Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Part 11(Final part ) of Memoirs of a D-Day German Tank Hunter, He was a frontline German Officer who fought and witnessed fierce and bloody battles in the deserts of Africa and on the coast of Normandy. He was captured in France and sent to USA as a prisoner of war .We really hope you guys enjoyed this series. This is the link of Part 1 ruclips.net/video/aT4_CfpUPAw/видео.html This is the link of Part 2 ruclips.net/video/hRHlmeisAU0/видео.html This is the link of Part 3 ruclips.net/video/RbhnfzVqgtE/видео.html This is the link of Part 4 ruclips.net/video/a3nskw_9A34/видео.html This is the link of part 5 ruclips.net/video/YNmK5BaXRnM/видео.html This is the link of part 6 ruclips.net/video/_E_5-zJthco/видео.html This is the link of part 7 ruclips.net/video/W5KgIkTo8C4/видео.html This is the link of part 8 ruclips.net/video/bujJ8YAjj8Y/видео.html This is the link of part 9 ruclips.net/video/XrrwcbVU2BA/видео.html This is the link of part 10 ruclips.net/video/nzrcNQftIRk/видео.html Please Like Share And Subscribe to Our channel and Help Us Grow ,so that we may continue improving and upload more great content for World War 2 enthusiasts !
Hans Hoeller was born in 1921, in Pottschach, Austria. He served as a tank hunter at Tobruk, Halfaya Pass, Tunisia, Normandy, Falaise and in Eastern France. He was awarded the Iron Cross Class I and II for his actions. After the war, Hans Hoeller became an engineer and had a successful business career.
In 1978 my VW hippie bus broke down in Santa Fe. Santa Fe's best, or only, VW mechanic was a man who had been a German prisoner of war in a camp in the American Southwest. He'd liked the land so much he returned to the USA after the war with his mechanical training and set up shop.
@@alpha-omega2362Alfred Hiller!! Hmm🤔🤔 doesn't ring a bell, never heard of him... Could be related to Heinricki Hiller a gas station owner from Berglin who apparently fled to the US🇺🇸 with his brother...
My Dad was a combat infantry officer, he fought through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. He crossed the Rhine at Remagen hours after its capture, fought in the Hurtgen forest, and was hunting down SS after the surrender. In the late '50s and '60s, he worked at a company with a former German Luftwaffe fighter pilot with whom he became friends, there was no acrimony between them. I think they both were able to put their pasts behind them and work together without the past being a consideration. But, my Dad also suffered from what is now known as PTSD from the things he had done, had seen, and had lived through. He's passed now, so may almighty God grant him - and all those who fought and survived that war - eternal peace.
I understand a few years ago I went to a Gun show in the Dallas area it was really cool a military show and there was a couple of old gentleman sitting at a table After a while I discovered the taller man was a German fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe setting with a gentleman that I served and fought the Germans and they were having a great conversation together crazy . And years ago they were at War against one another
@@stevencurrie1540if only the politicians done the fighting!! and left the men at home to live their lives and raise their families... I'd like to believe if that was the case there would be no Wars
One of my college professors was a retired USAF fighter pilot. He was assigned to his first operational fighter group in the early 1960s after he finished flight training as an F-4 pilot. The other pilots told him to ask the group commander, a USAF colonel, what the colonel flew during WW2. He was thinking the USAF colonel flew P-38s, P47s, or P-51s during WW2. When he met the colonel he asked the colonel what he flew during WW2. The USAF colonel replied that he flew Messerschmitt 109s in the Luftwaffe during WW2. After WW2 the former Luftwaffe fighter pilot immigrated to the USA and eventually became a colonel and commander of an F-4 fighter group in the USAF.
My dad, an officer in the USAF, was transferred to Morocco. In the town of Marrakesh, we met a man who was selling water. He told us, he joined the German army, and surrendered the first chance he got. He wanted to go to America.
German soldiers were known to frequently make their way westward towards the English and American lines on purpose to surrender to them, rather than be slaughtered or captured by the Russians.
north america as a whole treated the prisoners well. canada did get a big portion of prisoners and some prisoners chose to live in canada after the war.
My dad was a pow in WWII. and a friendship of sorts developed between him and a German officer. According to My Uncle, his older brother, he and tje officer communicated after the war.
0ver 70 years ago usa was a good place what are you proud of you weren't part of that america they are the ones who made everything for you and now you kiddies are trashing your ancestors hard work
Years ago in Grand Island NE, one day a stranger came walking into town. He peered into all the stores, took in the sights. He saw the local bar. Went inside. Bartender asked him "What will it be mac?". The stranger said "Ein Bier bitte". Beer was poured, local sheriff came in. They let him finish his beer and took him back to the POW camp.
At another camp, driving his prisoners home in a truck from a day of farm work, the driver stopped for a drink and got so drunk that his German 'prisoners' drove HIM back to the camp.
My grandparents had prisoners of war working on their farm in the summer in northeast, Indiana They slept in the barn and we were told they were very nice men and really appreciated being here.
It says a lot about humanity. In their souls they knew what the terrible equation was, that was forced on them, and wanted to show they were decent men. Equally impressive is that most Americans did not hold them personally responsible.
In Scotland we had them working in the fields and other meanial jobs awaiting repatriated,The local council had them gardening until the spring when "Hiel Hitler" had been spelt out with the blooming flowers
Growing up in NYC during the 1950’s there were ex-German soliders and ex-American soliders living in the same apartment building and neighborhood. Side by side, working and raising young families. I never remember a single incident of anger. The POWER of the American dream.
@@bassstudent4life No one ever said that God's wonderful Universe was perfect (if you believe in a higher being that is). Far from it. The way we humans are wired is very _imperfect_ and we are prone to excesses, such as greed, lust, selfishness and unfortunately, racism. Don't think for a minute however that such things could not have occurred at that time in any other _White_ nation (besides the U.S.) had there been people of color living in them in large numbers. _All_ Caucasian nations would have most certainly done the same thing (as would have all non White races against Whites had the shoe been on the other foot). It's truly sad --- it's the human condition and we may never improve in that respect --- maybe all of this is etched in our DNA (wars, hatred, bias). It's still quite possible though that one day we will truly have peace and harmony on Earth --- that day will most certainly come when the last human being breathes his or her last breath. Just the happy thought of the day boys and girls. Now, where are my meds? I know they're around here somewhere.
@@Hernal03 In all of this amalgamation of philosophical confusion, there's one element yet to be found, "accountability." In those make-believes worlds you just alluded to and this utopian society you seem to aspire to, how about we start here by putting a stop into subjugating "OTHERS?" Simply put, how about some reparations? It seems, the endless convoluted explanation of the human experience starts whenever the contribution, sufferance, and the calamity of African Americans come into the conversation. Hope you find your meds, as you seemed to be looking for them.
@@bassstudent4life I never stated anything about make-believe worlds or imagined utopias, I simply described some sad realities about the human psyche and how very little it has changed over the centuries. And as for accountability in the form of reparations to certain demographics for crimes perpetrated in the past by the ancestors of current generations, well, where would something like that end? It's not just African Americans --- Indigenous peoples who once lived in what are modern day U.S. , Australia and South America would all have a case for reparations. How far back do we go? What about the Jews asking for reparations for past mistreatment and atrocities committed in Ancient Rome or during the Spanish Inquisition, not to mention more recently by the Germans? Should modern Turkey pay for the genocides perpetrated against Assyrians, Armenians and Greek citizens hundreds of years ago by the Ottoman Empire? And the list would go on and on across a myriad of demographics based on religion, race, political affiliation, gender and so on. Where would it end? There are just too many oppressed groups from the past for all wrongs to be righted in this manner. Yes, we must insure that we eradicate corrupt power bases that would allow such crimes and open bigotry to exist and insure that they never again rise to power so that we can pave the way for a more humane and empathetic society in the future, but having modern generations pay reparations for the past crimes of their great great grandfathers? I don't know how that would ever work out.
There is the curious case of Georg Gärtner. A German POW who had escaped and was never found, and lived the life of a law abiding American under a false name. This went on for fourty years when he revealed himself. The authorities chose to leave him be for various reasons (he was no immigrant, because he was brought to the US against his will, plus his home town was in the Soviet zone of Europe, and was given to Poland anyway. Also he did no harm to anyone... etc) So he was given a US citizenship.
Yes, that's an interesting story. I saw a YT video about it. As I recall, his pow camp was in Arizona. He got out of the camp, hopped a train to California and started a new, peaceful life.
My great uncle was a panzergrenadier in 2nd SS Das Reich, and after the war he came to America and settled in Idaho, then still a backwater part of the US. I got his diary from my aunt in 1998 and read through all of it which was quite intense. He had joined 2SSRD in September 1940 and participated in every single engagement the division had up until August 1944 when he was severely wounded in an allied air attack by Typhoon fight bombers. The diary contains nearly every single day of combat from the start of Barbarossa on June 22nd, 1941 to his last day in France on August 11th, 1944.
That is a significant historical document. You should make a digital copy of it, and donate the original to the Library of Congress or some other institution. I, for one, would love to read it.
One t ue story was of a german POW who was sent to work on a walnut farm, went home, and came back, worked on That same farm, in California, until He finally purchased it, after 10 years, and became an American Citizen!
Concordia, Kansas was a famous and much loved camp. Many former prisoners left the ruins of Germany to come back to America, even the town of Concordia itself. There's a nice RUclips documentary on the camp.
A girl that I went to school with was the Granddaughter of a German POW that would come back to live in America. Both of her parents were born and raised in Germany but came to America when the family moved back to America. They were some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. I am not sure if it was her maternal or paternal Grandparents that they came with for sure.
It's hard to understand the industrial might of the US until you travel it's breadth. We aren't like Russia, with it's vast Siberian territory, and tundra. Almost every square mile of land is capable of being industrialized, and is extremely easy to cross. Adolf was a small man who lived in a small world. He had no clue what he was even preaching against. It was pure rhetoric aimed at other Germans who hadn't seen the world.
America was complicit, working with Nazi groups and having pro Nazi parades when could be translated into American First or simply Isolationism; what happens in Europe has nothing to do what America. Apparently, we have still not learned that lesson where large segments of Republicans think Russia is our friend because they fund and support a past President.
America was complicit, working with Nazi groups prior to Pearl Harbor and having pro Nazi parades that could be translated into American First or simply Isolationism; what happens in Europe has nothing to do what America. Apparently, we have still not learned that lesson where large segments of Republicans think Russia is our friend because they fund and support a past President.
On the block that I lived on in NY when I was a child everyone was related somehow. Directly behind our house was my Aunt & Uncle and my cousins. My father was in the Army Air Corp and my uncle had been in the Navy in the Pacific during WW2 . I grew up hearing the stories about their experiences during the war. My uncle still hated the Japanese and my Dad would only say that he was pissed off that he never got his wings and didn’t become a pilot. As I grew up I was drafted into the Army when I was 18 but I enlisted into the USAF instead of going into the Army. While I was in the Air Force I went to school and learned to fly at civilian training facilities. Ultimately I got all my ratings and flew as a Corporate Pilot for over 37 years. My father knew I had become a pilot because of him . He’s been gone a long time and I still miss him very much. Now I’m a 72yo man who looks back at his life and I truly understand why these men are considered 🇺🇸 America’s Greatest Generation.
I am a proud child of two WW2 veterans. My mother was a Wave and my dad was a Seabee. They were both from the same small town and didn't meet until after the war. My mother was probably a typist in Navy intelligence but I say "probably" because she would never talk about what she did. She was sworn to secrecy and took it to her grave. Dad spoke very little about it. The greatest generation.
My father fought in the Pacific theater during the war, and my mother worked at the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot doing her part like like so many other American women during the second world war. My father also spoke very little of the war. He was happy to have gotten back home and start a new life. My parents certain did make a go of things. They had 14 children together, me being #12. The greatest generation? You bet they were!
I listened to every word of this. Fascinating. On a related, brief sidenote, as a young engineer in the 1070s, I worked with an older gentleman, Matt Maccocha. One day while at lunch and during our casual conversation, he let it be known that he had landed at Normandy on D Day. He, as it turned out, was one of the lucky ones. The small craft he was on "broke down" in the middle of the English Channel and that delayed his landing on the beach. He then mentioned that while crossing over he said he had never been so scared in his entire life while in that boat. At that moment, it made it so real for me, I'll never forget him saying that.
My dear Uncle who died long ago, was not so fortunate as many of these Austrians, others. As a member of 18 Pzr/^th Aree the Russians had a score to settle with the army that had conquered Stalingrad. He was one block from home when he was picked up by American MPs. This got his a trip tothe eastHe wouldnt see his home in Westphalia until 1954. Jos paremts home oddly enough was in Linz. My gradfather was an engineer for Krupp. During the war he had been sent to LInz to start up a Tank works. This was where my uncle had been "cauht". He waas never bitter. He learned Russian and had a love affair with a Russian nurse. Bacck to my Grandfather, the Austrian ov had been so impressed with his skills that they offered him a home and citizenship in Austria He told them he would rather be a dog in germany than a Prince in Austria. He was a proud German I am American, a Vienam vet.
Of course. We are a humanitarian country. We don’t think of or dwell in sewers of the mind such as constructing absurd torture chambers. That is unless we need that info to save our own men and save the world.
@@seashells5181 Lmao. Let me mention: Guantanamo Bay, countless instances of torture and abuse of POWs in the Middle East in the past 20 years, the intentional neglect of African-American neighborhoods for over a century, and the forced marches and camps for Native Americans. The U.S.A is no better than other nations in humanitarian matters, and we absolutely have constructed torture chambers, even right now.
Back in the mid 1980's when I was still a teen we moved into a house that had an elderly gentleman and his wife living next door. Turned out he was a Panzer tank commander in WW2 and like these gentlemen his crew had been taken as POW's. He taught me the difference between SS and Regular Army. Stuff that wasn't covered in US school text books. Also told me a lot about how most of the German Army Regulars and Tank brigades didn't want anything to do with the Nazi party and that it wasn't uncommon for Army officers to butt heads with SS officers. He said almost his entire division of tank crews didn't even want to be at war and when they got taken prisoner it was like a great relief. Like most Germans they were trust into war(fight for us or be killed for treason type thing) whether they wanted to be or not.
Too bad that they didn't mentioned the abuse and murders of the civilians they encounters in their missions. Like my relatives, many were killed by the regular German army.
Here in MI, Fort Custer held many German POW's. They loved it here and got along well with the locals. Many of them would work around nearby farms, and became good friends with the farmers. Sadly, there was a tragic train accident, and 20+ POW's died. They were initially buried here, but eventually shipped back home. There is a memorial with grave markers in a special section of the Fort Custer Veterans Memorial cemetery.
How many of those German POWs killed American soldiers in action before being captured? We built a memorial to them? Geeez. Nice to be white in America, even if you’re the enemy.
I live in the town where that accident happened. It left a scar in our little town of Blissfield. The 80th anniversary of this horrible accident and we plan to erect a memorial at place this happened.
I really like this story...we never really get the perspective of the average German soldier when captured and sent to America...you did a great service to history sir
No, this was not a great service to History. He claims non politics, but to blame everything on the Treaty of Versailles, however imbalanced, and not on Fascism and the destruction fascicts cause, is not History, but White Washing. This memoir is what allowed Hitler to rise, an apathy to all people and viewing the world through Nationalistic eyes.
