Many of the last resisting "German" soldiers in Berlin were French from the SS Charlemagne, look for the excellent episode of Mark Felton. Kudos to you Stefan, your videos are well documented and very well built!
@dominique yes, I read of them defending berlin too, there were also Himalayan/tibetan troops defending berlin at the end, that0s another VERY interesting and almost unknown event, if you are curious search for it!
That's kinda ironic, because some of the last French troops to surrender were Germans serving in the French Foreign Legion at the Maginot line, and of course some of the last German troops to surrender were Frenchmen serving in the W-SS
Little correction: the Action Française both collaborated AND resist the occupation. The first resistant to be killed by the germans was a royalist, so we can't really say that the party collaborated, but it kind of splited. Btw, nice video👍🏻most of french don't know that. I know a lot more after watching this
@@HistoryHustle In fact a big part of the man that joined Charles de Gaulle in London were royalist from the Action Française. People tend to forget that despite being anti-semite and anti-communist, they were also germanophic and collaborate wasn't in their plan.
In the book "For Europe, The french volunteers of the Waffen-SS" it is stated that Sturmman Mariot carried a french MAS38 SMG during the fighting in pommerania. He apparently brought it with him from his service in the milice. The book also states the use of at least one french 75mm field gun.
Another great feature....Some members of the SS Charlemagne fought very courageously during the final days in Berlin....Its funny how, nationality, does not necessarily dictate, what makes a man fight to the end.....Happy New Year Stefan! Keep producing, interesting features on what you do best! Peace from Ireland.......................................
Things were not that simple at the end of the war. SS units had to refill their ranks after huge losses on the eastern front. They couldn't maintain their initial criterias to do so. Did you hear about the "malgré-nous" (against-our-will)? In eastern France, Alsace and Moselle regions had been incorporated by force to the Reich after the defeat of 1940. As a result, starting from 1942, young men from this area were forced to serve in the german forces. The ones who refused had to face severe reprisals against themselves and their families. Most of them were incorporated in the Wehrmacht, but some were sent in SS units. There are many cases similar to the one evoked here. My only questioning here is about the precised SS unit on that matter : for what I know, almost all men serving in the Charlemagne were volunteers, due to the political context of its creation (blend od LVF, Milice and Freiwillige SS, as brillantly explained by History Hustle). But the fact that many Alsacians and Mosellans were forced to serve in different Waffen SS units (which ones precisely, I don't know) is perfectly documented. @sukarnoyahudi
Awesome content as always man! It would be awesome if you could do some videos on the French amry of 1940. I'm not even French,but those guys deserve way more attention for their actions in 1940,I'm thinking of Lille,Dunkirk,Stonne and so on... Keep up the great work!
j'ai un cousin qui était dans la LVF puis la Charlemagne , a fini la guerre comme prisonnier des russes au camp de Tambov , libéré en 1955 , il a travaillé à l'hotel du Louvre comme clef d'or , maintenant décédé
In the middle of Eastern Front in June 1944 the French volunteers for some time defended their positions so well that the Soviets thought they face 2 French Divisions. In reality the French had strenght of half-battalion. Source: SS- The Hitler's Instrument of terror by Gordon Williamson.
I recall a certain Guy Sajer encountering French volunteers in the midst of battle on the eastern front. Sajer was half French half German and wrote 'The Forgotten Soldier' an engrossing and now a controversial account of his time in Russia much of it with the Grossdeutschland division.
Guy Sajer, was Alsacian, and press ganged in the german army. If I remembered right, having read his book some 44 years ago, he voluntiered to join the GD division just to follow his friend. His mother was german and his father french.
As a counterpoint, perhaps you can make a future video about the Normandie-Niemen squadron of French volunteers who flew Yak-1s and Yak-3s alongside the Soviets on the Eastern Front. Incidentally, at the end of the war Stalin gifted them the Yak-3s which they flew home. These were incorporated into the Armée de l'Air.
Charlemagne's French SS were the last formed unit to enter Berlin before the city was surrounded. They surrendered after losing 90% of their troops on May 2, preventing Stalin from taking the city on May 1.
@@HistoryHustle That's correct, there is some old footage on RUclips of SS Charlemagne volunteers Christian de la Mazière and Henri Fenet discussing their involvement in the battle of Berlin.
Read ‘for Europe’, stockpile military press. Detailed history of the French forces serving Germany, their actions and deaths. Also ‘Ashes of Honour’, Alan Windgate press, London Written by a veteran of the above French forces from start to finish-Jacques Boulay
I thought that I knew almost everything about ww2. Today I've got a humbling experience with this new video. I didn't know about these French volunteers. :)
I read an interesting anecdote where a French general (I think leclerc) captured some French ss and asked why they were wearing german uniforms and one of the frenchmen retorted "why are you wearing an american uniform." Leclerc has them all shot for that. I think it demonstrates the gray area here in france specifically between the vichy aligned and the allied aligned side which unfortunately is ignored after the war when everyone wanted to show off their Resistance credentials.
And 25 years later you had many leftists in France who pretended that the resistance never had existed and that everyone was a collaborator. Luckily you have today historians like Dominique Lormier to set the record straight.
As far as I have been able to research, the unit badge which consists of the Fleur-de-lis, I found an example of one which the Fleur-de-lis is yellow and the other side is blue, but I don't think this was the one stitched on the tunic.
Oui enfin ça reste un peu un mythe pour le coup. On ce rappel de ces alsaciens "malgré nous" qui ont commis le massacre de français comme a Oradour sur glane ou c'était bien des alsaciens qui ont d'ailleurs désobéit aux supérieurs allemand en commettant ce massacre. Donc bon ça m'a l'air plus complexe que ça.
Kobe Geyskens This historical topic interests me also. One source of further info is the book; "Lions of Flanders; Flemish volunteers WSS 1941-45' by Richard Landwehr, 165 pgs, softbound. 1996 @ Shelf Books. UK As an American & former resident of Oost Vlaanderen, Stephan's excellent coverage of the important Battle of The Schelde Estuary (pre-requisite to the Allies' utilization of Antwerp port) really helped me understand the bigger picture in 1944-45 Flanders & the Southern Nederlande. Dank u wel !
