German surrender 1945, heer, fallshirmjager and luftwaffe troops UNIQUE FOOTAGE
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Unique footage of the surrender and disarmament of german troops. Lots a detailed uniform and equipement can be seen in good quality. The location is between Soest and Hilversum, may 1945.
My grandfather was in the 6th panzer army and survived the battle of Stalingrad where he was captured by the Russians. His resolve and unbreakable spirit saw him coming back home to his family in 1956.
He out lived everyone he knew and made it into his 100 birthday.
He is a good man and always proud of him.
Don't let bad leadership paint the broad brush for good honorable everyday men
TO
todays millenials would give up the first day without their phones or starbucks coffee
Who invited him to Russia? How many civilians did he executed? How many Russian houses did he burn? I presume he never told about that.
@@KR-jt4ut
Not nearly enough
Dude, I would have loved to hear war stories from your dad especially of Stalingrad with a tall liter mug of Bitburger Bier. BTW it was the 6th Army & the 4th Panzer Army that went to Stalingrad.
@@meljenkins1016 Indeed, the fact that "Mr Wolf" even doesn't know that, makes his story (only 5000 Nazi soldiers came back in 1955 - not 1956 -) unbelievable. And now, ... getting the age of 100??? After such experiences ....
My father was an RAF pilot who worked with BAOR after the war. He told me that most Germans regretted having lost the war but few showed any contrition about having been part of it.
Why would they?....they thought that they were right. I knew a german woman, some ten years ago, who said that those who were sent to the concentration camps deserved what they got. She was in her mid forties then. Born in 1965. Only twenty years after the surrender.....her mother and father had no serious pangs of conscious or guilt.
@@brucemarsico6 Sounds like it is still the nation of the damned.
@@woodenseagull1899 For a nation that's perceived as a model of precision and efficiency, well run and culturally superior, they've made a lot of really stupid mistakes. Just think, if they hadn't begun the Great War in 1914, and stayed as large in area as they were then, they'd be a huge influence on the world stage. German would probably be a 'must learn' language in U.S. schools. Sure, it's got a strong economy and is influential in Europe but on the world stage it's a pistol shit nation. Opportunity lost......
@@brucemarsico6 You really believe that this stupid woman you met ten years ago speaks for the majority of Germans today? I neither believe that you are so naive nor do I believe that you deliberately want to paint a false picture of Germany and the Germans.
@@woodenseagull1899 Sounds like you were taken in by fake news.
My Father was from Nijmegen. He was 17 at the time and he had learned English in school and spoke fluent German because Nijmegen is right next to the German border. He worked as an interpreter first for the Americans and later the Canadians. One of his tasks was interpreting the interrogation of POWs. He said that on the whole it was a sad business. Some of the things he saw caused him nightmares, making him sit screaming upright in bed in the middle of the night from time to time, right until he died in 2004. My Mother learned to cope with his episodes fairly early on in her marriage. She never complained or anything, just reckoned it was part of the deal she had made at the altar.
That’s all sad, let’s hope for a better future.
@@reneegiese6315 amen
like what ? executions ?
Why, was your father a nazi sympathizer ?
@@9lettere668, he saw German soldiers who wanted to surrender being shot in the back by the SS. Many of the POWs that were brought in had been wounded, some very badly. There was apparently one instance of a man who was brought in who had both arms and both legs ripped off. He was obviously dying and my Father went over to ask him if he perhaps wanted a message to be forwarded to his next of kin, but the man died as he bent over him. It goes on and on, men being burned alive by flamethrower tanks etc. Towns that had been captured were rubble heaps where the dead bodies of men, women and children, some severely mutilated, were lying around in the streets.
yep this is my dads battalion ( 1st Leicestershire Reg, 147th Brigade, 49th division , The Polar Bears ) enjoying themselves disarming these German units. My dad ( lance cpl Les Hall )was in Blackpool at this time eating dinner I expect , as he had just been liberated from a prisoner of war camp by the Yanks and flown back to blighty after being captured at Arnhem .He had spent 6 months being starved , beaten up and forced march across Europe in the worst winter in living memory so even he was glad to go to Blackpool, where he put back on the 4 and ahalf stone he had lost...Incidentally, the Leicestershires replaced the 6th Duke of Wellington Reg in July of 44 after the Dukes suffered fantastic bad luck and very heavy casualties, so heavy in fact, that they were returned to England to reform .My father was in both regiments and like most vets never talked about his war experiences however reading the war diaries of the regiments its amazing he survived especially when you consider he was shot in the head..,which is never great ..lots of mess and missing teeth..and as he said to me one drunken time .." I got the rest kicked out playing Rugby league" ...i dont think they make them like that any more ...needless to say he was very bitter about the war particularly his lost friends ...I dont think he ever got over his experiences, PTSD wasnt a thing in those days and like all his generation never complain about his lot he just got on with things ...ps he was just turned 19 years old when he landed in Normandy D plus 7...
