Back to Buchenwald with Veterans of WWII | History Traveler Episode 340
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- Buchenwald. The name along conjures the most awful imagines that one can think of. It was here where some of the worst atrocities of WWII were carried out. In this episode, we're visiting the camp with four veterans of WWII and taking a quick walk through the area to explore the history of this awful place.
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I’m a war history addict I live in Pennsylvania been to the Gettysburg museum I’m so glad I found your page it’s the best out there
My dad liberated Buchenwald. He passed away in 2007. We still have his photographs. No words to describe. 😢
Thank God for people like your father ❤
I'd love to see those photos
May you Dad’s memory be a blessing, and his love stay close to your heart.
Your father may have liberated my Zaide, Yiddish for grandfather. ❤
Your dad, along with the other men who liberated this camp & many other camps are absolutely amazing heroes.
I’m extremely proud of their heroic actions & their humanity towards these innocently abused individuals.
I have watched many interviews with these liberators. I am so grateful & forever will be to them.
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
I can see how there were incidents of some “misconduct” of US troops at some of the camps. The Nazis that suffered from this can appeal to my favorite Russian person “Tufskey Shitskey”.
History deserves to be remembered,good or bad
100%
@@TheHistoryUnderground JD
Thank you for taking the time and effort to make these videos! You’re such a asset to history teachers everywhere!
never forget the 1 million + German pow's that were purposely starved to death by Eisenhower and the Allies after Germany surrendered. Or the German women and girls that were gang raped and murdered by Soviet soldiers.
Yes , especially when he talks of people being tested with vaccines and political prisoners. We haven’t come too far 😢
Its the all lied version of history.
Should never ever been forgotten
These episodes are now that much more important given Bud is no longer with us.
Absolutely. Almost got a bit emotional while I was editing this one.
@@TheHistoryUnderground
Thank You for your work....
@@TheHistoryUndergroundthese ww2 videos are full of lies...youtube will probably delete this comment🤮
RUclips deletes my comment....how disgusting and corrupt
THESE WW2 VIDEOS ARE FULL OF OF LIES
Very sobering. I had heard the Ike ordered the reporters to take a lot of pictures because he sensed that the day would come when people would deny that it had ever happened. Such wisdom!
Not just pictures. I was in HS in the 80s. I was in JROTC. Our instructors were retired US Army NCOs. One had fought in WWII. He had access and the rank to procure films that Army troops recorded of the camps. The videos horrific enough…without the smells and such. Years later I became an EMT. I’ve dealt with the dead in various states, some very unpleasant. But always one at a time. I can’t imagine the horror of hundreds or thousands of exposed corpses in various stages of decomposition. Or being a living prisoner forced t endure that stench…for months…while starving and freezing.
Even then, he recognized it's absolute unbelievability. Yet...
Of all the things on Earth, I'll never understand how anyone could deny that this happened.....a horrible nightmare and a lesson we ignore at our own peril.
@@smokeykitty6023 I agree
it was exagerated for propaganda purposes.
I visited Buchenwald in 1986. I was so impressed that I have read many books, seen movies, documentaries about the Nazis. How did something so evil go so far? I see today how those who say they hate the Nazis insist on reviving it by calling all those who think differently from them fascists or Nazis. Unfortunately humanity has not learned anything
With all the awful stuff we know...imagine all the horrific things we don't know about 😢
The human mind cannot comprehend this level of cruelty. Thank you for making this video.
my dad was in the 6th AD, and was there with them as they liberated this place. He brought one photo home, and wrote a letter to my mom, which he showed to me, and said don't ever let anyone tell you it never happened
My grandfather spent the last two years of the war in Buchenwald as a political opponent , esternwegen Sachsenhausen and then Buchenwald where altogether he spent nine years in those camps , he survived the war and lived until 1980
Wow!
