Faces of Defeat - German Prisoners-of-War
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 21 сен 2024
- Evocative film showing German soldiers surrendering to British, American, Soviet and French forces during WWII.
Dr. Mark Felton FRHistS, FRSA is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.o...
Visit my audio book channel 'War Stories with Mark Felton': • One Thousand Miles to ...
Help support my channel:
www.paypal.me/...
/ markfeltonproductions
Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress
Music: 'March of Midnight' & 'I Walk With Ghosts' by Scott Buckley
With my voice currently affected by the flu, this video doesn't have a VoiceOver. The images tell a thousand stories!
I can provide you with a Mark Felton voice over ;)
All Mark Felton meme enjoyers are welcome.
Get well Mark 🙏
Take time with your recover, remember that everyone heals at their own pace !
Get well soon! I miss your voice
Get well soon Mr mark
Get better soon mark!
I knew an ex-German POW who lived in Scotland. He was a farmer from south east Germany, who was forced into the army and made to look after horses. He served all over, including the eastern front and was eventually captured in Normandy and sent to Scotland where his farming skills were put to good use. He married the daughter of the farmer he worked for and stayed put. His family had all been killed by 1945. A giant of a man, very gentle and kind and wanted nothing to do with the war. His daughter is a scottish doctor.
Eu conheci alguns aqui no Brasil quando eu era criança. Não falavam sobre o passado, e seus filhos diziam que eles não foram a favor, por isso sairam da Alemanha quando a guerra acabou. Um deles, avô de uns amigos cometeu suicídio. Ele não suportava saber o que a Alemanha fez.
En France dans ma cité minière j ai connue un homme alleman amis de mon père comme mineur combatant alleman son fils un copain à moi y même école
@@joseornedo4731 Merci pour ce témoignage
@@BeaugosseRiche The Russian prisoners were treated the worse. I understand but I do not condone it .
Achweingund
As a father of two young boys, seeing how young many of the soldiers were when they surrendered was truly heartbreaking. All of the innocence, curiosity and happiness of youth was replaced by horror, desperation and fear of war. War is truly tragic
Lucky ones surrendered to the Americans and British. Russians not so lucky.
So true. I heard that the Hitler Youth and other young Germans were often THE most fanatical Nazis, as they had known nothing else in their short lives, having their minds poisoned almost from birth.
I have difficulty with feeling any sympathy towards any nazi regardless of age! Those mofos took my dad for slave labor! They f’kn owned him throughout his teenage years!! I hope that I never run into a current nazi out and about cause I might do something regrettable. But like Nancy Pelosi said, “it’ll feel good”. 🤨
Bred to hate and kill from the Womb. So sad indeed. those kids and even the older ones never had a chance in life. Bred only to be loyal to Hitler, who wasn't loyal to them leaving them to take responsibility if they lived that is.
@@matthewbratton3825 Most Baltic countries will never forgive the Soviets for their liberation…
They are the same wild cruel horde you see today in Ukraine. This time they must see a reckoning, they skated free last time because the world was focused on Germany and it made them feel invincible!
They must pay for the atrocities that were on par if not even worse than the Germans. It’s not just Putin it’s Russia as a whole.
My grandfather never said a word about fighting in WW2. When I ask him,he always gets his eyes full of tears and said ,You don’t want to know, it is better you don’t know.
My grandfather was among those PoW‘s, he must have been captured somewhere in France behind Paris, he and some comrades realised, they were way off the front line, in enemies‘ territory, so they dropped their weapons and marched ahead with raised arms. That‘s how it must have happened, as he almost never spoke about anything. He was in England for four years, didn‘t have it bad over there, but he was an empty soul for the rest of his life, merely existed. I can only imagine what he must have seen and been through, for 8 years, and this truly affected the upbringing of my father and his siblings. Informed myself a lot about transgenerational trauma. It was a closed chapter to me until I realised, how struggles in the now can be traced back to traumatic events in ancestors‘ lives.
May these lost souls, be it of the Germans, English, French, and all war participants and victims find their peace.
My father was a French kid (8 years old in August 1944) and with a couple of friends he saw a German soldier hidding in a wheat field. They came behind him pointing a wood stick at his back. The German guy stood up, his hands high, believing the stick was a gun. They took him to the nearest farmer they met in the fields. For those kids, it was just a fun game.
My granmother was 9 years old in 1939 when Germans kidnaped her to work first in Germay then in occupied France , you own me war repartaion .
@@huzarion3814 that is out of place, she maybe intern with her parents
A few years ago I spoke to an old man who told me some stories about german army escaping from north italy during italian campaign.. and while crossing the po river with every floating thing they could find, leaving behind all sort of equipment a column of partisans arrived and started strafing the mass of bodies.. I had a feeling it was a memory mixed with feelings of hate for communists (some partisans were) but still, a barbaric image..
@@huzarion3814 You owe the Algerians much more
this video definitely did not need a voice over, beautifully done.
agreed
So true. The images speak for themselves.
This video shows that in war, there are no victors, just victims. War just decides who is left standing.
Agreed 💯
Amazing
People who romantise war simply don’t know the suffering…look at their faces .. we still haven’t learnt from history
Simply the best answer I found
Einfach die beste Antwort die ich fand .
I found a lot of rubbish here too .
Ich fand hier auch viel Müll .
Да , вы правы .
EXACTLY.
Man never learnt from history.
Yes, even now, the actions of Germany during that time has far reaching effects. Even today, Ukraine/Russia. Israel/ Palastine can be attributed to that conflict..!
No voice over needed. That’s a mark of true compassion and empathy. Mark Felton continues to demonstrate exemplary class and leadership as a historian and as a human being.
The horrible Disney music is even more unnecessary though.
@@ixlnxs I actually believe the music made the video
@@ixlnxs ---- very strange you think that is "Disney Music". It seems you watch too much Disney and identify this music with that. Maybe all these Germans identified Nazism with something it wasn't, like glory and righteousness for their society.............
@@themudthedirtandthesand9079 I haven't watched a Disney movie since childhood. I just believe the images are stronger without sound. After all, that's how most of these scenes were in real life: unpleasant silence.
@@ixlnxs I thought the music was exceptional. The good news is you only need to mute it to be happy. 😀
These faces have been seen throughout the ages... all soldiers from all countries for centuries.
Thank you Dr Felton.
And then cam along the gas chambers.
I concur. I could see myself in some of these young men. However, surrender was never an option for me. I was trained that it was more nobler to pull a grenade pin and take as many enemies out with me, than showing up on a propaganda beheading video. Fortunately, during my tours in the Marine Corps it never came to that in Iraq.
@@ReapWhatYaSow
"I concur. I could see myself in some of these young men"..................So you see yourself as a marauding murderer?
@@ReapWhatYaSow "I was trained that it was more nobler to pull a grenade pin and take as many enemies out with me"........................Some how I think that you just made that training BS up. I can't see any instructor telling recruits that. But you would excel at writing fiction.
@@blueshirtman8875 Normal soldiers were no murderers. My whole family was antifascist, my grandfather even persecuted for his political opinions. My father had to be a soldier at the sge of 19 if he wanted or not . You still can stay a decent person.
But indeed war is decovering human beasts. My father in his very late years told me that the worst he experienced is to know that there are humans among us who just enjoy to kill and have power and mistreat people . After war they disappear among us and nobody knows who they really are.
He got all military honours you can get, but refused to become an officer in Hitlers army. His militaria things are
worth a lot of money now, but I had to promise him , to make sure after his death, he became 99, that no Nazi can ever get these things. They are eager for such stuff.
He went in Russian captivity in the last fights around Berlin but was released already in November 1945. He used a false paper, made by a criminal from Berlin, tricking them out. I still keep that paper ! Never heard a bad word about Russians from him. We starved , he said, but they were starving too. "They beat me, but I was nasty. They gave me a warm coat and a good pair of boots for going home , let me take the train for nothing. Russian people gave me , to a German, food while travelling home. So good people they were." But he too, in Ukraine, feeded against the strict order the starving farmer family , who where forced to host him, with all the army food he could get aside.
He told me how ashamed he had felt, to see the fear in their eyes when he stepped in the house the first time and felt even more ashamed for their gratefulness for the food.
And he as his comrades were disgusted by the Banderas who indeed slaughtered the people of other roots , Jews, Polish and Russians. Worse than the SS, he said , with tears in his old eyes. He spoke about that in 2014 when all that came up with Ukraine.
I am against any war but do not judge soldiers who are just fighting to save their and their comrades lives ! The murdereres are the ones behind, winning out of war anyway and of course the decovered beasts.
My German teacher in high school ran a POW camp in Maine. They weren't happy to be there, but were thankful for the humane treatment they received and being safe from the horrors of the front.
Far better than how they treated Soviet POWs.
@@u.h.forum. Or how miserably poorly the Soviets treated their German POWs.
I disagree. Many were happy to be there and out of the war, except for the most ardent Nazi . The treatment was far better than expected. Many had jobs outside the camp where they earned a decent income. Life was so good that a few decided to stay in the United States after the war and not return to Germany and many returned to the United States after repatriation. I added a great story of one of these men that came back to his camp at the age of 92 to say thank you.
Which they didn't give to the Jewish men .women and children when pushing them into the gs chambers.
Look at the alternative.
My father was taken at 14 in Belgium.
He was in the Seige of Stalingrad and the Battle of Narva.
He surrendered to the Americans who handed him over to Dutch.
He was given 3 years hard labour..
So from the start 14 and at the end He was only 20 years.