Many of them with PTSD didn't just "get on with things"...lots of them drank themselves to death and/or beat their wives and children due to the psychological damage, stress etc. They just did it behind closed doors.
My grandfather survived Beaumont Hamel, barely uttered a word ever after, and walked down the hallway linoleum from constant pacing 12 hours a day the rest of his life.
God bless your dad, he’s one of the Greatest Generation that saved us!
@@barrybarnes96 , plenty of them ended their own lives.too. PTSD has probably been a ‘thing’ since Gronk first clubbed Shag’s brains out over a Wooly Mammoth carcass.
:mm
BS.
My late father was drafted near the end of WW II and served in the Army of Occupation. One time he had to guard a work detail of German POW's. The Germans learned that an American colonel was coming for an inspection. They asked dad if it was true that American officers carried their own kit (instead of a batman), and dad affirmed it. So, instead of taking the chow truck back to camp, they all waited behind to see if what dad told them was true. Sure enough, this colonel got out of this jeep carrying his own luggage. It really made the Germans day seeing that.
The land of the free😁
If I was one of those soldiers, either side, I'd be sitting there all day counting and recounting my fingers and toes, ecstatic that I had survived the slaughter.
Shouldn't have started it then pal, by following the Austrian corporal...
Yeah, you can almost hear the sighs of relief.
Absolutely
you can say that but the germans were not sure what awaited them or what was left of their homes.
Every third Wehrmacht-Soldier didn't make it. You must have been clever, night and day, to survive. Ans you must have had luck.
These German soldiers should thank God they weren't taken prisoner by the Red Army.
Yes! Siberia is very cold!
How many times do we have to listen to this??
Why do you think they are headed west?
Would you -as an internet superhero -have surrendered to the Soviets?
I think they knew that already
This is haunting. What a stark contrast to see some calm after so much violence. War is asinine.
I knew a man who fought in this war, who we used to talk to walking his dog around the local park.
I visited him sometime in the early 2000's and he showed me photos he had taken during his time fighting in the war.
I never forget the ones he took of them all celebrating with a beer in a makeshift beer tent, when the war was declared 'over'.
I only hope his photos were kept, treasured and perhaps shared by his family.
My father fought until 4th May 1945 as a member of the Alarmbattallion 1. He was wounded and captured by Canadian soldiers in the near of Oldersum. In this area the last hard fights where done.
Ehre, wem Ehre gebührt.
And you would have fought too had you been in his place and his time.
I have to send the most respects to him. My grandpa still alive. He is 97 now .... He defended Moscow, 3 wounds. He cannot talk anymore, but as I remember, He said the Cold was overwhelming.
@@dimasgestas7190 Hi Dimas, my father died 1999, he would be also 97 if still alive. Honour to your grandpa and keep your family hero in a good mind. Thanks.
@@DustySenecal33 Hi, the C ist now corrected, thanks for info and comment.
Some of those troops on both sides, captors and captives, look so young. There's one captive who looks no more than 15.
They were young. This is true of all wars. The biggest lie in war movies is the age of the actors play soldier.
@@davidgifford8112 Wars are usually started and made with very young people who believe in all the propaganda shit because they don't know any better. Elderly, experienced people will immediately know that they are being cheated and lied to.
Wars R fought by the young
@@philiplagomarsino4086 Young men, yes, of course. The ones I was referring to look to be boys, not yet men.
Yes, at the end of the war the nazis used also child soldiers. If you didn't know it and want more information you can watch this video:
ruclips.net/video/OqFhvKarYjU/видео.html&ab_channel=MarkFeltonProductions
I would imagine these German soldiers and officers were relieved to surrender to the British rather than the Red Army.😬
1:27 you see a German military police on the right. They were the last to disarm and often worked with allied forces to keep the peace after Germanys surrender.
The fieldgendarmerie
But these people were also the ones who made sure to the last that no German soldier could desert. In the last days of the war this military police "Feldgendarmerie" shot dead over ten thousand German deserters or hung them on trees. The German soldiers called these military police "chain dogs" because of the chain they wore around their necks. Some of them were worse than the SS.
@@folkestender2025 that are rules of war.
Do you know that allied forces alloued the application of judgments rendered before surrendering by German military courts, many soldiers passed through the execution pluton (German soldiers) with the supervision and approbation of allied forces
@@Fox-One1937 ...and homosexuals went from the camps into prisons.
@@None-zc5vg That’s an interesting point. The vast majority of people imprisoned in Germany toward the end the war were in captivity either as POWs or for “crimes” that weren’t crimes under the laws of the Allies, but some were ordinary thieves, fraudsters, etc. Were they all just released when the Allies arrived, or was there some sort of double-checking by the Allies before opening the gates?
My great grandfather fought from 1944 to 1945; he was apart of the 69th Infantry Division 273rd Infantry Regiment. Although I don't no much since he pasted when I was little. My Gram told me he never really talked about it since he hated it, he hated war. I get that since he was just a farmer and only 18 and thrown into a war.