John Sm. Gee, thanks John. Now I’ve purchased a 2nd hand copy of this book ! I’ve seen it around years ago. “Knowledge is costly, ignorance is more expensive”. Thank you.
Thanks for this channel and your work! Many answered the cause to save Europe from Communism. Myself come from Sweden and even we had soldiers fighting mainly in 11. SS Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland. The last Swede to fall during the war was Ragnar Johansson from Skövde, who fell on the first of May 1945 in Berlin.
Glad you find it interesting. Many indeed believed to fight communism, but since Stalin never had plans to invade Europe (that's a pro-Nazi / revisionist myth) the cause is unjust. Furthermore, many joined because of other reasons.
@@HistoryHustle I agree with you and i think there is a difference between people joining the crusade in 1941 and the people who defended Germany when the war turned bad. Many people simple feared what Stalin and the Soviets would do if they won the war. War of cultures, the way of life was at stake in many peoples eyes i would imagine.
@@HistoryHustle I think many feared what the Reds did prior to WW2. Clearly, if the Communists had taken Poland, they would have desired to move further west. In addition, there was plenty of political turmoil related to communism leading up to WW2 in western Europe.
@@HistoryHustle can you make a video about that? I was under the impression that the Russians wanted to fight the Germans eventually but didn’t necessarily want to take over Europe? I could be dead wrong I just thought I read that somewhere
Great video. I would like to see a video about the action between the Vichy supporting elements of the French Foreign Legion who fought against the DeGaulle supporting elements of the French Foreign Legion in Syria during WWII: Legionaires against Legionaires. Per wikipedia: "...The Syria-Lebanon Campaign of June 1941 saw legionnaire fighting legionnaire as the 13e D.B.L.E clashed with the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment 6e REI at Damascus. Nevertheless, many legionnaires of the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment 6e (dissolved on 31 December 1941) integrated into the Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion R.M.L.E in 1942. ..."
@@HistoryHustle 12 were handed over to the French and were shot for treason, but the main guy was sentenced later to 20 years in prison and was released after just 10.
Heel snel mijn favorite RUclips kanaal aan het worden. Iedereen die deze beste man als geschiedenis leraar heeft.... heeft de geschiedenis jackpot gewonnen. Geschiedenis was mijn favorite vak ondanks de saaie leraren. Ben 38 maar zou graag bij uw klas aanschuiven voor een paar lessen
Bedankt voor je bericht, Johan! Er komt nog voor interessants aan. Voel je vrij om ook de oudere video's te bekijken. Dit kanaal bevat er inmiddels meer dan 250!
ruclips.net/video/DvTELkWlB_E/видео.html Could be the answer to your question about french weaponry used by LVF. At 4:32, you can see the rear or an Hotchkiss machinegun. On the original comment, they say that this machinegun was "taken to the ennemy" (As the commentator says that they wear the "european" uniform)
french uniforms with nazi insignia would have been interesting to see in eastern front footage, it’s the little facts like that, that make me love this channel
One screen has qualifying for the F1 ..... will have to read it later as this screen has my full attention. Excellent video as always, interesting how the far right in France was four groups that never joined up. That's politics and power then.
Hello, could you make a video about the Wehrmacht Strafbataillon? Btw, do you speak German ? (I think you have been asked this question already ) Keep up the huzzle
I love these videos on the other nations fighting in the Nazi armies because it digs into the motivation of the soldiers and their psyche. Keep up the good work. PS enjoying watching your travels on Instagram❤️
At 9:45 I dont quite understand. Why would the SS care that the LVF conducted themselves in this fashion? Sounds like SS standard operating procedure to me.
about the 8.ss sturmbrigade, it never fought the French resistance within France, it was in training from September 1943 all the way to august 1944 when they were first engaged. The unit started as a regiment between august 1943 to march 1944, then as an artillerie regiment in march-aril 1944 and became a sturmbrigade from April 1944 to august 1944. Otherwise your video is pretty interesting!! cheers
They are 3 main ethnicities : Iberian (south, Brown hair tan skin) Celtic (Chestnut hairs pink peach skin blue yellow green eyes) Germanic (north and east, blue White Grey eyes blond White hair) Ss recruited all 3 after 1943
@@HistoryHustle The Battle of Glières was the biggest battle the MILICE and Franc-Garde (the Armed version of the Milice) staged against the Resistance...
actually germans gave the title freiwillinger (volunteers) to formations made by non aryans (eg russians, french, estonians etc) while for aryan nations they had similar titles as german units (norwegians, dutch etc). it is interesting to know why so many europeans who initially fought against the germans later on collaborated with them. we see that more than half of the waffen ss were non germans. i would also like to know the fate of the majority of these collaborators. very good video!!!
There were distinction in between : "Aryan" , "nordic", Germanic " ... Wallonians were concidered as Germanic french speaking ... Ukrainians as Untermench... there were also a distinction in between French WSS from the Frankreich Brigade considered as Pure SS and the SS Charlemagne division that was a mixt of LVF vétérans. survivors french brigade SS , milicians ...others ...concidered as volonters ... Wallonians SS were catholics ....Many French SS considered themself as Pagans ...
France wasn't too kind to the returning and captured French SS soldiers and the Soviets were more than happy to turn their captured French SS over to the French government in 1945.
True, and it was same for SS volunteers of all nations, who were either imprisoned or executed, including the tiny contingent of British Free Corp SS volunteers.
@@mathewkelly9968 Some of the British Waffen SS chaps managed to escape the gallows by claiming they signed up in order to sabotage the unit, but their hardcore ideologically Nazi leader was thankfully hanged.
the french ss division " charlemagne " did not have a specific collar tab and wore the ss runes. also they wore the french flag sleeve patch on their right sleeve below the ss eagle and the "charlemagne " sheild was never issued but used as a divisional insignia to reconize them as an ss division...