The horrors my father saw through his eyes.
War what is it good for ? Absolutely nothing !
Suffering pawns and playthings at the whims of powerful, wealthy elites.
So we should have just surrendered to Hitler??! Hmmmmmm okkk
Твой отец не видел ужасы, он их творил, жаль что он не сгинул в сибирских лагерях а позволил родиться тебе
@@toddjohnson271 What percentage of the human population understand this fact? As long as this is hidden, war will not go away.
@@Wttto dayum
My late Father in law took a German Sargent prisoner. He could speak fair English he was a WW1 retread. He was glad to be taken by the allies. Wanted to get back to his farm.
It’s pretty bad to be dragged off your farm to fight in a war. People talk about slavery. This is an example of real slavery.
@@kdegraa yep what was interesting was my Father in law was of German extraction himself and could understand German an spoke some.
@@kdegraa Same thing happened to my great grandpa. He had a farm and 3 kids. Got called up in 1942, was captured in the Ukraine in '43 and stayed in a Siberian labor camp until 1948 when he "got out" (he never clarified exactly why or how he was released.). He walked back to southern Germany a sick and broken man. When he arrived at home he looked so emaciated and disheveled that my grandma didn't recognize him and slammed the door in his face.
No doubt the Jews that he murdered wanted to get back to the farm instead of up the the chimmney,
@@G-Mastah-Fash OMG, what a story. Those 5 years in the camp must have been hell.
Some of these soldiers fought 6 years all over Europe against many different opponents. At this point they were just happy to be alive.
Truly insane the things they must have saw
That was powerful. Their faces, their eyes, told a story that no words ever could.
These are the faces of men and young men who were duped into war by Hitler.
All of them were sent to fight and die for a mad dream. Very powerful video.
Scram
I don't feel sorry for them. Most of them if not all were complicit in committing the most horrific atrocities the world has ever known.
Yes
@@39Martyman Which part of my comment said that I felt sorry for them??
It's ok, take your time, I can wait.
My dad often spoke with amazement at the ages of the German soldiers who were surrendering at the end of the war. He mentioned it was not unusual to find 12 or 13 year old very terrified boys in the mix.
Those are babies. 😭
They sure were terrified, they also shot the fathers, and sons who fought those bastards who brought the dead and distractions to millions of other families across Europe.
@@carldrogo9492look into what 'babies' from Hitlerjugend did before the war started...
To nebyla žádná miminka ty pacifisto,ale členové Hitler jugend.Od útlého mládí vychovávana k plné oddanosti straně NSDAP a Adolfu Hitlerovi.V mnoha případech je do této prestižní organizace dávali sami jejich zfanatizovaní rodiče nebo zfanatizované matky.Vy na západě víte prd o výchově dětí v totalitních systémech.A je to jedno jestli to bylo v třetí říši nebo ve Stalinově Sovětském svazu nebo Čínské lidové republice.
Гитлер-безумец.
И детей вовлек в
безумную войну!
Думаю, что никто
не останется
равнодушным к
этой хронике.
This should be shown on national TV and across Europe and the US right now, to remind everyone how dangerous the world has become again.
If somebody fueling the war that is USA at present.. we are not very far away in this situation again
I agree… but the people would soon forget again, five minutes after the TV was shut off, then elect the same chicken-hawks back in power again.
@@TrolleyDodger. Sadly, I must agree.
Parce qu'il est dirige par cette meme classe et que nous les laissons faire Nous avons de Von der Lahyene, par example.
The people let this happen. They do nothing to stop it.
Years ago, I worked for a company here in Utah USA whose founder and board member was a young German teenager when he was conscripted into the military at the end of WWII. He shared his story of how we swam across the Rhine to escape allied troops but was captured regardless. He became sick and was sent to England to be taken care of. It was there where he befriended a doctor who helped him come to Utah where he had a very prosperous career. He was a human being,not a character in a movie or video game.
Plus, because this is Utah and it use to be very isolated, there were several concentration camps and it is surreal to visit them while thinking on the human costs of war. Even my own grandfather who served on B17 was broken from his experiences and carried emotional scars up to his death 20 years ago this year.
It is heartbreaking to think that we haven’t learned our lessons as we see the same mistakes and ambition cause great suffering and death.
This brought a tears to my eyes…
Like 3
Greetings, fellow Utahn.
There are no lessons to be learned from war.
It was those Nazi sons of bitches that didn't learn the lessons of war. Never forget that they declared war on us.
There were POW camps in Utah, not concentration camps. Big difference.
Very poignant, Ty. As a native Texan, I recall my grandparents telling me stories from the WW2 days when German POWs were brought to the Lone Star State to build stuff. For example, German POWs constructed Lake Texoma here on our northern border with Oklahoma. The locals were wary of the Germans, but the soldiers seemed to be happy to be out of the war. Some of those POWs elected to stay at war's end and married into north Texas communities; one former POW even become a hardware store owner in Bonham or Pottsboro (can't remember which). The guards never had a problem with any of them.
Some of the German POW's stayed in the countrys which captured them especially in England and the US. It was an opportunity to create a new life, they just wanted to forget the war. Look up Bert Trautmann, he's a famous example.
Some GI's were jealous of the German POW's since the got sent back to the US. It was cheaper to do so, however since the ships had to return anyway for the next cargo run, and it was more economical to feed and house them back in the USA.
German POW's from North Africa picked fruit in my grandfather's fruit orchard in California during the war. My mother's enduring memory is the POW's playing soccer in the road outside their farm during a lunch period while being guarded by MP's with submachine guns. She remembers the POW's shouting enthusiastically (in German) while playing.
Georg Gaertner escaped from a U.S. POW camp and turned himself in 40 years later. He said in his book that he loves America and even forgot how to speak German. Erich Hartmann was Germany’s top flying ace and described the brutal treatment he received by the Soviets. Including listening to the screams of young girls being raped by Soviet soldiers in the camp. No wonder so many German soldiers tried to get anywhere other than the Russian side at their surrender.
I recall talking to some old vets at the XGI, Chi Gamma Iota fraternity when enrolled at the Univ. of Texas at El Paso. The Greek acronym spells out Ex-GI. I was a relatively new vet at the time. One WWII vet whose job had been staff at the POW camp in El Paso told a couple of stories.
In one a German prisoner had escaped and traveled out into the deserts around El Paso before realizing that his future was buzzard bait. Summertime temperatures can be 100-110°F by day and 60°F at night. Shade is a word not a thing in the Arizona-Sonoran desert. It's 50-70 miles to the next town in the same desert depending which way you go.
The POW returned to El Paso was downtown and spotted his camp commander's car. He approached the car, surrendered and asked if he could ride back to camp. The commandant said, "No, this is my car. You can walk." and drove away. The POW walked back to camp by himself.
I have seen a TON of your videos, but I have to admit that this was probably your most powerful and poignant one yet.
Diese Filme sollten jetzt in europäischen Städten gezeigt werden, anstatt für Waschmittel zu werben.
I was in east Germany a few years ago , and some friends of mine there wanted to maintain & repair German war graves in the corner of the cemetery . But the authorities told them that if they do , they face prosecution, some of the graves were of teenage boys from that town . Regardless of the uniform worn , these are soldiers & deserve respect . Excellent footage from a dark time . Thank you Mark .
Not all German soldiers deserve respect. There committed many war crimes.
@@MmmGallicus Yes, many war crimes in WWII. But committed by soldiers of all nations, not only Germans!
@@lacertabilineata9337 Not on the same scale or frequency of the German army in the Second World War.
The dead are dead, mind you, and you can't punish a corpse. But these men were not heroes.
@@ahorsewithnoname773 You should research Churchill's man-made Bengal Famine in India during 1942-3 resulting in over 3 million people of India starving to death! That was state sanctioned mind you.
@@ahorsewithnoname773 but teenage conscripts don’t deserve an up-kept gravestone?
Back in the 90s my wife and I lived in Corpus Christi Texas we had an elderly couple as neighbors really good people the old gentleman passed away and the lady went to live with their son and his family it turned out he was a German prisoner of who worked on her fathers farm and after the war he immigrated back to Texas and married her had 4 kids and was married for 50years. I believe these two people were the kindest and humble folks my wife or I have ever met
Wholesome
Naturally, He was German Silly!
Just kidding!
Cool story! Just think of the horrors that gentleman witnessed as a young man!!
A lot of German POW's returned to the United States to build a life here. After being wounded, my dad asked for reduced service and they made him a POW camp guard in the American South. He spoke some German, but the German senior officer had been a professor of English literature in Germany as a civilian, so communication was no problem, and my dad knew enough to know if something was awry. The repaired and maintained railroad tracks, and the Germans did good work, and they said that the accommodations and food was better than they were used to, and they mostly took really well to southern food. The universal favorite was... biscuits and gravy !
After the war, many of the ex soldiers applied for work permits and eventually citizenship, and many of them got work on the railroad.
One of the problems was the American women gawking at the young German soldiers bare chested, sweaty, and muscular.
The Italian POW's were sent to work on the farms. They were in close proximity to the black women in the fields, and their were strict non fraternization rules, and as the ancient Greek war historian Thucydides said in a different context, the laws of nature are stronger than the laws of man. Love found a way, and with many of the black men off to war, a rash of light black skinned babies were born in due time...
These were the first batch of German and Italian POW's sent over from North Africa. They were relatively young and fresh.
The same thing almost happened to my grandfathers older brother when he was sent to Ukraine, except he didn't marry the farmers daughter. A damn shame too, he had the perfect life set up.
