There was some Waffen SS but also former Wehrmacht soldiers in the French Foreign Legion that fought in the French Indo'-China War but the numbers have been exaggerated. Look at the official French Foreign Legion regimental histories for confirmation.
A lot of them ran away and joined the circus. Many others became fashion designers in Paris, London and Milan. The adjective "camp" actually comes from "Kampf" (as in "Mein Kampf"). There are several episodes of the Goon Show where Spike Milligan makes a lot of this. A surprising number became ice cream men, many moving to England and selling ice creams in Bristol, Yarmouth and Brighton.
A late friend as a young man was in the Merchant Navy around the early 1970’s and his boat berthed at Hamburg. They all went into a dockside pub which had a picture of Gunter Prien on the wall. Suddenly an old Scouse sailor said “that’s my mate, that is” and went on to tell the Hamburgers how as a young man Prien’s U Boat had stopped the Scouser’s merchant ship, ordered the crew off into a lifeboat, gave them some provisions, sunk the ship then radioed in the survivors position for the British to rescue them. My friend said they were bought drinks all night.
Two of my uncles were forcibly drafted from a small Austrian town. They were lined up, one was sent to the SS the other to the Wermacht. After a short basic training period they were sent to battle. The one sent to the SS died inside the first week and the other within three weeks, They were 16 & 17. My father was 13 and given a rifle, little training and sent to the front. He and his best friend saw American tanks rolling towards them, dropped their rifles and ran. Like all wars, it’s the young who are the victims of politicians whims. My father ended up in Australia and I’ve had a great life.
A lot of them ended up joining the French Foreign Legion to the point where the Legion still uses their marching songs (although slightly edited) to this day.
My neighbor Gunther fought in Berlin at the end war as a teenager. His uncle came to visit him (1987) and he introduced him to me,he was already in his 80's. Knowing that I was interested in the war he described some his actions and showed me his SS member tattoo on his forearm.This guy was not someone you would want to fuck around with.
My dad fought in the US Army on the Italian front. He didn't talk about it but once he said "The Wehrmacht were soldiers like us; SS were something else."
@cia1784he didn't fight the Soviets. Don't know what his opinion would have been. But I know he and my Dad hated the Germans and Japanese. They said they killed most of the boy's they grew up with. And many of their friends in the service. Stay on point. No part of this comment mentioned Soviets
If you listen to Himmler's Posen Speech, he describes what an SS man is. It is clear that these soldiers were being psychologically conditioned to become merciless killers under full control of the leadership. They were a paramilitary corps trained and indoctrinated to act as a merciless war machine, combining elite combat skills with ideological fanaticism, capable of enforcing state power internally and conducting brutal operations externally, often beyond conventional military norms.
After seeing a concentration camp my uncles Army unit K-LLED everone wearing a black uniform. He spoke about it with a smile on his face and his only regret was that they got off "too easy" .
Back in the early 80s I had a girlfriend who was French. Her father fought in the Foreign Legion in what was then French Indo China, Now Viet Nam, he told me and showed me photos of Legion troops who were ex Waffen SS and had been put into their own units, they even wore some of their WWII decorations. He said there were several thousand of them and they were VERY efficient at guerrilla warfare. He had a lot of admiration for them as soldiers and even said they were honorable men.
@keithoades5516 I think the SS who fought for France in Indochina were forced to, it was their sentence after ww2, for example, a lot of French volunteers of the Charlemagne Division (French Volunteer SS division) were sent to Indochina
My grandfather was in the Waffen SS in what we believe to be the 22nd SS Cavalry Division 'Maria Theresa' and the III Panzer Corps and fought against the Soviets. It has always been difficult to talk about when people ask if you grandfather was in the second world war. It's such a contrast, that one side of my family fought for Germany, and on the other side, were Yugoslav partisan's fighting against the Germans. My grandfather was lucky enough to have retreated through Austria, surrendering to the U.S. Army instead of being captured by the Soviets.
@prestigious5s23 No, he passed away over 20 years ago. But many of family are still in Germany. I always say I will come and visit, and they always tell me it is not worth it, there is crime a violence everywhere, but they don't report on it, you don't see it in the news. They tell me it is so bad there now, thousands of Germans are leaving the country to find a new place to live, it's that bad. They tell me the islamists will take it over in the years to come.
@ParthaSarkar-X14 In America, we are deporting illegals. Much to the displeasure of the left. I think the left would LOVE to see America become a Third World country. Just like the left would love to see Germany fall to the Islamists. They are mentally ill psychopaths. Remove the left (by whatever means necessary) and get rid of the Islamist pricks once and for all. Your alternative is an Islamist Germany.
i’ve heard the rejoining story and would say those countries and the actions back then many of these Waffen would have been snapped up, including the French Foreign Legion who didn’t care what your background was! My father was on active service when these units tore through Greece in 30 days in 1941
While living in Canada I had a chance to meet two veterans. The first was the veteran of 12th, the second was the veteran of 14th. Both of them were really decent human beings, and I remember them with deep gratitude. And both of them managed to build a better life than soviet veterans I saw while living in Soviet Union,
I worked at a Stonemasons in Espelkamp in Westfalia in the mid nineties. All my German workmates were great, very welcoming. One though was standoffish and gave me the side-eye a lot. Found out he didnt much like me as an Englander as he was ex SS
I was stationed in Stuttgart in the 1980’s and our Security Guards were “retired” German military personnel. There were a few the rest would not have anything to do with and when I asked once I was told they were former SS. These men carried themselves different than the others, quieter, more businesslike. Very, very polite.
This politeness is interesting, because in my childhood i learned that politeness is submissiveness. Growing up, my great-grandfather was a scary mofo. He had no fingernails, after 8 years in the Gulag as a political prisoner where they used pliers to rip their nails off and made them sit naked on top of each other to "go to the toilet". On his dying bed, I asked him if he had any regrets about the time that had been taken away from him. I remember him reaching for a piece of salami (he loved salami after getting out) and saying "Not as many regrets as these guards will have when they die". Point is - the horrors that you had to see, do, or endure, make you feel like the smallest bug in the world. That is a curse you take to the grave.
I was in a small bar I frequented in a small town in south western Germany in the early 1980s. There was a tall well dressed, distinguished looking man talking to tho owner. As he was leaving he stopped to ask me if I was English, I said I was. He said that he’d always respected the English shook my hand and left. Another customer I’d talked to before came across and said ‘I see the Colonel spoke to you’, I said yes and told him what he’d said. He then told me that the man was the owners father he was a Waffen SS Colonel captured at Stalingrad and eventually returned home in 1955 when the Russians released all remaining German POWs. It’s funny who you come across in a small bar in a small town.