My Great Great Great Grandparents immigrated from Laboe, Kiel, Germany in the 1920s likely due to the economy collapsing. They opened up a large sugarbeet farm in the Midwest US and employed lots of German POWs to work for them during the War. As they were fellow Germans, they treated them extremely well, fed them, and frequently conversed with them in their native tongue. Lots of them ended up staying in the US afterwards and there's a historical marker or a few within the inner portions of the town.
@08Demigod What an incredible family history! Your great-great-great grandparents' journey from Laboe to the Midwest and their compassionate approach toward German POWs is truly remarkable. The historical markers stand as a testament to their positive impact on the community. Thank you for sharing this fascinating tale!
@WW2Tales my Great Grandfather actually still has the deeds to the original land. It goes deeper in the fact my Great Great Grandfather, the son of the farm owners, was a US Marine in the Pacific theater who worked alongside the Navajo Code Talkers as a radio interceptor. He wasn't Navajo himself, rather he reported to them. He owned a radio repair shop in the same town so he was quite proficient in the task he was assigned. He was involved with Saipan, Tinian, Okinawa, and occupied Japan. Passed away in his 90s in 2004.
@@whdbnrm3023 It was called the IRON CURTAIN - Communist East Germany , killing - torturing their own citizens , Also Imagine what Stalin did to the over 250 000 Ethnic Volga Germans during the 30s ( HOLODOMOR ) .
I'm from Boston and grew up in a section of Boston called Roslindale. My great grandfather Joe Oser came here from Germany in the late 1800's and bought a brand new house that we had till about 1999 when we finally sold it a little over 100 years later. My own 2 boys ended up being the 5th generation to live and grow up in Roslindale. They are now 29(in 2 days on December 1st)and 30 years old. I used to go to Oktoberfests with my grandfather and father when I was younger that were in our area. Our German heritage was never really talked about or promoted and don't have to guess that it's because of world war II. My mother's side of the family was Irish and my grandmother was from Ireland and everybody in Boston loved to be Irish. We had a saying: "There's only two types of people in the world; the Irish and the ones that want to be."
My wife's grandfather was a German POW who was imprisoned in Alabama. He was no fan of the U.S. all his life, he mocked basically everything American. But when I asked him what it was like as a POW, he said "It was a luxury hotel." He wasn't being ironic. They generally were treated quite well and often were allowed out to go to the movies or work on farms.
Behave like Africans now? Are you referring to black Americans? Winning the war for communism? I see rightwing forces trying their best to turn America into a fascist state right before our eyes, not a communist one. But then again barely educated minds confuse socialism with communism constantly without spending five minutes trying to learn the differences.
It was simple. If they escaped, how do they get back to Europe? While Germany had a spy network in the U.S., it was more about intelligence gathering and sabotage and not getting POWs back to Europe.
My Papa had good things to say about his time as a POW in the US. Oh my he said they went through Oklahoma. Ended up in North Dakota. This is so interesting to know after all these years.
German POWs were absolutely not treated well in general. Maybe you have heard about the Rhine meadow camps. The German soldiers were even denied the status as POW to circumvent International agreements for the protection of POWs. Let me cite Wikipedia although other sources describe these camps much more drastically: “Conditions and death rates: Throughout the summer of 1945, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was prevented from visiting prisoners in any of the Allies' Rheinwiesenlager. Visits were started only in the autumn of 1945, at a time when most camps had closed or were closing. The Red Cross was granted permission to send delegations to visit camps in the French and UK occupation zones. On 4 February 1946 the Red Cross was allowed to send relief to those in the U.S. run occupation zone. The International Red Cross website states "The quantities received by the ICRC for these captives remained very small, however. During their visits, the delegates observed that German prisoners of war were often detained in appalling conditions. They drew the attention of the authorities to this fact, and gradually succeeded in getting some improvements made."[5] According to a report by the Army Medical Department, "Some of the enclosures resembled Andersonville Prison in 1864".[6] Official United States statistics conclude there were just over 3,000 deaths in the Rheinwiesenlager while German figures state them to be 4,537. American academic R. J. Rummel believes the figure is around 6,000.[7] Canadian writer James Bacque claimed in his 1989 book Other Losses that the number is likely in the hundreds of thousands, and may be has high as 1,000,000.[8] But historians including Stephen Ambrose, Albert E. Cowdrey and Rüdiger Overmans have examined and rejected Bacque's claims, arguing that they were the result of faulty research practices.[9] More recently, writing in the Encyclopedia of Prisoners of War and Internment, military historian S.P. MacKenzie stated: "That German prisoners were treated very badly in the months immediately after the war […] is beyond dispute. All in all, however, Bacque's thesis and mortality figures cannot be taken as accurate".[10]”
Was stationed in West Germany in the mid to late 80's. When my unit went to the field for manuevers we traveled in convoys in our military vehicles. Countless times, either on the autobahn or in the countryside, Germans, mostly young to middle aged, would express their displeasure at our presence by giving us the finger or screaming and cursing at us. We wondered if they realized that if we weren't there the Soviets would roll in and their lives would probably be much worse. On my last field exercise before separating from the Army my platoon was moving through the countryside from one point to another when one of our vehicles broke down in a small village, three or four homes. As we waited for our mechanics to arrive on that cold winter day out of one of the houses came an elderly gentleman and his wife. They struck up a conversation with us as we waited. A few minutes later the wife returned to the house. As the man spoke with us he began telling us how he had been a POW who had been brought to the U S after being captured, and that he was initially scared to death, fearing torture and/or death on arrival in America. As his wife returned from the house with coffee and Danishes for us he said he had worked on a farm for the rest of the war and lacked for nothing while a POW, and for that he was extremely grateful and loved America.
I had the honor of knowing a former German SS POW who after the war applied for and became an American citizen. He fought a clean war and had little knowledge of the Holocaust. He had no problems becoming a good American and even worked for the Government as a Nuclear scientist. He spoke and understood 6 languages including of course German, Italian, French, Polish and English so in POW camp #6 Davis, he taught English to his comrades. During the day he worked on farms in Montgomery county Maryland and was amazed to be treated like a normal human and even made friends of the farm families he worked for. After the end of the War in Europe he applied for citizenship and some of the American farmers he worked for gave him letters and even appeared in person to help him gain freedom in America. I miss my friend who passed away a few years ago but cherish the stories and advice he so freely of offered. He was a good man, husband to his wife, father to his children and citizen of America.
I had a great uncle that was depth charged and his uboat had to surface. Was taken as a POW. He was put on a train in the state of Maine and it went thru the entire country until he wound up in Arizona. He said that’s when he realized we had no hope of winning the war. The endless fields of wheat, the resources were something we could never compete with
@rheinhardtgrafvonthiesenha8185! Your great uncle's journey is both harrowing and eye-opening. The vastness of resources on the home front certainly made a lasting impression. If you have more family stories or insights to share, we'd love to hear them. Thanks for sharing this unique perspective and being part of our community!
I have many actually. All from my Grandparents siblings. My grandmother on my mother’s side was 1 of 17 children. 14 of them were men. 9 survived the war. 3 won the knights cross and 1 won the oak leaves.
It gave me the chills reading this. I have never once stopped to imagine plucking a German soldier out of WWII and having them take a train ride across America... it gave me more chills typing out this comment. ... Wow.... crazy.
@@Jath2112 He survived the war and went on to live to be 92. He was fortunate to be taken POW fairly early on during the „happy times“ in early 1941. The Uboats went on to have the highest casualty rate of any unit in WW2. Especially after the enigma was broken. He told me that everyone in the Kriegsmarine knew it was broken including Dörnitz. But Räder and OKW insisted it could t be broken. He knew this as a Wachoffizier not a Captain. It goes largely unreported but the British and Americans alike allowed some of their own ships to be sunk in order to safeguard the fact that they had indeed broke the code. We hear about the Indianapolis and still are 100% whether those men were denied help to maintain secrecy. However countless ships and crews that could have been directed to another route, or at least been provided some sort of rescue were allowed to be torpedoed to their deaths in order to maintain the illusion that the code had not been broken. But war is war. Just to clarify where he was brought was I believe Portland, Maine and they were put on trains to go to a POW camp of which there where a few. I’m not sure the intent was to give them a tour of America‘s resources but if it were it definitely had the desired effect. This was not specific to his crew or Uboat men, he said there were Italian POW‘s in Maine as well. Although their camps tended to be on the east coast and quite near cities. In fact I go to Mass with an American Italian man who’s family were from Italy and settled in the USA. In the Boston area local Italian American families could take an Italian POW out of camp on a Sunday and take them to Mass and back home for dinner before taking them back to camp. Not so lenient for the Germans lol, but I suppose in most cases that was for very good reason.
In November of 44, my father was wounded severely in Hurtgen Forest losing his left eye along with a sizable chunk of the bone in that area. I can tell you ahead of time that things ended well for him since, even though in 44 he had twin toddler girls at home, there were 4 more kids to come, with me being the last in 1961. But I digress. Back home in Arizona, mom and her mother in law (dad's mom) ran my grandmother's little local store in Florence. It was what we would now think of as a 7-11 type store, but with a smattering of everything. It was actually called Enid's General Store. The government put a POW camp, and a big one, there in Florence. The inmates (or some of them, no telling on who could leave and who could not, but mom said it seemed as if they all roamed the town) would often on weekends be in the store. So much so that Muz (Grandmother) began ordering things they wanted. But I won't drag on and bore anyone. The crazy thing was while my dad was getting his face blown off, my mom was getting hit on by young German POW's who were as polite as ever, mom said. A pic of my dad hanging behind the counter (On purpose of course) would often have these young men ask my mom in broken English about him, and tell her they would pray that he came home soon. My mom said we, nobody in town really, didn't hold these boys accountable or responsible, we knew what was what, but we knew how lucky they were, and we didn't think most of them knew that, how the fate of ending up in an Arizona camp was far different than those poor German boys that ended up at a camp in Siberia where they had a slim chance on ever going home. I have asked my mom if her attitude toward the POW's changed after getting word of dad's injuries. She said she didn't remember because as soon as she heard, the twins stayed with Muz and family and mom was on a train for Valley Forge, Pa where my dad was to be going. Mom beat him to the Valley Forge General Military Hospital and was waiting when they brought him and others over. They're both gone now, dad and mom, after 60 years of marriage. I have another older sister born shortly after the war, the family joke that my dad started was that she has very Germanic cheekbones
That was beautiful to read. I was trained (raised) too by a WWII veteran. It was not all good. My Dad lived his entire life as I knew him haunted by terrible demons of war and destruction. I love that man and hold him in the highest esteem even for if nothing else but for merely surviving what I believe was sheer hell for him. He never talked of it but anyone who payed any attention at all easily knew he lived a constant torment over that war. God bless you all.
Great joke. Sounds like something my dad would'a said. My father was in the Pacific on a carrier, at 17yrs old, in WWII. He once said of the Japanese soldiers...they were kids like us, told to fight for their country. They were doing the same thing we were doing.
@@notlisted-cl5lsI’m thinking your entertainment nor your approval were anywhere in the priorities that person nor I considered in the least valid prior to our sharing of our life experiences.
My father-in-law was a physician. He was in the army during WW2. He was an ob-gyn specialist and there wasn’t much demand for his specialty so they made him the chief medical officer in a prisoner of war camp taking care of the German prisoners. The only prisoners who gave him problems and tended not to be cooperative were the officers. He said the ordinary German soldiers were very easy to deal with and seemed very grateful to be out of combat. He noted that towards the end of the war many of the POWs were older men or young teenagers.
I have a special sympathy for this soldier. kidney stones are the worst! I was in the hospital for three months in the hospital with it and I would not wish it on my worst enemy!
I agree. I had a kidney stone, but it lasted less than 12 hours. I was able to have it flushed out of me with some chemicals. I was very fortunate. It is a terrible thing! I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy either!
I’ve had so many kidney stones and procedures to get rid of them I can’t count them all the only thing I always think about is that I’m glad I’m a female because it’s so much worse for a male
The only time I’ve ever seen my dad cry is when my grandpa died, when he got kidney stones for the first time, and when he got kidney stones the second time. It sounded terrible. I also hear it’s genetic…
Franz Posch...a name familiar to me.... I once spent a holiday on a farm outside of St. Johan in Austria that was owned by a Franz Posch who had been in the Wermacht.... I wonder if it was the same man?....a lovely chap. This was in 1957..... I was 15 then.... Herr Posch could not believe about the camps either, and he and my father talked about it. Dad had helped the clean up at Bergen Belsen camp and was able to give him first hand testimony. He was truly appalled that the German regime had done such horrible things. My father spoke fluent German, which helped communication. It was a lovely family that made us very welcome in their home for our holiday. Wonderful people, and so were all of the other Austrians that we met there.
Maybe ex-German and American soldiers could forgive and forget after the war. But, I met a Filipino man who survived the Bataan Death March who wasn't too crazy about the Japanese.
In the book, “Unbroken” by a survivor of the Bataan Death March, he explains how he forgave his captors and visited Japan to tell some of the worst personally how belief in Christianity helped him to forgive.
I served at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas some years back. German POW's had passed the time by building stone structures all over the post. When lightning struck and a massive fire destroyed 70% of the white, "temporary" buildings of WW2 vintage, the stone buildings suffered little harm. Fort Chaffee is now mostly built by German prisoners.
Alva Oklahoma is one county removed from my own home town. Several of the German POWs who took work details from that camp became close friends to the American families whose farms employed them, and later immigrated to the US and returned to the area. They were absolutely stunned when volunteering for farm labor saw them eating home-cooked food at the same table as the families and paid the same wages as any other laborer. Law required them to be paid, as prisoners couldn't be forced to work. But they were never returned to the camp and never got a chance to tell those who hadn't volunteered.
My father was in the RAF during the war, 70 yrs on i now have German relatives through a brother in law, his German father in law told me about his uncles in the German army. All 5 uncles were all captured by the Russians, and all survived the war and captivity, amazing story.....
My family was originally from Enid, Oklahoma and my Mother spoke about her parent talking about German POWs that worked the nearby farms and would come into town for movies occasionally, I think only a few at a time, the best behaved. They spoke about how well behaved they were...
At the time, these men had no idea of how lucky and fortunate they were to be POW's in America. They were treated very well, I have read that they were even fed better than most American citizens at the time because of all the rationing going on during the war. There are also many stories about the German prisoners coming back to America and becoming citizens....the irony of war is crazy.
@@hirameberhardt8643Nor here in France. The germans took 1.6 millions of our soldiers prisonners in 1940. 51000 died, and the rest of them... Did not always have good living standards, depending on where they were interned, and what kind of forced labor thay had to do. Add in the absolute devastation the german made of the country, and you can guess why we did not treat well the german PoW. Certainly better than the soviets but still. Edit: After having checked, 20 000 germans PoW died. Curiously enough, we also offered to some of them to stay in France. 30 000 did, including a farmer in the village of my grandma.
I'm a retired US Army professional. I spent three years at Vilseck Germany as a course manager at the MP school there. I made it a point to visit Dauchu and the Flossenburg death camps. In all my contacts with the German public I only found one German SS Officer that was part of a tank unit when the allies landed at Normandy. The rest of the Germans that fought in the war said they fought on the eastern front killing Russians. I spent a year in Vietnam as a line Infantryman from September 1967 to September 1968. I didn't see it all, but I saw enough of the horror that is Infantry combat. I never murdered my enemy not did I see anyone else unlawfully kill our enemy. It's hard to understand the political evil that murdered six million Jews and others. Those that think this could never happen again are naive and wishful thinking. Rest assured no country is above slaughtering it's own people.