How many Jews, Russians, Poles, Italians did he murder?
My uncle studied in Germany in the 1930’s and was the commandant of a POW camp in California during the war. One of his prisoners was a man he had befriended in Germany. He made my uncle a beautiful chair which we now have. Their friendship continued after the war. After the war my uncle was stationed in Germany and we have a china set he gave us stamped “Made in Occupied Germany”.
After my great grandfather had been captured in Stalingrad, he was imprisoned for ~7 years in Siberia. Only 5% survived, he was one of them. The reason: He was an excellent musician. And so he did play some music here and there for amusement. Thats how he earned his extra portion of food, preventing him from starving to death. He died in the early 2000s in Bavaria and as I was told never wanted to speak a word about the war ever again.
Будь проклят масковский рейх...мой дед-бывший белый офицер-погиб в 43,в Эстонии,,в штрафбате,,был сослан туда после побега из плена-в 41...
@@philipp-q5f😅😅😅😅😅
Excellent Jewish musicians play for Germans i German concentration camps, but then they went up the chimneys anyway.
Where exactly he was in Siberia? Tell us a bit more.
I bet he played a great soviet skin flute to survive/
A moving collection of images. My grandmother had a German PoW from a local camp (Midlands, UK) allotted to her as she had a decent sized garden to produce food ('Dig For Victory' and all that). He came back to visit in the late 60s which is when I met him ... he had been a despatch rider ('target practice' as he put it) and had promised his God that he would become a pastor if he survived the War, and sure enough he did.
Awesome story
God bless him...🛐🕊️✝️
Love hearing of these after the war stories
Yes, he took the easy way out, lol.
LoL, Well don't forget the millions of unanswered prayers..
Something like 60 million dead for WW2.
Did anyone else get goosebumps watching this! Powerful video. No words needed.
5:33 that gi sports a funny carbine (m1 ?) and - is he stripping them of valuables ?
@mac nasty I hope so.
Seems to a normal carbine. He’s just making them empty their pockets of everything. Not stripping them of valuables.
yes... and tears
No goosebumps
I'm 75 now, and still working. Same company for 45 years. for the first fifteen or so, worked with a good friend who was a German Engineer. after we became friends he told me stories of him as a Nazi Youth. His last days of the war, the march to the surrender and his fear of being shot when he was released from Camp for being too young to process. Walking home and putting on his Lederhosen and sitting on the family home front step. He found his hometown being occupied by the English Army, and being given a chocolate bar thinking he was a kid. (He looked very young as a Hitler Youth) He told me that if the English soldier found out that a few days before he was blowing allied planes out of the sky as an Artillery man, they would have shot him. Some stories made my blood run cold.
So the English were hardly saints. War brings out the evil in men.
He's lucky he surrendered to the British who let him go. The Soviets would have killed him either way
@@WestyrulzWould you prefer the Nazi's?
@@jennifergirling6850 I didn't say that.
@@Westyrulz?? Bro what? The guy admitted to shooting down planes, or at the very least helping them shoot them down. That only has a high chance to kill the pilot, it denies some of the air support to the allies, which result in more allied deaths.
Think then of their families, and wives and children, all fatherless.
Very idiotic take
Emotionally Powerful. Compelling. As a retired US Army major general, father of a active duty Air Force pilot, son of a career Army Vietnam Veteran and grandson of a WWII Navy Veteran, this simple and thoughtful video brought tears to my eyes of the overwhelming loss of humanity that war brings. It reminds me of the importance of having a strong and well trained military to deter others while being extremely deliberate to exercise all the resources of government to keep the peace, and to only as the very last resort to commit the lives of our military to combat. Thank you, Dr Felton. I wish you improved health!
Will do.
I am American and if I could travel back in time, I would gladly help the Germans fight WW2, for they fought against an evil globalist cabal that has now infiltrated most nations and continues with great acts of evil today.
@randymanner60. Hello General, thank you for your service. Is there a mechanism or stipulation in the great military, or the Law of War, that enables the Rank and File, or the joint chiefs to prevent the Government from going to war if there is sufficient evidence that the Government is controlled by nefarious influence foreign or domestic? As in the case of the Nazi government under Hitler in Germany. When I look at the faces of these German Field Marshals, Admirals, I see profound despair, apprehension, and regret. I believe they regret not have all stood with the group of resistance officers and demanded that their Führer resign or be removed in light of the catastrophe he had brought on to the nation. (I know this sounds like "military coup", but military personal's responsibility is to defend the nation).
What do you mean by "exercise all the resources of government to keep peace", if all branches of a government are controlled by hawks, how can you keep peace?
The German Wehrmacht pride itself for being a professional army, yet its wartime actions looked more like blindly following a totalitarian dictator along the path of total annihilation of their own country. What good is a professional army, if it can not protect its own country from being destroyed by their own leadership? Would love to hear your thoughts.
This is an existential conundrum, I wonder if it is part of the military academy curriculum, and if you know of any books written about it. I know the US Armed Forces have extensive plans for all kinds of war scenarios, wouldn't the German Wehrmacht have the same leading up to the war in 1939? How can they not know that Germany simply would not be able to sustain a full scale war with the Soviet Union while likely opening up another front in the West. Attacking the Soviet Union without adequate winter provisions?
What your army is doing now is more horrific and horrific than what Hitler's army did
Even though they were the enemy, these men and boys were all still someones husband, son, father or brother.
Such incredibly moving images and such well-chosen musical accompaniment brought me almost to tears.
War is such a waste of life.
As a previous commentator has said - this should be required viewing in all schools - along with the iconic World at War series to demonstrate the horrors and inhumanity of war.
This has to be quite the most powerful and moving video you have ever produced, Dr Felton.
You are a master of your art.
I watched this in a blacked-out room and the tears started to form. The images evoke what my late father might have experienced on the Eastern Front or as the Germans retreated, as recalled by both he, though he talked little about his involvement, and my late mother.
My father was a Pole by citizenship. He was born in 1918 so close to the Russian border that it is speculated he was in fact born on the Russian side, yet for better or for worse, his parents decided to ascribe him as Polish. His father worked in the Polish diplomatic service and so the family moved regularly, though I cannot better define the term. He and his mother and sister were living in the German portion of Poland when war broke out- they had moved to the German side from further east prompted by his mother's nose for a more stable environment following the partitioning of Poland.
The war began. Then Russia was invaded. Eventually the eastern front became a quagmire and he was conscripted and sent east. He was a handy man to have around because he spoke German, Polish, and ... what do you know? Russian. He had to carry arms but his language skills meant he was more valuable as an interpreter, thus sparing him action from the battle field.
Eventually the war changed in the Russian's favour. The retreating Germans discarded him and my father fell captive to the Russians. He was almost shot as a collaborator but a Russian commander spared him on account of him having a resemblance to the commander's own son, who had fallen in the conflict. And so, being spared, my father instead spent two or so years in an internment camp before being released and allowed to return to the now East Germany. There he lived with relatives, learnt a trade and got on with life ... But East Germany wasn't for him and so, aided by friends, he moved to West Germany via that annoying breach in the border (for the East German economy that is): Berlin. He met my mother soon after; she, too, had 'migrated' from der Deutsche Demokratische Republik via Berlin around the same time, assisted and abetted by her father, Rudolph Kersten, a Protestant Church (Lutheran) pastor.
My mother was also an ethnic Pole and lost her half-brother whilst he was serving on the eastern front fighting for the Nazis .... Killed, he was, as in, shot by the Germans, for being a conscientious objector, because he had refused to carry arms, esp. on account of his religious faith. She recounted this incident only in the last five weeks of her life in 2021, prompted by my questions as to the identity of some people depicted in her family photos whom I hadn't until then quite fathomed out ... He is depicted wearing a Polish uniform. After her death, her possessions now cluttering my small apartment, I pulled apart the small frame and, on the back of the photo, written in biro in her own hand: 'Martin Kersten, gefallen 1943 Russland.' The photo was dated 2 Feb., 1938. 'Gefallen' (fallen) hid a more sinister, darker side as to the cause of his death, yet I would never have been the wiser except for my timely questions. We can imagine bastardry like this was being perpetrated by the Nazis as an every-day normality.
To my father again. It's the early 1950s and he's now living in West Germany. Meanwhile, his mother and sister, still living in East Germany, had been categorised as displaced persons on account of their Polish homeland no longer being accessible or a desirable place to live. They applied to Canada and Australia for resettlement and the latter accepted them first- as refugees. They accepted and arrived in Australia soon after. Their move was to prove providential: in 1961, my father's mother and sister became sponsors and guarantors for us as a family (we were three), facilitating our move to Australia too. It was a turning point in our lives because, although I never understood the reasons behind the occasional bashings by neighbourhood kids at the time, we had become, as a family, somewhat of a pariah and the subject of some ostracization: 'Die Rucksackflüchtlinge Polaken.' (the rucksack refugees Poles.) Dawn was breaking in West Germany's economic miracle and post-war recovery but even as the birds had started singing, families such as ours still (supposedly) represented a drag on the economy and needed to be encouraged to leave. And leave we did, on the 1930-era 'Castel Felice,' once upon a time and under a former name and owner, operating as a troop ship during the war ... A touch of irony.