Was in a bar in Munich in about 1992, went downstairs looking for the loo and inadvertently walked into what I guessed was an SS reunion. About 30 old men eating a meal and drinking beers with insignia and flags on display. Youd have thought it was a school reunion. Utterly bewildering.
Thats interesting. Given the obvious stigma around them they probably had to have that party in secret. And there would be reasons why it seemed to be only ss veterans. Most Wehrmacht veterans would refuse to be affiliated with one and practically all Wehrmacht veteran groups denied memberships or entry if they found out you volunteered to the ss.
SS members also resided in East Germany. If useful to the communist state, they had been misled and needed to be watched. If not useful, they were former fascists that, needed to be watched even more.
Rengeteg német katona és főleg SS állt be a Francia Idegenlégióba...és főleg ennek köszönhető a légió megerősödése. Mivel sok SS-tiszt is volt a légió soraiban, így meghonosították a poroszos fegyelmet, a brutálisan kemény kiképzést, stb. Még a légiósok ruházatában is fellelhető volt sok német felszerelés (barna ing, zöld nyakkendő, stb), mivel a franciák ezeket rekvirálták, és felhasználták az Ideghenlégió számára. Sok SS-indulót is átvett az Idegenlégió, például "Anne-Marie de 3.REI" vagy "Westerwald", "La Légion marche", stb... A Westerwaldot konkrétan németül éneklik a légióban is.... 🙂
Major Larry Thorne. He served as a lieutenant in the Waffen SS, moved to the US and became a Major in the Green Berets, fought three tours in Vietnam. He went through Green Beret training at 45 years old. He is the only SS soldier ever buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
@American-DragonI had the honour to speak to one at Puyloubiere which is the legions veterans home,where you have to go before being accepted for basic. I went twice and it was the second time I was introduced to a former Waffen SS member. Very old and covered in tattoos and in a wheelchair,what an afternoon being baked the Southern French sun and drinking red wine and conversing in pidgin French,German and English. It’s a memory I treasure of my years in La Famille.
@mauricecohen3830Arlington was stained a long time ago. Relatives of congressmen and senators, big money donors. Thorne fought in two wars for the US. He has more right than most to be there
@rburrows7786 Sorry, no. The Waffen SS participated in countless war crimes against innocent civilians and American prisoners of war. Does Malmedy ring a bell?
I grilled a former SOE member about 40 years ago to dish something fun, he told me the French had a large number of SS who fought in Vietnam, before the US took over....
@richlancaster8336 That is well known. The SS were woven into the French Foreign Legion and continued their brutality against Vietnamese. Japanese soldiers were also appointed as police members and in an oblique irony had been beaten by Ho Chi Minh's army. De Gaulle renegged on the deal to release Vietnam from colonial control. He was embarrased by France's division with the Vichy ( a third of France was pro German and anti semetic) and wanted a revitalised France. The Vietnamese suffered and eventually the French left, after executing thousands of Vietnamese. Go to the Maison Prison in Hanoi and witness the horrendous conditions. The French were replaced by neo colonialisy when the Yanks arrived, support from my country Australia.
In 1982 I was based in Minden with BAOR I was 25 years old. At the rear of the camp there was a pub “Quelles”. We used to drink there regularly, always well received and looked after by the staff. Often there would be a group of men in their 50/60s. After a while we would get talking they were all WW2 vets, some from the Army, a couple of former U boat crew and one was former SS. It used to turn into old and new soldiers just drinking and having a laugh. In my view in a different time and circumstances that could have been me.
That is what most people do not get. There is nothing genetically unique about the Germans. What happened in Germany in that time period could happen anywhere. I am not standing up for the NAZI's. I am just saying that most people put into the same situation as those Germans were in their youth would have made similar choices as those German fellas you met.
Yes correct, and a lot fell in Dien Bien Phu. Few people understand that some of these men only have known military life from h. jungen organizations to military units. .
@josephnelson3516 Other Losses by James Bacque is also essential reading. It documents the imprisonment of 100's of thousands of surrendering German soldiers and civilians too, confined to open air barbed wire camps in the Rhineland.
@josephnelson3516 this book is one of the best at describing the beast system and Babylon in Revelations/ a mystery to the reprobate but soon will be a mystery to no one We need to be on our knees praying for mercy for ourselves and the few who will see the “truth” Jesus said “those who live by the sword will die by it” Babylon has carefully removed “love your enemy” from its belief and as a result there is no more power in the false gospel.
Your facts are wrong concerning the uniform,the black parade uniform was not worn in combat by the Waffen SS,except for Panzer crews which was piped in red. Which the parade uniform wasn’t. In combat they wore field green/grey and DPM coveralls.
@KungFuWizardOfJesus no Patton was a scum bag before this during the Bonus Marches, he’s not a scumbag for being friendly to SS soldiers because Germany still pays reparations, he’s a scum bag because Japan got away with a holocaust of their own as well as doing things the Nazis didn’t even think of via UNIT 731. Patton allowed secret pardons and suppressed information about the Japanese atrocities and have not had to pay reparations since 1977. Those SS soldiers treated captured US serviceman 100 times better than the Japanese treated their captured US serviceman.
General Patton was 100% a soldier. He appreciated all other soldiers who fought hard and did not give up. Warriors make friends very easily with other warriors.... no matter what their background.
My Opa was SS. He fought in Russia and Africa. He always claims he and his men were crack infantry never executioners. He left Geemany in 51 and came to Australia. He received a pension until his death in 2000
@direct2397 , I actually knew a similar gentleman. Yes as you age in a non native land, you do pick up the linguistic variations of the language. Then again some people just have to be the vent hole on the south end of a north bound mule 🙄
Your Opa fought for his country and what he believed to be righteous. You should be proud of him. Ignore the ignorant people like direct2397. Obviously, he hates himself.
I think the part that surprised me the most is the lack of guerrilla warfare and sabotage after the war by these units. It is indicative of how much they wanted the war to end also
Its not in the German nature, I served in the UK military and talked to many different soldiers from different countries. The Latin and Slav countries had resistance and partisan movements, the Germanic nations did little in terms of resistence , when I asked why I was told its just not in there nature, you agree and sign a surrender and thats it in there minds.
In about 1968 the British comedian Ron Geesin brought out an album of sketches. One of them featured the following exchange: "Hi! My name's Hans Richter from Argentina". The other guy asks "And what did you do in the war Hans?" Hans replies: "I was a gaucho, on ze Pampas!"