I can see it happening here in the US, depending on how the next election goes. There's too much hate, too little compromise that it's all too possible.
I was an MP in Darmstadt, '75-78. Co. B, 709th MP Battalion. The drugs, assaults, racial problems, suicides were out of hand. I became a TC Investigator after taking 2 courses at the 7th Army Training Center in Vilseck. It was better duty, with an A schedule, but the GI's were not good drivers. Way too many fatalities/injuries. I loved Germany, but would never go back. Two of our desk interpreters had been in the German Army during WW2. I wish I had asked them more about it. If u know people that have served in war, TALK to them. They will let you know what they are willing to discuss. Just be a good listener, as we had many Vietnam vets in our unit who needed us to show interest. Just get a bottle of Wild Turkey. MAYBE, BUT ASK THEM ABOUT THEIR PREFERRED BEVERAGE.
I'm not sure why people don't just point out the obvious, that 100 million people were killed in the 20th century in peacetime. If it's hard to understand the political evil that murdered 6 million, how do you feel about the political evil that murdered 100 million? It seems like we should be a little bit scared.
I just now remembered that one of my grade school classmate's father was a German POW who chose to stay in the US after the war, as I remember he came to school one day and spoke about his experiences.
As a kid my father watched German POW's, many still in their uniforms unload from trains and fall into formation and march to their housing. Many worked with local farmers and the city - many of the streets today are hand laid brick by the POW's. Knowing that ice-cream was a treat and hard to come by, many often skipped their allocation to give it to the local children when possible. Many stayed in Oklahoma, raised families and did not return to Germany. Dad also remembered seeing Civil War veterans in the barbershops as a kid, but that is a different story...
I mean if your choice was post-war Germany (be it East or West) with all of the struggle, hunger, and potential Nazi saboteur leftovers, or staying in one of the two most powerful nations on earth and never really have to worry about food or existential safety, which would you choose?
We had quite a large German prisoner of war camp in Arizona. It was known as the Papago Prisoner Camp. The officers who had been sent there had gotten a glimpse of a map and saw the Rio Salado. They believed if they could get out of the camp, they could get to the river, steal a boat, and make it to the Gulf of Mexico. Little did they realize that the majority of rivers in Arizona are underground. They broke out and got out into the desert, wandering and wandering, looking for a large salt river they were never going to find. I believe some of them were found, while a few others died of exposure.
I have not heard the entire series. I have only heard this one. I grew up being a huge WWII history fanatic and joined the USAF after high school. I lived in Germany from 83 until 87 and 92 until 2000. Same base in Ramstein Germany. I lived on the economy and spoke with friend's parents, grandparents and one thing is sure, there was so much history dying every day - personal memoirs. Those 50 minutes of video were incredible. I have very good friends in Austria and I spoke with the grandfather of one of them. He grew up during WWII and was an adult just after. His view of Russia taking control of Austria is very awesome and, for a 90-year-old he is very lucid and in control of his mind. I wish more personal interviews could have been recorded to give us an idea of all that happened on both sides of the war. Thank you for this.
The remains of a camp are just off the highway between Gainesville and Muenster Texas. My mom said that was the first time she saw anybody playing soccer.
“Now it was certain, once and for all. We had lost the Second World War.” My good man, you lost the Second World War on December 11, 1941 - when Germany declared war upon the USA. It took just over three years to convince them. I’m a German American USAF veteran linguist that was a part of the very last occupation forces in West Berlin from 88-92, my uncles served in West Germany in the early 60s doing the same. My grandfather served in G2 intelligence at SHAEF during WW2. I have family in Germany today, and each of them knows their country’s actual history. In the end, that’s the best thing the Allies did - after winning the war.
This is an idiotic comment, they were already at war as the US NAVY had been bombing German U boats in the Atlantic for months. The declaration was simply just an acknowledgement of this and that Germany would fight back. FDR got his wish.
Herr Hoeller's final comment's filled me with the shivers, and a tear in my eye for mankind. Human being's NEVER learn from the past and just strive to do it all over again, and again and again ad infinitum. This is why TRUE history (not sanitised or altered propaganda) NEEDS to be told and retold over and over again or mankind only too readily forgets..........and it all starts over again. never was a saying more apt than, those who choose to ignore history are doomed to repeat it
I don't take pleasure in saying this...The way the world is heading, it seems that the powers to be are heading in the direction of... 'Doomed to repeat it. '
@@johnthedespicabledutchman7406 couldnt agree more my friend, The populations of a Country NEVER start wars, their power crazed elected "officials" do - then they send their own populations out to fight and die in it for THEM - and when it all boils down to the end, only those cowardly so called "leaders" who never set foot on a battlefield in their lives prosper greatly from it....johnny citizen once he has won THEIR spat for them is simply "graciously" allowed to return and continue being a poor under nourished peasant - until the next time they want him to die for them. ! we NEVER learn, we truly dont.
The reason for this is likely to be that right will always be right and evil will always be an adversary to whatever is right. The two shall never cease their war with each other.
My dad was in the 101st Abn ... from Normandy to the end, even occupying Hitler's Eagles Nest briefly... after that his company was assigned guard duty over a POW camp over approximately 15k prisoners.. imagine about 25-30 US troops guarding 15,000 POW's ! ... (but then, they were airborne !)... 35 years later, a former German soldier came to our church to give a presentation regarding a ministry with which he was affiliated... he revealed he was a former German soldier and some particulars... after the service my dad spoke with him and they came to realize that the visitor was in that camp when my dad's unit performed guard duty ... you could immediately feel the love and respect between them... both had been members of elite units committed to devastating the enemy and now that was past... long past... I trust they are in heaven sharing old war stories, intermixed with a few truths...
What a powerful and emotional video. It truly cut me deep. I had found out that my stepfather was assigned to a PT boat squadron in the S. Pacific and lost his left eye in the battle of Leyte Gulf. He refused to talk about the war. He passed in 1989 suffering from dementia. Im saving this to download. Thank you.
God bless him. My Korean war combat vet father, luckily unscathed, was an E-9 by the time he was 24. He rarely mentioned the service, but the MSGT attitude was ever present.
My father was a guard in the Fort Livingston camp in Louisiana. He had learned the first verse of "Silent Night" in Sunday School, and when the prisoners were gathered around a fire on Christmas Eve, singing the old carol in German, Dad was singing along. When they discovered his singing in their language, they gathered him to join them around the fire as a long-lost friend. Nothing was said about his being the guard and they being the guarded! He said that was a night he would never forget! Ironically, he married a local girl whose family was of German descent!
While stationed in Germany in the mid 70's, a much older German struck up a conversation with me in a tavern. He had been a sailor on a German transport ship that became trapped in a Norwegian port due to a lack of fuel and the threat of British submarines and air forces. He and his crewmates stayed mostly quarantined on ship because it wasn't safe to go beyond the dock due to the Norwegian Resistance and the hostile resentment of the townspeople. After Germany surrendered, he and his crewmates were sent off to the various occupation zones for processing. This man's home town was in the French Occupation Zone, where he was placed in a "processing center". To get out of that prison, after a year of imprisonment, he volunteered for the French Foreign Legion and served with that first in Algeria, then in Indochina (Vietnam). He got out and returned home two months before Dien Bien Phu in early 1954. When he finally returned to his small German town, he had been away for 15 years.
All that is quite contrary to the Geneva Convention. A POW should be repatriated to his home location as soon after the cessation of hostilities as possible. In Australia, there were many Italian POWs in "Camps". Later in the war they were "allowed" to work outside the "Camps" on nearby farms (for extra money,) if they wished. After the war, it was REQUIRED (by the Geneva Convention) that they be repatriated to Italy. Many of these ex-POWs then emigrated to Australia, as soon as possible, to begin a new life in Australia, often meeting up with girls whom the had met here !!!! Love makes the world go around.
@@FrodoOne1 My grand dad was conscripted in 41 and served as a cook in the 4th army. He was taken prisoner early 42 and shipped to Siberia. The Russians only let him go in '52 as a so called "late -returner". He had no teeth or hair left, as everyone there was starving. The Geneva Convention didn't count for much. (Edit:spelling)
My father worked for an oil company and was in the traffic department. He was involved with moving oil and gas from refinery to refinery and other areas where it was needed. Thus he was given a job deferment and contributed to the war effort in that company. All my uncles went to war. Miraculously they all came back safe and sound. None of them ever talked to me about the war. When I married my husband was a pilot and had flown a reconnaissance plane in Viet Nam. He never spoke about his war experiences either. My father in law had been an officer in the Army during WWII and had fought in Italy . After he died I learned that he had saved his platoon from being killed and taken captive by the Italian forces at an important bridge they were fighting on. I didn’t know that until after his funeral, because he never talked about his war experiences either. I think those experiences were just too horrific to even remember, let alone discuss. Here we are now on the brink of WWIII and I can only hope and pray that something will happen to stop this madness.
This is compelling, and I learned some things. I met several WWII German soldiers while stationed in Germany. It was interesting to hear their perspectives of the war, and how it came about, how the fighting was etc. I had the honor of meeting a former US POW. He sought my friends and I out at Oktoberfest. This man learned his trade in a POW camp in the US - much akin to the man documented here. The man I met LOVED Americans for how they were treated in the camp he was in. Results obviously vary, but overall the US did the right thing with German POWs.
I was stationed on Baumholder from 1969-1972. I met quite a few ex Wermacht from wwII. i got along well with most of them. A couple had served on the Eastern front and had some real horror stories.
The US did treat the German POWs well and benefited for decades in the respect this brought. And the POWs benefited too. We didn’t destroy these men. What a difference where the US now tortures prisoners, some until death.
When my father came home from Vietnam he went back to school to also become an engineer. He told me he tried his best not to let anyone know he was a vet. However, this was difficult. One thing that was bad for him was he didn't have a regular jacket so he wore the one he got from the army. Classmates tried picking fights with him. Women wouldn't even talk to him. Worst, professors would mock him as some loose cannon. He stopped wearing a jacket all together until my mom's mother bought him a jacket. He told me that he had a job interview with a German man. He told me the interview was going great until his secretary told him that he was a Vietnam Vet. All of the sudden his attitude changed. He asked my dad if he took part in the My Lai massacre. My dad said no. The interview ended. The guy tried reaching out to my dad to offer him a job, but my father never responded. I mentioned to him he could of asked him about the war but he told me why bother. Almost 50 years later it still bothers him.
Vietnam veterans were & are treated like TRASH. Those young kids were FORCE with the draft to go to wherever the cowards called "leaders" decided to start war. Many came back & were spit on while "those who stayed" became lawyers, doctors, professors, politicians, economists, and control the U.S.
In those days I became anti-war, but many of my college classmates were returning Viet-vets. One of them was my best friend. I kept my attitudes to myself and let them be adjusted toward compassion for all, in silence.
After returning from Vietnam at the end of 1966, to walls of idiotic protestors, I did not speak of my experiences until 2018, when my health suddenly plummeted. Lacking good health insurance, I tried the VA, where I was diagnosed with severe Agent Orange exposure. Blowout in the left atrium, rotten bones, holes in the spinal cord. Neither of my ex-wives, none of my children, knew anything about my Vietnam tour. Severe PTSD, which resulted in me driving away anyone close, got the VA to have me visit with a really good shrink. I now have little problem exposing my tour. Thank Heaven and the VA.
My Grandpa was a staff sgt in the redball express. My family is from Emporia Ks 150 miles northwest of Alva. Grandpa passed in 1990. I hope he would not be disappointed that I listened and found this fascinating.
Lifelong resident of Alva, OK. Some of the buildings from the camp that was once here (Now the county fairgrounds) were moved and used as houses in town. 10+ years ago they built a walking trail to commemorate the route German POW took from the train depot, to the POW camp. My grandpa was a teenager at the time and talked about it occasionally, said even a few of the POW's moved back here following the war. The guard tower that looked over the camp was turned into a water tower and it is still used to this day. Pretty cool story thanks for sharing!
I heard stories from German POWs from both world wars that said they knew they were going to lose the moment they saw American supply depots. The amount of supplies, equipment, food, weapons, and ammunition the Allies had compared to their German counterparts were unlike anything they'd seen.
@shanemorris3713! Your insights into the perspective of German POWs add a fascinating layer to the historical narrative. The sheer scale of Allied resources did play a significant role .(as expressed by the German tank hunter in this video)
The reverse of this is also interesting. I’m in the middle of reading ‘The Longest Winter’ a non-fiction carefully researched book about an American I&R platoon who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Vastly outnumbered they fought till they ran out of ammo, got captured and ended up POWs. While being transported from one POW camp to another one of the guys noted that horses were used to haul some artillery. That’s when he knew that Germany would lose. Great book by Alex Kershaw.
@@azgal663so bloody what ?? Who started the War? It was all fun and games till they lost the war.. Shut up , nobody gives a shit about Germans from World War 2..
My uncle served at Normandy ,The Ardennes ,and Africa, He had served for 3 years 5 months won a Bronze Star ,came home then about 5 years later was found dead on a couch. Life's not fair..
My father was a US Army office and was in WWII in Germany and we were there for 3 years about 10 years later. My dad’s job was as a liaison to the German Army. He spent every Monday through t Friday on German army ammo depots and came home on weekends. As he said to me. “I never met a Nazi, I never met a German who supported Hitler, I never met anyone who knew about the camps. I never met an honest German.”
My father was a Merchant Seaman during the war - convoying material to the war zone and bring prisoners to the US. Since he was bilingual (German and English - his parents had immigrated from Germany in the late 1800s ), he was able to assist prisoners in understanding.
Merchant Marine are good sailors in old days paying is great. One trip to Europe $300.00 . In old days it great money but several sailors didn’t make from u boat hit. My chief engineer survived 3 times u boat hit. Very lucky and was blessed to survive.
I'm from Boston and grew up in a section of Boston called Roslindale. My great grandfather Joe Oser also came here from Germany in the late 1800's and bought a brand new house that we had till about 1999 when we finally sold it around 100 years later. My own 2 boys ended up being the 5th generation to live and grow up in Roslindale. I used to go to Oktoberfest with my grandfather and father when I was younger that were in our area.
I watch a History Channel about German POWs in the US. They had it WAY better than Allied POWs in Europe and definitely better than people taken prisoner by the Japanese and Russians. The German POWs were allowed to make and tend gardens, given carpentry tools to build furniture, art supplies to paint, even put on plays. They were allowed to work next to the migrant workers harvesting crops. The US adhered to the terms of the Geneva Conventions in that POWs were to live in the same conditions as its military. They ate the same food, and lived in the same condition. Many of the American girls knew they were POWs on the trains. Some of the women were interviewed in the documentary. They went on about how handsome many of them were. Many of the POWs returned to the US after the war. The town of Muenster in north Texas is a great Germany community. But it was already established prior to WW2. I t was very interesting because it’s a side of the war you never really think about.
My grandfather, a German speaker and a Major, was an American intel officer assigned to this Oklahoma POW camp by the U.S. Army. Often my “Opa” spoke fondly of the good relations he had with the first arrivals from the N. Africa campaign, and had several fine jewelry boxes crafted by officers from local wood and given to him as gifts. He was very taken by the education, civility, and professionalism of the German prisoners from early in the war, compared the more rough extremist qualities to those captured later on.
The officers from the N. Africa campaign were much less radicalized and dogmatic politically it seems than those captured in other operational theatres, apparently consistent with the General who led the N. African mechanized campaign.
There were over one thousand concentration camps in Germany. Many were just outside cities like Munich and Hamburg. The idea that people had no idea is hard to believe.