@@HistoryHustle hi...i am from Canada and reenact here,,,just thought i would add a little info in case many of the veiwers never knew...plus keep up the great videos...especially the foregein legion ones,,i reenact a waffen-ss general with 5 Wiking SS Canada and a teacher of history studies of the Wiking division
@SSJ Far-right revisionism. Pétain was not forced to collaborate , and did not collaborate to " lessen the burden ". He willingly betrayed France , and uncovered documents by french historians prove that he started to work on the persecution of jews of his own will , without any orders from the nazis
By historical revisionism , I mean exactly what you doing : On the 3rd of October 1940 , in the " free zone " , by initiative of the Vichy regime and annotated by Pétain himself to be harsher than what was initially planned , the first law on the statut of jews is promulgated. It applied to french jews. Very shortly after the Vichy regime was established , Pétain spontaneously and autonomously started to persecute jews , including those with french nationality. Accounts from close collaborators of Pétain says that he personally said that he no longer wanted jews within education and administration. Numerous french jews saw their nationality voided by law. As for your blurb about only the radical right seeing Pétain as a traitor , it is ridiculous and far from the truth if we look at who work security for far-right french political party ( neo-nazis and vichy nostalgics )
He has done nothing wrong! FRANCE in 1930s was very corrupted and after the defeat in 1940, France has nothing left to fight but complied with the German occupiers to survive!
CCCP. Stalin never sign the Geneve-konvention so the War on the Earstern front " were my Father's unckle was in " Nordland-Division 24 Danmark" was a fair war. But the civilien death's was NOT ok. But in a War people die!! Fact's. I love the way you tell history 👍🎗
I would like if you could make a video about the Dutch settlers in South Africa, it's something I feel isnt taught alot in South African history schoolbooks and books
Leuke video over iets wat niet bekend is, dat klinkt als de typisch Franse uitspraak van "angst rassen colobarators" maar het lijkt erop dat er zoveel beschikbaar waren. Even terzijde, over Nederlandse uniformen, las ik in een boek over Tony Luteyn, een Nederlander en Airey Neave, een Engelsman die aan Colditz ontsnapte met Dutch Kit, veel gemakkelijker om te zetten in geïmproviseerde bewakingsuniformen.
I saw an old documentary from those charlemagne units saying 'loyal to the end'. That i think what separates the SS from any other unit in the war. Regardless of what people think about them. Including the misconception of the ss guards in the concentration camps vs the ss units in the frontlines.
@@HistoryHustle True, and I'm assuming you're referring to the Dirlewanger Brigade, which would also make a very interesting video, which was essentially a penal battalion comprised of career criminals and sadists, and excelled at brutalising civilians. German reports during the uprising stated that they were ineffective as a combat unit, as were more interested in looting, rape and brutalising the locals . Although it's not been verified, it's suspected the Germans themselves killed their sociopathic commander. Although the SS were obviously fighting for an evil regime, I suspect many of the foreign volunteers genuinely believed they were joining a noble cause, and had a deep felt desire to fight against Bolshevism, however the entire organisation will be forever tainted due to the sheer number of war crimes committed by SS units in general.
There was a also a tiny British Waffen SS unit comprised of volunteers recruited from prisoner of war camps, called the British Free Corp. However it's not actually as interesting as it sounds. Only a few recruits were genuinely committed to the Nazi cause, and the remainder were looking for a way out of the camps to chase women and have an easy life. There are unsubstantiated reports a few of them found themselves on the Oder front during the last days of the war, but the Germans struggled to make it combat ready and disbanded them after giving up on the idea.
Its really interesting that basically in entire europe only Poland didnt have its own SS division or any German army unit. Huh even Americans had their own SS division. Can you correct me? Are there some countries (bigger than luxembourg etc) that didnt have their own ss division or official german cooperarion?
The American unit only existed on paper though since it was a handful of men. If you're interested, here's my playlist about British, Flemish, Dutch and other pro-Axis volunteers: ruclips.net/p/PL_bcNuRxKtpEj8sMLxUerrHbsmyar9lqt
You should cover more in depth the russian ss units specifically the 30th Waffen Grenadier Division and the Waffen-Sturm-Brigade der SS RONA/ Kaminski brigade
We french during ww2 were like the pirates of the caribbean pistol scene meme, most took no side but we had some in every sides, surrender...yes, but resistance and colaboration, allies and axis, and even taking back some of colonies for a free france and a submitted france too germany...etc. Don't judge us for a single defeat, because we came back very quickly despite a very farfetch situation of everyone in every sides possible. PS : This dude is not bad at all pronouncing french words and quotes, he did good/well.
I'm surprised the Germans didn't allow them to arm and equip themselves with French army stock. There must have been plenty of it sat in reserve somewhere, and it would save the Germans the trouble of having to pay for all of their equipment out of their own pockets. It would have been pragmatic.
Interesting thought. I wouldn't thing it would be effective at all. Because then the supply chain gets an extra burden of sorting out ammunition and spare parts. It may hinder the troops in that case I think. I do believe French army stock was used by collaborating police in occupied France (or Vichy).
Die komt er, over Nederlandse vrijwilligers in de Waffen SS. Fransen niet. Mijn Nederlandstalige kanaal zal op de tweede plaats staan. Het Engelstalige kanaal zal prioriteit blijven hebben.
NORWEGIAN SS-VOLUNTEERS:
ruclips.net/video/F3BPW5WMmDo/видео.html
DUTCH SS-VOLUNTEERS:
ruclips.net/video/bQlF0ia-ABA/видео.html
WE DEFEATED THE WRONG ENEMY
~GEN. GEORGE S PATTON 1945
WATCH EUROPATHELASTBATTLE
WE DEFEATED THE WRONG ENEMY
~GEN. GEORGE S PATTON 1945
WATCH EUROPATHELASTBATTLE
Many of the last resisting "German" soldiers in Berlin were French from the SS Charlemagne, look for the excellent episode of Mark Felton. Kudos to you Stefan, your videos are well documented and very well built!