That Luftwaffe officer with sunglasses on the car looks like a coolest dude of the WWII 1:02
Captain K. finally survived!
He is actually a time traveller
It's Claus (Junker) von Amsberg, later he married the Dutch queen :lol:
That's Captain Klenzendorf AKA Captain K. Looks like he survived the firing squad.
@@Hakkeholt No it is not. The guy in the Kubelwagen is a Luftwaffe General, as shown by his shoulder patches. von Amsberg wasn't conscripted until 1944. He was put into the 90th Panzergrenadier division in March 1945 but saw no action before surrendering to the Americans.
No more war. War just makes people suffering, pain, starving and crying. Let peace comes into the world forever.
And how do you propose doing that, Harimurti ? By writing your thought bubbles on RUclips ? I had an 'idea' about a jetplane that could fly from London to New York in just 5 minutes, but I have still not worked out how it can be done. But it's certainly a great idea, isn't it ? I've also had a great 'idea' about eliminating every disease known to man, from the common cold to cancer, but I still haven't figured out how it can be achieved. DO YOU GET MY POINT ?
@@Baskerville22 Jesus man, calm down. The guy was just speaking his opinion
@@Baskerville22 thanks for volunteering on my behalf bud. I'll be with Harimurti living a life of peace and good will...
Just like in the mid 1960s. 'War isn't healthy for children or other living things'.
No war iwas good but WW2 was necessary to wipe the fascist and imperialist attitude out of Germany and Japan evil criminal mindsets
I just can't imagine how sad is the end of such a war, when everything is over - and at the same time is not. There are so many work ahead.
@@kaa13 .. yes, for survivors. Time to think about what was lost, time to rebuild, to cry...it' s all over, and at the same time it's not.
@@PauloPereira-jj4jv bro I 100% can understand you
The germans in the vid seemed pretty pleased.
The harsh experience if my country or other people's country got invaded and defeated, and the economy just collapse. Not just that, we dont know what happen to our family or our friends in home when we back from war. Some people missing, some people got ptsd, some people got killed, some people got raped. I hope we dont experience that such thing.
@@graemesydney38 Pleased because they are not in the hands of the RUSSIANS
The Germans must have been gritting their teeth as the Brits patted them down... just 5 years earlier they thought they could walk all over England ... schadenfreude comes to mind...still, bet they were glad it was the Brits and not the Russians...
Even now I’m still can’t believe that powerful Nazi German lost the war.
@@swaldron5558 … why do you think America is always after oil.. without oil you can’t do sweet FA … now, if Germany had invented coal fired tanks…
@@swaldron5558 Nazi Germany declared war on the world they were doomed
@@franceleeparis37 What the fuck are you rambling on about what German oil?
Two of my Uncles fought in WWll, one in Europe and the other against Japan. “WHEN” I could get a story out of them they would always try to make the stories not sound awful, but you knew it had to. How do you tell a humorous story about people trying to kill you. They genuinely sacrificed themselves for our good. Thank you vets!
According to my father (NW Europe 44-45) war is "99% boredom and 1% sheer fucking terror".
R. E. T. A. R. D the world is a mess because of those worms. Bad guys won.
For our good? are you having a joke?
I had friends and relatives who fought in both the Pacific and Europe. I never heard the hatred for the Germans they had for the Japanese. They hated them until they died..
Would the Germans have shown us the same humility?? Proud to be British. We do not need any more wars.
They did, notice that the Western Allies were treated very well in the German camps. many Germans were mistreated by Americans, French and Soviets
@@alejo7625 You are correct. And he is british, its his narrative to say this. They are indoctrinated until today. The war crimes were done by allied forces. Hear what prof William Toel has to say.
Humility??
Yes....because germans adore their english cousins...Anglo Saxons....
Don't forget Dunkirk for example
Those former German soldiers captured in the west were who rebuild Germany and alloued this country to have strong economy
You mean the Nazis who Chancellor Adenauer gave Senior positions to in the post German Government? Wow how impressive.
@@semsemeini7905 Terrorists from the Haganah got high political positions in Israel,so what?Happened in a lot of countries by the way in whole history.
@@semsemeini7905 Yes and that's ok.
We British paying our debts, not fair.
Yes, with a massive American economic aid and the cheap working hands of Greeks and other nations that they had just destroyed.
Peace....at least for many of them. Time to rebuild their lifes.
Welp, not for those in East Germany. There is Poland from Oder to Bug Rivers.
Great footage. Some of those soldiers were so young.
Thanks for posting 🇬🇧
BECAUSE THE EARLIER ARMIES WERE MOSTLY DEAD.
Thanks for beeing a friend...british cousin
My father from Puerto 🇵🇷 Rico joined the US army in 1940 and left it in 1946. He was a lucky guy since he wasn't involved in any battle.