I visited Dachau in the mid '90s which was a sobering experience all by itself. But shortly after, talking to my father in law who was there and seeing the pictures he had of bodies piled in the train cars, it really brought to life the horror that these places were. There can never be enough videos to document what happened. Well done JD 🙏
Thank you.
It’s why Eisenhower ordered the US Army to record the camps….and Germans of towns near them….to walk through the camp…so there could be no denying what took place…immediately, or historically. Eisenhower knew as GIs died off, deniers would rise.
Living in Germany as a child in the early seventies I learned about the camps and Dad didn’t bother sugar coating it very much. I find that the older I get, early 50’s now, the harder these programs hit. This atrocity can never be forgotten.
That's good to hear. We must remember the acts so we don't repeat them.
Thank you for keeping the memory of this horrible time alive, we cannot forget. Thank God for the American soldier. I knew a man when I was young who had a prisoner number tattooed on his arm who was in a camp. That sight is burned into my brain.
I almost couldn't finish watching this but I knew I had to. So sad!!
Great job JD.
Thank you.
This should have a million views. Such a shame that videos like this go unnoticed whilst kids reviewing stupid toys are getting millions of views. Excellent work JD!
You know, i know the history.. but the human element is lost to most history books and documentaries.. you do a really good job at putting the human element to the events.. and also seeing these places as they are today.. very much enjoy your work
Thank you. I appreciate that.
"Human History" is lacking the "Human Component"!?
My mother and her family were interned in Buchenwald. Opa did not survive to be liberated. He was extremely outspoken against the Nazi regime.
God bless your family, to have had direct impact from the atrocities, is indescribable, I am sure.
My dad saw this 3 days after it was liberated under Patton. That's all he would share
Awful place.
I don't blame him for not sharing. He didn't want to load that evil onto your mind. I hope he was able to get over what he saw there. 😢😢
Gosh, Jolene, that would make quite an impression, coming from someone who was one of your chief protectors. One of those “stop you in your tracks” realizations.
In 1978 the mini series Holocaust came out and dad had me watch it, I was 17 yrs old @sandramosley2801
@@sandramosley2801I had old parents 😆
When we took Dad back to Europe in ‘07 to retrace his unit’s (11th U.S. Armored Div) movements across NE Europe, our last stop was the Mauthausen camp in Austria, site of the infamous death stairs. He first saw it in May ‘45 pursuant to Ike’s order that as many people as possible witness the camps.
Interestingly, a young Hungarian Jew inmate was so appreciative of being rescued that he swore he would emigrate to America and become a G.I.
Years later, Corporal Tibor Rubin, 8th Cavalry Regt, 1st Cavalry Div would be awarded the MOH for his actions in Korean combat and later as a Chinese POW.
My Dad was part of the group General Joe Collins sent through Nordhausen Concentration Camp in April 1945. As we were retracing his "combat tour" from Omaha Beach to near Leipzig, Germany, we returned to Nordhausen in April 1996. After 51 years, it still affected him. What he saw and described, are so similar to the comments you have provided from other veterans in your concentration camp videos.
Your hard work to bring us this history is very much appreciated. Thank you.
My pleasure. Thank you.
Each and every one of these concentration camps are a terrible place where the scars of history will never truly be healed. 😢
My late father was there with the Sixth Armored Division. I wish I knew more, but he didn't talk about his time in WWII very much. Thanks for posting!
It breaks my heart when I see the faces of these survivors. The horrors they witnessed and went through is something I can't fathom. How people can be so cruel to watch another suffer in those ways is beyond me 😢 . To hurt another living being in that manner is an atrocious act. The more I learn from your videos , the more I pray that this never happens again. 🙏
May they rest in peace.
These places remain to remind us of how vile humans can be to one another. We must never forget. If we want to avoid such atrocities in the future then we must keep places like this. Not to glorify what happened but to remind us that when we dehumanise ANY group that we dehumanise ourselves.
Keep history alive JD. To those veterans, thank you for your service, because you did what needed to be done I can live in freedom.