Today, atop a bookcase in my apartment, stands a lacquered piece of timber, on which is mounted a sheet of buffed mild steel on which is electro-etched, in Russian, the 91st Psalm. I recall my father meticulously carrying out this project for weeks at a time sometime between the mid 1970s and mid 1980s and its completion marked the culmination of finally coming to terms of sorts with his war experience:
He was part of a group of captives being marched along a road, when an unknown man heading in the opposite direction thrust into my father's hand a crumpled piece of paper. My father immediately concealed it. The paper was a page from the Bible and the man was ripping pages out and handing them out to willing recipients as the two parties passed in opposite directions. My father just happened to receive a sheet which had, intact, that particular Psalm. Verse two forever had special meaning for him- it appears (in English) on his gravestone as his preferred epitaph: 'He is my refuge and my fortress. My God, in Him will I trust.'
We can only speculate as to what other captives in company with my father received as their Bible passage, and if it gave them hope like my father derived. This is the first time I have revealed this story in a public forum and in its elaboration, memories of conversation from ages ago have come to mind, such that I've had to amend and reamend the narrative. But I hope it may resonate with readers who may have similar stories from that epoch of terror and misery- if not in detail, at least of inspiration, either through lived experience or through stories passed to them by now-deceased family and friends.
In the last decades of his life, my father would retreat into himself, into a world I could never know or fully understand: he would play on the Telefunken record player we brought from Germany the 78s and LPs he'd purchased during our years living in Cologne. Their theme? Russian music and melodies, esp. by Russian choirs. Later still, he purchased a piano-accordion and taught himself to play many of those same melodies, over time permeating them with the same soulfulness and melancholy he had in his DNA all along- as I was slowly discovering. Maybe an Ancestry-DNA test will reveal some surprises ...[As an aside, I have recently uploaded many of said records to RUclips, one outcome being, some copyright claims have revealed titles and artists whose details I could not otherwise have derived- I can't read or speak Russian.]
The second World War claimed a terrible price on so many fronts. The Pacific conflict, too, was the scene of much suffering and sacrifice. What Mark's video depicts and evokes with pathos: faces depicting confusion; anger; uncertainty; despair; fear, especially amongst the youths- for now, so perplexed, for on their shoulders rests in some measure the hope and destiny of a new Germany- but first the old mantra and ideology has to be rinsed out of their system ... I think of my father and then, viewing the video, imagine some of those depicted as being there but not of their own accord, nor did they truly believe that their pain, anguish and loss was for a noble and just cause. Many, like my father, of non-German origins, yet compelled to fight for a 'thousand year Reich' on the threat of death. Yet when the end came, collectively, all were made to feel and carry the guilt for the previous years' hell, an injustice from which few would have been spared- it was early days, when the victors didn't know who was a goodie and who, still the enemy. Could my father have refused to participate? I'll never know- we never got that far. My mother did say, as we reminisced after his funeral, that he once said to her that had he been sent to a battle field, he always intended aiming and shooting either too high or too low ...
My parents now lie side by side in a cemetery in Geelong, Australia, far from their ancestral roots and the arena of many a bloody battle and subsequent deprivations and dislocation. The remains of my father's mother, sister and her husband lie in a cemetery in Melbourne. Rudolph, my mother's father, was buried in Langenfeld, Germany in the early 1970s, only for his remains and others around him to be dug up and the plots reused- this was in the mid-2000s, as explained by a cemetery-associated official. Many on this forum will have similar stories. Curiously, my father never resented or objected to my three years' service in Australia's Army Reserve- he saw the distinction between his experience and what Australia represented. I can only reflect with respect the memories he carried.
Thank you, Mark, for the work and expertise you do and bring to your videos. Your scholarship is impeccable and with sensitivity and understanding.
Thank you, too, to dear readers and visitors here: we read your comments too and draw strength from many expressions of both sympathy and exhortation: The world (WE, here, on this forum!) must never be allowed to forget the terror and inhumanity which both the Nazi German regime and other despots wrought on humanity, and continue to do. The challenge remains: to be on guard and be ready to answer the call to defend justice and equality, some of the many ideals individuals and society around the world hold dear. Thank you for your forbearance as you read this epic.
Thank you - enlightening post.
Thank you for sharing your family story. Very interesting to read.
Приветствую вас!очень коснулась меня,ваша история!91 Псалом это поддержка и утешение в трудные времена,который говорит нам что мы не одиноки проходя через испытания.
Мира вам и добоа!
A wonderfully written and fascinating family history, my friend.
you are absolutely right, but nowadays where are states who stand up for that what is happening again in Europe, caused by the Russians? The history seems to happen again..., the russian people is not willing to stop a faschistic regime (Putin, Lawrow, Medwedew) Lawrow is the worst of this "Junta" he is like Göbbels, always speaking fake things...
The grim disbelief and resignation on the faces of the middle aged men was fascinating. It must have been a shock after living through Germany's recovery in the 30s and their early victories and revenge against their WWI enemies that they were once again utterly humiliated and defeated.
Dr Felton ,i have followed your channel virtually from day one ,you have made some beyond incredible videos and insights into WW2 history often forgotten/overlooked but Sir in my opinion this is your BEST video ever .The scenes ,the music just set's the tone "How the Mighty are fallen" .Soilders smiling as if saying ,thank God it's over ,then the SS and Officers with utter disbelief on their faces that they have lost .From old men to literally children a amazing video .
I was truly moved to tears - it's a girl thing, clearly! Indeed, the age range was vast. Just wee boys that haven't had their first shave to older gents who may even have served in the Great War. The music was composed by Scott Buckley and the pieces were, I Walk With Ghosts and March Of Midnight.
@@chelamcguire Well, I'm a man and I was almost moved to tears. Definitely damp eyes.
For those who were just ordinary soldiers without a record of atrocities, this was a lucky time for them ... especially if being captured by the allied forces as opposed to the Soviets! This video is actually quite powerful as it leans on many different emotions. Well done Mark.
I have often thought that, those germans in russia, goodbye you will not return alive, you'll be starved to death, worked to death in the cold except for the general of course in Stalingrad. Compare that to a german captured by the U.S. in Tunisia, they went to alabama to be in a prison, were let out to do farming with little guards, then many of them after the war just stayed and became americans.
@@fredgarv79 Almost all german enclaves where removed from eastern Europe after the war. A bad thing but I get why. Eastern front was so brutal
@@fredgarv79 Friedrich Paulus is the field marshal you're thinking of (promoted from general to field marshal in the final days of resistance in Stalingrad as a sign from Hitler that he should fight to the death).
At the moment of capturing, it doesn’t matter if the POW has committed atrocities or not. What matters is if the opponent is either a decent enough human to follow international law or does not BELIEVE that the POW has committed atrocities. Even in peace time most people don’t have the mental capacity to understand the value of “rule of law” and follow due process. In war it is worse. At that point retaliation is dished out as a collective punishment. Unless others humans, who directly benefited from the POW generosity (not doing atrocities alone is often not sufficient), are close by and also brave enough to speak up (because doing that puts them at risk too) then… well bad luck.
Regarding the ordinary soldier without a record of atrocities…. Hmmm… in this case the ordinary Wehrmacht soldier was incorporated in an organisational structure that has done very bad stuff (it was not only the SS as Marc has shown in other videos) and that soldier chose to fight for a government ideology dehumanizing others with the extermination of millions of other humans. It wasn’t that much of a secret as many like to pretend after they got captured. Sure the argument can be made for them that peer pressure and propaganda was at play here, but doesn’t that say more about that person than the propagandist? It is one thing to be convinced by propaganda to be proud of your nation and it is another to not oppose propaganda that classifies others as “undermensch” to be oppressed and murdered.
But I agree with you. Powerful video and well done by Mark. I was moved by it emotionally too.
@@fluffybunny5518 The ordinary Wehrmacht soldier had no choice but to decide not to be a part of those who committed atrocities. And even that decision could be dangerous if it was considered as a refusal of an order.
My grandfather was a US Army MP during WWII. He escorted many a German P.O.W from the east coast of the US to all points in between. My great grandparents had German P.O.W's working on their farm during that time, also.
Your grandfather may have escorted my grandfather.
"Had german POWs working on their farm" == used slave labor
@@werre2 no to pay reperations, I bet these POWs would rather be slave workers for a few years in allied soil than in a soviet gulag and work camp.
@@werre2 na und??
the Germans used far more slave labor for the duration of the war and even before that...
fyi, i'm Dutch and the Germans made some of my family members (uncles of mine) go to Germany to work for them there. one of those uncles returned with a young German girl, she was a wonderful, kind person and i'm ashamed for the way she was treated by some of the Dutch people just after the war...
@@ingeposch8091 lol crying out naz!s were bad and allies are good is just western propaganda, not denying hol0cust etc by germans, but allies were evil sub-humans too
That music wrenched at my soul. I realised every one of them was someone's son, brother, husband, father, uncle who didn't want to be part of this (most of them), and the faces of those child soldiers. So upsetting to think someone loves them, misses them, and prayed for them each night. The pain on all those faces. God bless every soul lost. All nation's.
Very poignant. For once, the lack of a voice-over is perfectly appropriate, regardless of your health situation.
I see in the faces of the German POWs a wide range of emotions, from relief and even joy at one end, to exhaustion and stunned bewilderment, to anger, defiance, and arrogance at the other end and a lot in between.
You can also tell from their faces which of them either just joined up after leading well-fed lives, or had long been in the rear with the gear far from the action… and which had been in constant combat for days, weeks, if not months.
Totally agree with your statement. Well said.
Whatever the merits of the cause, I must respect the attitude of those who hold their heads and faces proudly in defeat.