Vaya bro- der ! 🪖👍
I met a guy how never stopped talking about the war, my girlfriends dad.
The guy that should've never stop telling me about the war, (my mother's father) never got to....
HE NEVER CAME HOME.
He's buried near where he fell, in France.
I guess he was a REMF. Two of my school friends fathers and my uncle were cases in point. My uncle was a marine and one father a tank driver, they never spoke a word. The other father was an electrician and he was full of stories of hi-jinks, liberation and souvenirs. His boss, the brigadier, was like the officer in Kelly's heroes, he acquired a string of hunters in France and had them shipped back to his farm in Ireland.
My Uncle was stationed in Soest.Last tour of duty.Bless the sacred memory.
All very odd to believe that these kids were trying to kill one other off just a few months previous.
Statistically, if you were German, your best chance of surviving the war was to be captured by the British.
Brother genes !
Yes thats true but the british implentated the genocide on germans until today. Just hear what Prof William Toel has to say.
Thats right. My dad was captured 1944 by british soldiers. Only every second soldier of the Wehrmacht had a weapon. He spent fife years in Oxford and was treated well. He served almost 10 years in the Wehrmacht and at the end of his life, it was important for him to say....I am shure, I shot no one. Thats Wehrmacht too!
Most german soldiers was pleased thatthe war was over! Only the NAZI criminals was not!!! Thank you for the liberation of german inhabitants!! 🙏
The Good has Triumphed,Evil is Beaten
Not till Putins dead!
The Evil has Triumphed，Good is Beaten*
@@tristanzz1630ok edgelord 😂
@@ahronthegreatwhat's edgy in this? Call Patton an edgelord?
At least they weren't surrendering to the Soviets.
Same thing... millions of Germans were massacred in both sides... unfortunately.
@@nubeirothropic yeah but the Germans probably should not have starved 3 million Soviet POWs
Germans first newer applied Geneva convention tu the soviets, them they were afraid of surrendering to them. Why would it be? lol
@@nubeirothropic Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact ?
They were relieved not surrender to the Soviets after the savage murders of whole towns in Russia. So yeah, they were happy.
My father, who was involved in all this in the American Army, would say "Direct those prisoners to the Russian lines. They can surrender to the Russians." Did you know the Germans shot on the spot Soviet women in uniform when taken prisoner? Not just the SS, but the Wehrmacht as well. Nurses were the only exception.
Grateful to be alive.
Yes but not in a gas chamber I don't think some of their regular military new what was really happening. Most soldiers followed orders until they changed.
And most of them are gone, now history... Life is fleeting.
Yes, but most of them went on living in peace time with their families--on both sides--had children and watched them grow up, helped rebuilding their countries, lived their lives, happy and sad moments ... So, it is true, life is fleeting, but at the end you may look back and still say, it was good.
@@VolkerGerman Absolutely...but the fussing and fighting at the end makes no sense.
At aprox. 0:53 or 1:15 it looks like the German officers were allowed to keep pistols. Anybody knows if it was usual?
I have noticed that too
Yes standard Geneva convention - to keep order among their own men.
"As of June 16, 1945, the U.S., France, and the U.K. held a combined total of 7,500,000 German POWs and DEFs. By June 18, the U.S. had discharged 1,200,000 of these."
Soldiers who surrendered after hostilities ended were possibly under a more moderate regime..
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disarmed_Enemy_Forces
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Surrendered_Personnel
Another aspect is that the Allies had a secret admiration for the German officer class and trusted them enough to maintain disclipine amongst the POW. However this was not the same on the Eastern Soviet controlled front
That one German pulled a pistol out of his back pocket, and the Brit let him keep it.
Officers allowed to keep side arms. Always that distinction between other ranks aka enlisted men. The yanks would have pinched it anyway lol
There used to be honor in warfare.
Not a pistol. It's his wallet/ID - you can't carry a pistol in your back pocket & anyway we see him put it in his pocket & it's square & flat.
@@nightjarflying otherwise it’s would’ve painful if a Luger go off!
Wow. Amazing footage.
Hopefully never again.
Its happened many, many times since but on smaller scales. The newly created United Nations stated in 1945 that genocide would never happen again. Its happened again, and again, and again. Even happening as I type this.
unfortunately, America is the world policeman, we will always be in the middle of some conflict.
People never learn. Never
@@vtlomboy with great power comes great responsibility.
Where were you on January 6, 2021? The Nazis attacked our nations capitol.
So many young kids in German uniforms. My heart goes out to them. They had their childhoods stolen from them and i wonder how many of them turned out as adults after being completely brainwashed and ruined.
Like today's average American
1:16, the lufty officer being allowed to retain a pistol?
@Jimmy Greene go back to bed man, sleepy Jimmy!
Captured officers are allowed to keep their sidearms. Rule of war.
Oh Jam got it right - Grant did the same with Lee's officers, at Appomattox.
@@DailyBrusher Correction: my bad: "Surrendering" officers.... There's a fine distinction.