Thank you, Dominique.
@dominique yes, I read of them defending berlin too, there were also Himalayan/tibetan troops defending berlin at the end, that0s another VERY interesting and almost unknown event, if you are curious search for it!
@@joekaput WTF ?! What were the Tibetans doing in Germany ?
That's kinda ironic, because some of the last French troops to surrender were Germans serving in the French Foreign Legion at the Maginot line, and of course some of the last German troops to surrender were Frenchmen serving in the W-SS
@@joekaput Truly?! Evidence?
Little correction: the Action Française both collaborated AND resist the occupation. The first resistant to be killed by the germans was a royalist, so we can't really say that the party collaborated, but it kind of splited. Btw, nice video👍🏻most of french don't know that. I know a lot more after watching this
Thank you for taking the time to write the correction.
@@HistoryHustle In fact a big part of the man that joined Charles de Gaulle in London were royalist from the Action Française. People tend to forget that despite being
anti-semite and anti-communist, they were also germanophic and collaborate wasn't in their plan.
@@HistoryHustle like said bossuet " the heretic is the guy who has an opinion" ruclips.net/video/92rUQutxToo/видео.html
Honoré d’ Estienne d’Orves ?
👍👍👍👍👍 I put similar comments in the flow
In the book "For Europe, The french volunteers of the Waffen-SS" it is stated that Sturmman Mariot carried a french MAS38 SMG during the fighting in pommerania. He apparently brought it with him from his service in the milice. The book also states the use of at least one french 75mm field gun.
Interesting, many thanks for providing us with this additional information!
They used a mixture of French, German and captured Soviet weapons at different points during the war
Another great feature....Some members of the SS Charlemagne fought very courageously during the final days in Berlin....Its funny how, nationality, does not necessarily dictate, what makes a man fight to the end.....Happy New Year Stefan! Keep producing, interesting features on what you do best! Peace from Ireland.......................................
Best wishes!
My french great grandfather was forced to fight in the charlemagne division but he escaped
Things were not that simple at the end of the war. SS units had to refill their ranks after huge losses on the eastern front. They couldn't maintain their initial criterias to do so.
Did you hear about the "malgré-nous" (against-our-will)?
In eastern France, Alsace and Moselle regions had been incorporated by force to the Reich after the defeat of 1940.
As a result, starting from 1942, young men from this area were forced to serve in the german forces. The ones who refused had to face severe reprisals against themselves and their families. Most of them were incorporated in the Wehrmacht, but some were sent in SS units.
There are many cases similar to the one evoked here. My only questioning here is about the precised SS unit on that matter : for what I know, almost all men serving in the Charlemagne were volunteers, due to the political context of its creation (blend od LVF, Milice and Freiwillige SS, as brillantly explained by History Hustle).
But the fact that many Alsacians and Mosellans were forced to serve in different Waffen SS units (which ones precisely, I don't know) is perfectly documented. @sukarnoyahudi
Volunteered to work (from home) today, but keep getting distracted by awesome things like this.
Thanks and have a nice home working day, Edward.
I just love some history before bed.
I love it as my side dish.
I love it before falling asleep
Upon waking up😃
Glad you liked it. Don't get nightmares from it of course!
I love it 24/7, but especially with a nice American Cab or Pinot. OK Knob Creek, you got me.
Awesome content as always man! It would be awesome if you could do some videos on the French amry of 1940. I'm not even French,but those guys deserve way more attention for their actions in 1940,I'm thinking of Lille,Dunkirk,Stonne and so on... Keep up the great work!
Thanks. French 1940 Army I'd like to cover but there is a lack of copyright free photos. I see what I can do.
Love this content! Thanks for educating me continuously
👍
I like these vids that cover a lot of less explored topics with a good range of details. Subscribed.
Awesome, welcome th the channel!
Classic history hustle ! I had never seen vichy regalia much less that of the charlemagne div. Thanks!
Thanks for replying!
j'ai un cousin qui était dans la LVF puis la Charlemagne , a fini la guerre comme prisonnier des russes au camp de Tambov , libéré en 1955 , il a travaillé à l'hotel du Louvre comme clef d'or , maintenant décédé
Very interesting to read. Thanks for sharing.
In the middle of Eastern Front in June 1944 the French volunteers for some time defended their positions so well that the Soviets thought they face 2 French Divisions. In reality the French had strenght of half-battalion. Source: SS- The Hitler's Instrument of terror by Gordon Williamson.
Thanks for sharing.
@@HistoryHustle No problem.
As a supporter of all the armed fighting Bolshevism,I thoroughly enjoyed this excellent video!
ok, thanks...
Funny every person who makes anti communism a main part of their political identity, always ends up being a fascist
@@alexresa9039 but what are you?
@@Grahamgusbull not a waterhead
@@alexresa9039 being a supporter of fascism against communism,does not make ME a fascist!…you still haven’t told me what YOU are?
I recall a certain Guy Sajer encountering French volunteers in the midst of battle on the eastern front. Sajer was half French half German and wrote 'The Forgotten Soldier' an engrossing and now a controversial account of his time in Russia much of it with the Grossdeutschland division.
Thanks for sharing!
Guy Sajer, was Alsacian, and press ganged in the german army. If I remembered right, having read his book some 44 years ago, he voluntiered to join the GD division just to follow his friend. His mother was german and his father french.
@@josephvanuxem9671 Ah yes his friend Hals. Then there was the 'Veteran', Lensen and many other memorable characters.
Great read . Really enjoyed it .
Brilliant book. Very good account of the German army in Russia.
Best one I have ever read.
Your explanation are very clear and instructive, I didn’t know very well this part of my country’s history , very interesting thank a lot
.
Thanks for your reply.
Great video and channel 💪🏽
Many thanks!!