Pretty sure that if outside of Germany, they worn field grey (Feldgrau) or green, which then lead to the camouflage. Not the black as per the . SS concentration camp battalions may have worn the black. Black uniform = Allgemeine-SS (not Waffen-SS combat troops) The iconic all-black uniform (Schwarzer Dienstanzug) was the parade/dress uniform of the Allgemeine-SS (the "General SS" - the political, non-combat part of the SS). It was worn inside Germany for ceremonies, guard duties, office work, and by concentration-camp staff (Totenkopfverbände). After 1939-1940 it was almost never worn in actual combat or on the front lines. This is a pretty, petty comment, but if you are commenting on the Waffen SS... maybe know the uniform colours.
@jonathanohagan1349 in late war (as early as June 1944, but mostly in December 1944 to the end May 1945) film converted to video, we can see the Waffen SS by the pea dot ("erbsenmuster") camouflage tunics (shirt coats) that they wore. The pea dot blotches were about the diameter of a bottle cap. Before that they could be seen wearing oak leaf camouflage tunics of similar colors, but with blotches the size of oak leafs.
The Leibstandart only wore black during ceremonial duties, as they were Hitlers personal bodyguards, when the war broke out in 39, they donned the field grey uniform, only the Allegmaine SS kept the black, as they were more a Police unit
My great uncle (however many times removed) was in the Waffen SS. I can't say what and where exactly, however I found his name in a list of the 3rd SS Panzerdivision Totenkopf, a unit known to have been especially radical. I personally remember him as a kindly, a little chubby person, who loved good food, laughter and his family. His son btw was a real hippie, big fan of Led Zeppelin whose daughter is of mixed heritage (German/Algerian). I've never heard any complaints from either side. So my hope is that people are able to change and learn from their past.
My dad was part of the 15. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr. 1). He spent his time in continuous training. His unit surrendered one day after my dad's 21st birthday. At one point he, as POW, was held at Dachau.
@railmaster.7752 who do you think were judges, civil servants, professors, doctors etc.. to be a member in the party or another organization as a part of your social class was pretty common
@ravanpee1325 The headline say Waffen SS, they talk about SS black uniforms, that's pre war Allgemeine SS (and war time SS panzer uniforms), the film mention both branches of SS so the headline should be changed to just SS, not Wagfen SS.
2 of my family members were in the SS. Brothers. The older was taken as a POW to Britain and worked there. He stayed upon his release. The younger was released by officers shortly after his capture since he was 16 years old.
This story starts with false information right away!!! The Waffen SS did not wear black uniforms. If there is such a mistake right from the start, then I can't watch this story any further.
Not all of them. One ex-2nd SS Veteran was 'Guest Of Honour ' at the last D-Day commemorations. He fled to Canada after the War (he wasn't the only one) and received a 'standing ovation' in their Parliament a few years ago. Yaroslav Hunka.
People love to see things as black & white, good vs evil angles. No need to think too much then. While real life is quite more complex. And BTW the Wehrmacht also collaborated with the Einsatzgruppen and security police. And did crimes of their own. And as this the Soviets, Allies and so on. It's always full of grey areas.
There is an SS officer buried in Arlington national cemetery, he also served as a Captain in the U.S. Army and served in a third country; I can't remember which one.
Posted from Wikipedia Am wondering why they never made a movie about this guy. Lauri Allan Törni (28 May 1919 - 18 October 1965), later known as Larry Alan Thorne, was a Finnish-born soldier who fought under three flags: as a Finnish Army officer in the Winter War and the Continuation War ultimately gaining a rank of captain; as a Waffen-SS captain (under the alias Larry Laine) of the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS when he fought the Red Army on the Eastern Front in World War II;[3] and as a United States Army Major (under the alias "Larry Thorne") when he served in the U.S. Army Special Forces in the Vietnam War.
@MS-wb5mf Wernher von Braun, SS officer and commander of the KZ Mittelbau Dora. He became director of NASA and was the head of the rocket construction.
Most of them just ditched their uniforms as quickly as possible, blended in with regulars, and then went home. Just like everyone else at the end of the war. My dad came back from Europe and got a job on an automobile assembly line. He hated it and joined the newly formed Air Force. He ended up with 22 years of military service.
In the 1960s I knew a doctor in Lower Saxony who had lost his toes in the Russian snows with the 2nd SS Panzers, he told me that most who survived were those on medical leave when the war ended. Many SS still in their units in the East were murdered by the Soviets.
They were no less brutal than the NKVD. But to the victor go the spoils. Besides, the horrific deeds of the NKVD before, during and after the war in the occupied/would-be liberated countries could easily match or exceed the level of brutality of the SS.The concept of "purges" , "labor camps" had long existed in the USSR before the Nazis came to power in Germany.
Some of the best publications on the waffen ss were produced by the HIAG veteran association as it was the first time some units could have their stories put into print,their best seller was when all brothers are silent,the photo book of the waffen ss...now highly collectable and always commands high prices.
The most fascinating part is how many were recruited by both the CIA and KGB. Their intelligence on the Eastern Front made them valuable assets overnight. The real 'aftermath' was a shadow war, fought with former SS soldiers as the pawns.
If immigration in europe keeps at this rate, there's going to be a huge resurgence on this kind of thoughts and the final result won't be pretty for anyone... history is there for a reason but politicians just keep fighting to be in power and keep their pocklets full and don't think aobut future problems
It should be noted that Karl Nicolussi-Leck only stayed in Argentina for a few years, as he returned to his native South Tyrol in the early 1950s and remained there until his death in 2008
to my understanding, Waffen SS were soldiers who fights on the frontlines and conducts anti-partisan activities, while the "regular" SS were more of a secret police/enforcer type of organisation. Both SS swore their allegiance to Hitler himself.
@odysseusrex5908 Depends on the period. Originally SS were tasked with protection. They were Elite forces of relatively small number tasked with bodyguarding. The waffen SS originally were tasked with fighting on the frontline along side the wehrmacht. With the progression of the war the differences started to fade. More and more men were recluted and served on the frontline. By the end of the war the differences were mostly nominal.
Waffen means weapons so it’s just the armed branch of the SS. Think of it like the CIA, MI6, etc. you have the politicized areas and then you have the SAD(special activities division).
Waffen SS were an elite military branch, similar to the US Rangers. Those that wanted to be part of something special \ the best, joined the Waffen SS. Too many people confuse Waffen SS (military units) with Gestapo (Political \ Police branch like the FBI in the 50s). In the 50s, FBI went after anyone that they wished and branded the person as a communist. Waffen SS were not Nazis.... some were for sure, but many just wanted to be part of the best military units.
@OkieDokie5719 I know exactly what I am talking about. Why don't you read a book or two to get some facts. If you don't like hearing the truth, then go back into your closest and close the door.
I think it was necessary to provide some sort of pension to Waffen SS members, simply because even criminals need to eat. Germany needed rebuilding. The US after the Iraq war, fired all the people who worked for the regime or who were Baath party members. It didn't go well.