@@The_BobFather Nonsense. What rule? According to what law?
My father was in the Army. It was near the end of the war. Nobody wanted to kill anyone. There was a house that had German officers in it. They were told to take prisoners. There was a kid maybe 15 guarding the outside gate. They figured they would sneak up on him and knock him out with the butt of a .45. When they hit him he started yelling because it hurt. lol The officers came out of the house and were SO SO SO glad to be taken prisoners. I have awesome pictures of all the German officers in a tent with other GI's drinking, eating and smoking. It was over for them and they were happy.
What you see here is the human side. These are the lucky ones to make it alive and reach the west side.
Los.Alemanes.provocaron.la.primera.y.la.segunda.guerra.Mundial.¿serian.capaces.de.provocar.una.tercera?..(CREO.QUE.YES.).
Commander Krueger's golden cigarette box was used as a metaphor. In the end asks
Captain Schmidt to Lt. Hartman when he comes to the cigarette box. "Through a friend" replies Hartman. At that point, Schmidt thought the battle had been betrayed by Krueger.
At least these Germans would rebuild their lives, starting with their surrender. Having read many articles concerning the fighting in the East, it is nice to see some decency, vs a whole other kind of brutality to contend with, vis a vis the Russians. Thanks, and this is very clear film
Oh yes... the "brutality" of the Red Army... The USSR lost 30 million people (20 million of them were civilians) because of the German invasion in 1941, almost 1/2 of all WWII deads. What sort of abstract "mercy" are you claiming for?
@@mongo2022 Jorge: which ideology was responsible for more deaths in the 20th century? Answer: Communism, with Fascism down the list, as far as body-count. Communist leaders did not even need war to do away with their own population', just declare it's own people as needing "purging." Look to the Asian examples for proof, also Stalinism, as a perfect example, closer to this discussion. Jorge: there are many sources YOU can look at for corroboration of statistical facts, please don't consider MY "opinion". We are talking about people and events too horrible to truly imagine, well-documented, and inconvenient for the PC crowd to consider. Thanks, Jorge.
Are we going to forget the massacres of Ukrainian Germans inthe mid 1930s? Hundreds of thousands..people that catherine the great brought in 2 century earlier!!..Stalin and his cohorts
1:20 Please return my grandmothers bicycle!
🥴🥱
They didnt look vanquished, just glad it was over, and when wars were fought with 15 year olds,on both sides.
It's good to see, that even to the very end, there was hair styling oil in Germany.
Axle grease...its everywhere
They could've powered a me 262 with that low grade fuel
It's oil f
Some of those German soldiers had very modern haircuts. You can't see too much in this film, but in other war films you can see the finely cut and chiseled hair on many Nazis. Some of them looked really good too. I want to know where these guys were going for their haircuts.
@mdo686 The Litle Drummer
It is sad,you may of seen mates get injured,or making the supreme sacrifice, regardless of side they were all brave men!
I keep hearing this sentence - "regardless of what side they were" .
Not only from you, but from a lot of commenters in all kinds of videos on this subject, here on RUclips.
Let me say you this: It does matter which side the soldiers were on. The damn Nazis had to be shot dead, everyone to the last man (well, "man" is an insult here to the human kind) at the end of this war and that's it. They were the bad side in this whole war, they were the killer side and they were the ones who invented the whole issue of taking over the world.
They are the bad guys at this story and do not dare to forget it.
@@antuanmorilli7605 Do you really believe the majority of those Germans, in this film, wanted to kill or die? Also, I didn't see any Waffen SS among them. Had there been some, I wouldn't have commented. When the shooting stopped, those Germans who did their duty (as soldiers), became just men. `Nuff said.
@@kyokogodai-ir6hy
Why "enough said"? What are you afraid of?
Yes. I agree. Of course. No way.
They did not want to murder, conquer, rape, burn alive and loot.
The truth is that they wanted to travel in friendship in other countries not in order to conquer them for Lebensraum, but in order to be sociable, learn other cultures and help the elderly women cross the streets.
Do you really think they did their duty as soldiers? Do you know what the definition of war crime is? Do you know that every person, even if he is a soldier who receives orders, has a conscience and discretion? Besides - what has it got to do with SS soldiers? Were only they the "bad guy" in the story? All the other Nazis were sweet and kind?
I always argue that comments like yours are dangerous. I understand from them that entire populations did not internalize, did not learn a lesson, and certainly did not open history books. In my opinion, when it comes to the actions of the Germans in World Wars (yes, the 2 wars started because of the Germans, do not forget) one should condemn en masse and not start looking and finding out who in the army was a Nazi, who was SS and who was SA or a collaborator. Such justifications are dangerous and have no place in modern society and indicate ignorance and lack of knowledge.
@@antuanmorilli7605 I agree. This is why I am sorry any soldier in the East stayed alive. They should have been shot for their collaboration in murders!