Of course, it mattered a great deal who they were surrendering to. A small fraction of POWs returned after being captured on the Eastern Front. The vast majority would survive if taken on the Western Front.
Yeah, early on in the video there was a soldier smoking a cigarette, probably American, and he was in bliss. Maybe from the real tobacco, maybe from not having to fight anymore, or maybe from both.
My grandfather spent 13 months as a POW after being shot down over Verona Italy. Wounded by flack and injured during his parachute landing, he never lost faith in the fight against the Nazis. He was liberated by a British unit and quickly repatriated back to the US where he spent the last few months of the war. I remembered the expression on his face the one time he talked to me about his experience and remembered it whenever I dealt with POWs while in Iraq. I may not have been the gentlest while securing and searching captives, but I made sure they were not abused and always did my best to make sure other did the same.
He fought for what England is today :D what a hero lol
@@berndblabla4249 because it would have been sooo much better under the Germans? Ask the Poles, the Dutch, the Belgians, etc how good it was starving so that Germans could eat, being imprisoned or executed for saying the wrong thing, etc.
@@oldesertguy9616 To be fair, the Poles didn't see much of an improvement in victory.
thank you and have a good Veterans' Day on Thursday.....
What about American POW camps after 45,do you know how many German soldiers died?
Dr. Mark Felton is unstoppable! He can't even speak, yet he still produces an outstanding video. Very well done Dr. Mark, and get well soon.
Wwhat do you mean he can't speek? Was he injured?
@@Highice007 he has the flu.He is fine.Just cant talk to well.
@@Patrianos ok, thanks. I was worried for a minute there.
Very moving , a drop in the ocean to all those people’s lives lost
My Grandfather served 4 years in the great war of 1914 to 1918 in Egypt. He cared for hundreds of horses, bullocks and the men who rode them. He was a vet, blacksmith and trainer. WE see very little about the contribution that horses made to world. I believe that the German Army in both wars still relied on non motorised transport to move the front line. Grandfather was mentioned a number of times in dispatches and for me he came back alive. He never spoke of the war or wore his medals once he returned home but made a lifetime friend who three generations of my family have been named after that man. Thank you for your marvelous channel.
And don't forget the mules!
YA THERE WERE OVER 1MILLION OF THE FINEST FARM HORSES KILLED IN WW1 SOME GREAT BREEDING HORSES WERE LOST FOREVER DUE TO MAN LUNACY
yes there were a lot of animals, including some really amazing horses, even in the Korean war!
I am a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Army. My undergraduate degree is in History it served me well over a 28+ year career around the world in understanding the reasons and events behind the current situation (in whatever location). I really enjoy your World War II videos and your explanations of smaller events and details that would otherwise remain relatively unknown to a broader audience. I know you are (justly) compensated by the almighty algorithm, but I know you are motivated firstly by a love of history and a desire to share that information and for that I salute your efforts with a "like and subscribe". Keep up the good work!
Hello Good Sir, I have a question I'd like to ask if I may? In light of the current status of Western Civilization and especially America would it be a correct assumption that perhaps the Germans were not the villains of WW2 after all and that maybe the Allies were in fact deceiving the world as to the German's true motivations in fighting the Allied powers? From my observations it seems that America and Europe in their current paths are not at all what the Allied veterans fought and died for by no means. It seems like exactly what the Germans said would come to pass is happening. It is almost like the powers to be are doing everything in their power to collapse Western Civilization? Thank you for your time and your opinions on the matter if in fact you do have a few brief moments to elaborate. I only ask because of your stated education on the topic and i am very interested in someone of your understandings thought on the matter. Again thank you for your time, good day to you sir.
@@tasjan9190 What is the Western Civilization, what is it's status and how did the allies deceive the world? Are you ignorant of what nazi germany, the italian fascists, the japanese militarists and others, like the ustashe and chetniks did? Are you, by any means, a denier and/or a nazi simpatizer?
@@fjmmc9907 I am one of them... you got a problem with that, little girl ?
@@joshwaffen88 Yes I have, nazi drag queen. What are you going to do about it?
From a plumber and a fellow human being I thank you.. “Old soldier” For commenting… I salute you for your years of service… I hope you did not fail your self by the actions you might have had to commit to keep the American Dream alive.. Many thanks..
My maternal grandfather, a lorry driver with the 5th Jager Division, crossed the Elbe river in April 1945 and surrendered to the Amis. His daughter, 5, later became my mother, now 82.
My wife’s grandfather was a drafted cook in the Afrika Korps. Once captured, he spent the rest of the time as a POW worker. After the war, he had nothing to go back to so he settled in India and married there. He spoke poorly about being forced into war when he was just a young man who knew nothing of the world.
My mum was 13 when the war ended. Let's just say it was a country in the Axis camp. At close to wars end as the Partisans are advancing, the Germans were hastily retreating. She said she would never forget the look of absolute terror on a young soldiers face. He was riding a bike, yelled at her and her friends - " which way to such and such." The kids just pointed, and he ride off. Mum always referred to him as a good looking boy, and always remembered his terror.
"Partisans"?
@@carldrogo9492 She is probably from a former Yugoslavian country. "Partizani" is how we refer to Tito's communists.
My father was a Spitfire pilot shot down in the last few weeks of the war. He was in Germany at the surrender. I was fortunate to hear his first hand accounts of what it was like.
The German POWs interned here in Texas thought they were in summer camp. Horseback riding, swimming, soccer, baseball, "work" on local farms and ranches, it beat Russia. Some returned and settled in Texas after the war.
They were the lucky ones
Oh my gosh, I believe at 10:04, Herman Goering is shown surrendering his sidearm. That is a rare piece of footage. Well done, Mark Felton.
Actually it's not rare at all, and yeah it's him.
Notice Goering did not hand his pistol to anyone!!!
Not a rare piece of footage. Stop fawning
@@richardnixon4345Rude.
w0w
3 of dad's first cousins fought for Germany. One was captured by the British, one by the Americans and one by the Russians. Dad served in the US Navy, retiring in the 1970's. Another cousin was an officer in US Army intelligence. He somehow got the one in British custody transferred to American custody. The cousin held by the Russians came home in 1956 minus an arm.
Amazing.. Relatives fighting against each other.. I would have joined a war where my family were on the other side
@@barryirlandi4217 My Dads cousin flew with bomber command he was killed in 1943, my grandfather inlaw fought with the Wehrmacht both joined aged 19, we try to ensure the children respect both young men.
@@barryirlandi4217 A lot of people from the Soviet Union have family members who either fought for Germany in World War 2 or they fought for the "White Russian Army" against Lenin during the Russian Civil War. If you watch the movie "Borat" I think that the grandfather of the fat Armenian guy "Azamat" or "Azumat" was an Armenian soldier in the German Army during World War 2 and there were also a lot of ethnic Russians and Georgians in the German Army during World War 2 (some of the Russians and Georgians and Yugoslavians in the German Army fought against the British Army and the American US Army in France immediately after the D-Day invasion).
The three cousins were lucky to all return home alive -- especially the one caught by the Russians! Both of my parents came from Italy. I had two uncles fight in WWII. One was captured in Italian East Africa, the other in Libya and both ended up in the UK as prisoners. My mother also had two cousins -- a father and a son -- who were KIA in Yugoslavia.
@@willhovell9019 The biggest criminals that ever lived were the Soviets and British who brought so much misery all across the world.. I pity civilian losses of all sides but the communists and imperial criminals can go to hell along with their supporters
It is tough to watch this. The aftermath of war. No words are needed. Powerful video. Thank you Mark!
Mark, best ever. Emotional but yet so concrete. You really capture the phrase “a picture is worth more than a thousand words.”
Amazing. How a few minutes of footage can give you a little bit of taste of the low spirit and the crude, obscure now that were the only thing left for these guys. Nothing more. No glitter, no glamour, just exhaustion, resentment and appallment.
So many very young boys, it is truly heart wrenching!
I wish I could know each of their stories during and after the war.
Don't underestimate them, those "boys" did their share of murdering POWs and Civilians, particularly the 12th SS Armoured division.
@gaby radu how many miles from Stalingrad to Germany?
@@andyfish8835 use google
These young men were indoctrinated and brainwashed into thinking they were the 'master race' and that others people were inferior and worthy of being murdered or enslaved. It is easy to feel sympathy for them but please remember that these men probably had murdered other people. How far should empathy go ?
As Germany was losing men and the war the ground soldiers became younger. Some of those kids were 14, 15, and 16.
My grandfather came out of hiding in the Netherlands in 1944 and fought for our liberation with the British and Americans. He said that they weren't very tough on Wehrmacht personnel because they were mostly regular guys that were drafted. They did however "hunt", as he called it, for SS because they were often highly motivated and ruthless volunteers
Being a Veteran of the Parachute Regiment i have been very interested in WW2 facts and obviously Arnham, but i really do have to say that Not all Germans were in the Nazi's Mold, Those POW were doing the same job as any other nations troops, True there were some Nazi's in the ranks, And I refuse to believe Hiter took his own life, The coward who deserted his people and Left Berlin in the hands of young boys ,,and old men to fight the Red army,
watching all this German losing losing losing makes me so happy
@@petebishop6287 my grandfather was 19 when he was drafted to the german army, 1943, he never wanted to talk about the war anymore, but just one time he started to cry, when in the TV the march was playing: Ich hatt' einen Kameraden. Then he told me the story of his best friend Herbert, who was the same age like him, they were on the eastern front, they had the job to crack tanks with mines (Haftminen), which were intalled underneeth the tanks, when the soldiers were in a hole, Herberts bad luck was, that the tank-driver saw him and made a 360 grad turn above him, so he was burried ... I H A T E W A R ! I do not understand, why we have a war again in Europe, Putin go to hell!!!!!!!!!