What’s coming will make Hitler look like a walk in the park.
@@christyjestice587 when the Anti-Christ arises yes. But by then I won't be here.
Yes, humans are the “real monsters” 😢
We should always be reminded of what humanity is capable of.
As a retired veteran, I truly appreciate your work. ❤
Thank you.
I am watching this the day before Easter Sunday with tears streaming down my face. I am 69 years old and even though it was studied about in school nothing reverberates with me as this has done. The holocaust was a monstrously massive undertaking by the Germans to try to rid the world of Jews and to make a master race. My heart breaks when watching this and it truly is very hard to believe one person masterminded it and carried it out. The one thing I want to believe is Jesus rose from the dead and took on the sins of the world. I fervently pray for the people who died and never got to marry, have children and have families or see their relatives again. I just do not have words adequate enough to address my feelings and watching the gentlemen revisit the sites and remember! God bless you all!
@angelahartley3212. Jewish people in USA are now terribly oppressed with a virulent genre of anti-Semitsim.
I get hate messages daily ok social media.
We had desecration of Jewish gravestone markers in a city near my home.
Please stand with Jewish people in your community.
We are frightened.
#NeverAgainIsNow ✡️🩷
Respect
Couldn't have said it better myself. 👏 😢
May God rest their souls 🙏 💔
Do you need a tissue?
@@DTroop10thCav.ta yieule
I visited Dachau in 1979, the army still had us visiting camps, I would never go back! You could feel the evil and it was extremely hard to watch this. As usual you did a good respectful video.
It's tragic what people are capable of such inhumane things
Don't ever Forget !!
What the allies did? Yes.
@clovergrass9439 ignorant comment. Maybe learn what war is and not start it
@@clovergrass9439 nutjob much?
This is even more horrifying than I imagined. Trying to wipe the tears away just to finish watching. It's so important that this history is told. Thank you
Thank you for keeping history alive…
When you were at the jail in independence, you were less than 10 miles from Frank's grave. It's located actually in a city park. On the far corner of that park is an old mason stone fence where he is buried next to his wife. The headstone has been replaced several times, of course.
I cried so much watching this. We must never forget. Thank you so much for all your hard work on your channel😊
Thank you so much!
In 1983, age 15, I read a book called The Butchers Of Buchenwald that rally ihad an impact on me. Thank you for another great educational video.
Another exceptionally well done video. This is actually the way history (especially the darkest part of) should be discussed and studied. Thanks for all the hard work.
Thank you.
RIP to all of those who perished here. And also RIP BUD, who kept their memory alive by speaking about what he saw. 🤟🏼
This is what happens when people lose their own humanity. And it's just so depressing and sick to think of our own lack civil empathy that can lead to so much pain and suffering inflicted on any living being. Wonderful video!!
Thank you for this respectful tour.
36:57 He clearly reliving the memories of that day like it just happened.
This is my favorite channel on RUclips. Absolutely love the content that you have created. It is educational and thought provoking. The series on WWII and the atrocities committed at these concentration camps is a horror I pray never repeats itself. Yet, for some reason, I fear that it will when people refuse to question hateful ideologies that oppress other human beings. God bless.
I have study this camp many times over the years. This video hit hard. Like getting punched in the gut at every turn. Learned many new facts about this camp that had never been presented before. I hated standing at the rail gates at Auschwitz. Left goose bumps on my back when I closed my eyes to try to imagine what it was like. The uttered hate that was inflicted on these prisoners can never, ever be allowed again! One of your many great historical presentations JD! Much respect!
When I was 20, 20 years ago, my college choir was on a concert tour of Germany. Weimar happened to be along our route and our director made sure we had time in our schedule to make a stop at Buchenwald. It would be a moment that would have a lifetime effect on me. As a naive 20 year old kid, not fully grasping the historical scope of the ground I was walking on as I passed through the gate, I can say now that the “weight” of the air in that place, as I perceived it, is something that continues to surface in my mind all these years later. It was a very emotionally heavy experience. Excellent video, JD.