@D Anemon The myth of the clean Wehmacht has been busted. They were as criminals as the SS on the Eastern front.
War is chaos, but so is the aftermath
''War is Hell, but the main thing is, that you WIN, YOU BLOODY-WELL WIN, then to Hell with it''. Sir Arthur ''BOMBER'' Harris. HERO.
Average age German soldier towards end of war was 50% 15yrs and 50% 45yrs equals 30yrs
Must have been strange teenagers ffighting with WW1 VETS or alongside your Dad.
How good to see Hitler's supermen surrendering to mere mortals. They don't look so super in this film, do they?
Amazing to see the piles of Mauser rifles...wouldnt they be surprised if they knew what they would be worth in 2020 and how desirable they would be.
They are only worth something because they are so few left.
@@andrewh5457 wwii German K98 rifles are still common though there are some rare variations
Thousand each
no ...
Some of those Germans look really happy!
The war is over..
@Justus Immelmann Ehrenhafter Nachname.. Sie sind nicht zufällig mit dem Flieger Immelmann verwandt?
It's weird, as a defeated nation they were allowed to keep their side arm. But as a free nation, no side arm is allowed.
Yes, Germany would be much better if any 18 year old were able to freely buy a semi-automatic rifle from their nearest supermarket. Wonder what's stopping them.
The face of those defeated german soldiers cannot be missed. I bet they didn't care they lost. Those faces are faces of worries and thinking where their family could be and wanted to go home.
"Next to battle lost, the saddest thing is a battle won" A quote from the Duke of Wellington after the Battle of Waterloo.
A phrric us 🇺🇸victory at best...on d day one German corporal Erik Severlow killed 2500 Americans on Omaha Beach over a 9 hour period...before being captured...his position was just a trench he dug out not a pillbox
But he had a perfect spot to slaughter Ike's lambs.
@@johnrogan9420 I think most British service personnel and civilians were just glad it was over. Six years of fighting, Nearly half a million of there countrymen dead and the UK in ruins from years of air raids. Peace must have seemed unfamiliar to them
The piles and piles of rifles at the end reminded me of the same thing with disarmed troops on the eastern front. The USSR stored them by the tens of thousands, and then ten years later shipped them to Vietnam to supply the Vietcong.
In the early 21st century, even in recent years, the USSR sold large lots of the captured German Mauser K98k's to the US surplus market. The USSR, interestingly, didn't just store them all those year. They refurbished them. I own one, a 1942-produced rifle.
You lucky man, an amazing rifle that will last forever.@@richardjames1812
lucky fellow's, my mum father ended up in Siberia.
I was one of the lucky generation. Born in 1950, in England, I didn't even do national service.
I cannot begin to imagine the bitter-sweet feelings on both sides as the whole of Europe, East and West deals with the massive displacement of people. All because of the hate-filled insanity of one person.
The lucky ones, who didn't deservedly die in the East.
You could just as well say the same of the “brutal Communists” or “white supremacist Americans” they were fighting, and you’d be be both just as right and just as ignorant.
Look here in the comments how desperately we want the narrative to be that the German army was just ordinary soldiers who wanted to go home and were glad the war was over. Not one mention of the atrocities committed by that army and the 80 million people dead because of what it did. We just don't want to deal with that. And we never have -- to this day. We sing the song "The Germans Didn't Know, They Were All Victims of Mean Ole Adolph" fa la la. We prefer fantasies. Every one of these soldiers were either members of or actively supported the Nazi Party.
The feeling all all sides was probably one of euphoria to have survived. That must have been an amazing feeling.
Samuel Barber's Adagio for Milling Around Surrenders
Germany :( al those piles of rifles ..sadly we from the confederate states know the feeling
Germany was more justified in war against those who implemented the Treaty which crippled their economy, robbed them of their industry, buried them in hyperinflation and deprived them of crucial industrial territories compared to the secessionist states being against the rightful government to preserve the institution that was slavery.
@@GabeNsApostle the germans can't complain they started 1wwar and lost then started 2wwar and lost again .but this time they lost east Prussia for aver because of cruelty and criminal Nazi regime.
@@kopperfild2888 World War One started as a consequence of Serbian aggression and Austro-Hungarian escalation. To say that Germany is at fault for it is perpetuating a century's old propaganda.
Second of all, World War Two, the Nazis and the rise of extremism, in general, is the result of the Allies', mainly the US's and France's, terrible mishandling of post-WW1 treaties and diplomatic relations.
My grandad wanted to be military police and my other grandad was chief mechanic on the hurricanes 🙂
Very interesting to watch the body language. I have met a lot of people who were involved in WW2, men, women and Jews. I have read many of the comments, some very emotional. This terrible thing happened a long time ago, we should try to not be emotional, I certainly can be, study the history about what caused it and what actually happened during those long six years. The people then were of that time. We are in the here and now. We can try to avoid something like this happening again by better understanding other people and better communication. Wow, this is a long complicated comment! Have a good day.