@jeromemckenna7102 It caused the insurgency. Once the US did the surge, they got the insurgency under control and the locals who were formerly brutalized by the Ba’ath party started informing on them. That war convinced me of the existence of the deep state in the US government.
@jamesdellaneve9005 That did not cause the insurgency. You do realise that there was Iraqis that were Nationalists and fought against the occupation of their country by foreign powers. Military history has always shown occupation faces resistance. Al Qaeda and other Jihadists flocked to Iraq to take advantage of the conflict. A lot of the insurgency fighters were simply Nationalists that fought to liberate their country just like the Americans in the Revolutionary War,the Vietnamese in both the first and second Indio-China War( the latter better known as the Vietnam War) and the Irish in numerous rebellions and conflicts against the British. The US surge did not suppress the insurgency. The reason the insurgency descalated was because the Iraqi "Sunnis" who were the backbone of the insurgency turned against non Iraqis such as foreign jihadists that were killing Iraqi civilians of all faiths. This was known as "The Awakening". These Iraqis knew that the violence had to stop and that both Iraqi Sunnis and Shia had to come together for a better future of Iraq. A lot of Shia paramilitaries agreed.
What part of the post-war story surprised you the most? Tell me in the comments. I’m reading everything 👇
I want to come back as a cat in a good home or an SS Officer.😅
the victorious writes the history and in this case they truly did
That almost all of what was written and taught to us in schools ever since 1945 HAS BEEN LIES
That Amerika didnt fight Russia right away when they had the a bomb
Apparently, one went to Canadian parliament to get two standing ovations by nearly all of our MPs about a year ago.
Many former Waffen SS went to the French Foreign Legion and ended up fighting in Indochina\Vietnam and in Algeria.
Between 20'000 and 30'000 Germans fought in Indochina (out of 1 millions French troops), and very few were former SS.
They were effective far beyond their number, but when the French press brought it to widespread attention, the scandal forced their withdrawal.
There was some Waffen SS but also former Wehrmacht soldiers in the French Foreign Legion that fought in the French Indo'-China War but the numbers have been exaggerated. Look at the official French Foreign Legion regimental histories for confirmation.
@marcmonnerat4850 You sure about that?
@fordwk FACT
I have found reading the comments to be just as enlightening as watching the video. Thanks to those of you who shared your stories.
😂😂😂
Many kept on fighting until their last Battle in Dien Bien Phu 1954.
A lot of them ran away and joined the circus. Many others became fashion designers in Paris, London and Milan. The adjective "camp" actually comes from "Kampf" (as in "Mein Kampf"). There are several episodes of the Goon Show where Spike Milligan makes a lot of this. A surprising number became ice cream men, many moving to England and selling ice creams in Bristol, Yarmouth and Brighton.
Surprised you didn't mention that hundreds served in the army in the allied sectors
@DamonOgden-g5d Well only a hundred of a Million, WHO cares
Western and Eastern fronts were worlds apart.
Om not sure if it was hundreds but your right some did
I knew a woman who claimed to be from Argentina and didn't not speak a word of Spanish ! She was born there in the late 40's.
A late friend as a young man was in the Merchant Navy around the early 1970’s and his boat berthed at Hamburg. They all went into a dockside pub which had a picture of Gunter Prien on the wall. Suddenly an old Scouse sailor said “that’s my mate, that is” and went on to tell the Hamburgers how as a young man Prien’s U Boat had stopped the Scouser’s merchant ship, ordered the crew off into a lifeboat, gave them some provisions, sunk the ship then radioed in the survivors position for the British to rescue them. My friend said they were bought drinks all night.
Of course they were..🤣
I sure hope it's true. Belter of a story!
Two of my uncles were forcibly drafted from a small Austrian town. They were lined up, one was sent to the SS the other to the Wermacht. After a short basic training period they were sent to battle. The one sent to the SS died inside the first week and the other within three weeks, They were 16 & 17. My father was 13 and given a rifle, little training and sent to the front. He and his best friend saw American tanks rolling towards them, dropped their rifles and ran. Like all wars, it’s the young who are the victims of politicians whims. My father ended up in Australia and I’ve had a great life.
Thanks for story , I am in Australia 🦘 and read a lot about WW2. The SS were always at the sharp end. Very brave and died likewise ...
South America!!
A lot of them ended up joining the French Foreign Legion to the point where the Legion still uses their marching songs (although slightly edited) to this day.
My neighbor Gunther fought in Berlin at the end war as a teenager. His uncle came to visit him (1987) and he introduced him to me,he was already in his 80's. Knowing that I was interested in the war he described some his actions and showed me his SS member tattoo on his forearm.This guy was not someone you would want to fuck around with.
Thank you for sharing this. I’m always amazed by the history of these units and the men involved.
If the tattoo was on his forearm, he wasn't in the SS. They were on the inside of the upper arm.
@steveh4968 If you say so but this happened almost 40 years ago and I did see it but don't recall its exact location.
Soldiers fighting communism
@williammacewan7524 Everybody needs a bogeyman
My dad fought in the US Army on the Italian front. He didn't talk about it but once he said "The Wehrmacht were soldiers like us; SS were something else."
My Uncle was in Patton's Army. He hated them. He said they were criminals and killers
@jamesgilliam5278Can’t say the same about the soviets now would be?
@cia1784he didn't fight the Soviets. Don't know what his opinion would have been. But I know he and my Dad hated the Germans and Japanese. They said they killed most of the boy's they grew up with. And many of their friends in the service. Stay on point. No part of this comment mentioned Soviets
If you listen to Himmler's Posen Speech, he describes what an SS man is. It is clear that these soldiers were being psychologically conditioned to become merciless killers under full control of the leadership.
They were a paramilitary corps trained and indoctrinated to act as a merciless war machine, combining elite combat skills with ideological fanaticism, capable of enforcing state power internally and conducting brutal operations externally, often beyond conventional military norms.
After seeing a concentration camp my uncles Army unit K-LLED everone wearing a black uniform. He spoke about it with a smile on his face and his only regret was that they got off "too easy" .
Back in the early 80s I had a girlfriend who was French. Her father fought in the Foreign Legion in what was then French Indo China, Now Viet Nam, he told me and showed me photos of Legion troops who were ex Waffen SS and had been put into their own units, they even wore some of their WWII decorations.
He said there were several thousand of them and they were VERY efficient at guerrilla warfare. He had a lot of admiration for them as soldiers and even said they were honorable men.
@keithoades5516 I think the SS who fought for France in Indochina were forced to, it was their sentence after ww2, for example, a lot of French volunteers of the Charlemagne Division (French Volunteer SS division) were sent to Indochina
@leostarchat Former SS men did fight in Indochina, but their service was voluntary, not a court-ordered punishment.