Beautifully written.
JD, every time you upload it gets me excited. I don’t dedicate much time to the internet anymore, but your videos always polarize me.
One of my proudest moments was donating a good chunk of cash to the Currahee Cleanup Project and watching your videos documenting the process of cleaning it… I still talk about that today.
You make me proud to be a History buff. Thank you brother.
- A 25 year old proud American.
Many of these prisoners were transferred to Flossenburg near where my Father in Law grew up during the war.
One of the hardest hitting things was the church right above the crematorium where ashes were spread for roses.
My grandpa help liberate Buchenwald, I'm happy I found this to know more abt it
Makes my heart sad
Imagine going back to that time and seeing this
I have chills... My papa liberated that camp.... he was a teenage American MP and even as a old man all he would say is photos were touched up to avoid causing a panic... they made the people look healthier in photos to keep people from freaking out... my heart goes out to all those lost and those who suffered there
I just recently learned my great grandfather, my grandmother stepfather (my dads mom). He was a German POW in Georgia, not sure camp was. what I found out that after the war ended, the POW were forced to watch videos of the concentration camps they found in German. My dad told me Grampa Mitch was always embarrassed of being German and refused to let his children learn German and that Germany did not deserve to continue as a country. My grate grandpa Mitch is buried just north of Chicago. I feel it sad to be embarrassed of your ancestry, but understand why he was.
Oh wow.
Thank you. You seem always to hit the right note on these scenes.
My grandfather was captured at Dunkirk and was a prisoner at a camp called XXB where he met my grandmother they later married in the 1950s and had children one of which was my dad
The world needs to know and understand what the Holocaust was and the horror it produced. The world needs to know the hell man can perpetrate against humanity. The past is so important because we are presently on course for another Holocaust. JD, your videos are so damn important for all of us. Thank you.
Very impressive video. Mankind is very cruel. Good that these camps are preseved for the people of this generation. Unfortunately many survivors have died through the years and are no.longer with us.
There is always hanging something.
Such a moving episode, JD! God bless all who suffered through those horrible times, and those who put an end to it! 💔🙏❤️
Thanks for doing this video, JD, as these horrors should never be forgotten.
This was the first of many camps I have toured. What struck me the most was the frozen clock set at 3:15 above the entrance, which was the time the camp was liberated. The zoo is just despicable and shows how when people are fed enough propaganda they can dehumanize the targets of such hate.
I met a man who helped liberate Dachau and he's from the Cleveland, OH area. If I remember correctly, he passed away several years ago. May Bud's memory be for a blessing to all who knew and loved him during the course of his lifetime!! I'm so grateful that I watched this because it reminded me of what we're capable of doing to each other if we stoop low enough and as we're doomed to repeat history if we don't learn from it - this is definitely so especially so since Darfur happened, the same thing goes for the massacre in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and all of the other 20th century mass murders that are similar to WW2's Holocaust. The one thing that they don't teach about the Holocaust is that the worst part of it was done by the Ustashe (very similar to the Nazis, but they're from Croatia and were much worse) and they committed much worse crimes against Jews and other "undesirables" that even horrified the Nazis. The concentration camp that the Ustashe used for their "undesirable" population was Jasenovac. I know that this sounds crazy, but it's all true.
Thank you for your thoughtful descriptions of this sad place. Beautiful haunting music.
Many many years ago I was serving in West Germany with the British Army, & after the fall of the Berlin Wall & indeed the “wall” between East & West Germany I went on a trip to visit Colditz Castle, infamous as a PoW location.
Whilst there a fellow Brit asked if I had visited Buckenwald concentration camp, so on my return journey I indeed visited too 😢
Whilst serving in West Germany I had visited Bergen Belsen (where Anne Frank ended her days😢).
Something you didn’t mention (maybe it doesn’t happen nowadays), but did you hear any bird song?