Interesting comment about meeting “a lot of people involved in WW2, men, women and Jews”. FYI- Jews are men and women.
@@jeffguss350 thank you for pointing out my error. Very badly written, my apologies. What I should have said was that I knew Jewish people who had been directly affected by the Nazi regime.
I was looking for my dad, but couldn't see him in the video. He must have been just around the corner in this film.
He was medical officer for the 1st Battalion Leicestershire Regiment from their landing in Normandy on July 2, 1944 to his demobbing in May 1946.
The health of all the men in this video, both in and out of combat, was ultimately his responsibility. The Leicesters were sent out as a replacement regiment to the 49th Infantry (West Riding) Division about a month after the D-Day landing. They were given the nickname Polar Bears -- hence the patch -- because part of the regiment garrisoned Iceland, following the failed Norway campaign of 1940. As if there were any polar bears in Iceland!
They were also called the "polar bear butchers" by Nazi propagandist Lord Haw Haw following their fighting in Normandy. They eagerly embraced the name.
2:00 gun collector's wet-dream
My late father RIP-served in the British Army in World War 2 as a young teenager and was with the 49th West Riding division “ Polar Bear “ the same as shown in this film clip a recumbent bear on ice as depicted on their shoulder badge. Landed on Normandy beach ( Juno I believe with the Canadians ) fighting through Belgium, Holland and finally at Wars end in Dortmund Germany.
My god you could retire if you had the pile of STG44, MP40s, K98s, MG42,MG34,FG42 and on and on !!!!
Given the extremely limited production numbers of MP40's and FG42's I highly doubt there are any here. Most K98's, occasional STG44 and officers' Walthers
@@Valks-22 dick head
@@Wolshanze what, why? I merely pointed out some of those weapons were made in very low numbers and you'd have difficulties amassing any significant quantity... By far I doubt you'd find any FG42's
A group of Vlasov's Nazi collaborators attempted to surrender to the Americans in Czechoslovakia when the Russian and American lines were only separated by a few miles. The "Russian Liberation Army" under Vlasov fought mostly in the West under Wehrmacht supervision.
The Russians asked if the US would please repatriate their citizens. My father's outfit was given the task. For some reason, these Russians weren't enthusiastic and the US soldiers were ordered to fix bayonets to drive them on to the trucks. I asked dad if he felt bad about the situation. After all these Russians expected the Americans to treat them as POWs. My Dad said something like: "F*** 'em. They betrayed their fellow soldiers." My father after suffering through the winter of 1945 in Patton's Third Army (94th ID) had, to put it mildly little sympathy for collaborators and especially for the SS.
I believe those British troops are apart of the Leicestershire regiment
You're right - my local regiment, or what was.
@@FixedPixelYT Cool stuff, my local regiment is the Green Howards.
I was sent to Germany in Feb 1966 at the height of the cold war! Guarding the Czech border from Russian invasion. One of the older NCO's who whad fought in the war, he was in his forties, told me we weren't just there to watch the Russians USSR, we were there to keep an eye on the Germans too. After 2 major wars in the first part of the 20 century, we had to always watch them!
@1:23 Thats my grandpa's bike!
Wow really ?
Apparently the Americans were so beloved even the British tried to surrender to them.
2:02 To have those piles of weapons in today's market. I can't imagine.
Remember, if they had all been kept they'd be worth next to nothing now. It is only the rarity that gives them value. Sometimes - the equation is old+rare+DEMAND=value - if no one wants it even old rare things are essentially worthless.
The Russians cleaned and warehoused a LOT of the German rifles they captured. Many started showing up here in the US in the 1990's. Not in the best of shape but still serviceable and good historic pieces to boot.
the title should b e changed in "Army, Air Force and Marine, in "Army" including "Waffen-SS" or in English
Armed SS, which was a strategical part of the Army, under their High Command, but the discipline war ruled
by the head of the whole SS named Heinrich Himmler. The parashooters were part of the Air Force, but
since the bloody invasion of the Creta Isle may 1941 these troops were never used as parashooters but
at the end of war as infantry troops by the high army command. Or in German: Die bedingungslose Kapitu=
lation erfolgte durch das Oberkommanda der Wehrmacht gleichzeitig für die Streitkräfte zu Lande, zu
Wasser und in der Luft, also für die Oberkommandos des Heeres, der Marine und der Ludtwaffe. The
state named "Großdeutsches Reich" did not participate at this declaration, but existed further on at
the city of Flensburg near Danish border, represented by the new president Karl Dönitz and his goverment.
The order number one in june 1945 of the Allied Control Council confirmed this sight of the facts, the
allies stated in that order "that they didnt destroyed the state of the German Empire"!
This video makes me cry
Yes, I cried too thinking about how the brave German soldiers could have instead fought the evil dirty rat hitler instead, and spared their country near-total annihilation by the Allies.
I bet these Germans were glad they were surrendering to the British and not the Russians.