As a counterpoint, perhaps you can make a future video about the Normandie-Niemen squadron of French volunteers who flew Yak-1s and Yak-3s alongside the Soviets on the Eastern Front. Incidentally, at the end of the war Stalin gifted them the Yak-3s which they flew home. These were incorporated into the Armée de l'Air.
Interesting one!
Nota Bene did an excellent video on this.
Excellent Research and detailed knowledge Thank you for sharing ✌️
Thanks for your message!
As a man orignally born in Quebec, i know that at least 3 quebeckers fought in the SS Charlemagne and 2 in the British Free Corps
Thanks for sharing.
Charlemagne's French SS were the last formed unit to enter Berlin before the city was surrounded. They surrendered after losing 90% of their troops on May 2, preventing Stalin from taking the city on May 1.
That sure made a world of difference...
@@HistoryHustle yes that was. May 1 was a very symbolic day anniversary for stalin.
These videos are amazing…. Thanks so much for making them and highlighting the fight against Bolshevism
Thanks for your reply.
You know that the SS were the bad guys?... Right?
Those fleeing west were captured by the French army and shot out of hand- why miss that part?
Some were but not all. I don't believe this happened systematically.
@@HistoryHustle That's correct, there is some old footage on RUclips of SS Charlemagne volunteers Christian de la Mazière and Henri Fenet discussing their involvement in the battle of Berlin.
Interesting!
@@HistoryHustle Indeed, Henri Fenet gets quite emotional and almost starts crying when he declares "loyal to the end".
Read ‘for Europe’, stockpile military press. Detailed history of the French forces serving Germany, their actions and deaths.
Also ‘Ashes of Honour’, Alan Windgate press, London
Written by a veteran of the above French forces from start to finish-Jacques Boulay
I wish you'd been my history teacher. You're much more passionate than the US history teacher I had in my senior year of highschool.
Thank you!
.
Absolutely fascinating.
Agree!
Thanks for this video about the the French troops fighting for the German army, I really enjoyed it.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video.
Great video Stefan! I think you should cover the Danish Free Corps next. As you covered France the Netherlands and Norway but you missed Denmark.
Thanks Steve and yes, much more to cover there is.
Flander ...Wallonia ...others !!!
Great videos I love them all.
👍
I have my first day of school tomorrow but I just found your videos. They are all very entertaining!
Great to hear. Good luck on school!
@@HistoryHustle thanks! Hope you have a good day as well!
Can you do one on the 250th Infantry Division " The Spanish Blue Division " ??
Keep the great videos coming 👍!!
Expect somewhere in November / December.
Thanks, I will never stop learning new things about WW2
You're welcome. Thanks for your reply.
I thought that I knew almost everything about ww2. Today I've got a humbling experience with this new video. I didn't know about these French volunteers. :)
Thanks! Glad you found it interesting.
I read an interesting anecdote where a French general (I think leclerc) captured some French ss and asked why they were wearing german uniforms and one of the frenchmen retorted "why are you wearing an american uniform." Leclerc has them all shot for that.
I think it demonstrates the gray area here in france specifically between the vichy aligned and the allied aligned side which unfortunately is ignored after the war when everyone wanted to show off their Resistance credentials.
I've noticed that too somewhere. Thanks for sharing this.
And 25 years later you had many leftists in France who pretended that the resistance never had existed and that everyone was a collaborator. Luckily you have today historians like Dominique Lormier to set the record straight.
Love the videos! Can you do a video on maybe Italian or Spanish volunteers in the Wehrmacht and SS? Thank you
Thank you. Will probably do somewhere in the future.
@@HistoryHustle The Spanish Blue division who fought on the eastern front have a very interesting history, and would make a great video!
Yes agree!
@@HistoryHustle Looking forward to it already 😜
Great!
Everytime I watch a video of Mark Felton I always get here. Not that I mind, but I think it has to do with the youtube algorithm.
More people mention this. I don't mind ☺️
@@HistoryHustle I'd call it a pretty big compliment. ;-)
Well, the channel you get directed to is “History Hustle”
Mark Felton makes great Vids!
As far as I have been able to research, the unit badge which consists of the Fleur-de-lis, I found an example of one which the Fleur-de-lis is yellow and the other side is blue, but I don't think this was the one stitched on the tunic.
Do a video on the " Malgré-nous ", the Alsacians who were enrolled in the Wehrmacht by force.
Future perhaps. Interesting topic.
130 000 malgré nous d'Alsace et de Moselle.
Oui enfin ça reste un peu un mythe pour le coup. On ce rappel de ces alsaciens "malgré nous" qui ont commis le massacre de français comme a Oradour sur glane ou c'était bien des alsaciens qui ont d'ailleurs désobéit aux supérieurs allemand en commettant ce massacre. Donc bon ça m'a l'air plus complexe que ça.
Love from Brussels 🇧🇪 Steefan 🙏🏾❤️
I hope to see a video about the Vlaamse SS or Wallonien SS one day
Please. Thanks for your good work and research.
You're welcome. In the future I will cover the Belgian volunteers. Might be in 2021.
ruclips.net/video/6a9SLQo_uNA/видео.html
Funny : Vlaams and Walloons that hâte each eather in two différents WSS division.
I have degrelles book sitting on a shelf waiting to be read..the man was vain but he certainly lived an interesting life.
I wonder if Hitler knew that some of the last defenders of Berlin were french. Probably not we can only imagine his reaction to hearing that
Guess so. I think he wasn't too worried with that at this point. We'll never know.
For sure he knew it, the last german military decorations that hitler gave to soldiers were to some french.
@@gringologie9302 A lack of knowledge in the comments ;)
Great vid as always. Would you be interested in making a video on the 1940 invasion of Belgium?
Will do in the future somewhere but cannot tell when.
Can you do one about the Flemish volunteers?
Future. Can't tell when.
Kobe Geyskens This historical topic interests me also.