That squeaking door or window was so eerie 😒
LEST WE FORGET 😔
🇬🇧🤝🇺🇸
Yes…even after all this time even nature stands silent and utterly aghast at the evil that took place gleefully in all of these camps throughout Germany and Nazi occupied Europe. Never forget. Never again. 🇺🇸🇮🇱🇬🇧🇨🇦🇫🇷🇵🇱
My uncle was liberated for Dachua prison camp by his older brother , although neither one had seen each other that day. He would have not even recognized him . Both are gone now, but the memories of their stories live on .
Wow!
Well J.D. I'm not going to lie that was a tough video to watch, the inhumane violence that occurred at these camps is above appalling, and the evil that was instilled in the Germans is beyond comprehension, it takes a strong man to make a video such as you did, thank you J.D. for showing us one of the harder parts of WW2, !! they will never be forgotten!!!
Great video. I watch a lot of videos on the concentration camps. This is part of history that we need to never forget. Sad, sad part of history.
What is saddest , is that the same thing is happening all over again.
Where? How?
Those afd - guys - that's what he's talking about...they want to repeat the whole entire process and start all over again ! They are getting ready for what they call/refer to as "day x" !
Comments are deleted!!!! This is so corrupt!!!
@@thomaswinkler1941 afd?
Where?
Cousin Pete (1st sgt Peter Vetcher, Co A - 1st Rangers) was sent to Buchenwald when captured at Cisterna in 1944. He escaped, recaptured on the coast and then sent to Stalag 3a which escaped from as well.
When I was stationed in Puerto Rico, there was a Polish missionary who worked the crematorium at Buchenwald. She said the stench was so bad, her smell sensory was turned off in her brain and she was never to be able to smell anything again.
That’s a horrible “mercy “ of the body.😢
Great video, very sad. The graves in the forest from the Soviets was something I have never seen before, they were certainly extremely brutal.
I visited your partnership with the Gettysburg History museum and saw all of the World war II artifacts/relics for sale. I can't wait to get a piece of History. I normally don't trust sellers for something from World war II, but I know I can trust you and the museum who certifies memorabilia.
Thanks of course for another history lesson on this video.
👍🏻
Every time i feel something is very bad with my life, these videos give me a certain persevering power to just keep moving
RIP🖤
I don't understand the denial. Heard it all my life. I'm 69.
And yet here we are. And it's out in the open. This so hard to watch.
According to Wikipedia (not always the best. An alternative interpretation of “Jedem Das Siene” means “To each what he deserves”. Which makes more sense and is appropriately wicked for the context.
I was enthralled as soon as the little birds at the very beginning of your Dachau video ceased their chirping and you started your descent into deeper and deeper hell. This one was a great visit to the exemplary museum of Buchenwald that should be praised for keeping the memory alive in such pristine condition. I was particularly impressed by the exceptionally well-maintained testimonies of the past, such as the height-measuring board they shot people through at point-blank range at 31:20. Never forget! Never again!
No blood stains or powder signs because it must be a replacement of the original artifact, well proven in court. Kudos to the museum. Never again.
Thank you for sharing... I can't believe some still don't think it happened.
Completely choked up, so hard to watch but an awesome video 😭 Yes pray it never happens again 👏🇺🇸
It's hard to believe people can be so cruel
Very sensitive and powerful presentation, JD. Thank you. I can only imagine the thoughts going through the veteran as he stood in the crematorium and recalled what he had seen.
My grandfather was captured at the front gate. He was in a convoy, was lost, and drove up to the front gate. He was only there for a short period, maybe a month. I have the keys to the cell block he used for gaining access to the cells where prisoners were housed. I have a bunch of artifacts He brought home. He woke one day, and the German soldiers were gone. He never spoke of it, I learned about it years after he died in 1999.
You do such a great job. Very respectful way to remember the past.
Thank you.