The romantic image of the greater German population was THEY had no idea it was happening, the original poster is correct when you understand that they had first been created seven years before the war even started, and were initially the dumping ground for anyone the Nazi Party considered a political threat to their rule, or simply undesirable to their political aims of a pure German master race or in some cases plain old vendetta, the jewish people being considered to be one those cases. It is hard to refute this fact when after the first world war the Weimar Republic was so heavily in debt to eye watering swaging French punitive reparations which should never have been allowed, but in fact WERE endorsed by the allies. France literally bankrupted the Country. annexing most of its industrial centers around the Rhur, taking back Alsace Lorraine and emptying German banks, the French receiving MANY times more than they had actually lost. To the point where inflation in Germany was running at many HUNDREDS of percent for month on month, year in year out, to the point where inside twelve months it took literally a wheelbarrow full of millions of Marks to simply purchase a loaf of bread (if indeed you were fortunate enough to be able to even find one) Germany desperately needed someone to hate... and the innocent Jews got the blame - the Nazi Party wasting no time in whipping up the crowds of starving people against them - kristal nacht for instance to name but one, (if you have never heard of kristal nacht look it up) of COURSE they knew what was going on, although I will concede that possibly a large proportion were unaware of what was REALLY occuring.......but a sizable percentage DID know ....but by then you darent criticize the Nazi Party ....or YOU could find yourself on the very next train to join them along with all your family and relatives. hope this sheds some light @sdinenno
Charles. There are many hundreds of killing places in 2023 USA. These are everywhere and in your neighborhood. It is hard to believe that people accept abortion murder.
I was stationed in Germany three separate times for a total of five years. During that period, I had met numerous WWII Wehrmacht Soldiers and an SS Officer. I learned so much from those men. It’s very important for us to know their stories as well! Most were not Nazi’s but German. There is a huge difference. Good, bad, all of it! We should never forget them and their memories because we can learn from them! The more we learn especially about war the less chance we will have war!
@retiredafce3373 Your perspective is incredibly valuable. Engaging with the stories of individuals from all sides of history, including those from WWII Wehrmacht Soldiers, offers a more comprehensive understanding. Learning from diverse experiences is a powerful tool for building a better future. Thank you for sharing your insight and promoting understanding!
Indeed, it’s important to realize that the Nazis were a political party, and not every German soldier was a party member. I once briefly met an elder gentleman at the Experimental Aircraft Association Museum. We were looking at a Me-109 display, and he mentioned to another group of people that he flew the 109 in the war. This was during the week-long aviation mecca that is Oshkosh, and I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to him personally. He had a crowd of family and handlers around him.
My grandmother, born in 1922, had many, many stories of WW2. Like everyone else of her generation, it was the defining event of her life. When she was in a nursing home with dementia in 2011, the last memory she ever told me was of German prisoners getting off a train near her hometown in Alberta, Canada. This was 4,600 km (2,800 miles) inland from the huge port of Halifax where they most likely arrived. It was flat forever. As my grandfather said when he arrived out there, "I've never seen so much damn nothing in my life." Far in the distance on a clear day, you could seen the faint outline of the Rockies. Not a bad place for a prisoner who knows he's going to live through the war and go home, although many returned to live here afterwards.
In Australia, there were many Italian POWs in "Camps". Later in the war they were "allowed" to work outside the "Camps" on nearby farms (for extra money,) if they wished. After the war, it was REQUIRED (by the Geneva Convention) that they be repatriated to Italy. Many of these ex-POWs then emigrated to Australia, as soon as possible, to begin a new life in Australia, often meeting up with girls whom the had met here !!!! Love makes the world go around.
I live in Holland, MI. Growing up I heard stories of German POW's being housed in our city. Many worked at the Heinz Pickle Plant. They were allowed to walk the streets of Downtown and attend the Cinema. They were great workers and very respectful for another opportunity.
I very much enjoyed listening to this. He was well taken care of as a POW and was able to return home to his loved ones. Given what happened over there, he’s damn lucky. Down in central Texas close to my residence, there’s a strong Chez and German culture. There were several POW camps down there and some returned to the States after the war and some never left.
@@bradbradshaw-i4n I'm sorry to hear that. If a person was suspected of being Jewish then things were different. If someone attempted to escape then punishment could be draconian. I'm sure there are other scenarios were the rules did not apply. Also, towards the end of the war, food shortages were common everywhere in Germany, not just in PoW camps. Maybe that is what your friend experienced? That being said, death from starvation was not a thing. In general, PoWs were not mistreated. Obviously it wasn't a holiday resort, but a PoW camp was nothing like a concentration camp either. That is all I'm saying.
Both of my grandfathers served during WWII. My paternal never talked about what he did or saw, not even to my dad. My maternal grandfather would always tell of his time. He was cook/driver and was among the supply troops who landed after Normandy was taken. His unit was one of the first to liberate a concentration camp in Germany. They were still gassing as they rolled into the compound. Those who still had strength had cornered the camp commander's wife. Her fate, I would say, was worse than those still in the chamber. He went into one of the barracks and recalled how those in the beds were so thin and could barely move. He carried 4 men out in his first trip, one hanging on his back, each arm, and carrying the 4th in his arms. It struck him that these 4 adult men felt like he was carrying children. He never broke while telling us, but I do recall seeing it in his eyes. He would also never sugar coat any of it either. He wanted to ensure that "we'd know and remember the atrocities that man could inflict upon another man."
It's because of a soldiers duty nor to politicians or a person duty to your war brothers and your army...this is my simple answer I wish it answers you question
It's interesting that the ride through America did not show this officer how hopeless the war was for Germany. Just the sheer length of the ride, that incredibly flat land was also all food production. The the resources were so much more than Germany could have hoped to muster.
He hints at it at 7:17, remarking on the land's vastness and how factories could run day and night, unconcerned about areal bombings, and how Hitler, not being well-traveled, was ignorant of the U.S.'s advantage.
My pastor, Rudolph Markwald, was a radio operator in the Luftwaffe. (He was a draftee.) He was shot down and interned in the USA. He married an American woman and served in the Lutheran Church.
I’m very happy that my grandparents on both sides have f my family decided to leave Germany and come to the USA. Very sorry for the suffering of those who fought that war and had to lived through it. I even remember my father when he came home from the war with ptsd, and would be fighting that war every night, over and over again. Very sad
I randomly stumbled upon this RUclips and was surprised to understand that Hoeller was a POW at Alva. I have almost 300 POW mugshots taken at Alva, but unfortunately not Hoeller's . I do have an image of Franz Posch a fellow yodeler who, together with Hoeller provided this form of entertainment to fellow prisoners.
A dear family friend was a German paratrooper and captured after the Normandy landing. This video is a blessing. Thank you for posting this.Most soldiers had no idea what was really going on, they were just trying to fight for their country and stay alive as long as possible. Just like us. The retreat in the East was horrifying. The Soviets got their revenge. I listened to a series of diary entries of a German Panzer driver detailing the retreat back to Germany. It was brutal. Out of 20 Panzers his tank was the only one to make it back to the American sector. To surrender to the Soviets meant death, whether instantly or in Siberia.
That's right! He was an innocent bystander, simply doing what Germans always had always done: invade other countries and kill their civilians, in his case France. Just a traditional German cultural activity right?
This was a good insight into what happened to the German pow’s in the USA. I’m pleased that this man finally came home and made it to his family. This story was very well spoken and written by this soldier too
My friend father was a German prison of war captured in North Africa. He was a panzer soldier. He was sent to America and imprisoned in New York. Later on he join his wife
It's too bad that the Germans never treated allied prisoners of war with the same treatment the allies afforded German prisoners. I worked with 2 former German POWs that had emmigrated to Canada in the 1950s, after being held here during the war. I also had a neighbour that had also been captured and held in a northern POW camp and fell in love with this country and came here also in the early 1950s. His best friend in Canada had served with the 1st Special Service Force, the joint commando force that saw such fierce hand to hand combat in Italy.
Part of the reason was strategic - since the POWs were allowed to write, then news of good treatment got back to the front. this made the prospect of surrender more agreeable.
A world of difference from the way Imperial Japan treated U.S. POWs, Geneva Convention ignored. They were, I have read, a little easier on Asian POWs, feeling some racial solidarity.
This is what I love about youtube. Hearing the stories of now gone fathers, mothers, grandparents, friends and relatives - on all sides. My Dad's ship got hit by a kamikaze, he's injured. My cousin married a Japanese girl who's Dad was in the Japanese Imperial Navy. The toast: "Mike, everytime I look at your bride, my leg hurts." Her parents were there!
To be fair, the U.S soldiers guarding the Nazi prisoners started treating them worse after the war because thats when the news and detailes came out about all the liberated Nazi death and labor camps. As my grandfather said, after they liberated the first death camp they came across and saw what was going on in them, they immediately shot the Nazi guards on the spot, men who have been fighting for years in combat and holding their sanity together, finally snapped when they saw thousands of emaciated bodies piled upon themselves. The Nazi guards that weren't immediately killed were forced to handle the dead bodies and bury them, while other U.S soldiers went out to the nearby towns and rounded up the citizens to show them what they've been doing to people. Naturally, the locals had no clue and were horrified. So, by the time the news made it back home to the States, the U.S guards watching their prisoners were going to be obviously infuriated and prejudiced against any German wearing a Nazi uniform, regardless of political and moral beliefs, because clearly their morals and beliefs didn't matter to the Jews they were slaughtering, knowing it or not, they played their part in that death machine. -🇺🇲
Where I grew up in Kansas there was a German POW camp and another in Hastings Nebraska. These areas are heavily Germanic areas and my family was from Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark. My grandmother used to go visit the POWs to get information about the area she was from. The old German POW camp I grew up by Camp Concordia and the stories about the camp are interesting to listen to.
New Braunfels Texas had a lot of Pow's. A lot of them stayed after the war. Most will tell you how well they were treated. In some cases, they worked on farms without guards watching them.
@@whdbnrm3023 same in northern Utah. some crazy guy turned a machine gun on a camp near Salina UT though killing about 10 and injuring another 20 or so. I have stood at their graves near the University of Utah, along with some other POWs - Italy comes to mind. I met one who emigrated Germany and lived his life near SLC UT - but he had a cousin or something there before the war so the transition was quite easy - his parents hadn't allowed HJ or any such associations, the dad had suffered a lot in WW1 and just stayed away from everything. There are a total of about 40 german soldiers in that SLC Fort Douglas Cemetery from the war.
They kept a lot of prisoners in Mississippi where I live and they had them digging out public lakes in each county. Gave them something to do and provided a lot of recreational areas for the citizens of the state.
![Chris Langan - The Interview THEY Didn't Want You To See - CTMU [Full Version; Timestamps]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9miVG2xT5jY/mqdefault.jpg)
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Part 11(Final part ) of Memoirs of a D-Day German Tank Hunter, He was a frontline German Officer who fought and witnessed fierce and bloody battles in the deserts of Africa and on the coast of Normandy. He was captured in France and sent to USA as a prisoner of war .We really hope you guys enjoyed this series.
This is the link of Part 1 ruclips.net/video/aT4_CfpUPAw/видео.html
This is the link of Part 2 ruclips.net/video/hRHlmeisAU0/видео.html
This is the link of Part 3 ruclips.net/video/RbhnfzVqgtE/видео.html
This is the link of Part 4 ruclips.net/video/a3nskw_9A34/видео.html
This is the link of part 5 ruclips.net/video/YNmK5BaXRnM/видео.html
This is the link of part 6 ruclips.net/video/_E_5-zJthco/видео.html
This is the link of part 7 ruclips.net/video/W5KgIkTo8C4/видео.html
This is the link of part 8 ruclips.net/video/bujJ8YAjj8Y/видео.html
This is the link of part 9 ruclips.net/video/XrrwcbVU2BA/видео.html
This is the link of part 10 ruclips.net/video/nzrcNQftIRk/видео.html
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Hans Hoeller was born in 1921, in Pottschach, Austria. He served as a tank hunter at Tobruk, Halfaya Pass, Tunisia, Normandy, Falaise and in Eastern France. He was awarded the Iron Cross Class I and II for his actions. After the war, Hans Hoeller became an engineer and had a successful business career.
Personal choice - I very much prefer the voice used in this episode.
Thanks for posting these.
@cowhand6112 Sir you are very kind :)
Q 12K-3
Not Pott Schach! Pörtschach!!!!
In 1978 my VW hippie bus broke down in Santa Fe. Santa Fe's best, or only, VW mechanic was a man who had been a German prisoner of war in a camp in the American Southwest. He'd liked the land so much he returned to the USA after the war with his mechanical training and set up shop.
What was his name? I live in Santa Fe and drive an '83!
@@Gnarlodious Alfred Hiller ,.....and you all thought he went to Argentina.......lol
😂@@alpha-omega2362
@@alpha-omega2362Alfred Hiller!! Hmm🤔🤔 doesn't ring a bell, never heard of him... Could be related to Heinricki Hiller a gas station owner from Berglin who apparently fled to the US🇺🇸 with his brother...
I bet he was a outstanding mechanic.
My Dad was a combat infantry officer, he fought through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. He crossed the Rhine at Remagen hours after its capture, fought in the Hurtgen forest, and was hunting down SS after the surrender. In the late '50s and '60s, he worked at a company with a former German Luftwaffe fighter pilot with whom he became friends, there was no acrimony between them. I think they both were able to put their pasts behind them and work together without the past being a consideration.
But, my Dad also suffered from what is now known as PTSD from the things he had done, had seen, and had lived through. He's passed now, so may almighty God grant him - and all those who fought and survived that war - eternal peace.
I understand a few years ago I went to a Gun show in the Dallas area it was really cool a military show and there was a couple of old gentleman sitting at a table After a while I discovered the taller man was a German fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe setting with a gentleman that I served and fought the Germans and they were having a great conversation together crazy . And years ago they were at War against one another
@@stevencurrie1540if only the politicians done the fighting!! and left the men at home to live their lives and raise their families... I'd like to believe if that was the case there would be no Wars
One of my college professors was a retired USAF fighter pilot. He was assigned to his first operational fighter group in the early 1960s after he finished flight training as an F-4 pilot. The other pilots told him to ask the group commander, a USAF colonel, what the colonel flew during WW2. He was thinking the USAF colonel flew P-38s, P47s, or P-51s during WW2. When he met the colonel he asked the colonel what he flew during WW2. The USAF colonel replied that he flew Messerschmitt 109s in the Luftwaffe during WW2. After WW2 the former Luftwaffe fighter pilot immigrated to the USA and eventually became a colonel and commander of an F-4 fighter group in the USAF.
In that day and age immigrants strive to assimilate to our culture. These new immigrants want nothing to do with us and segregate themselves.
❤
My dad, an officer in the USAF, was transferred to Morocco. In the town of Marrakesh, we met a man who was selling water. He told us, he joined the German army, and surrendered the first chance he got. He wanted to go to America.
German soldiers were known to frequently make their way westward towards the English and American lines on purpose to surrender to them, rather than be slaughtered or captured by the Russians.
But was still living in Marrakesh selling water.......................
Everybody wants to go to America.
Don't blame him, we are the beacon to the world.
@@azgal663loool.
You wish.😂😂
Truer Words Were Never Spoken..."Hope Dies Last"
Watching this documentary/biography makes me proud and thankful that I am an American and knowing that my country treated prisoners of war humanely.
north america as a whole treated the prisoners well. canada did get a big portion of prisoners and some prisoners chose to live in canada after the war.