One source of further info is the book; "Lions of Flanders; Flemish volunteers WSS 1941-45'
by Richard Landwehr, 165 pgs, softbound. 1996 @ Shelf Books. UK
As an American & former resident of Oost Vlaanderen, Stephan's excellent coverage of
the important Battle of The Schelde Estuary (pre-requisite to the Allies' utilization of Antwerp port)
really helped me understand the bigger picture in 1944-45 Flanders & the Southern Nederlande. Dank u wel !
@@Bradandchristinenj Thanks i will check it out.
John Sm. Gee, thanks John. Now I’ve purchased a 2nd hand copy of this book ! I’ve seen it around years ago.
“Knowledge is costly, ignorance is more expensive”. Thank you.
Bonjour / Goeidag de Bruxelles 👀👌🏾 mijn copain
Fascinating stuff!
👍
Thanks for this channel and your work! Many answered the cause to save Europe from Communism. Myself come from Sweden and even we had soldiers fighting mainly in 11. SS Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland. The last Swede to fall during the war was Ragnar Johansson from Skövde, who fell on the first of May 1945 in Berlin.
Glad you find it interesting. Many indeed believed to fight communism, but since Stalin never had plans to invade Europe (that's a pro-Nazi / revisionist myth) the cause is unjust. Furthermore, many joined because of other reasons.
@@HistoryHustle I agree with you and i think there is a difference between people joining the crusade in 1941 and the people who defended Germany when the war turned bad. Many people simple feared what Stalin and the Soviets would do if they won the war. War of cultures, the way of life was at stake in many peoples eyes i would imagine.
@@HistoryHustle I think many feared what the Reds did prior to WW2. Clearly, if the Communists had taken Poland, they would have desired to move further west. In addition, there was plenty of political turmoil related to communism leading up to WW2 in western Europe.
@@HistoryHustle can you make a video about that? I was under the impression that the Russians wanted to fight the Germans eventually but didn’t necessarily want to take over Europe? I could be dead wrong I just thought I read that somewhere
Very cool video
Many thanks!
Love your videos keep it up brother
👍thank you.
A most interesting episode indeed.
Thank you!
Great video. I would like to see a video about the action between the Vichy supporting elements of the French Foreign Legion who fought against the DeGaulle supporting elements of the French Foreign Legion in Syria during WWII: Legionaires against Legionaires. Per wikipedia: "...The Syria-Lebanon Campaign of June 1941 saw legionnaire fighting legionnaire as the 13e D.B.L.E clashed with the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment 6e REI at Damascus. Nevertheless, many legionnaires of the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment 6e (dissolved on 31 December 1941) integrated into the Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion R.M.L.E in 1942. ..."
Do you have an episode on the Belgian volunteers?
Not yet. Future. Can't tell when.
Lekker stefan, altijd weer goede video's !
Bedankt!!
Groot Nederlands fur alles front! Van severen mit uns ! Verdinaso van noordfrankrijk! Hou zee!
Your french prononciation is spot on.
🇫🇷👍
Good job Dutch dude.Love your documentaries.
Many thanks 👍
Yes finally!
These videos are like Kinder Überraschung ;)
Glad you like it guys.
@@HistoryHustle Swap rotors.
The eggs are layed, the eggs are not hatched, the eggs are in the basket.
End of message.
You missed the payoff at the end, ie what happened to the survivors after the war.
Prison or death.
@@HistoryHustle 12 were handed over to the French and were shot for treason, but the main guy was sentenced later to 20 years in prison and was released after just 10.
This is interesting !!! You are a creative man.
👍
@@HistoryHustle 👍
ruclips.net/video/8KdTChn-pEA/видео.html
REAL history teacher. Mine could only read from the standard history books and say 'moef' if he wanted you to go....thanks Stefan.
Thanks for your comment, Rene.
Heel snel mijn favorite RUclips kanaal aan het worden. Iedereen die deze beste man als geschiedenis leraar heeft.... heeft de geschiedenis jackpot gewonnen. Geschiedenis was mijn favorite vak ondanks de saaie leraren. Ben 38 maar zou graag bij uw klas aanschuiven voor een paar lessen
Bedankt voor je bericht, Johan! Er komt nog voor interessants aan. Voel je vrij om ook de oudere video's te bekijken. Dit kanaal bevat er inmiddels meer dan 250!
ruclips.net/video/DvTELkWlB_E/видео.html
Could be the answer to your question about french weaponry used by LVF. At 4:32, you can see the rear or an Hotchkiss machinegun. On the original comment, they say that this machinegun was "taken to the ennemy" (As the commentator says that they wear the "european" uniform)
Interesting, thanks for sharing.
Being half French and half German, I find this is all very conflicting.
I don't believe you are a nazi.
Be cool, be yourself.
Peace from The Netherlands.
Understandable. And thanks for responding Mike.
Have you read “The Forgotten Soldier” by Guy Sajer?
No I have not.
There are always mamy sides to each story. The history we are taught at school is highly simplified
Stefan, could you maybe tell us something about the 'bende van oss' or 'Affaire Oss'?? It would be really nice thought! Thx anyways 😁
I have seen the movie and know the carnavalesque song. Not really on my list though because it is too niche. But never say never.
french uniforms with nazi insignia would have been interesting to see in eastern front footage, it’s the little facts like that, that make me love this channel
Great 👍
One screen has qualifying for the F1 ..... will have to read it later as this screen has my full attention. Excellent video as always, interesting how the far right in France was four groups that never joined up. That's politics and power then.
Thanks for your message.
Hello, could you make a video about the Wehrmacht Strafbataillon?
Btw, do you speak German ? (I think you have been asked this question already )
Keep up the huzzle
One day I will dive into that. I speak German fairly well. Listening not that great. Reading OK. Writing/grammar: don't ask.
Subcribers gaan nu erg snel omhoog! Mag ook wel met deze kwaliteit :)
Geweldig hè, dank!
I love these videos on the other nations fighting in the Nazi armies because it digs into the motivation of the soldiers and their psyche. Keep up the good work. PS enjoying watching your travels on Instagram❤️
Many thanks. Great you liked the video as well as my current travel stories.
