story attached to it is pretty amazing.
His grandfather, a Hungarian national, entered the Luftwaffe before the war as an "army support" pilot. I take that to mean as a Stuka pilot or something similar.
He was the only pilot in his unit to survive the entire war. He spent most of the war on the Eastern Front and was shot down multiple times, including one time when he spent months in hiding behind enemy lines.
My friends grandfather apparently never expected to survive the war and, as was standard practice amongst the Luftwaffe Pilots during the war, lived every day as though it was his last.
He eventually escaped from his homeland, Hungary, after the war by hijacking a military vehicle with some other comrades and driving it west into Western Allied held territory. After years as a POW then refugee, he eventually made it to Australia.
What a hell of a story.
Very interesting story. Could you provide/remember the name of the pilot? Thanks.
@@Nazco Can't remember the name of the pilot. But his grandson's family name was Liptak.
That's amazing. I wonder if he knew that Stuka ace (can't think of his name right now) who had a very similar experience of the war.
@@gratefulguy4130 I'm fairly hazy on the details of Liptak's flight history in the war. I remember that he had a couple of extended breaks from flying due to injury and, once, because he was in hiding behind enemy lines.
Unfortunately I was fairly young when my friend inherited the ring (he was a school friend), so didn't ask the questions that I would today.
Was he an ethnic German hungarian national?