My dad was a pow in WWII. and a friendship of sorts developed between him and a German officer. According to My Uncle, his older brother, he and tje officer communicated after the war.
0ver 70 years ago usa was a good place what are you proud of you weren't part of that america they are the ones who made everything for you and now you kiddies are trashing your ancestors hard work
Most German soldaten RAN FROM Russian troops to be taken prisoner by Humane Allies.
Tell that to the Japanese American internees
Years ago in Grand Island NE, one day a stranger came walking into town. He peered into all the stores, took in the sights. He saw the local bar. Went inside. Bartender asked him "What will it be mac?". The stranger said "Ein Bier bitte". Beer was poured, local sheriff came in. They let him finish his beer and took him back to the POW camp.
Wow.....only in America🤗😉😊😏
@@elaineburnett5230 today you get beat, shot, handcuffed, and bleed out on the concrete while getting laughed at by the cops.
At another camp, driving his prisoners home in a truck from a day of farm work, the driver stopped for a drink and got so drunk that his German 'prisoners' drove HIM back to the camp.
Let's talk about current plan
Liked living in Nebraska - friendly, hard-working, proud people.
My grandparents had prisoners of war working on their farm in the summer in northeast, Indiana They slept in the barn and we were told they were very nice men and really appreciated being here.
It says a lot about humanity. In their souls they knew what the terrible equation was, that was forced on them, and wanted to show they were decent men.
Equally impressive is that most Americans did not hold them personally responsible.
@@wisconsinfarmer4742 Angola?
In Scotland we had them working in the fields and other meanial jobs awaiting repatriated,The local council had them gardening until the spring when "Hiel Hitler" had been spelt out with the blooming flowers
@@frostyfrost4094😳😮
@@frostyfrost4094I have to admit that was very funny
Growing up in NYC during the 1950’s there were ex-German soliders and ex-American soliders living in the same apartment building and neighborhood. Side by side, working and raising young families. I never remember a single incident of anger. The POWER of the American dream.
Meanwhile, African Americans who fought in the war were discriminated against left and right.
@@bassstudent4life No one ever said that God's wonderful Universe was perfect (if you believe in a higher being that is). Far from it. The way we humans are wired is very _imperfect_ and we are prone to excesses, such as greed, lust, selfishness and unfortunately, racism. Don't think for a minute however that such things could not have occurred at that time in any other _White_ nation (besides the U.S.) had there been people of color living in them in large numbers. _All_ Caucasian nations would have most certainly done the same thing (as would have all non White races against Whites had the shoe been on the other foot). It's truly sad --- it's the human condition and we may never improve in that respect --- maybe all of this is etched in our DNA (wars, hatred, bias). It's still quite possible though that one day we will truly have peace and harmony on Earth --- that day will most certainly come when the last human being breathes his or her last breath. Just the happy thought of the day boys and girls. Now, where are my meds? I know they're around here somewhere.
@@Hernal03 In all of this amalgamation of philosophical confusion, there's one element yet to be found, "accountability." In those make-believes worlds you just alluded to and this utopian society you seem to aspire to, how about we start here by putting a stop into subjugating "OTHERS?" Simply put, how about some reparations? It seems, the endless convoluted explanation of the human experience starts whenever the contribution, sufferance, and the calamity of African Americans come into the conversation. Hope you find your meds, as you seemed to be looking for them.
@@bassstudent4life reparations is just another tool the Comintern use to divide us.
@@bassstudent4life I never stated anything about make-believe worlds or imagined utopias, I simply described some sad realities about the human psyche and how very little it has changed over the centuries. And as for accountability in the form of reparations to certain demographics for crimes perpetrated in the past by the ancestors of current generations, well, where would something like that end? It's not just African Americans --- Indigenous peoples who once lived in what are modern day U.S. , Australia and South America would all have a case for reparations. How far back do we go? What about the Jews asking for reparations for past mistreatment and atrocities committed in Ancient Rome or during the Spanish Inquisition, not to mention more recently by the Germans? Should modern Turkey pay for the genocides perpetrated against Assyrians, Armenians and Greek citizens hundreds of years ago by the Ottoman Empire? And the list would go on and on across a myriad of demographics based on religion, race, political affiliation, gender and so on. Where would it end? There are just too many oppressed groups from the past for all wrongs to be righted in this manner. Yes, we must insure that we eradicate corrupt power bases that would allow such crimes and open bigotry to exist and insure that they never again rise to power so that we can pave the way for a more humane and empathetic society in the future, but having modern generations pay reparations for the past crimes of their great great grandfathers? I don't know how that would ever work out.
There is the curious case of Georg Gärtner. A German POW who had escaped and was never found, and lived the life of a law abiding American under a false name. This went on for fourty years when he revealed himself. The authorities chose to leave him be for various reasons (he was no immigrant, because he was brought to the US against his will, plus his home town was in the Soviet zone of Europe, and was given to Poland anyway. Also he did no harm to anyone... etc) So he was given a US citizenship.
Yeah. That was a case that turned out well. He fell in love with the country, fell in love with the girl and they raised a great family.
Since he escaped after the war he wasn’t an escaped POW!
Yes, that's an interesting story. I saw a YT video about it.
As I recall, his pow camp was in Arizona.
He got out of the camp, hopped a train to California and started a new, peaceful life.
Did he ever mention how many Jewish children he gassed?
Yeah. All that white privilege. It was even in Germany where everyone was white.
My great uncle was a panzergrenadier in 2nd SS Das Reich, and after the war he came to America and settled in Idaho, then still a backwater part of the US. I got his diary from my aunt in 1998 and read through all of it which was quite intense. He had joined 2SSRD in September 1940 and participated in every single engagement the division had up until August 1944 when he was severely wounded in an allied air attack by Typhoon fight bombers. The diary contains nearly every single day of combat from the start of Barbarossa on June 22nd, 1941 to his last day in France on August 11th, 1944.
That is a significant historical document. You should make a digital copy of it, and donate the original to the Library of Congress or some other institution. I, for one, would love to read it.
Was a backwater.... 💀
Wow!
You should have it published for all of the world to read. With No! Editing!,or Abridging! It is a cherished fact filled historical document.
@@TheGuruStud Now a neo-Nazi stronghold. Some of us learned nothing.
So many German POWs loved America when they were here that they decided to move here and start a new life in America. Truly incredible.
@BurningSun1 One of them even became a fugitive and passed his whole life in America , just check our latest series
One t ue story was of a german POW who was sent to work on a walnut farm, went home, and came back, worked on That same farm, in California, until He finally purchased it, after 10 years, and became an American Citizen!
Concordia, Kansas was a famous and much loved camp. Many former prisoners left the ruins of Germany to come back to America, even the town of Concordia itself. There's a nice RUclips documentary on the camp.
A girl that I went to school with was the Granddaughter of a German POW that would come back to live in America. Both of her parents were born and raised in Germany but came to America when the family moved back to America. They were some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. I am not sure if it was her maternal or paternal Grandparents that they came with for sure.
Whats the name of that youtube documentary?@@poetcomic1
“Hitler had not gotten about much. That much became clear to me….”
I think this translates to “we never had a chance…..”
It's hard to understand the industrial might of the US until you travel it's breadth.
We aren't like Russia, with it's vast Siberian territory, and tundra. Almost every square mile of land is capable of being industrialized, and is extremely easy to cross.
Adolf was a small man who lived in a small world. He had no clue what he was even preaching against. It was pure rhetoric aimed at other Germans who hadn't seen the world.
America was complicit, working with Nazi groups and having pro Nazi parades when could be translated into American First or simply Isolationism; what happens in Europe has nothing to do what America. Apparently, we have still not learned that lesson where large segments of Republicans think Russia is our friend because they fund and support a past President.
America was complicit, working with Nazi groups prior to Pearl Harbor and having pro Nazi parades that could be translated into American First or simply Isolationism; what happens in Europe has nothing to do what America. Apparently, we have still not learned that lesson where large segments of Republicans think Russia is our friend because they fund and support a past President.
On the block that I lived on in NY when I was a child everyone was related somehow. Directly behind our house was my Aunt & Uncle and my cousins. My father was in the Army Air Corp and my uncle had been in the Navy in the Pacific during WW2 . I grew up hearing the stories about their experiences during the war. My uncle still hated the Japanese and my Dad would only say that he was pissed off that he never got his wings and didn’t become a pilot. As I grew up I was drafted into the Army when I was 18 but I enlisted into the USAF instead of going into the Army. While I was in the Air Force I went to school and learned to fly at civilian training facilities. Ultimately I got all my ratings and flew as a Corporate Pilot for over 37 years. My father knew I had become a pilot because of him . He’s been gone a long time and I still miss him very much. Now I’m a 72yo man who looks back at his life and I truly understand why these men are considered
🇺🇸 America’s Greatest Generation.
Greatful to retire....
You too can pity the old fools....ty for words Mr T
I am a proud child of two WW2 veterans. My mother was a Wave and my dad was a Seabee. They were both from the same small town and didn't meet until after the war. My mother was probably a typist in Navy intelligence but I say "probably" because she would never talk about what she did. She was sworn to secrecy and took it to her grave. Dad spoke very little about it. The greatest generation.
My father fought in the Pacific theater during the war, and my mother worked at the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot doing her part like like so many other American women during the second world war. My father also spoke very little of the war. He was happy to have gotten back home and start a new life. My parents certain did make a go of things. They had 14 children together, me being #12. The greatest generation?
You bet they were!
Many thanks to your parents if it weren’t for heroes like them we would enjoy the freedom we have today.
@@Americanpatriot-zo2tkwhat freedoms? Freedom to be trans or a drug addict? Freedom to be ethnically replaced in your small town by Haitians?
@@gammaraymonkey I couldn’t agree with you more you are 100% spot on in your post. It’s nice to find people of like mind!
@@Americanpatriot-zo2tk likewise, friend. More and more everyday.
I listened to every word of this. Fascinating. On a related, brief sidenote, as a young engineer in the 1070s, I worked with an older gentleman, Matt Maccocha. One day while at lunch and during our casual conversation, he let it be known that he had landed at Normandy on D Day. He, as it turned out, was one of the lucky ones. The small craft he was on "broke down" in the middle of the English Channel and that delayed his landing on the beach. He then mentioned that while crossing over he said he had never been so scared in his entire life while in that boat. At that moment, it made it so real for me, I'll never forget him saying that.
Me too. We need to recognize this astonishing period in America.
My dear Uncle who died long ago, was not so fortunate as many of these Austrians, others. As a member of 18 Pzr/^th Aree the Russians had a score to settle with the army that had conquered Stalingrad. He was one block from home when he was picked up by American MPs. This got his a trip tothe eastHe wouldnt see his home in Westphalia until 1954. Jos paremts home oddly enough was in Linz. My gradfather was an engineer for Krupp. During the war he had been sent to LInz to start up a Tank works. This was where my uncle had been "cauht". He waas never bitter. He learned Russian and had a love affair with a Russian nurse. Bacck to my Grandfather, the Austrian ov had been so impressed with his skills that they offered him a home and citizenship in Austria He told them he would rather be a dog in germany than a Prince in Austria. He was a proud German I am American, a Vienam vet.
Welcome home brother.
My dad talked about seeing German prisoners working on farms here in southwest Oklahoma and how happy they seamed to be here at the time.
Of course. We are a humanitarian country. We don’t think of or dwell in sewers of the mind such as constructing absurd torture chambers. That is unless we need that info to save our own men and save the world.
@@seashells5181 Lmao. Let me mention: Guantanamo Bay, countless instances of torture and abuse of POWs in the Middle East in the past 20 years, the intentional neglect of African-American neighborhoods for over a century, and the forced marches and camps for Native Americans. The U.S.A is no better than other nations in humanitarian matters, and we absolutely have constructed torture chambers, even right now.
If only the US treated its own citizens as well these days ;)
Don't look up things like the Tuskegee experiments
My parents said the same thing about Hall county Texas. They said the Italians did not want to go back to Italy.
Back in the mid 1980's when I was still a teen we moved into a house that had an elderly gentleman and his wife living next door. Turned out he was a Panzer tank commander in WW2 and like these gentlemen his crew had been taken as POW's. He taught me the difference between SS and Regular Army. Stuff that wasn't covered in US school text books. Also told me a lot about how most of the German Army Regulars and Tank brigades didn't want anything to do with the Nazi party and that it wasn't uncommon for Army officers to butt heads with SS officers. He said almost his entire division of tank crews didn't even want to be at war and when they got taken prisoner it was like a great relief. Like most Germans they were trust into war(fight for us or be killed for treason type thing) whether they wanted to be or not.
Guess who writes the US text books.
Too bad that they didn't mentioned the abuse and murders of the civilians they encounters in their missions. Like my relatives, many were killed by the regular German army.
I don’t know about not wanting to be in the war, things change when you lose. And especially against the Soviets
In Texas we have many German Towns and many still speak German. Beautiful towns.
Many of those German towns were established in 1848. I learned about that from my teacher while taking German in high school (in Houston).
German Texas changed its name to Jermyn Texas
Here in MI, Fort Custer held many German POW's. They loved it here and got along well with the locals. Many of them would work around nearby farms, and became good friends with the farmers. Sadly, there was a tragic train accident, and 20+ POW's died. They were initially buried here, but eventually shipped back home. There is a memorial with grave markers in a special section of the Fort Custer Veterans Memorial cemetery.
How many of those German POWs killed American soldiers in action before being captured? We built a memorial to them? Geeez. Nice to be white in America, even if you’re the enemy.
Yep I’m from BC do you remember when they were disinterred? My dad was a master Sargent at the airbase and I think I saw those graves in the 1960’s
Funny how German soldiers were brought here as POWS and were treated better than black soldiers. Absolutely despicable.
Oh wow, I remember putting flags down at Fort Custer in boy scouts but never heard of this monument. Thanks for sharing!
I live in the town where that accident happened. It left a scar in our little town of Blissfield. The 80th anniversary of this horrible accident and we plan to erect a memorial at place this happened.
I really like this story...we never really get the perspective of the average German soldier when captured and sent to America...you did a great service to history sir
No, this was not a great service to History. He claims non politics, but to blame everything on the Treaty of Versailles, however imbalanced, and not on Fascism and the destruction fascicts cause, is not History, but White Washing. This memoir is what allowed Hitler to rise, an apathy to all people and viewing the world through Nationalistic eyes.
My Great Great Great Grandparents immigrated from Laboe, Kiel, Germany in the 1920s likely due to the economy collapsing. They opened up a large sugarbeet farm in the Midwest US and employed lots of German POWs to work for them during the War. As they were fellow Germans, they treated them extremely well, fed them, and frequently conversed with them in their native tongue. Lots of them ended up staying in the US afterwards and there's a historical marker or a few within the inner portions of the town.
@08Demigod What an incredible family history! Your great-great-great grandparents' journey from Laboe to the Midwest and their compassionate approach toward German POWs is truly remarkable. The historical markers stand as a testament to their positive impact on the community. Thank you for sharing this fascinating tale!
@WW2Tales my Great Grandfather actually still has the deeds to the original land. It goes deeper in the fact my Great Great Grandfather, the son of the farm owners, was a US Marine in the Pacific theater who worked alongside the Navajo Code Talkers as a radio interceptor. He wasn't Navajo himself, rather he reported to them. He owned a radio repair shop in the same town so he was quite proficient in the task he was assigned. He was involved with Saipan, Tinian, Okinawa, and occupied Japan. Passed away in his 90s in 2004.