God bless your grandfather a true hero.
@@pamtnman1515 absolutely, I wanted the film to go on forever .
One of my mom's cousins told the tale of how after the surrender in May he and a buddy somehow evaded capture and made their way back home on the Rhein all on foot. If memory serves correctly they were somewhere in Eastern Europe when they started out. They'd travel at night and lay low during the day sleeping, taking turns sleeping while the other kept watch.
Would have loved to read their account of that experience.
A similar story happened to my grandpa mothers side. Short before the war ended his unit was somewhere in the area of nowadays Czech Republic/Slovakia waiting for the Russians when their commander said:" Boys, the war is lost, throw your weapons and uniforms in the river and go home."
Nobody was complaining and so they went home. My grandfather was walking by foot at night until he reached his village in Eastern Westphalia. He never went into captivity.
I should mention that he was a blacksmith and had to work in factory producing important stuff for the war, so he only got drafted in late 1944, when they were running out of soldiers. He went then for 3 month to a base training and never reached the frontline.
The poor little boy who was blonde and wore glasses 🕶️!! He looks so scared and terrified!!! A teenager
He didn't look older than 14, I hope they didn't beat him
I was thinking of all the allied troops who worked so hard and sacrificed so much to get these prisoners to law down their arms. They are the heroes.
It was the Russians who defeated Germany, not the United States of Christian Fascist Amerika.
@@drewtube50x74 huh
Like the British children 1939, the German children were also evacuated from the big cities to the countryside. My father, born 1930, was relocated 1941 from the northwest of Germany to Hungary.
When the war ended, two weeks after he became 15, he made his way across Europe back to his family on his own. He knocked on the door, my grandmother opened, suspiciously asking this dirty, young stranger in tattered clothes. "What do you want?"
He answered: "It's me! Your son Karl! Don't you recognize me?"
Seeing "Saving Private Ryan" made me remembering that story, bursting out in tears. So does your video! The faces of these lost souls, some just 16, some maybe not even that. Living with what they have done and with what they have seen.
And even more heartbreaking to know, that 77 years after the war ended, another European country started a full scale war against its neighbour, with countless people fearing, maybe to see their sons & daughters, partners and parents never again ...
Well done, Mr. Felton! Well done!
some of the German soldiers were as young as 12, at the end
You forgot(or didnt know about) croatia's war of indepenence and the entire yugoslav wars from 1990-1995...the biggest confict on european soil after ww2 until this unfourtunate one
Thank you for sharing the experiences of your father. It all is heartbreaking, including the fact that it is actually happening as we write.
@@jackjohnsen8506 I saw what looked like a young kid with an SS patch on his shoulder. Madness!
@@kevstadubrava Yes, what a bloody mess that was. I didn't mention it, because it was more like a civil war between the people of former Yugoslavia. Not less gruesome though - especially if the "enemies" are neighbours from the same street or even the same family ...
MY Grandfather was taken prisoner in North Africa, was held in an American POW camp, said he was impressed how well they were treated.
Just finished reading a book on the north aftica campaign, excellent - i was aware of the german defeat at tunis etc but i had no idea the amount of germans who surrendered was so high, a big loss , but in the end valuable for germany post war to have so many fit men back to help the country again
My dad never talked about it but his military records said he guarded these Germans when the war ended for the consulate(something like that) so this has a special meaning to me. Witnessing this , causes me to see what he saw and how it felt for the Germans
A veteran from the Régiment de la Chaudière (Québec, Canada) from Cap-Chat, said to his family he made several Germans prisoners in Normandy and afterwards that many soldiers he captured and spoke with were good guys, not better or worse than any of us. One of those prisoners told him he felt ashamed about what he did to civilians, and he did not want to dishonor his family. They found out that German soldier dead in his cell, the morning after : the man used a razor blade to open his veins.
So sad...😰
"soldiers he captured and spoke with were good guys"............................How could he know that they hadn't murdered Jewish men, women and children?
@@blueshirtman8875 In a war there are good people and human beasts on each side. You seem to be too stupid to seize it.
@@PABeaulieu I seize what I see and know. There were know good people in the Nazi war machine. They lost and then found God. But go ahead with the insults .it amuses me, Try something more edgy and not so passé.
My grandpa was in a Soviet Gulag for almost 7 years. He hated the Soviet Union till his death in 2005, he conviced my brother and me to join the Bundeswehr instead community service.
If he was fighting in Russia surprised he survived m he must have been a grass for the Russians , He hated the Russians ? , the Germans invaded their country in spite of having a peace treaty , killed millions of civilians , got driven out . destroying and killing as you ran away , The Russians and the rest of the world hated the Nazis many more millions of times that your grandad hated the Russians , still think it strange he survived as very few did
@frankstippel5988 having studied some about the gulags, it's no wonder he hated it. It was a horrible place for many, many people
I was a Battery Commander, 1-41 Field Artillery, 3rd Infantry Division, during OIF-1. I remembered the stories my great uncle (11th Armored Division, 3rd Army) told me about during his time in World War 2. He told me the Germans were fleeing to the west to escape the Russians.
During OIF-1, we did not capture many Iraqi’s at all. They shed their clothes and ran. Disappeared. Every swimming pool I encountered in Baghdad had 1 or many more AKs at the bottom. Baghdad had no police. Thieves everywhere. It was like Apocalypse Now. The Iraqi’s I encountered were glad Saddam was gone.
I will never forget it.
German solders were what
@@Home-xq3fy running from the approaching Russian soldiers
I hope you are ok
When watching something about WW2, not very often you will view from the German perspective, those young faces were so innocent, you would wonder what were their stories.
I had two uncles and a godfather who were in Germany. I have a scrapbook of letters from my father's younger brother. It was quite obvious that dealing with the POWs after the war deeply affected him. There was no real plan or supplies after VE day. He had to watch the prisoners starve and suffer, and there was very little he could do. He really just wanted to be a plumber, never wanted to be a soldier, and watch the suffering close up.
They were trying to feed all of Europe, millions of refugees, displaced persons, c
Released pows and concentration camp inmates, and starving populations. Never mind their own forces. But never a calculated plan the starve millions to death like the Germans succeeded at.
There is nothing to learn about war, except how terrible it is. Germans were treated badly in Germany, during the war and after the war.
I was trying to point out the fact that many American GI's were collateral damage after the war. It is one thing to fight an enemy, it is something else to see defeated soldiers and civilians suffer, and you are powerless to help. There were no plans on dealing with so many people and so much destruction.
It is one thing to fight, it is another to be powerless to help your fellow man. If you look at the faces in the video, many are old men or boys, scared and wondering what will happen to them.
The responsible Nazi leadership mostly escaped both the suffering and punishment.
I am not saying everyone is innocent, just that for a young man to see unnecessary suffering and be powerless to help.
War is inexplicably tragic. And to think the same old puppet masters are determined to start another one in Ukraine is gut wrenching.
It may have looked like there was no plan, but instead there was just no capacity. Even the unbelievably productive American agricultural sector and awesome industrial and transportation system was strained to its limits to support not only the US military, but to also feed the British, the Soviets, and the newly-liberated peoples of Europe. Now there were suddenly vast numbers of German soldiers and civilians too.
I’ve learned so much from your videos over the years. I’ve laughed, I’ve felt anger and disgust over lesser known stories of atrocities. I’ve felt pride at the lesser known stories of bravery and heroism. This video simply brought me to tears and I thank you for such incredible content. Mark Felton is a treasure.
It is interesting these videos; many of which I have seen in documentaries. My uncle fought on the eastern front and was wounded. Sent back home for a bit for convalescence and then sent to the western front. Participated as a German soldier during battle of the bulge. Was captured by the U.S. Army not long after. He never did like Americans. He said they took his watch, took his ring, took his photos of his family as part of the capture process. Not long after my short tour in Vietnam (I was in the U.S. Army in the 1970s), I went to visit the family in Austria. While at a Gasthaus, he kept asking me "why are you in God's name in THEIR Army". Then he stopped for a bit and thought. Then, he said "well, at least you will know how to fight them the next time". He never was able to forgive his capture by the allies. Some of that was undoubtedly because they stole his personal items but a lot came from being defeated. Having, myself, lived in occupied Austria for a while (both Russian and US occupied zones), I can understand the feelings that he had. I only suffered the consequences afterwards. He expended the effort and almost 4 years of his life in the process. Must have been very disconcerting being captured.
Don’t go fighting for a maniacal nutcase then.
Face it, he was a hard core nazi. of course he resented being captured. He loved tossing children into gas chambers. He no doubt worshiped hitler. No pity for that scum.
What an amazing story. Thanks for sharing
Thank you for your story, & interesting insight into a mindset of the time. Obviously the taking of the personal possessions was never forgiven, but did he ever feel happier that the Americans had captured him rather than the Soviets, especially due the the millions of Soviet prisoners that were deliberately starved to death. At least the Americans fed him, & gave him a chance of life after the war. Did he also not think that due to the Malmedy massacre during the Battle of the Bulge, the Americans were very suspicious of the German Army at that time?
Looting was common in all armies, but they could have left him with his photos at least.