To all german soldiers of WW2: RIP and thank you for your service. You gave it all with honor and loyalty till the bitter end. Respect.
Not all of them gave it all with honor
..I get the sense that most of these German soldiers, while apprehensive about surrender and what the future will bring, are weary of the fighting and glad, in some way, that it has come to an end....
enjoy war, peace will be terribly
Ah yes the Netherlands. Not far from my home. Besides the weapons and ammo they dumped everything into massive holes in the ground. Sadly this is on modern days military ground and is very difficult to get access to. But pictures on the web show people unearthing mass amounts of all kinds of items but mostly helmets and gasmask tins.
Look at all the goodies on the ground(P08s P38s PPKs,K98 rifles,all worth lots now a days!
Opening shot appears to show young German paratrooper still having his rifle?
The video says the film was made in the Hilversum area (Netherlands), so the soldier is probably in the Dutch Army.
@@hobmoor2042 If you mean he was in the Dutch resistance, I doubt he would be wearing a full German uniform, especially one of an elite unit. Just a matter of not being shot by mistake.
We forced the wrong people to surrender.
Yes thats right. Only a minority where Nazis, most where absolutely o.k. And we suffer till now as a community in Germany.
These men were the lucky ones who would be eventually repatriated, unlike the poor souls who were destined for Siberia.
Old men argue, young men die
I can't imagine what it would be like to be in a losing army
I can imagine it could be fantastic if the allies would let you go straight home after you dropped off your weapons and they fed you one meal.
All the British had on their mind was dunkirk. So yeah I would be shiting my self.
Well, good. I asked my grandfathers and his comrades what their feeling was after the war. They answered ,,liberated and proud".
Not liberated in an sense of liberated from Natsoc but liberated from all the stress and terror of war and proud to have fought bravely and very succesfully for their Fatherland.
The allies together were over 100x bigger in size. Nothing to be ashamed to when losing in an unfair war.
Some of these soldiers on both side are just mere lads, so sad as war is immoral and the loss of human life a total waste.
Dang that is a big stack of rifles....my Opa help occupy France and returned to Mannheim Germany alive ...
In some ways this is a hopeful newsreel in the sense that the mass killing had stopped. Of course, the mental and psychological suffering would continue for decades to come. A truly horrible business . . . and now we have Ukraine.
You turn up to the British lines .. See a GS cap for the first time and wonder “How did we loose to people wearing hats like that ? 😳🤔”
They should have asked, how could they not lose to people wearing such hats 😁
as long as it weren't Russian felt caps - no problem
Millions of pounds worth of weapons there at todays prices, the British took all the guns and shipped them on trucks and trains back to a depot near Glasgow put them in boxes and paid Scottish Trawlermen to take them well out to sea and dump the boxes. Of course when it was bad weather, misty or bad light the Trawlermen just went a couple of miles out, dumped the boxes and did some fishing, so that's why folk used to go out with powerful magnets and pick up the guns from the sea bed. Most of the guns were rusty but now and again there would be guns covered in grease which were almost perfect and they brought a good price in Ireland in the 1970's.
Looks like British boys from 49th (West Riding and Midland) Infantry Division from Leicestershire
@Hugo Holesch I am so proud to see the humane and polite way our boys had treated their prisoners especially after what they must have already experienced in combat up to that point. It could easily have been so different.
The only images I seem to come across as friendly / relieved German troops with smiles on dials or perhaps slightly apprehensive. I do wonder if there were incidents of a German pulling a gun or dagger and having to be dealt with. Anyone?
It must have happened, but I imagine both sides were under strict orders to behave in a tolerable manner.
Remember that all German Soldiers were still under command and they would be disciplined to honour the surrender, so to the Allies, who had the difficult task of showing decency in the face of such loss of comrades.
The British soldiers are so young!!!
Most of them lied about their ages before joining the war.
My dad was called up at the standard eighteen and a half years. He’s still alive and was sent to the far east. He will be 96 in June.
The men on push-bikes were probably going to ride those home. I had a neighbour once in Germany who told me his soldier father had cycled across from East Germany at the end of the war to his home in Kleve on the Dutch border, that's 500 - 600 KM on meagre rations.
You vill surrender to zer British. Und you vill NOT laugh at zere funny hats.
ha ha😃
thank you for introducing me to Ólafur Arnalds music... i had never heard him before
Even in surrender Germans in there uniforms they look stylish.love German uniforms of ww2.not the war.
Of course they where stylish the German ww2 uniform was designed by Hugo boss
this Hugo Boss rumour really needs to stop
@@superbus3244 if it's just a rumor then why did they apologize for something they didn't do?
@@aurorathekitty7854 You misunderstand my meaning. They manufactured not design them, it even says in the link you provided
@@superbus3244 they designed them except the ss uniforms says right there in the link.
About 1.17 in the video, that german unteroffizier, is it a side arm he puts back into his right back pocket? 😮