@leostarchat Not really, they were given a choice, fight for the republic or get handed over to the Russians. Hard choice.
If you want more information regarding, read a book called “ Devils guard” it’s about the ex SS fighting in Vietnam.
You bet!
My grandfather was in the Waffen SS in what we believe to be the 22nd SS Cavalry Division 'Maria Theresa' and the III Panzer Corps and fought against the Soviets. It has always been difficult to talk about when people ask if you grandfather was in the second world war. It's such a contrast, that one side of my family fought for Germany, and on the other side, were Yugoslav partisan's fighting against the Germans. My grandfather was lucky enough to have retreated through Austria, surrendering to the U.S. Army instead of being captured by the Soviets.
Is he still alive? I wonder what he'd make of Germany today and the effects of migration on Germany and Europe at a whole?
@prestigious5s23 No, he passed away over 20 years ago. But many of family are still in Germany. I always say I will come and visit, and they always tell me it is not worth it, there is crime a violence everywhere, but they don't report on it, you don't see it in the news. They tell me it is so bad there now, thousands of Germans are leaving the country to find a new place to live, it's that bad. They tell me the islamists will take it over in the years to come.
Fighting the Soviets was a noble deed.
@Modern_Man need to throw them out.
@ParthaSarkar-X14 In America, we are deporting illegals. Much to the displeasure of the left. I think the left would LOVE to see America become a Third World country. Just like the left would love to see Germany fall to the Islamists. They are mentally ill psychopaths. Remove the left (by whatever means necessary) and get rid of the Islamist pricks once and for all. Your alternative is an Islamist Germany.
No mention of France recruiting them after WW2 to fight in Indochina / Vietnam, under the French Foreign Legion ?
Bro channels like this don’t actually care about history or the facts. They probably let ChatGPT do the research for them.
yep most nations recruited them they were soldiers par excellent
And that is absolutely true. direct2397 just couldn't help himself. The voice of stupidity!
i’ve heard the rejoining story and would say those countries and the actions back then many of these Waffen would have been snapped up, including the French Foreign Legion who didn’t care what your background was! My father was on active service when these units tore through Greece in 30 days in 1941
of course not no records or CV those days … just sign on welcome all especially trained men
While living in Canada I had a chance to meet two veterans. The first was the veteran of 12th, the second was the veteran of 14th. Both of them were really decent human beings, and I remember them with deep gratitude. And both of them managed to build a better life than soviet veterans I saw while living in Soviet Union,
I worked at a Stonemasons in Espelkamp in Westfalia in the mid nineties. All my German workmates were great, very welcoming. One though was standoffish and gave me the side-eye a lot. Found out he didnt much like me as an Englander as he was ex SS
I was stationed in Stuttgart in the 1980’s and our Security Guards were “retired” German military personnel. There were a few the rest would not have anything to do with and when I asked once I was told they were former SS. These men carried themselves different than the others, quieter, more businesslike. Very, very polite.
Yeah, I bet. Very professionally and politely putting bullet in the human head after few days of torture...
This politeness is interesting, because in my childhood i learned that politeness is submissiveness. Growing up, my great-grandfather was a scary mofo. He had no fingernails, after 8 years in the Gulag as a political prisoner where they used pliers to rip their nails off and made them sit naked on top of each other to "go to the toilet". On his dying bed, I asked him if he had any regrets about the time that had been taken away from him. I remember him reaching for a piece of salami (he loved salami after getting out) and saying "Not as many regrets as these guards will have when they die". Point is - the horrors that you had to see, do, or endure, make you feel like the smallest bug in the world. That is a curse you take to the grave.
I was on holiday in the '70s in Bayern and everybody kept asking wether we were Jewish while Herr Romich showed his SS war wounds.
The way criminals carry themselves when their reign of terror is over.
@pauloamwNo, they stood tall and walked like they were on parade.
I was in a small bar I frequented in a small town in south western Germany in the early 1980s. There was a tall well dressed, distinguished looking man talking to tho owner. As he was leaving he stopped to ask me if I was English, I said I was. He said that he’d always respected the English shook my hand and left. Another customer I’d talked to before came across and said ‘I see the Colonel spoke to you’, I said yes and told him what he’d said. He then told me that the man was the owners father he was a Waffen SS Colonel captured at Stalingrad and eventually returned home in 1955 when the Russians released all remaining German POWs. It’s funny who you come across in a small bar in a small town.
Only.... the Waffen SS didn't fight in Stalingrad....
No Waffen SS units were in Stalingrad
@Laurikiwi yes that’s true. But there were individual Waffen SS officers and small support units there attached to the 6th Army.
@paulfillingham4778 no SS Units at stalingrad he lied to you.
@JordynJones-d2jthere were some individual SS officers attached to the 6th Army as well as some minor units
Was in a bar in Munich in about 1992, went downstairs looking for the loo and inadvertently walked into what I guessed was an SS reunion. About 30 old men eating a meal and drinking beers with insignia and flags on display. Youd have thought it was a school reunion. Utterly bewildering.
@ptatpc7925 very cool.would love to have spent time talking to them ❤️
that would have been awesome
Excellent
@paulbaierl8899 why, do you admire war criminals??
Thats interesting. Given the obvious stigma around them they probably had to have that party in secret. And there would be reasons why it seemed to be only ss veterans. Most Wehrmacht veterans would refuse to be affiliated with one and practically all Wehrmacht veteran groups denied memberships or entry if they found out you volunteered to the ss.
SS members also resided in East Germany. If useful to the communist state, they had been misled and needed to be watched. If not useful, they were former fascists that, needed to be watched even more.
Rengeteg német katona és főleg SS állt be a Francia Idegenlégióba...és főleg ennek köszönhető a légió megerősödése. Mivel sok SS-tiszt is volt a légió soraiban, így meghonosították a poroszos fegyelmet, a brutálisan kemény kiképzést, stb. Még a légiósok ruházatában is fellelhető volt sok német felszerelés (barna ing, zöld nyakkendő, stb), mivel a franciák ezeket rekvirálták, és felhasználták az Ideghenlégió számára. Sok SS-indulót is átvett az Idegenlégió, például "Anne-Marie de 3.REI" vagy "Westerwald", "La Légion marche", stb... A Westerwaldot konkrétan németül éneklik a légióban is.... 🙂
Major Larry Thorne. He served as a lieutenant in the Waffen SS, moved to the US and became a Major in the Green Berets, fought three tours in Vietnam. He went through Green Beret training at 45 years old. He is the only SS soldier ever buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
I read a book about ss men going french foreign legion and serving in vietnam
@American-DragonI had the honour to speak to one at Puyloubiere which is the legions veterans home,where you have to go before being accepted for basic. I went twice and it was the second time I was introduced to a former Waffen SS member. Very old and covered in tattoos and in a wheelchair,what an afternoon being baked the Southern French sun and drinking red wine and conversing in pidgin French,German and English. It’s a memory I treasure of my years in La Famille.