_'He never did like Americans. He said they took his watch, took his ring, took his photos of his family as part of the capture process.'_ Did he realise the world shaking mayhem he and his sort caused? He was lucky they didn't take his life as befell many who surrendered all over the world and should just be grateful he survived, sounds like a right disgruntled Nazi.
Мой дедушка Куражев Дмитрий Сергеевич командир полковой разведки старший сержант РККА воевал от Ленинграда и был тяжело ранен в близи Берлина в 70 км. Прожил 1923-91. Вечная память героям великой войны.
Слава Красной Армии!!!
Thank you for those pictures. My Polish grandfather was P.O.W. in Germany and had a hard time. My German grandfather became P.O.W. in the UK and had always pointed out the fair and good treatment by British authorities and the British people. He - a very common man- is even mentioned in a English history book of a local town in England as he was allowed to leave the camp and could meet with locals after the war officially ended.
As with the U.S., Canada hosted thousands of German Prisoners of War. My parents' city had 10,000 POWs- a larger population than the city itself! They were well housed and fed and provided with freedom for recreation as well as working local farms, if the chose. This is how my father made one of his lifelong friends who he even visited in Germany decades later. Numerous POWs decided to immigrate back to the region after the war. These POWs were largely good men who had not been given any choice in relation to going to war.
The chosen music for this video was very poignant and heavy hitting. You are a credit to this medium.
Get well soon Mark. You have produced a very powerful video here. Reading the comments is always very worthwhile a big thank you to all those who share their stories.
Good luck from Spain!!
To see the faces of some of the Generals, filled with apprehension and then to see Hermann Going still full of defiance is amazing.......
The last one was Admiral Karl Donitz. It is a sad scene seeing the faces of these German generals, I can't imagine the sense of guilt, sadness and regret maybe of leading so many young men into carnage, and never got together to defy their political leader who had by sheer madness gutted several generations of German people, not to mention the total annihilation of their country. There was opposition/resistance though, just not well supported, those men knew they had to get rid of their political leader, they all paid with their lives.
Very moving Mark. The face of defeat is the ruin of hopes and dreams once more being re-enacted in Ukraine. We, with regret, stubbornly resist all the past can teach us. Thank you for these clips.
This could’ve easily been avoided if people just remembered number one Nazis are bad number two it’s not the end of the world if somebody speaks a different language from you.
the clip where the German officer walks up the the Allied officer and extends his hand but the Allied officer just shakes his head no. Speaks volumes. And the music was amazing. It reminds me of the score for Angels in America.
Eisenhower refused to meet with high ranking German military for one reason, out of disrespect for what they had done!
@Private They are surrendering not diplomatic meeting where you will shake hands with your counterparts. Even I would not shake a hand with the army of butchers who gas to death millions and millions of civilian.
@@totoitekelcha7628 The typical Wehrmacht Frontsoldier didnt gas anyone...Bullshit argument. Its like "Private" said: No honour with a defeated enemy
@@diedeutscheogerschau8367 They shot many civilian during invasion of soviet union. Don't try to hide your sub human nazi action and also those surrendering are a collection of SS division and and some garbage nazi division too.
@@totoitekelcha7628 and then US went on to napalm bomb women and children in Vitenam... or why not lynch people for being afro-americans... so much for the moral high ground.
Very touching. Certainly showcases the humanity off it all. Rest in peace to all fallen during these times
Wow that was very powerful 1,000,000 out of 10.
My Grandafther was a boy soldier in the first world war, volunteering just shy of 17 so 16! He spent over three yeare at 'wipers'. This bought a tear to my eye. Thank you Mark.
My dad landed in Normandy on June 6 1944. He told us that he had much respect for the German soldier.
Do you know why he respected them? What made them respectable?
I guess it varies cuz mine really despised them. Grandma told me of letters that he was angry that when they got to Germany the people there were living well, compared to how they treated others. My other side of family had people who fought in the Pacific and well you can tell what they thought of them.
@@XX-bn9sf My dad, for the lack of better words was a hard ass. He came out of the coal mines and joined the army after Peral Harbor.. He did what ever it took to get a job done I think he seen a lot of himself in them.
Shock, resentment, fear, exhaustion, pride, bewilderment, dejection, anger.... it's all there.
And arse kicked
It is so painful that human beings have not yet learned from war in all history
May the almighty Lord bring a lasting peace to this paradise Planet !
@LEOREALM2 it won't happen in this world
That was, in my opinion, the most moving presentation you have ever uploaded to RUclips. Despite the wickedness and evil they inflicted on the world, watching this video I can’t help but feel sympathy for them on a human level.
I can’t be tolerant of all of them.
Toby --- Well, your thumbnail shows where your allegiances are. If someone was trying to kill me in a war that I did not ask for and their society was trying to take over the World cuz they thought their leader, their society, their culture was superior to everyone else I would not have any "sympathy" for them. These POW's should have all been put into slave labor for 10 years, the hard-liners for the rest of their lives and the Nazi agitators and war criminals executed. Yeah, I am an old-time Canuck........... not a new time wussy like the Trudeau crowd, but even HE recently said publically that he has NO SYMPATHY for those Muslims from Western Countries that joined the Islamic State, women included.
@@richardkammerer2814 That is entirely understandable
Do you feel empathy for the Russians today. Because they both committed the same war crimes.
Not me
There was a German POW camp in my mother’s Illinois hometown. She remembered them sounding the town’s emergency sirens every day as they’d march the prisoners through town to work at the local canning factories, and again in the afternoon to march them back to camp. Many of them remained in the area after the war.
What town in Illinois?
@@ozzyluna6034 she was from Hoopeston.
The first 75 arrived in April 44, roughly 2 months before Dday, so they were "tough ones", maybe Afrika Korps or captured in Italy
My dad saw many of these scenes. He was supposed to ship out to the invasion of Okinawa. But when the Army found out he could speak fluent German, they assigned him to the 264th Prisoner Interrogation Battalion. He was part of of the first “Werewolf Hunters”.
How many German prisoners spoke English? How many US soldiers knew fluent German?
Lucky for him: I bet he was glad he didn't have to face the Japanese army
@@steveshapiro326 hard to say for many reasons. There have always been a lot of ethnic Germans in America. But after WWI and the outbreak of WWII many enlistees and draftees who could speak German tried to hide it for obvious reasons. My father was first generation American and I’m certain my grandparents were under FBI surveillance as were many German-American families. Soldiers who could speak fluent German wanted to avoid ridicule by their fellow soldiers and did not want to invite additional scrutiny upon their families.
It was common for American soldiers to know German and German soldiers to know English.
At the time, German immigrants were the second largest group of immigrants to America and there were a lot of family connections between the two nations.
@@dragonsbreath1984Wow that's amazing
The worst was yet to come for those shown in Soviet captivity, not many survived.
The look on goering's face when they take his revolver.. the whole thing was a big game to him up till that very moment. You can see it in his eyes. Great job with this one. The look of sorrow and defeat in their faces says it all. No need for a monologue.
Yeah he thought he was going to be given special treatment and even have a role in a post-war government! He never expected to be treated as a prisoner.
Even without your voice your videos are still far better than anything on the History Channel
My holiday video when I forgot to take the lens cap off would be better than the history channel 😃
They should rename it the trash channel 😊
The history channel should be renamed History-Lite.
I'm moved to tears. Thank you Dr. Felton for another wonderful video.
You wouldn't be if you knew about the crimes against humanity they were so willing to commit for the Fatherland.
@@drewtube50x74 The victims of the nazi regime included the German people as well as soldiers
My uncl was a member of Patton's Third Army. When in Germany answering the call to rescue trapped Allied forces at the Bulge, they stopped to refuel. When stopped a young woman brought a note to the officer at her location. It was from a German Commander asking to meet to negotiate the peaceful surrender of 300 German troops. It was all done in two hours. AND the German troops marched themselves to a point of secure facilities to house them. They wanted to stop the madness.
Also it seems that a German Wehrmacht section joined Americans in preventing an SS group from killing a group of Allied prisoners.
Germn Kreigsmarin personal help sail Prinz Eugen and Hipper to Boston Naval ship yard to be stripped of weaponry. Paid is US dollar when job completed.
Wo haben sie das denn her, Beweise. Sie wissen hoffentlich, wie die Soldaten Gottes mit gefangenen SS-Angehörigen umgegangen sind@@davidpowell3347
Probably knew there was a good chance they be back on the Eastern Front soon, where chances of being prisoners of the Soviets were likely, or worse getting KIA.
German units were littered with secret police "gestopo" and would shoot on site anyone who voiced surrender. Those who did surrender had already disposed of the gestopo assigned to their units. It's well documented in many WW2 books of which I've read hundreds.
Powerful images, each scene literally tells its own story. From old men to mere boys, each has seen the horrors of war and death, each wears their own emotional scars that haunts them for the rest of their lives. To the survivors, the dead are actually the lucky ones, never having to live with the fear of what comes next or the heartache of leaving their loved ones. Rest in eternal peace to all, whichever uniform you wear.
If they were brave and smart they could have shoot their officers. Rebelious soldiers + dead officers = no war.
A very touching video revealing many emotions on both sides.
There are no winners of war, only survivors and even they die inside from guilt. They only physically survive to warn us. To warn us that there is nothing more terrible than what they have done. Jake Fulton.
Thank you...
Just watched, you are correct. An excellent video . We all hope you are recovering well Sir. Thank you as always for the education. Always a pleasure to enjoy your works.