Also pointing out that Germans were not doing this alone, they had a lot of help.
Indeed.
An interesting subject and a complex one.
Indeed. Hope you found it interesting.
Why do you call the SS Charlemagne as “infamous”?
They were the last to defend Berlin . I mean that should be enough to consider them infamous.
@@harshbansal7982 Might have been somewhat controversial to refer to them as "famous" :)
@@edsmith4995 & Harsh: thanks for answering.
A more neutral term would be "notorious", but it's still associated with unfavorable behavior.
@@daveberntson4081, at least that term would not be as improper (for a decent historian, I mean) as “infamous”.
I am actually reading La division Charlemagne by Jean Mabire it's such a good book
Interesting.
I'm looking to buy his series
I will check out. Thanks for information
At 9:45 I dont quite understand. Why would the SS care that the LVF conducted themselves in this fashion? Sounds like SS standard operating procedure to me.
Indeed. Can't tell what the opinion of these officers was.
about the 8.ss sturmbrigade, it never fought the French resistance within France, it was in training from September 1943 all the way to august 1944 when they were first engaged. The unit started as a regiment between august 1943 to march 1944, then as an artillerie regiment in march-aril 1944 and became a sturmbrigade from April 1944 to august 1944. Otherwise your video is pretty interesting!! cheers
thanks
That the milice that fough résistants ... And Gendarmerie (GMR) ... résistants were called Terrorists.
Have you already made a video about de slag om de schelde, because I can't find it.
Ik bespreek de slag hier:
ruclips.net/video/Kg5GEEMtCsI/видео.html
@@HistoryHustle ok thanks
Damn, you're the best historian...
Thanks, Pawel!
I thought French people outside the Alsace region where Latin so could not be Germanic (Aryan) can someone help me pls 😭🙏🏾😭
They were not indeed.
French are not ONE people !!! But many : that are very physicly différents in between themlselves but used to speack the same language ...
@@bouchacourtthierry8506 yeah,and I've heard the French are one of the few peoples that can pronounce properly the word"celtic".
The name "France" comes from the Franks, a German tribe that invaded the roman Gaul.
They are 3 main ethnicities : Iberian (south, Brown hair tan skin)
Celtic (Chestnut hairs pink peach skin blue yellow green eyes)
Germanic (north and east, blue White Grey eyes blond White hair)
Ss recruited all 3 after 1943
Do you know about the British Free Corps? These were a very small number of Brits who fought for the Wehrmacht.
Have to research that.
There were LOTS of Nazi Militia in France as well, and they fought in battles against the French Resistance...
Sure something for a future video.
@@HistoryHustle The Battle of Glières was the biggest battle the MILICE and Franc-Garde (the Armed version of the Milice) staged against the Resistance...
actually germans gave the title freiwillinger (volunteers) to formations made by non aryans (eg russians, french, estonians etc) while for aryan nations they had similar titles as german units (norwegians, dutch etc). it is interesting to know why so many europeans who initially fought against the germans later on collaborated with them. we see that more than half of the waffen ss were non germans. i would also like to know the fate of the majority of these collaborators. very good video!!!
Have a whole playlist for you here:
ruclips.net/video/F3BPW5WMmDo/видео.html
There were distinction in between : "Aryan" , "nordic", Germanic " ... Wallonians were concidered as Germanic french speaking ... Ukrainians as Untermench... there were also a distinction in between French WSS from the Frankreich Brigade considered as Pure SS and the SS Charlemagne division that was a mixt of LVF vétérans. survivors french brigade SS , milicians ...others ...concidered as volonters ... Wallonians SS were catholics ....Many French SS considered themself as Pagans ...
Can you do videos about battles or campaigns like the DAK or Stalingrad
Perhaps in the future.
Can you please tell me what the V on the left arm of a German Nazi uniform in WWII had to say
Good question. I believe this was a rank. Which one I don't know.
Thanks!
@@BangFarang1 Thanks to you now I know what kind of thing mean grandfather was wearing on his arm.
France wasn't too kind to the returning and captured French SS soldiers and the Soviets were more than happy to turn their captured French SS over to the French government in 1945.
True, and it was same for SS volunteers of all nations, who were either imprisoned or executed, including the tiny contingent of British Free Corp SS volunteers.
@@mathewkelly9968 Some of the British Waffen SS chaps managed to escape the gallows by claiming they signed up in order to sabotage the unit, but their hardcore ideologically Nazi leader was thankfully hanged.
I know some former SS volunteers were sent to Indochina to fight there.
they didn't deserve kindness ss for the most part were some of the worst.
the french ss division " charlemagne " did not have a specific collar tab and wore the ss runes. also they wore the french flag sleeve patch on their right sleeve below the ss eagle and the "charlemagne " sheild was never issued but used as a divisional insignia to reconize them as an ss division...
Thanks for sharing this.
@@HistoryHustle hi...i am from Canada and reenact here,,,just thought i would add a little info in case many of the veiwers never knew...plus keep up the great videos...especially the foregein legion ones,,i reenact a waffen-ss general with 5 Wiking SS Canada and a teacher of history studies of the Wiking division
Hey.. was there not a voluntary Italian and a Greek SS brigade that fought on the Eastern front?
Italian SS yes but only after 1943 I believe when Italy surrendered and Greek SS didn't exist.
I expected more! Your interpretations are rather personal or based on the opinions of others. Present historical records to verify your statements.
See sources in the description below.
Pétain became from WWI hero to WWII scapegoat.
Crazy turn of events yes.
@SSJ So much for communists.
@SSJ Far-right revisionism. Pétain was not forced to collaborate , and did not collaborate to " lessen the burden ". He willingly betrayed France , and uncovered documents by french historians prove that he started to work on the persecution of jews of his own will , without any orders from the nazis
By historical revisionism , I mean exactly what you doing :
On the 3rd of October 1940 , in the " free zone " , by initiative of the Vichy regime and annotated by Pétain himself to be harsher than what was initially planned , the first law on the statut of jews is promulgated. It applied to french jews.