At least they treated them better than how the germans treated the Jewish people.
These German officers were lucky not to be taken prisoner by the Red Army!
This guy knew the Genva convention like the back of his hand. He would have told them what they couldn't do.
Germany will no forgive those reds for there vicious crimes .
@@stevearkie5722 Just out of curiosity, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?
@@whdbnrm3023 It was called the IRON CURTAIN - Communist East Germany , killing - torturing their own citizens , Also Imagine what Stalin did to the over 250 000 Ethnic Volga Germans during the 30s ( HOLODOMOR ) .
@@whdbnrm3023 The Russians would of bundled him off to a Gulag probably.
I'm from Boston and grew up in a section of Boston called Roslindale. My great grandfather Joe Oser came here from Germany in the late 1800's and bought a brand new house that we had till about 1999 when we finally sold it a little over 100 years later.
My own 2 boys ended up being the 5th generation to live and grow up in Roslindale. They are now 29(in 2 days on December 1st)and 30 years old.
I used to go to Oktoberfests with my grandfather and father when I was younger that were in our area.
Our German heritage was never really talked about or promoted and don't have to guess that it's because of world war II.
My mother's side of the family was Irish and my grandmother was from Ireland and everybody in Boston loved to be Irish.
We had a saying: "There's only two types of people in the world; the Irish and the ones that want to be."
My wife's grandfather was a German POW who was imprisoned in Alabama. He was no fan of the U.S. all his life, he mocked basically everything American. But when I asked him what it was like as a POW, he said "It was a luxury hotel." He wasn't being ironic. They generally were treated quite well and often were allowed out to go to the movies or work on farms.
Behave like Africans now? Are you referring to black Americans? Winning the war for communism? I see rightwing forces trying their best to turn America into a fascist state right before our eyes, not a communist one. But then again barely educated minds confuse socialism with communism constantly without spending five minutes trying to learn the differences.
@@NotSure7474ironically, communism isn’t what the US is up against. The real threat is fascism.
It was simple. If they escaped, how do they get back to Europe? While Germany had a spy network in the U.S., it was more about intelligence gathering and sabotage and not getting POWs back to Europe.
My Papa had good things to say about his time as a POW in the US. Oh my he said they went through Oklahoma. Ended up in North Dakota. This is so interesting to know after all these years.
German POWs were absolutely not treated well in general. Maybe you have heard about the Rhine meadow camps. The German soldiers were even denied the status as POW to circumvent International agreements for the protection of POWs.
Let me cite Wikipedia although other sources describe these camps much more drastically:
“Conditions and death rates:
Throughout the summer of 1945, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was prevented from visiting prisoners in any of the Allies' Rheinwiesenlager. Visits were started only in the autumn of 1945, at a time when most camps had closed or were closing. The Red Cross was granted permission to send delegations to visit camps in the French and UK occupation zones. On 4 February 1946 the Red Cross was allowed to send relief to those in the U.S. run occupation zone. The International Red Cross website states "The quantities received by the ICRC for these captives remained very small, however. During their visits, the delegates observed that German prisoners of war were often detained in appalling conditions. They drew the attention of the authorities to this fact, and gradually succeeded in getting some improvements made."[5] According to a report by the Army Medical Department, "Some of the enclosures resembled Andersonville Prison in 1864".[6]
Official United States statistics conclude there were just over 3,000 deaths in the Rheinwiesenlager while German figures state them to be 4,537. American academic R. J. Rummel believes the figure is around 6,000.[7] Canadian writer James Bacque claimed in his 1989 book Other Losses that the number is likely in the hundreds of thousands, and may be has high as 1,000,000.[8] But historians including Stephen Ambrose, Albert E. Cowdrey and Rüdiger Overmans have examined and rejected Bacque's claims, arguing that they were the result of faulty research practices.[9] More recently, writing in the Encyclopedia of Prisoners of War and Internment, military historian S.P. MacKenzie stated: "That German prisoners were treated very badly in the months immediately after the war […] is beyond dispute. All in all, however, Bacque's thesis and mortality figures cannot be taken as accurate".[10]”
Was stationed in West Germany in the mid to late 80's. When my unit went to the field for manuevers we traveled in convoys in our military vehicles. Countless times, either on the autobahn or in the countryside, Germans, mostly young to middle aged, would express their displeasure at our presence by giving us the finger or screaming and cursing at us. We wondered if they realized that if we weren't there the Soviets would roll in and their lives would probably be much worse. On my last field exercise before separating from the Army my platoon was moving through the countryside from one point to another when one of our vehicles broke down in a small village, three or four homes. As we waited for our mechanics to arrive on that cold winter day out of one of the houses came an elderly gentleman and his wife. They struck up a conversation with us as we waited. A few minutes later the wife returned to the house. As the man spoke with us he began telling us how he had been a POW who had been brought to the U S after being captured, and that he was initially scared to death, fearing torture and/or death on arrival in America. As his wife returned from the house with coffee and Danishes for us he said he had worked on a farm for the rest of the war and lacked for nothing while a POW, and for that he was extremely grateful and loved America.
I had the honor of knowing a former German SS POW who after the war applied for and became an American citizen.
He fought a clean war and had little knowledge of the Holocaust. He had no problems becoming a good American and even worked for the Government as a Nuclear scientist. He spoke and understood 6 languages including of course German, Italian, French, Polish and English so in POW camp #6 Davis, he taught English to his comrades. During the day he worked on farms in Montgomery county Maryland and was amazed to be treated like a normal human and even made friends of the farm families he worked for. After the end of the War in Europe he applied for citizenship and some of the American farmers he worked for gave him letters and even appeared in person to help him gain freedom in America. I miss my friend who passed away a few years ago but cherish the stories and advice he so freely of offered. He was a good man, husband to his wife, father to his children and citizen of America.
I had a great uncle that was depth charged and his uboat had to surface. Was taken as a POW. He was put on a train in the state of Maine and it went thru the entire country until he wound up in Arizona. He said that’s when he realized we had no hope of winning the war. The endless fields of wheat, the resources were something we could never compete with
@rheinhardtgrafvonthiesenha8185! Your great uncle's journey is both harrowing and eye-opening. The vastness of resources on the home front certainly made a lasting impression. If you have more family stories or insights to share, we'd love to hear them. Thanks for sharing this unique perspective and being part of our community!
I have many actually. All from my Grandparents siblings. My grandmother on my mother’s side was 1 of 17 children. 14 of them were men. 9 survived the war. 3 won the knights cross and 1 won the oak leaves.
It gave me the chills reading this. I have never once stopped to imagine plucking a German soldier out of WWII and having them take a train ride across America... it gave me more chills typing out this comment. ... Wow.... crazy.
@@Jath2112 He survived the war and went on to live to be 92. He was fortunate to be taken POW fairly early on during the „happy times“ in early 1941. The Uboats went on to have the highest casualty rate of any unit in WW2. Especially after the enigma was broken. He told me that everyone in the Kriegsmarine knew it was broken including Dörnitz. But Räder and OKW insisted it could t be broken. He knew this as a Wachoffizier not a Captain. It goes largely unreported but the British and Americans alike allowed some of their own ships to be sunk in order to safeguard the fact that they had indeed broke the code. We hear about the Indianapolis and still are 100% whether those men were denied help to maintain secrecy. However countless ships and crews that could have been directed to another route, or at least been provided some sort of rescue were allowed to be torpedoed to their deaths in order to maintain the illusion that the code had not been broken. But war is war. Just to clarify where he was brought was I believe Portland, Maine and they were put on trains to go to a POW camp of which there where a few. I’m not sure the intent was to give them a tour of America‘s resources but if it were it definitely had the desired effect. This was not specific to his crew or Uboat men, he said there were Italian POW‘s in Maine as well. Although their camps tended to be on the east coast and quite near cities. In fact I go to Mass with an American Italian man who’s family were from Italy and settled in the USA. In the Boston area local Italian American families could take an Italian POW out of camp on a Sunday and take them to Mass and back home for dinner before taking them back to camp. Not so lenient for the Germans lol, but I suppose in most cases that was for very good reason.
He perhaps was in Moscow Maine, there was a POW camp there.
This needs to be made into a movie.
In November of 44, my father was wounded severely in Hurtgen Forest losing his left eye along with a sizable chunk of the bone in that area. I can tell you ahead of time that things ended well for him since, even though in 44 he had twin toddler girls at home, there were 4 more kids to come, with me being the last in 1961. But I digress. Back home in Arizona, mom and her mother in law (dad's mom) ran my grandmother's little local store in Florence. It was what we would now think of as a 7-11 type store, but with a smattering of everything. It was actually called Enid's General Store. The government put a POW camp, and a big one, there in Florence. The inmates (or some of them, no telling on who could leave and who could not, but mom said it seemed as if they all roamed the town) would often on weekends be in the store. So much so that Muz (Grandmother) began ordering things they wanted. But I won't drag on and bore anyone. The crazy thing was while my dad was getting his face blown off, my mom was getting hit on by young German POW's who were as polite as ever, mom said. A pic of my dad hanging behind the counter (On purpose of course) would often have these young men ask my mom in broken English about him, and tell her they would pray that he came home soon. My mom said we, nobody in town really, didn't hold these boys accountable or responsible, we knew what was what, but we knew how lucky they were, and we didn't think most of them knew that, how the fate of ending up in an Arizona camp was far different than those poor German boys that ended up at a camp in Siberia where they had a slim chance on ever going home.
I have asked my mom if her attitude toward the POW's changed after getting word of dad's injuries. She said she didn't remember because as soon as she heard, the twins stayed with Muz and family and mom was on a train for Valley Forge, Pa where my dad was to be going. Mom beat him to the Valley Forge General Military Hospital and was waiting when they brought him and others over. They're both gone now, dad and mom, after 60 years of marriage. I have another older sister born shortly after the war, the family joke that my dad started was that she has very Germanic cheekbones
That was beautiful to read. I was trained (raised) too by a WWII veteran. It was not all good. My Dad lived his entire life as I knew him haunted by terrible demons of war and destruction. I love that man and hold him in the highest esteem even for if nothing else but for merely surviving what I believe was sheer hell for him. He never talked of it but anyone who payed any attention at all easily knew he lived a constant torment over that war. God bless you all.
Great joke. Sounds like something my dad would'a said.
My father was in the Pacific on a carrier, at 17yrs old, in WWII. He once said of the Japanese soldiers...they were kids like us, told to fight for their country. They were doing the same thing we were doing.
what a horribly long and boring anecdote
@@notlisted-cl5lsI’m thinking your entertainment nor your approval were anywhere in the priorities that person nor I considered in the least valid prior to our sharing of our life experiences.
@@notlisted-cl5ls Maybe you'll be lucky enough in your lifetime to live something like it. No question you'll spice up your version a bit more.
My father-in-law was a physician. He was in the army during WW2. He was an ob-gyn specialist and there wasn’t much demand for his specialty so they made him the chief medical officer in a prisoner of war camp taking care of the German prisoners. The only prisoners who gave him problems and tended not to be cooperative were the officers. He said the ordinary German soldiers were very easy to deal with and seemed very grateful to be out of combat. He noted that towards the end of the war many of the POWs were older men or young teenagers.
I have a special sympathy for this soldier. kidney stones are the worst! I was in the hospital for three months in the hospital with it and I would not wish it on my worst enemy!
I agree. I had a kidney stone, but it lasted less than 12 hours. I was able to have it flushed out of me with some chemicals. I was very fortunate. It is a terrible thing! I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy either!
I’ve had so many kidney stones and procedures to get rid of them I can’t count them all the only thing I always think about is that I’m glad I’m a female because it’s so much worse for a male
I've had surgery for the three different ones I've had. The little shop of horrors.
The only time I’ve ever seen my dad cry is when my grandpa died, when he got kidney stones for the first time, and when he got kidney stones the second time. It sounded terrible. I also hear it’s genetic…
I agree kidney stones are horrific..
I myself am a sand pitt..😢
Franz Posch...a name familiar to me.... I once spent a holiday on a farm outside of St. Johan in Austria that was owned by a Franz Posch who had been in the Wermacht.... I wonder if it was the same man?....a lovely chap. This was in 1957..... I was 15 then....
Herr Posch could not believe about the camps either, and he and my father talked about it. Dad had helped the clean up at Bergen Belsen camp and was able to give him first hand testimony. He was truly appalled that the German regime had done such horrible things. My father spoke fluent German, which helped communication. It was a lovely family that made us very welcome in their home for our holiday. Wonderful people, and so were all of the other Austrians that we met there.
The world is a lot smaller than you think
This simple youtube content is the best kind. Thank you!
Glad you think so!
Maybe ex-German and American soldiers could forgive and forget after the war. But, I met a Filipino man who survived the Bataan Death March who wasn't too crazy about the Japanese.
I can understand it being hard for him to forgive that, yet God forgives us...
@@tuberstitious well, I wasn't there, and that's something I can thank God for.
The Japanese were pricks to everybody. When McArthur returned, many Japanese committed suicide because they knew how vengeful the Allies would be.
I work with a Filipino woman who hated the Japanese for what they did to her family, especially her infant son.
In the book, “Unbroken” by a survivor of the Bataan Death March, he explains how he forgave his captors and visited Japan to tell some of the worst personally how belief in Christianity helped him to forgive.
I served at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas some years back. German POW's had passed the time by building stone structures all over the post.
When lightning struck and a massive fire destroyed 70% of the white, "temporary" buildings of WW2 vintage, the stone buildings suffered little harm. Fort Chaffee is now mostly built by German prisoners.
Alva Oklahoma is one county removed from my own home town. Several of the German POWs who took work details from that camp became close friends to the American families whose farms employed them, and later immigrated to the US and returned to the area. They were absolutely stunned when volunteering for farm labor saw them eating home-cooked food at the same table as the families and paid the same wages as any other laborer. Law required them to be paid, as prisoners couldn't be forced to work. But they were never returned to the camp and never got a chance to tell those who hadn't volunteered.
My father was in the RAF during the war, 70 yrs on i now have German relatives through a brother in law, his German father in law told me about his uncles in the German army. All 5 uncles were all captured by the Russians, and all survived the war and captivity, amazing story.....
My family was originally from Enid, Oklahoma and my Mother spoke about her parent talking about German POWs that worked the nearby farms and would come into town for movies occasionally, I think only a few at a time, the best behaved. They spoke about how well behaved they were...
At the time, these men had no idea of how lucky and fortunate they were to be POW's in America. They were treated very well, I have read that they were even fed better than most American citizens at the time because of all the rationing going on during the war. There are also many stories about the German prisoners coming back to America and becoming citizens....the irony of war is crazy.
German industry was bombed and their economy was shattered. It took them more than 20 years to recover.
Much better than being captured by the Russians. Then and now.
The German POWs were glad to here in the USA and not in Russian camps.
I disagree. most of them knew how lucky they were.
@@hirameberhardt8643Nor here in France. The germans took 1.6 millions of our soldiers prisonners in 1940. 51000 died, and the rest of them... Did not always have good living standards, depending on where they were interned, and what kind of forced labor thay had to do.
Add in the absolute devastation the german made of the country, and you can guess why we did not treat well the german PoW. Certainly better than the soviets but still.
Edit: After having checked, 20 000 germans PoW died. Curiously enough, we also offered to some of them to stay in France. 30 000 did, including a farmer in the village of my grandma.