My Grandfather Maximilian Schreiner was part of the NAPOLA and became the youngest soldier of Austria with only 12 (!) years of age. Fortunately he never had to take part in the war. However, when the war ended he was devastated. He died with only 56 years, i never got to know him. My mother always said he died because he could not take the lost war and the death of his sister while he was in NAPOLA (he was not even allowed to come home when she died). Rest in peace - May i get to know you in another life!
that is awful
My grandfather fought on the eastern front and was shot through the mouth by the Russians.He told of stories of gun fights in the forest where almost all of his company was mowed down by machine gun fire and He was unscathed, this fucked with his mind after the war.Why did He survive while others lost their life?He ended up as an alcholic later on when he returned to Germany to deal with mental issues and the injuries that destorted his face.He did have a go at a family and had four children but later on divorced because of his issues.
“Sometimes is better to surrender than fight for a lost cause & life is priceless “ …this can apply to currents events.
This is one of your most intense and touching videos! Indeed the pictures say more than a thousand words about fear, sorrows, misery but also relief and hope.
Once again great work! Get well soon!
Haunting music and subliminal title, I’ve served my country for over twenty years, I’m not old enough to remember World War Two, but I have seen many defeated faces, as a species when will we learn? Thank you Mark for another quality production. The videos you choose contain so much raw emotion, empathy and humanity and the music stirs guttural feelings of sorrow. I’m luck enough to teach apprentices now, tomorrow I’m going to share this video with them, after all they are the generation that carries the baton of freedom now, I hope they can do a better job than my generation.
Well stated . In my mid 60s and have great hope in , and see promise in the next generation 👍.
This video didn't need a voice over .
The pictures tell a thousand words
Some of those soldiers were only young boys
All out war.
I was about to say that I'm glad he didn't add commentary to this.
Не жалко совсем немецких мальчиков. В моей стране был убит каждый четвертый человек, мирных людей женщин и детей сжигали целыми деревнями немецкие мальчики
@@Тутэйшая-б1м I hope you have the same unbiased feelings about the soviets who raped every single city they've ever "liberated".
Looking at the boys' faces breaks my heart. My dad wad pulled out of college, put in a uniform, was given a gun and spent seven Years as a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union. Came back to Germany as a broken man. I have grieved all my life the lives lost to Hitler's actions whether they were any other country or ours. 😢
@barbarayork3675 this breaks my heart
Chilling, especially the images from Stalingrad (no pun intended), very few of those POW's ever made it out of Russia. One can only imagine what thoughts must have been going through the minds of all of those men in your film. 'Faces of defeat' - one can see terror, confusion, resignation, anguish etched on many of those faces, but also a few of those faces reveal defiance and arrogance. My own grandfather was a POW, and miraculously made it home alive. Austrian by birth, he moved to the Netherlands in the late 1920's, and worked in the shipbuilding industry in Vlissingen. He married my grandmother who was of Dutch decent and they had two children, my aunt being born in 1932 and my father in 1934. At the start of WW2 when the Netherlands fell to the German forces, he went into hiding in Amsterdam, but due to an altercation with the local police in 1941 (I have copy of the actual police report), he was arrested and as he was considered to be 'German', handed over to the German military authorities who were 'kind' enough to give him a choice. For a draft dodger, he was lucky, as an Austrian from a good Catholic family it was either prison or join the Weermacht, He chose the latter because at least, he was assured, the family would be taken care of. They were transported to Austria where they stayed till 1946. Grandfather was sent to Russia after his brief basic training, where he ended up an infantryman in Stalingrad. He was one of the approximately 91000 soldiers taken prisoner by the Russians. Again he was lucky, as he was amongst some of the few POW's transported to Odessa (most ended up in Siberia), from where he was able to escape in 1946. Over several months, travelling at night and hiding during the day, he literally walked back home to his mothers house in Leoberdorff. He was reunited with his family and they emigrated to South Africa in the late 1940's. When I see images of the prisoners of Stalingrad, weary and defeated men walking, some crawling through the snow, I can't help but wonder if I might in fact be looking at my grandfather. I was lucky enough to know him, but looking at the images of the Stalingrad POW's in particular, and knowing the awful history of what happen to them (and yes, I suppose one might be excused at thinking they perhaps got what they deserved) but, unlike the Western allies, the Russians were merciless, and few POW's made it out alive, never seeing their loved ones and families again, I therefore count myself as lucky to have know my grandfather. I don't count the experiences of the other 'faces of defeat' as being less important, but Stalingrad has personal relevance for me. Thank you so much Dr. Felton, hope your flu gets better soon.
Thanks for writing this comment! You did an excellent job sketching scenes from your grandfather's life and, in so doing, from the lives of so many others around him and even much further distant. Your specific impressions of these "faces of defeat" and their lives cast light on the faces and lives of so many others. Ultimately, it was a powerful reminder of the value of human life - each one and all of them - and the never ending need to respect and protect it all.
Thanks, Nick. It gave me a perspective to help come to terms with what my father's war experience on the Eastern Front might have been, 99% of which he never talked about with me- I got much of it from my mother after he died (2009, aged 90).
I was very moved by this. I know some people will not agree but the poor soldiers the Soviets captured made me feel so sad.
Хватит делать лица, Фриц! Сталинградская летопись прекрасно показывает - русские солдаты одеты в дубленки, шапки с ушанками и, о, чудо! валенки!!! Ну, да! если немецкий солдат сдавался в русской дубленке, фетровых сапогах или шляпе, его расстреливали на месте, без суда. надо объяснять - почему? и представьте себе - итальянские солдаты... у них даже не было сапог. сапоги с высокой шнуровкой - 146% гарантия того, что они получат обморожение-гангрену-ампутацию... всех ресурсов Германии хватало только на то, чтобы обеспечить нормальной зимней формой только группу армий «Север», группу армий «Центр» и группу армий «Юг» - зимней обмундирования у них вообще не было. как это случилось, Фриц?, может быть, вас тупо загнали на бойню, просто потому, что вам нечем было кормить?
Sad that only a fraction of the Nazis were ever convicted. Most ended up working for the US.
Both my grandfathers became POWs at the end of the war. They had the luck of ending up on the western side and both ended in British custody. Both of them got treated 'well' and with humanity.
One of them got caught while retreating near Aachen, the other one somewhere in Norway.
This is their war:
The first served as a Flakhelfer in the Ruhr valley area while still visiting school. Later at the age of 17 he joined the Kriegsmarine U-Boot-Waffe (the only one from his town who did go to the navy) blinded by the propaganda. This worked out until his boat got sunk by Allied airforce. Only he, then a Junior Officer, and two others survived because they were lucky enough to be standing watch when the submarine got bombed. He could jump in the water, the boat sunk in an instant and he got rescued a couple of hours later by a German patrol vessel. Afterwards he got reassigned to fight land warfare on the western front. Although he never talked much about it we figured it would have been from late 1943 till the end of war. He got shot once and caught shrapnel in his leg on another occasion so I think he saw his fair bit of battle. The only thing he told me was that it was always a retreating war with low hopes of winning it. He only spend a couple of weeks in a POW camp near Aachen and was released because he was young, had no SS background and told everyone that he was a farmer and needed to help his family survive.
He was scarred for his life both mentally and phisically and never talked much about the war.
The other one started in the Navy in 1942. He served on a patrol boat. In his first combat experience he bumped his head so hard running up the stairwell when alarm was rung, that he had to go to the hospital for weeks. After hurting his head he also dropped ammunition on the main deck because of the extreme fear he went through. He was first ordered to stay below deck on further combat and then reassigned to land duty on the occupation of Norway. He was an actor and not a fighter by heart. I think he didn't see much combat in Norway. He really loved the Norwegian people especially a woman in the area he was stationed at. When Norway was liberated his unit was withdrawn to Schleswig-Holstein where they handed themselves over to the Allies a couple of days later.
He got into a British POW camp and after only one week he was released: His ability to cite and act Shakespeare's tragedies impressed the officers so much, they just released him. He also didn't like talking about what happened in war.
Not sure if this is interesting to you but you said that you don’t know the different stations your first grandfather made from 1943 on. You can write to the Bundesarchiv to get a detailed report where a family member was stationed. We did this with my great grandfather and it was enlightening.
It’s pretty cheap and also fairly quick. Maybe that helps to shed some light :)
@@surfinganonymously Handy to know. Thank you.
To be captured by Stalin Red Army was the greatest nightmare of all!The romanian people know well that nightmare,like german people,or any others who was in the soviets "custody"?.
Very Powerful thank you Mark no words needed .. I am German, my parents still young at the time, we’re displaced during War. Snd had Onkels that served ..and it gives me weird gut feelings, especially the captives in Russia knowing most did not make it back ..
Tatsächlich lagen die Sterberaten lediglich bei 8-15% wenn man die Soldaten aus Stalingrad rausrechnet. Da aber viele Menschen ihre Angehörigen nicht als vermisst oder gefallen meldeten waren deutsche Schätzungen der Anzahl der Kriegsgefangenen deutlich höher.
How many Soviet POW's survived their Wehrmacht captivity????
My father was a POW at Stalag 8B Lamsdorf in Germany, now Poland, for several years. The Germans held Russian POWs in an adjacent camp in atrocious conditions. Forty-thousand Russian soldiers died there. BTW, I am a Doran also - my mother's maiden name.
I watched this expecting to be "that's what you get" but within a few minutes, I saw the humanity and removed judgement. Just men, sometimes boys, caught up in one madman's madness. My empathy comes easy. I was once held at gunpoint on a Yugoslavian train platform during the war and made to stand this way for 20 minutes.
@997JM yikes