I don't care that he served in the US Army. That's a stain on the Arlington National Cemetery.
@mauricecohen3830Arlington was stained a long time ago. Relatives of congressmen and senators, big money donors. Thorne fought in two wars for the US. He has more right than most to be there
@rburrows7786 Sorry, no. The Waffen SS participated in countless war crimes against innocent civilians and American prisoners of war. Does Malmedy ring a bell?
I grilled a former SOE member about 40 years ago to dish something fun, he told me the French had a large number of SS who fought in Vietnam, before the US took over....
@richlancaster8336 That is well known. The SS were woven into the French Foreign Legion and continued their brutality against Vietnamese. Japanese soldiers were also appointed as police members and in an oblique irony had been beaten by Ho Chi Minh's army. De Gaulle renegged on the deal to release Vietnam from colonial control. He was embarrased by France's division with the Vichy ( a third of France was pro German and anti semetic) and wanted a revitalised France. The Vietnamese suffered and eventually the French left, after executing thousands of Vietnamese. Go to the Maison Prison in Hanoi and witness the horrendous conditions. The French were replaced by neo colonialisy when the Yanks arrived, support from my country Australia.
In 1982 I was based in Minden with BAOR I was 25 years old. At the rear of the camp there was a pub “Quelles”. We used to drink there regularly, always well received and looked after by the staff. Often there would be a group of men in their 50/60s. After a while we would get talking they were all WW2 vets, some from the Army, a couple of former U boat crew and one was former SS. It used to turn into old and new soldiers just drinking and having a laugh. In my view in a different time and circumstances that could have been me.
That is what most people do not get. There is nothing genetically unique about the Germans. What happened in Germany in that time period could happen anywhere. I am not standing up for the NAZI's. I am just saying that most people put into the same situation as those Germans were in their youth would have made similar choices as those German fellas you met.
Great video!
Didn’t some of the SS end up in the French foreign legion in Indochina
Yes correct, and a lot fell in Dien Bien Phu. Few people understand that some of these men only have known military life from h. jungen organizations to military units. .
"All wars are banker's wars"!
"War is a Racket", Smedley Butler USMC. R.I.P.
"War is Hell".
HELLSTORM, book & video, Thomas Goodrich. R.I.P.
Glad you commented here .....
War, huh (Woah woah yeah)
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing... Bruce Springsteen 😀
1. Edwin Starr
Best .. Temptations
@josephnelson3516 Other Losses by James Bacque is also essential reading. It documents the imprisonment of 100's of thousands of surrendering German soldiers and civilians too, confined to open air barbed wire camps in the Rhineland.
@josephnelson3516 this book is one of the best at describing the beast system and Babylon in Revelations/ a mystery to the reprobate but soon will be a mystery to no one
We need to be on our knees praying for mercy for ourselves and the few who will see the “truth”
Jesus said “those who live by the sword will die by it” Babylon has carefully removed “love your enemy” from its belief and as a result there is no more power in the false gospel.
Your facts are wrong concerning the uniform,the black parade uniform was not worn in combat by the Waffen SS,except for Panzer crews which was piped in red. Which the parade uniform wasn’t. In combat they wore field green/grey and DPM coveralls.
I don’t believe waffen ss had a black parade uniform at all. Either grey or camouflage. Only Panzer as you stated.
The black uniforms for the SS were made by a Hugo Boss
It was pink piping, not red.
I think it was around 1940 or 1941 when the SS started wearing army grey.
Allghemein ( sp? ) SS and Gestapo. Also , Totenkopf Verband SS wore the black uniforms with the Red Armbands.
I bet present day Germany wishes they had these guys around!
Uploading new video every Friday night is fascinating, I always get enjoyed watching your documentaries History inside, much appreciated.
Thank you so much!
@HistoryInsideWW2Thank you very much too
General Patton was chastised after the war for making friends with SS officers, whom he admired as soldiers.
shows how much of a scumbag he was then.
@KungFuWizardOfJesus no Patton was a scum bag before this during the Bonus Marches, he’s not a scumbag for being friendly to SS soldiers because Germany still pays reparations, he’s a scum bag because Japan got away with a holocaust of their own as well as doing things the Nazis didn’t even think of via UNIT 731. Patton allowed secret pardons and suppressed information about the Japanese atrocities and have not had to pay reparations since 1977. Those SS soldiers treated captured US serviceman 100 times better than the Japanese treated their captured US serviceman.
General Patton was 100% a soldier. He appreciated all other soldiers who fought hard and did not give up. Warriors make friends very easily with other warriors.... no matter what their background.
@scottc77 You may be, in part, mixing up Patton with MacArthur. Patton was in the ETO, with nothing to do with Japan.
@williamjones4716I stand corrected, thank you.
My Opa was SS. He fought in Russia and Africa.
He always claims he and his men were crack infantry never executioners.
He left Geemany in 51 and came to Australia.
He received a pension until his death in 2000
@direct2397 not impossible?
@direct2397 , I actually knew a similar gentleman. Yes as you age in a non native land, you do pick up the linguistic variations of the language. Then again some people just have to be the vent hole on the south end of a north bound mule 🙄
Your Opa fought for his country and what he believed to be righteous. You should be proud of him. Ignore the ignorant people like direct2397. Obviously, he hates himself.
@papadoc331 not impossible. But highly unlikely. People online make up a lot of stuff.
@direct2397 Why would a soldier of that time frame saying "we were crack infantry, not excecutioners," be unlikely?
I think the part that surprised me the most is the lack of guerrilla warfare and sabotage after the war by these units. It is indicative of how much they wanted the war to end also
Professional soldiers know when all is lost.
Its not in the German nature, I served in the UK military and talked to many different soldiers from different countries.
The Latin and Slav countries had resistance and partisan movements, the Germanic nations did little in terms of resistence , when I asked why I was told its just not in there nature, you agree and sign a surrender and thats it in there minds.
In about 1968 the British comedian Ron Geesin brought out an album of sketches. One of them featured the following exchange: "Hi! My name's Hans Richter from Argentina". The other guy asks "And what did you do in the war Hans?" Hans replies: "I was a gaucho, on ze Pampas!"
It's shameful how they were treated. You'd think they would have learned from humiliating a powerful discipline.
Great video
Pretty sure that if outside of Germany, they worn field grey (Feldgrau) or green, which then lead to the camouflage. Not the black as per the . SS concentration camp battalions may have worn the black.