I'm a retired US Army professional. I spent three years at Vilseck Germany as a course manager at the MP school there. I made it a point to visit Dauchu and the Flossenburg death camps. In all my contacts with the German public I only found one German SS Officer that was part of a tank unit when the allies landed at Normandy. The rest of the Germans that fought in the war said they fought on the eastern front killing Russians. I spent a year in Vietnam as a line Infantryman from September 1967 to September 1968. I didn't see it all, but I saw enough of the horror that is Infantry combat. I never murdered my enemy not did I see anyone else unlawfully kill our enemy. It's hard to understand the political evil that murdered six million Jews and others. Those that think this could never happen again are naive and wishful thinking. Rest assured no country is above slaughtering it's own people.
I can see it happening here in the US, depending on how the next election goes. There's too much hate, too little compromise that it's all too possible.
Viet Nam is the perfect example - eager draft boards in small towns across America sent youths to their deaths for absolutely no purpose
@@rb1179
All it will take is another great depression.
I was an MP in Darmstadt, '75-78. Co. B, 709th MP Battalion. The drugs, assaults, racial problems, suicides were out of hand. I became a TC Investigator after taking 2 courses at the 7th Army Training Center in Vilseck. It was better duty, with an A schedule, but the GI's were not good drivers. Way too many fatalities/injuries. I loved Germany, but would never go back. Two of our desk interpreters had been in the German Army during WW2. I wish I had asked them more about it. If u know people that have served in war, TALK to them. They will let you know what they are willing to discuss. Just be a good listener, as we had many Vietnam vets in our unit who needed us to show interest. Just get a bottle of Wild Turkey. MAYBE, BUT ASK THEM ABOUT THEIR PREFERRED BEVERAGE.
I'm not sure why people don't just point out the obvious, that 100 million people were killed in the 20th century in peacetime. If it's hard to understand the political evil that murdered 6 million, how do you feel about the political evil that murdered 100 million? It seems like we should be a little bit scared.
I just now remembered that one of my grade school classmate's father was a German POW who chose to stay in the US after the war, as I remember he came to school one day and spoke about his experiences.
As a kid my father watched German POW's, many still in their uniforms unload from trains and fall into formation and march to their housing. Many worked with local farmers and the city - many of the streets today are hand laid brick by the POW's. Knowing that ice-cream was a treat and hard to come by, many often skipped their allocation to give it to the local children when possible. Many stayed in Oklahoma, raised families and did not return to Germany. Dad also remembered seeing Civil War veterans in the barbershops as a kid, but that is a different story...
I mean if your choice was post-war Germany (be it East or West) with all of the struggle, hunger, and potential Nazi saboteur leftovers, or staying in one of the two most powerful nations on earth and never really have to worry about food or existential safety, which would you choose?
For so many of the smart Germans, they knew there was no home again, their country was defeated and bombed out.
We had quite a large German prisoner of war camp in Arizona. It was known as the Papago Prisoner Camp. The officers who had been sent there had gotten a glimpse of a map and saw the Rio Salado. They believed if they could get out of the camp, they could get to the river, steal a boat, and make it to the Gulf of Mexico.
Little did they realize that the majority of rivers in Arizona are underground. They broke out and got out into the desert, wandering and wandering, looking for a large salt river they were never going to find. I believe some of them were found, while a few others died of exposure.
I have not heard the entire series. I have only heard this one. I grew up being a huge WWII history fanatic and joined the USAF after high school. I lived in Germany from 83 until 87 and 92 until 2000. Same base in Ramstein Germany. I lived on the economy and spoke with friend's parents, grandparents and one thing is sure, there was so much history dying every day - personal memoirs. Those 50 minutes of video were incredible. I have very good friends in Austria and I spoke with the grandfather of one of them. He grew up during WWII and was an adult just after. His view of Russia taking control of Austria is very awesome and, for a 90-year-old he is very lucid and in control of his mind. I wish more personal interviews could have been recorded to give us an idea of all that happened on both sides of the war. Thank you for this.
The remains of a camp are just off the highway between Gainesville and Muenster Texas. My mom said that was the first time she saw anybody playing soccer.
“Now it was certain, once and for all. We had lost the Second World War.” My good man, you lost the Second World War on December 11, 1941 - when Germany declared war upon the USA. It took just over three years to convince them. I’m a German American USAF veteran linguist that was a part of the very last occupation forces in West Berlin from 88-92, my uncles served in West Germany in the early 60s doing the same. My grandfather served in G2 intelligence at SHAEF during WW2. I have family in Germany today, and each of them knows their country’s actual history. In the end, that’s the best thing the Allies did - after winning the war.
This is an idiotic comment, they were already at war as the US NAVY had been bombing German U boats in the Atlantic for months. The declaration was simply just an acknowledgement of this and that Germany would fight back. FDR got his wish.
Herr Hoeller's final comment's filled me with the shivers, and a tear in my eye for mankind. Human being's NEVER learn from the past and just strive to do it all over again, and again and again ad infinitum.
This is why TRUE history (not sanitised or altered propaganda) NEEDS to be told and retold over and over again or mankind only too readily forgets..........and it all starts over again. never was a saying more apt than, those who choose to ignore history are doomed to repeat it
I don't take pleasure in saying this...The way the world is heading, it seems that the powers to be are heading in the direction of... 'Doomed to repeat it. '
@@johnthedespicabledutchman7406 couldnt agree more my friend,
The populations of a Country NEVER start wars, their power crazed elected "officials" do - then they send their own populations out to fight and die in it for THEM - and when it all boils down to the end, only those cowardly so called "leaders" who never set foot on a battlefield in their lives prosper greatly from it....johnny citizen once he has won THEIR spat for them is simply "graciously" allowed to return and continue being a poor under nourished peasant - until the next time they want him to die for them. ! we NEVER learn, we truly dont.
The reason for this is likely to be that right will always be right and evil will always be an adversary to whatever is right. The two shall never cease their war with each other.
It's enough to study history, to learn about the future.
@@MrDoyle07 It *is* going to end.
An remarkable document , showing the real harm that WW2 has on those who took part and survived .
There's a lot of history from a normal person's perspective that will be sadly lost.
My dad was in the 101st Abn ... from Normandy to the end, even occupying Hitler's Eagles Nest briefly... after that his company was assigned guard duty over a POW camp over approximately 15k prisoners.. imagine about 25-30 US troops guarding 15,000 POW's ! ... (but then, they were airborne !)... 35 years later, a former German soldier came to our church to give a presentation regarding a ministry with which he was affiliated... he revealed he was a former German soldier and some particulars... after the service my dad spoke with him and they came to realize that the visitor was in that camp when my dad's unit performed guard duty ... you could immediately feel the love and respect between them... both had been members of elite units committed to devastating the enemy and now that was past... long past... I trust they are in heaven sharing old war stories, intermixed with a few truths...
What a powerful and emotional video.
It truly cut me deep.
I had found out that my stepfather was assigned to a PT boat squadron in the S. Pacific and lost his left eye in the battle of Leyte Gulf.
He refused to talk about the war.
He passed in 1989 suffering from dementia.
Im saving this to download.
Thank you.
God bless him. My Korean war combat vet father, luckily unscathed, was an E-9 by the time he was 24. He rarely mentioned the service, but the MSGT attitude was ever present.
My father was a guard in the Fort Livingston camp in Louisiana. He had learned the first verse of "Silent Night" in Sunday School, and when the prisoners were gathered around a fire on Christmas Eve, singing the old carol in German, Dad was singing along. When they discovered his singing in their language, they gathered him to join them around the fire as a long-lost friend. Nothing was said about his being the guard and they being the guarded! He said that was a night he would never forget! Ironically, he married a local girl whose family was of German descent!
It is said that 40% of those in the US claim German ancestry
While stationed in Germany in the mid 70's, a much older German struck up a conversation with me in a tavern. He had been a sailor on a German transport ship that became trapped in a Norwegian port due to a lack of fuel and the threat of British submarines and air forces. He and his crewmates stayed mostly quarantined on ship because it wasn't safe to go beyond the dock due to the Norwegian Resistance and the hostile resentment of the townspeople. After Germany surrendered, he and his crewmates were sent off to the various occupation zones for processing. This man's home town was in the French Occupation Zone, where he was placed in a "processing center". To get out of that prison, after a year of imprisonment, he volunteered for the French Foreign Legion and served with that first in Algeria, then in Indochina (Vietnam). He got out and returned home two months before Dien Bien Phu in early 1954. When he finally returned to his small German town, he had been away for 15 years.
All that is quite contrary to the Geneva Convention.
A POW should be repatriated to his home location as soon after the cessation of hostilities as possible.
In Australia, there were many Italian POWs in "Camps".
Later in the war they were "allowed" to work outside the "Camps" on nearby farms (for extra money,) if they wished.
After the war, it was REQUIRED (by the Geneva Convention) that they be repatriated to Italy.
Many of these ex-POWs then emigrated to Australia, as soon as possible, to begin a new life in Australia, often meeting up with girls whom the had met here !!!!
Love makes the world go around.
@@FrodoOne1The Nazis ensured that everybody would hate them.
@@FrodoOne1 Aussie ladies are irresistible 😀
@@FrodoOne1 My grand dad was conscripted in 41 and served as a cook in the 4th army. He was taken prisoner early 42 and shipped to Siberia. The Russians only let him go in '52 as a so called "late -returner". He had no teeth or hair left, as everyone there was starving. The Geneva Convention didn't count for much. (Edit:spelling)
My father worked for an oil company and was in the traffic department. He was involved with moving oil and gas from refinery to refinery and other areas where it was needed. Thus he was given a job deferment and contributed to the war effort in that company. All my uncles went to war. Miraculously they all came back safe and sound. None of them ever talked to me about the war. When I married my husband was a pilot and had flown a reconnaissance plane in Viet Nam. He never spoke about his war experiences either. My father in law had been an officer in the Army during WWII and had fought in Italy . After he died I learned that he had saved his platoon from being killed and taken captive by the Italian forces at an important bridge they were fighting on. I didn’t know that until after his funeral, because he never talked about his war experiences either. I think those experiences were just too horrific to even remember, let alone discuss. Here we are now on the brink of WWIII and I can only hope and pray that something will happen to stop this madness.
There were Geman POWs in camps in Texas. The often worked at neighboring farms and ranches. There were many German speakers in Texas.
This is compelling, and I learned some things. I met several WWII German soldiers while stationed in Germany. It was interesting to hear their perspectives of the war, and how it came about, how the fighting was etc. I had the honor of meeting a former US POW. He sought my friends and I out at Oktoberfest. This man learned his trade in a POW camp in the US - much akin to the man documented here. The man I met LOVED Americans for how they were treated in the camp he was in.
Results obviously vary, but overall the US did the right thing with German POWs.
I was stationed on Baumholder from 1969-1972. I met quite a few ex Wermacht from wwII. i got along well with most of them. A couple had served on the Eastern front and had some real horror stories.
The US did treat the German POWs well and benefited for decades in the respect this brought. And the POWs benefited too. We didn’t destroy these men. What a difference where the US now tortures prisoners, some until death.
Love conquers hate.
When my father came home from Vietnam he went back to school to also become an engineer. He told me he tried his best not to let anyone know he was a vet. However, this was difficult. One thing that was bad for him was he didn't have a regular jacket so he wore the one he got from the army. Classmates tried picking fights with him. Women wouldn't even talk to him. Worst, professors would mock him as some loose cannon. He stopped wearing a jacket all together until my mom's mother bought him a jacket.
He told me that he had a job interview with a German man. He told me the interview was going great until his secretary told him that he was a Vietnam Vet. All of the sudden his attitude changed. He asked my dad if he took part in the My Lai massacre. My dad said no. The interview ended. The guy tried reaching out to my dad to offer him a job, but my father never responded. I mentioned to him he could of asked him about the war but he told me why bother. Almost 50 years later it still bothers him.
Vietnam veterans were & are treated like TRASH. Those young kids were FORCE with the draft to go to wherever the cowards called "leaders" decided to start war. Many came back & were spit on while "those who stayed" became lawyers, doctors, professors, politicians, economists, and control the U.S.
@mbruster3079 Exactly as "ordinary" German Soldiers did that which their "country" required of them.
In those days I became anti-war, but many of my college classmates were returning Viet-vets. One of them was my best friend. I kept my attitudes to myself and let them be adjusted toward compassion for all, in silence.
They did what was asked of them, just like we did!
After returning from Vietnam at the end of 1966, to walls of idiotic protestors, I did not speak of my experiences until 2018, when my health suddenly plummeted. Lacking good health insurance, I tried the VA, where I was diagnosed with severe Agent Orange exposure. Blowout in the left atrium, rotten bones, holes in the spinal cord.
Neither of my ex-wives, none of my children, knew anything about my Vietnam tour. Severe PTSD, which resulted in me driving away anyone close, got the VA to have me visit with a really good shrink. I now have little problem exposing my tour. Thank Heaven and the VA.
An excellent and well presented documentary and a very interesting perspective.
Thanks for listening
My Grandpa was a staff sgt in the redball express. My family is from Emporia Ks 150 miles northwest of Alva. Grandpa passed in 1990. I hope he would not be disappointed that I listened and found this fascinating.
Lifelong resident of Alva, OK. Some of the buildings from the camp that was once here (Now the county fairgrounds) were moved and used as houses in town. 10+ years ago they built a walking trail to commemorate the route German POW took from the train depot, to the POW camp. My grandpa was a teenager at the time and talked about it occasionally, said even a few of the POW's moved back here following the war.
The guard tower that looked over the camp was turned into a water tower and it is still used to this day.
Pretty cool story thanks for sharing!
I heard stories from German POWs from both world wars that said they knew they were going to lose the moment they saw American supply depots. The amount of supplies, equipment, food, weapons, and ammunition the Allies had compared to their German counterparts were unlike anything they'd seen.
@shanemorris3713! Your insights into the perspective of German POWs add a fascinating layer to the historical narrative. The sheer scale of Allied resources did play a significant role .(as expressed by the German tank hunter in this video)
Yamamoto had studied here and knew this but the war cabinet didn't listen to him.
It was the chocolate cake and ice cream
The reverse of this is also interesting. I’m in the middle of reading ‘The Longest Winter’ a non-fiction carefully researched book about an American I&R platoon who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Vastly outnumbered they fought till they ran out of ammo, got captured and ended up POWs. While being transported from one POW camp to another one of the guys noted that horses were used to haul some artillery. That’s when he knew that Germany would lose. Great book by Alex Kershaw.
I remember reading about German POW wondering "Where are the horses?" When looking at American troops .@@Chainyanker007
My father was captured by German SS and wasn’t treated anywhere like German POW’s! 6-1 90 lbs!
Well I guess don't captured by the SS or the IRS for that matter!
So sorry about your Dad, but in reality the Germans were starving too! No food for them or prisoners.
My great grandfather and great uncle were also captured.
They died before I was born, but I heard the stories. It was terrible.
@@azgal663so bloody what ?? Who started the War? It was all fun and games till they lost the war.. Shut up , nobody gives a shit about Germans from World War 2..
My grandad fought like hell in ww2...but he still had to go, got shot in the tongue never talked about it .
Keep ‘em coming! I love listening and falling asleep to these.
Mega upvotes!!!
My uncle served at Normandy ,The Ardennes ,and Africa, He had served for 3 years 5 months won a Bronze Star ,came home then about 5 years later was found dead on a couch. Life's not fair..
Uncle when he finds out he suffered and his buddies died for a lie just to serve foreign bankers
Everybody goes one day. Nothing last forever
Lest we forget. Thank you so much for this.