Just wanna say, I've been watching your videos for a long time, keep it up man. Not as many people today embrace history, good or bad. A man in my town ran a store (he has since passed and the store is no longer there) and as a kid I remember seeing his tattoo. Obviously being a child he never said anything about it, not sure if he did to anyone. But, I often wish I was a bit older at the time so I could've learned his story. Especially now with how fast the victims and veterans of this era are leaving us. Gonna have to ask around for his name and see if I can learn a bit more of his story.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
@@TheHistoryUnderground Absolutely brother!
I just read a true story by a holocaust survivor the book was called The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz and he was one of the boys who helped build the stables in Buchenwald...amazing to see it here. I think your videos are the best, so informative and respectful.
Great Job JD, and man this means so much more because you captured Bud who is no longer with us! Humbling, Heartbreaking what humans can do to humans! Thank you for all you do!
Thats the first I've heard of remains being given to family. Thanks for sharing something new!
Thank you for creating and sharing this sobering and sad video. It needs to be remembered. My dad also served in WW2 with the 99th Infantry Division. He spoke of liberating a labor camp at Moosburg in late April 1945.
Really enjoyed the video mate can't wait for the next one 👍👍
Thanks 👍
Thank you for covering this JD. Certainly an important part of history that should not be forgotten. Ever.
This video was very hard to watch, but so important to see and pass on. The world must remember so that maybe it won’t happen again. Thanks to all those who fought for freedom!
So many of the men that liberated these camps carried those memories and shadowed their futures. Hopefully this project will help them live easier at their age.
What Jack said. I think every freedom loving person should have to tour at least one of these camps. So that it can NEVER be repeated! I've only been to Dachau. It's absolutely disgusting how man can be so savage to each other. Why can we not find a way to solve our differences using our brains???
This what sin does to humans, causes us to become selfish, proud arrogant and all manner of evils.
Oct 7, 2023. Different group. Same motivation. Ethnic hatred is as old as humanity. And always with us.
Love your content thank you so much very moving, very informative. My uncle Paul Pfau was a Navy pilot of The Miss America, B24 over Hungary, April 13, 1945 and was shot down by the Nazis. I find the date very moving and ironic as a month later the war officially ended …we lost so many beautiful people by the hand of those demons.
Thank you for the episode. Truly sad for those who deny the truth. 🤙🏾
Well done. Thank you.
Can we get some appreciation in the effort that goes into these video's? In the winter period we saw videos where the trees still had leaves meaning he shot so many footage to give himself a winter break and just upload video's. ( If im correct... ) It is not just a job i truly believe it is a passion that he has for the story of the past.
One question though , while you were in Belgium. Did you try out those Belgium beers? :D
Thank you. A must watch
So sad so sad place! 😓...
been to Buchenwald and some other places and walked around alone, you will feel cold, fail to understand and imagine luckily. Good to show these places and describe some of the events especially at this time in 2024 of difficult European times. I'd be ashamed to speak to a WW2 Vet about current events of my generation, how would we explain it to those that paid the ultimate price in the last days of WW2 if they saw where The Ukranians are now. Everyone should go and see Buchenwald or the others, if not yours and similar vids give some feel to these places and stories. Thank you for the vid.
Thank you for visiting and showing some things that I have not heard about before. The zoo, the childrens block, the sinti and roma, the metal poles. Unbelievable yet, I think, it is being repeated. In different ways, but again. How many ways can humans think up on how to abuse humans beings simply because they were from a different location or religion and had their own way of living. Assert your freedom. Learn your boundaries and never back down. Especially when you cause no harm and never take any harm.
Crimes against humanity and they got away with it, in their own way, they did it and without thousands more lives being sacrificed, they would have continued. Once again, what will you tolerate or assert as a crime against humanity. Learn in order to teach. Feel it.
Rest in peace to bud
Heck of a guy.
Your video was heartbreaking, and also so necessary for us to see. Thank you so much for your courage.