Very shortly after the Vichy regime was established , Pétain spontaneously and autonomously started to persecute jews , including those with french nationality.
Accounts from close collaborators of Pétain says that he personally said that he no longer wanted jews within education and administration.
Numerous french jews saw their nationality voided by law.
As for your blurb about only the radical right seeing Pétain as a traitor , it is ridiculous and far from the truth if we look at who work security for far-right french political party ( neo-nazis and vichy nostalgics )
He has done nothing wrong! FRANCE in 1930s was very corrupted and after the defeat in 1940, France has nothing left to fight but complied with the German occupiers to survive!
Can you maybe do a video about kamp vught?
Perhaps somewhere in the future.
CCCP. Stalin never sign the Geneve-konvention so the War on the Earstern front " were my Father's unckle was in " Nordland-Division 24 Danmark" was a fair war. But the civilien death's was NOT ok. But in a War people die!! Fact's. I love the way you tell history 👍🎗
Thanks for replying!
Can you do a vidio abaut partezans pls
Future.
I would like if you could make a video about the Dutch settlers in South Africa, it's something I feel isnt taught alot in South African history schoolbooks and books
Not anytime soon. Sorry.
@@HistoryHustle 👍🏻
Could you do a history of the British Free corps
It's planned, but expect 2021.
The bolt action French MAS 36 rifle saw action on the Eastern Front.
Ok thanks for sharing.
Leuke video over iets wat niet bekend is, dat klinkt als de typisch Franse uitspraak van "angst rassen colobarators" maar het lijkt erop dat er zoveel beschikbaar waren. Even terzijde, over Nederlandse uniformen, las ik in een boek over Tony Luteyn, een Nederlander en Airey Neave, een Engelsman die aan Colditz ontsnapte met Dutch Kit, veel gemakkelijker om te zetten in geïmproviseerde bewakingsuniformen.
Dank voor je bericht! Zeker een minder bekend stukje van WO2.
I saw an old documentary from those charlemagne units saying 'loyal to the end'.
That i think what separates the SS from any other unit in the war. Regardless of what people think about them. Including the misconception of the ss guards in the concentration camps vs the ss units in the frontlines.
There is a distinction but that doesn't make the SS front men innocent. Far from. During the Warsaw Uprising they behaved savagely.
@@HistoryHustle True, and I'm assuming you're referring to the Dirlewanger Brigade, which would also make a very interesting video, which was essentially a penal battalion comprised of career criminals and sadists, and excelled at brutalising civilians. German reports during the uprising stated that they were ineffective as a combat unit, as were more interested in looting, rape and brutalising the locals . Although it's not been verified, it's suspected the Germans themselves killed their sociopathic commander. Although the SS were obviously fighting for an evil regime, I suspect many of the foreign volunteers genuinely believed they were joining a noble cause, and had a deep felt desire to fight against Bolshevism, however the entire organisation will be forever tainted due to the sheer number of war crimes committed by SS units in general.
Great Guys , Good at their roll .
Don't get the second expression but ok.
They are traitors, despite their undeniable bravery.
There was a also a tiny British Waffen SS unit comprised of volunteers recruited from prisoner of war camps, called the British Free Corp. However it's not actually as interesting as it sounds. Only a few recruits were genuinely committed to the Nazi cause, and the remainder were looking for a way out of the camps to chase women and have an easy life. There are unsubstantiated reports a few of them found themselves on the Oder front during the last days of the war, but the Germans struggled to make it combat ready and disbanded them after giving up on the idea.
Yes, thanks for the additional information. Perhaps something for the future to cover.
Its really interesting that basically in entire europe only Poland didnt have its own SS division or any German army unit. Huh even Americans had their own SS division. Can you correct me? Are there some countries (bigger than luxembourg etc) that didnt have their own ss division or official german cooperarion?
The American unit only existed on paper though since it was a handful of men. If you're interested, here's my playlist about British, Flemish, Dutch and other pro-Axis volunteers:
ruclips.net/p/PL_bcNuRxKtpEj8sMLxUerrHbsmyar9lqt
I have seen in a book fore SS units waffen. And they did youse french rifle's and submachine-guns to👍
Okay, thanks for sharing this!!
Do not listen a Dutch history teacher for our history at that particular point in time, it was far more complex than that.
Feel free to explain.
I didn't know but it does not surprise me
Fair point.
You should cover more in depth the russian ss units specifically the 30th Waffen Grenadier Division and the Waffen-Sturm-Brigade der SS RONA/ Kaminski brigade
Already did.
ruclips.net/video/cKpj786Sorc/видео.html
We french during ww2 were like the pirates of the caribbean pistol scene meme, most took no side but we had some in every sides, surrender...yes, but resistance and colaboration, allies and axis, and even taking back some of colonies for a free france and a submitted france too germany...etc. Don't judge us for a single defeat, because we came back very quickly despite a very farfetch situation of everyone in every sides possible.
PS : This dude is not bad at all pronouncing french words and quotes, he did good/well.
@@Yartrax-930 thanks.
I'm surprised the Germans didn't allow them to arm and equip themselves with French army stock. There must have been plenty of it sat in reserve somewhere, and it would save the Germans the trouble of having to pay for all of their equipment out of their own pockets. It would have been pragmatic.
Interesting thought. I wouldn't thing it would be effective at all. Because then the supply chain gets an extra burden of sorting out ammunition and spare parts. It may hinder the troops in that case I think. I do believe French army stock was used by collaborating police in occupied France (or Vichy).
@@HistoryHustle that's a very good point actually, I didn't think of logistics! what a terrible general I would make.
Ik kijk ook je Nederlandse video’s wil je ook zo’n video maken in het Nederlands. En ook over de Nederlandse ss maken.
Die komt er, over Nederlandse vrijwilligers in de Waffen SS. Fransen niet. Mijn Nederlandstalige kanaal zal op de tweede plaats staan. Het Engelstalige kanaal zal prioriteit blijven hebben.