Black uniform = Allgemeine-SS (not Waffen-SS combat troops)
The iconic all-black uniform (Schwarzer Dienstanzug) was the parade/dress uniform of the Allgemeine-SS (the "General SS" - the political, non-combat part of the SS). It was worn inside Germany for ceremonies, guard duties, office work, and by concentration-camp staff (Totenkopfverbände).
After 1939-1940 it was almost never worn in actual combat or on the front lines.
This is a pretty, petty comment, but if you are commenting on the Waffen SS... maybe know the uniform colours.
@jonathanohagan1349
in late war (as early as June 1944, but mostly in December 1944 to the end May 1945) film converted to video, we can see the Waffen SS by the pea dot ("erbsenmuster") camouflage tunics (shirt coats) that they wore. The pea dot blotches were about the diameter of a
bottle cap.
Before that they could be seen wearing oak leaf camouflage tunics of similar colors, but with blotches the size of oak leafs.
The Leibstandart only wore black during ceremonial duties, as they were Hitlers personal bodyguards, when the war broke out in 39, they donned the field grey uniform, only the Allegmaine SS kept the black, as they were more a Police unit
@keysersoze1855 you could still tell them from the army, the SS were the only ones issued camouflage gear and helmet covers
My great uncle (however many times removed) was in the Waffen SS. I can't say what and where exactly, however I found his name in a list of the 3rd SS Panzerdivision Totenkopf, a unit known to have been especially radical. I personally remember him as a kindly, a little chubby person, who loved good food, laughter and his family. His son btw was a real hippie, big fan of Led Zeppelin whose daughter is of mixed heritage (German/Algerian). I've never heard any complaints from either side. So my hope is that people are able to change and learn from their past.
My dad was part of the 15. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr. 1). He spent his time in continuous training. His unit surrendered one day after my dad's 21st birthday. At one point he, as POW, was held at Dachau.
God bless him
Oscar Ostereicher moved to Memphis, TN. He lived on Nancy Road in the Oakhaven community.
Make a video about SS general Wilhelm Bittrich
Loved your video mate and your German 🇩🇪 sounds perfect
" Operation unthinkable "
Nufff said
A very thoughtful video.
Thank you.
How many Soviet Officers were convicted of war crimes at Nuremburg for the Katyn Massacre in Poland? Oh right....nevermind....
Both are bad, it's not a race to the bottom!
Why is the Shoah window displayed?
WOW awesome video :)
Allgemeine SS and Waffen SS are different things.
@railmaster.7752 who do you think were judges, civil servants, professors, doctors etc.. to be a member in the party or another organization as a part of your social class was pretty common
@ravanpee1325 Still they are different things but to answer your question I not the SS mentioned in tje name of this video.
@railmaster.7752The "SS" is the general SS, what you probably mean is the "Waffen-SS". Correct names are a thing.
@ravanpee1325 The headline say Waffen SS, they talk about SS black uniforms, that's pre war Allgemeine SS (and war time SS panzer uniforms), the film mention both branches of SS so the headline should be changed to just SS, not Wagfen SS.
General Patton: "We defeated the WRONG enemy."
My grandfather was an Israeli intelligence officer. He told me that Mossad and the IDF recruited many SS members
God knows they act as evil as the SS...
@maguffintop2596 or worse
@kilgoretrout413 Absolutely.
2 of my family members were in the SS. Brothers. The older was taken as a POW to Britain and worked there. He stayed upon his release. The younger was released by officers shortly after his capture since he was 16 years old.
This story starts with false information right away!!! The Waffen SS did not wear black uniforms. If there is such a mistake right from the start, then I can't watch this story any further.
very helpful with my project about Waffen ss thank you!
They became fang soldiers, preparing for the next battle.
Great video man!
The European volunteers in Germany's army to fight the Soviet Union all died in action even defending Berlin.
Not all of them.
One ex-2nd SS Veteran was 'Guest Of Honour ' at the last D-Day commemorations.
He fled to Canada after the War (he wasn't the only one) and received a 'standing ovation' in their Parliament a few years ago.
Yaroslav Hunka.
How can a video like this not mention Helmut Schmidt?
I have never seen documentaries of Brandenburgers and Fallschirmjäger.
People love to see things as black & white, good vs evil angles. No need to think too much then. While real life is quite more complex. And BTW the Wehrmacht also collaborated with the Einsatzgruppen and security police. And did crimes of their own. And as this the Soviets, Allies and so on. It's always full of grey areas.
But that’s exactly how they behaved. They were supreme. Everyone else was subhuman. Why were they entitled to any decent treatment?
Good video 👍
There is an SS officer buried in Arlington national cemetery, he also served as a Captain in the U.S. Army and served in a third country; I can't remember which one.
Posted from Wikipedia
Am wondering why they never made a movie about this guy.
Lauri Allan Törni (28 May 1919 - 18 October 1965), later known as Larry Alan Thorne, was a Finnish-born soldier who fought under three flags: as a Finnish Army officer in the Winter War and the Continuation War ultimately gaining a rank of captain; as a Waffen-SS captain (under the alias Larry Laine) of the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS when he fought the Red Army on the Eastern Front in World War II;[3] and as a United States Army Major (under the alias "Larry Thorne") when he served in the U.S. Army Special Forces in the Vietnam War.
@MS-wb5mf Wernher von Braun, SS officer and commander of the KZ Mittelbau Dora. He became director of NASA and was the head of the rocket construction.
The fact the Himmler's SS HQ in Berlin was demolished, says it all. Whilst Goring's Luftwaffe HQ is stands.
Killers are killers …
I found this interesting. Improving structure and pacing would enhance the impact.
Most of them high officers had a good life after ww2 in USA, Argentina, Chile, Peru and many others😂
Underground as best they could.
Most of them just ditched their uniforms as quickly as possible, blended in with regulars, and then went home. Just like everyone else at the end of the war. My dad came back from Europe and got a job on an automobile assembly line. He hated it and joined the newly formed Air Force. He ended up with 22 years of military service.
Where did they get the 'Civilian' clothes? Off washing lines?
I hope they left their Uniforms in exchange. 😂
In the 1960s I knew a doctor in Lower Saxony who had lost his toes in the Russian snows with the 2nd SS Panzers, he told me that most who survived were those on medical leave when the war ended. Many SS still in their units in the East were murdered by the Soviets.
any form of European fascism was something like an allergic reaction to the horror of Russian bolshevism.
Murdered, did Russia invade Germany first or Germany to Russia?
@Querian Russia invaded Finland first and was ready to invade Germany having 20K+ tanks. Hitler invaded just couple of weeks earlier.
@baruchspinoza3106sorry I got the number wrong, 27 million Russians, not 20
@Querian You got it wrong again
This video shows promise. With a more refined script and cohesive edit, the experience would be much stronger.