My father was a US Army office and was in WWII in Germany and we were there for 3 years about 10 years later. My dad’s job was as a liaison to the German Army. He spent every Monday through t Friday on German army ammo depots and came home on weekends. As he said to me. “I never met a Nazi, I never met a German who supported Hitler, I never met anyone who knew about the camps. I never met an honest German.”
Like sergeant Schultz in Hogan's heroes..
It was illegal back then as it is today.
My father was a Merchant Seaman during the war - convoying material to the war zone and bring prisoners to the US. Since he was bilingual (German and English - his parents had immigrated from Germany in the late 1800s ), he was able to assist prisoners in understanding.
Yes. My grandfather grew up in a German speaking home. Did not carry the tradition on with his family
Merchant Marine are good sailors in old days paying is great. One trip to Europe $300.00 . In old days it great money but several sailors didn’t make from u boat hit. My chief engineer survived 3 times u boat hit. Very lucky and was blessed to survive.
I'm from Boston and grew up in a section of Boston called Roslindale. My great grandfather Joe Oser also came here from Germany in the late 1800's and bought a brand new house that we had till about 1999 when we finally sold it around 100 years later.
My own 2 boys ended up being the 5th generation to live and grow up in Roslindale.
I used to go to Oktoberfest with my grandfather and father when I was younger that were in our area.
I watch a History Channel about German POWs in the US. They had it WAY better than Allied POWs in Europe and definitely better than people taken prisoner by the Japanese and Russians. The German POWs were allowed to make and tend gardens, given carpentry tools to build furniture, art supplies to paint, even put on plays. They were allowed to work next to the migrant workers harvesting crops. The US adhered to the terms of the Geneva Conventions in that POWs were to live in the same conditions as its military. They ate the same food, and lived in the same condition. Many of the American girls knew they were POWs on the trains. Some of the women were interviewed in the documentary. They went on about how handsome many of them were. Many of the POWs returned to the US after the war. The town of Muenster in north Texas is a great Germany community. But it was already established prior to WW2. I t was very interesting because it’s a side of the war you never really think about.
My grandfather, a German speaker and a Major, was an American intel officer assigned to this Oklahoma POW camp by the U.S. Army. Often my “Opa” spoke fondly of the good relations he had with the first arrivals from the N. Africa campaign, and had several fine jewelry boxes crafted by officers from local wood and given to him as gifts. He was very taken by the education, civility, and professionalism of the German prisoners from early in the war, compared the more rough extremist qualities to those captured later on.
The officers from the N. Africa campaign were much less radicalized and dogmatic politically it seems than those captured in other operational theatres, apparently consistent with the General who led the N. African mechanized campaign.
There were over one thousand concentration camps in Germany. Many were just outside cities like Munich and Hamburg. The idea that people had no idea is hard to believe.
"The idea that people had no idea is hard to believe."
What does this mean?
@@sdinennoit means if you know German duplicity, you know it's BS
@@polarizingbrute Tell me how you know about German duplicity.
The romantic image of the greater German population was THEY had no idea it was happening,
the original poster is correct when you understand that they had first been created seven years before the war even started, and were initially the dumping ground for anyone the Nazi Party considered a political threat to their rule, or simply undesirable to their political aims of a pure German master race or in some cases plain old vendetta, the jewish people being considered to be one those cases.
It is hard to refute this fact when after the first world war the Weimar Republic was so heavily in debt to eye watering swaging French punitive reparations which should never have been allowed, but in fact WERE endorsed by the allies. France literally bankrupted the Country. annexing most of its industrial centers around the Rhur, taking back Alsace Lorraine and emptying German banks, the French receiving MANY times more than they had actually lost.
To the point where inflation in Germany was running at many HUNDREDS of percent for month on month, year in year out, to the point where inside twelve months it took literally a wheelbarrow full of millions of Marks to simply purchase a loaf of bread (if indeed you were fortunate enough to be able to even find one)
Germany desperately needed someone to hate... and the innocent Jews got the blame - the Nazi Party wasting no time in whipping up the crowds of starving people against them - kristal nacht for instance to name but one, (if you have never heard of kristal nacht look it up)
of COURSE they knew what was going on, although I will concede that possibly a large proportion were unaware of what was REALLY occuring.......but a sizable percentage DID know ....but by then you darent criticize the Nazi Party ....or YOU could find yourself on the very next train to join them along with all your family and relatives.
hope this sheds some light @sdinenno
Charles. There are many hundreds of killing places in 2023 USA. These are everywhere and in your neighborhood. It is hard to believe that people accept abortion murder.
I was stationed in Germany three separate times for a total of five years. During that period, I had met numerous WWII Wehrmacht Soldiers and an SS Officer. I learned so much from those men. It’s very important for us to know their stories as well! Most were not Nazi’s but German. There is a huge difference.
Good, bad, all of it! We should never forget them and their memories because we can learn from them! The more we learn especially about war the less chance we will have war!
@retiredafce3373 Your perspective is incredibly valuable. Engaging with the stories of individuals from all sides of history, including those from WWII Wehrmacht Soldiers, offers a more comprehensive understanding. Learning from diverse experiences is a powerful tool for building a better future. Thank you for sharing your insight and promoting understanding!
Indeed, it’s important to realize that the Nazis were a political party, and not every German soldier was a party member. I once briefly met an elder gentleman at the Experimental Aircraft Association Museum. We were looking at a Me-109 display, and he mentioned to another group of people that he flew the 109 in the war. This was during the week-long aviation mecca that is Oshkosh, and I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to him personally. He had a crowd of family and handlers around him.
@@todd718 very cool and an awesome aircraft.
I wonder how hitler could mesmerize the entire German population and draft them into the war efforts.
My grandmother, born in 1922, had many, many stories of WW2. Like everyone else of her generation, it was the defining event of her life.
When she was in a nursing home with dementia in 2011, the last memory she ever told me was of German prisoners getting off a train near her hometown in Alberta, Canada. This was 4,600 km (2,800 miles) inland from the huge port of Halifax where they most likely arrived. It was flat forever. As my grandfather said when he arrived out there, "I've never seen so much damn nothing in my life." Far in the distance on a clear day, you could seen the faint outline of the Rockies.
Not a bad place for a prisoner who knows he's going to live through the war and go home, although many returned to live here afterwards.
In Australia, there were many Italian POWs in "Camps".
Later in the war they were "allowed" to work outside the "Camps" on nearby farms (for extra money,) if they wished.
After the war, it was REQUIRED (by the Geneva Convention) that they be repatriated to Italy.
Many of these ex-POWs then emigrated to Australia, as soon as possible, to begin a new life in Australia, often meeting up with girls whom the had met here !!!!
Love makes the world go around.
I live in Holland, MI. Growing up I heard stories of German POW's being housed in our city. Many worked at the Heinz Pickle Plant. They were allowed to walk the streets of Downtown and attend the Cinema. They were great workers and very respectful for another opportunity.
I very much enjoyed listening to this. He was well taken care of as a POW and was able to return home to his loved ones. Given what happened over there, he’s damn lucky. Down in central Texas close to my residence, there’s a strong Chez and German culture. There were several POW camps down there and some returned to the States after the war and some never left.
It sure beat the way the Germans treated their prisoners in those concentration camps.
US PoWs did not end up in concentration camps. They were generally well treated in Germany, not much different to Germans in the US.
@a5cent If they were white yes. Anything else... not so lucky
@@a5cent my friend was in a german pow camp during ww2 for one year. he almost starved to death. so i would say much different than germans in us.
@@bradbradshaw-i4n
I'm sorry to hear that. If a person was suspected of being Jewish then things were different. If someone attempted to escape then punishment could be draconian. I'm sure there are other scenarios were the rules did not apply. Also, towards the end of the war, food shortages were common everywhere in Germany, not just in PoW camps. Maybe that is what your friend experienced?
That being said, death from starvation was not a thing. In general, PoWs were not mistreated. Obviously it wasn't a holiday resort, but a PoW camp was nothing like a concentration camp either. That is all I'm saying.
What a Amazing letter.
When he said they still lie there to this day, whether they’re friend or foe, have my greatest respect…. Damn. God bless us all. Lord knows we need it
Such a fascinating glimpse into the awe of arriving in a new world-this video captures that sense of wonder perfectly!
Both of my grandfathers served during WWII. My paternal never talked about what he did or saw, not even to my dad.
My maternal grandfather would always tell of his time. He was cook/driver and was among the supply troops who landed after Normandy was taken. His unit was one of the first to liberate a concentration camp in Germany. They were still gassing as they rolled into the compound. Those who still had strength had cornered the camp commander's wife. Her fate, I would say, was worse than those still in the chamber. He went into one of the barracks and recalled how those in the beds were so thin and could barely move. He carried 4 men out in his first trip, one hanging on his back, each arm, and carrying the 4th in his arms. It struck him that these 4 adult men felt like he was carrying children. He never broke while telling us, but I do recall seeing it in his eyes. He would also never sugar coat any of it either. He wanted to ensure that "we'd know and remember the atrocities that man could inflict upon another man."
Absolutely amazing how Germany was able to wage war so long without one soldier being a Nazi.
It's because of a soldiers duty nor to politicians or a person duty to your war brothers and your army...this is my simple answer I wish it answers you question
Nice hyperbole; you must be a democrat
Impressive is this officer’s character and guilt over the war they had caused.
It's interesting that the ride through America did not show this officer how hopeless the war was for Germany. Just the sheer length of the ride, that incredibly flat land was also all food production. The the resources were so much more than Germany could have hoped to muster.
You're right. One look at America's vast landscape, its limitless industrial resources, and it should have been "WHOA-BABY"!
He hints at it at 7:17, remarking on the land's vastness and how factories could run day and night, unconcerned about areal bombings, and how Hitler, not being well-traveled, was ignorant of the U.S.'s advantage.
Not going to lie I've just spent my Thanksgiving break binge watching these videos for the past few days
My pastor, Rudolph Markwald, was a radio operator in the Luftwaffe. (He was a draftee.) He was shot down and interned in the USA. He married an American woman and served in the Lutheran Church.
I’m very happy that my grandparents on both sides have f my family decided to leave Germany and come to the USA. Very sorry for the suffering of those who fought that war and had to lived through it. I even remember my father when he came home from the war with ptsd, and would be fighting that war every night, over and over again. Very sad
My uncle had nightmares for fifty years after being in advance troops entering Germany. Most of his fellow soldiers died.
I randomly stumbled upon this RUclips and was surprised to understand that Hoeller was a POW at Alva. I have almost 300 POW mugshots taken at Alva, but unfortunately not Hoeller's . I do have an image of Franz Posch a fellow yodeler who, together with Hoeller provided this form of entertainment to fellow prisoners.
I have a scan of the Franz Posch image that I can share if so desired. Let me know how I can share this if you would like to see it!
A dear family friend was a German paratrooper and captured after the Normandy landing. This video is a blessing. Thank you for posting this.Most soldiers had no idea what was really going on, they were just trying to fight for their country and stay alive as long as possible. Just like us. The retreat in the East was horrifying. The Soviets got their revenge. I listened to a series of diary entries of a German Panzer driver detailing the retreat back to Germany. It was brutal. Out of 20 Panzers his tank was the only one to make it back to the American sector. To surrender to the Soviets meant death, whether instantly or in Siberia.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very interesting.
That's right! He was an innocent bystander, simply doing what Germans always had always done: invade other countries and kill their civilians, in his case France. Just a traditional German cultural activity right?
This was a good insight into what happened to the German pow’s in the USA. I’m pleased that this man finally came home and made it to his family. This story was very well spoken and written by this soldier too
In memory of all fallen soldiers.
My friend father was a German prison of war captured in North Africa. He was a panzer soldier. He was sent to America and imprisoned in New York. Later on he join his wife
Thank you for posting this fascinating story.
It's too bad that the Germans never treated allied prisoners of war with the same treatment the allies afforded German prisoners. I worked with 2 former German POWs that had emmigrated to Canada in the 1950s, after being held here during the war. I also had a neighbour that had also been captured and held in a northern POW camp and fell in love with this country and came here also in the early 1950s. His best friend in Canada had served with the 1st Special Service Force, the joint commando force that saw such fierce hand to hand combat in Italy.
Part of the reason was strategic - since the POWs were allowed to write, then news of good treatment got back to the front. this made the prospect of surrender more agreeable.
A world of difference from the way Imperial Japan treated U.S. POWs, Geneva Convention ignored. They were, I have read, a little easier on Asian POWs, feeling some racial solidarity.
This is what I love about youtube. Hearing the stories of now gone fathers, mothers, grandparents, friends and relatives - on all sides. My Dad's ship got hit by a kamikaze, he's injured. My cousin married a Japanese girl who's Dad was in the Japanese Imperial Navy. The toast: "Mike, everytime I look at your bride, my leg hurts." Her parents were there!
To be fair, the U.S soldiers guarding the Nazi prisoners started treating them worse after the war because thats when the news and detailes came out about all the liberated Nazi death and labor camps.
As my grandfather said, after they liberated the first death camp they came across and saw what was going on in them, they immediately shot the Nazi guards on the spot, men who have been fighting for years in combat and holding their sanity together, finally snapped when they saw thousands of emaciated bodies piled upon themselves.
The Nazi guards that weren't immediately killed were forced to handle the dead bodies and bury them, while other U.S soldiers went out to the nearby towns and rounded up the citizens to show them what they've been doing to people. Naturally, the locals had no clue and were horrified.
So, by the time the news made it back home to the States, the U.S guards watching their prisoners were going to be obviously infuriated and prejudiced against any German wearing a Nazi uniform, regardless of political and moral beliefs, because clearly their morals and beliefs didn't matter to the Jews they were slaughtering, knowing it or not, they played their part in that death machine.
-🇺🇲
The locals knew full well. Read Hitler’s Willing Accomplices” and you’ll get a sense of how much the public was involved.
Correcting a wrong with another wrong never makes it right.
Where I grew up in Kansas there was a German POW camp and another in Hastings Nebraska. These areas are heavily Germanic areas and my family was from Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark. My grandmother used to go visit the POWs to get information about the area she was from. The old German POW camp I grew up by Camp Concordia and the stories about the camp are interesting to listen to.
New Braunfels Texas had a lot of Pow's. A lot of them stayed after the war. Most will tell you how well they were treated. In some cases, they worked on farms without guards watching them.
@@whdbnrm3023 same in northern Utah. some crazy guy turned a machine gun on a camp near Salina UT though killing about 10 and injuring another 20 or so. I have stood at their graves near the University of Utah, along with some other POWs - Italy comes to mind. I met one who emigrated Germany and lived his life near SLC UT - but he had a cousin or something there before the war so the transition was quite easy - his parents hadn't allowed HJ or any such associations, the dad had suffered a lot in WW1 and just stayed away from everything. There are a total of about 40 german soldiers in that SLC Fort Douglas Cemetery from the war.
Indeed. Hunted pheasant and quail right beside that old camp in Cloud county. Also been to the old camps in Alva, OK, and Tonkawa, OK.
It is an interesting history. I did a paper for my historiography course (WWII) on Camp Concordia way back at Pitt State university in the mid 80s.
We treated our POWs so much better than they treated ours.
Thank you for your piece. It is quite informative even for WWII history enthusiasts. For Both you and your brother to live is remarkable. Bless you.
I wish I had a small peice of Desmond's character for doing the correct thing in life 's journey as I So admire his !!!❤😊
They kept a lot of prisoners in Mississippi where I live and they had them digging out public lakes in each county. Gave them something to do and provided a lot of recreational areas for the citizens of the state.