Talks about the trials saying the waffen SS was listed as an illegal, terrorist group. All while the German guards outside were SS members
They were no less brutal than the NKVD. But to the victor go the spoils. Besides, the horrific deeds of the NKVD before, during and after the war in the occupied/would-be liberated countries could easily match or exceed the level of brutality of the SS.The concept of "purges" , "labor camps" had long existed in the USSR before the Nazis came to power in Germany.
"its echos will last" as long as the men have families and descendants who see them as such...... as men.
Lots of SS joined the French Foreign Legion. And fought in French Indo China, now Vietnam.
Lots of murderers joined the foreign legion.
yes yes Great video! Loved the tips, keep it up!
Thanks!
Some of the best publications on the waffen ss were produced by the HIAG veteran association as it was the first time some units could have their stories put into print,their best seller was when all brothers are silent,the photo book of the waffen ss...now highly collectable and always commands high prices.
Captain Larry Thorne, green beret, formerly known as Lauri Törni and killed on a mission in Laos, was a Waffen SS member in WW2.
And now you get arrested in Germany for saying an "MP is fat". well done Germany , going full circle.
What are you talking about?
@doomhippie6673 for Schwachkopf (weakhead) which is a rather mild insult a guy raising a disabled child got arrested
Sorry Sir. You are wrong. I can even say my chancellor is fat or whatever. I surely won't get arrested.
@Kaleu68 It’s called hyperbole. Freedom of speech is under threat in the west
I wonder if ICE will be declared a criminal organization in a few years or sooner.
Wikipedia wurde in den USA gegründet, also in einem Land das ein viel größeren Völkermord und Raub begangen hat als das 3. Reich
The most fascinating part is how many were recruited by both the CIA and KGB. Their intelligence on the Eastern Front made them valuable assets overnight. The real 'aftermath' was a shadow war, fought with former SS soldiers as the pawns.
Many that survived became the Stasi
They had the best looking uniforms.
Yah, demons love style.
@Glen.Danielsen
'Let me please introduce myself, I am a man of wealth and taste....'
Rolling Stones
@bikerz3857 2 words... Hugo Boss
@w.okkerse915Clearly wrong about the taste, as your comment reflects the worst possible.
@chrisandrewes
I think you missed the point
What did they do after the war - some went straight to NASA and brought the first man on the moon 😂
If immigration in europe keeps at this rate, there's going to be a huge resurgence on this kind of thoughts and the final result won't be pretty for anyone... history is there for a reason but politicians just keep fighting to be in power and keep their pocklets full and don't think aobut future problems
Yes lets hope it happens soon
It should be noted that Karl Nicolussi-Leck only stayed in Argentina for a few years, as he returned to his native South Tyrol in the early 1950s and remained there until his death in 2008
How many were simply sucked in to it
Mostly in the french foreign legion ..most of them died in indochina war.
Most got off without punishment
If they served in the ss they would never get their pensions. The German government made sure of that and for good reason
Some went straight to NASA 😅
What is the difference between the Wafffen SS and the regular SS?
to my understanding, Waffen SS were soldiers who fights on the frontlines and conducts anti-partisan activities, while the "regular" SS were more of a secret police/enforcer type of organisation. Both SS swore their allegiance to Hitler himself.
@odysseusrex5908
Depends on the period.
Originally SS were tasked with protection. They were Elite forces of relatively small number tasked with bodyguarding.
The waffen SS originally were tasked with fighting on the frontline along side the wehrmacht.
With the progression of the war the differences started to fade.
More and more men were recluted and served on the frontline.
By the end of the war the differences were mostly nominal.
Waffen means weapons so it’s just the armed branch of the SS. Think of it like the CIA, MI6, etc. you have the politicized areas and then you have the SAD(special activities division).
Waffen were armed with tanks and cannons etc. The others were another branch of Reich Security.
Some fought in the first Indochina war with french foreign legion
VERY GOOD VIDEO
Denial of position ina criminal organization due to criminal record
Waffen SS were an elite military branch, similar to the US Rangers. Those that wanted to be part of something special \ the best, joined the Waffen SS. Too many people confuse Waffen SS (military units) with Gestapo (Political \ Police branch like the FBI in the 50s). In the 50s, FBI went after anyone that they wished and branded the person as a communist. Waffen SS were not Nazis.... some were for sure, but many just wanted to be part of the best military units.
@adiosgringo8200 ypu have no idea wtf you are talking about.
@OkieDokie5719 I know exactly what I am talking about. Why don't you read a book or two to get some facts. If you don't like hearing the truth, then go back into your closest and close the door.
@adiosgringo8200shhhhh, not another word
@OkieDokie5719 "word"
not nazis. Seriously?
Indochina and the Congo and surrounding areas.
I think it was necessary to provide some sort of pension to Waffen SS members, simply because even criminals need to eat. Germany needed rebuilding. The US after the Iraq war, fired all the people who worked for the regime or who were Baath party members. It didn't go well.
Those who were most loyal to Germany were shown the coldest shoulder
The Ba’ath party was trained by Waffen SS veterans…
@jeromemckenna7102 It caused the insurgency. Once the US did the surge, they got the insurgency under control and the locals who were formerly brutalized by the Ba’ath party started informing on them. That war convinced me of the existence of the deep state in the US government.
@jamesdellaneve9005 That did not cause the insurgency. You do realise that there was Iraqis that were Nationalists and fought against the occupation of their country by foreign powers. Military history has always shown occupation faces resistance. Al Qaeda and other Jihadists flocked to Iraq to take advantage of the conflict. A lot of the insurgency fighters were simply Nationalists that fought to liberate their country just like the Americans in the Revolutionary War,the Vietnamese in both the first and second Indio-China War( the latter better known as the Vietnam War) and the Irish in numerous rebellions and conflicts against the British. The US surge did not suppress the insurgency. The reason the insurgency descalated was because the Iraqi "Sunnis" who were the backbone of the insurgency turned against non Iraqis such as foreign jihadists that were killing Iraqi civilians of all faiths. This was known as "The Awakening". These Iraqis knew that the violence had to stop and that both Iraqi Sunnis and Shia had to come together for a better future of Iraq. A lot of Shia paramilitaries agreed.
@allangibson8494 Didn't know that.
7:23 “THE NUMBERS MASON WHAT DO THEY MEAN!?!?”
My great uncle a member of the 14th Waffen SS went to Canada with the majority of his unit. Yes Canada like Argentina and the USA welcomed many.
by the end of the war few were left that you could call 'elite'
You forgot to mention that the Catholic Church, via Vatican City, continued their complicity with the fascists by helping Nazis escape.
Canada was a favourite place for them to go
@tonybennett638 Where is your evidence for this? I’m sure some came to Canada but they went elsewhere too.
Canada loves to celebrate the SS.