In the last episode you saw how worn out and suffering from PTSD the men of the 101st Airborne were, and at the end they were "pulled out of the line", which means they were sent to an area where there was no combat so they could rest and calm down. The combat missions were being carried out by other units that had been under less stress, such as the 17th Airborne division that jumped into Germany in late March, 1945, and suffered significant casualties doing so. Captain Nixon jumped with them, and you can tell he could hardly stand it anymore. As late as April, 1945, there was still a lot of fighting going on, even though the German defeat had become inevitable and the 101st was not participating in it. But, you can also tell that Brigante had had enough of fighting also, from the way he snaps at the new guy, O'Keefe.
These shows go way too easy on the subject matter and Nazi atrocities extended way beyond the camps for years before Germany's surrender. The faulty logic of believing the common soldier just had to follow orders, like it's some sort of excuse for their brutality or their presence on the battlefield as a conquering army, is even voiced by veterans featured in this dramatization, in their interviews. For a greater understanding of just how much worse it really was, and the crimes against humanity committed by Nazi soldiers, watch all three episodes of the recent Ken Burns documentary for PBS titled "The U.S. and the Holocaust". Those soldiers who were supposedly just 'fighting for their country' murdered millions of civilians.
"If anyone ever tells you the Holocaust didn't happen, or that it wasn't as bad as they say, no, it was worse than they say. What we saw, what these Germans did, it was worse than you can possibly imagine." - Edward "Babe" Heffron
Agreed, my history teacher said there is a reason why the history books don't show the female camps because the people in charge thought the general public would not to able to mentally handle or process how horrific it was, the male camps were horrific but the female camps was even worse if that could even be posable, its like thinking of a daytime nightmare what them soldiers done to those women and children. Many of the soldiers and people who liberated the camps suffered immense mental problems after.
@@eodyn7 It doesn’t make sense because you refuse to acknowledge the truth. I bet you can not back up your statement with any facts. I wont listen to that kind of garbage without calling it out.
“Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower
@@bizjetfixr8352 In his Presidential exit speech, Eisenhower warned against the Military Industrial Complex. He feared that a shadow govt. was rapidly forming. He was right.
Fact: the liberation scenes shown in Band of Brothers are completely fictitious. Easy Company did not participate in the liberation of Kaufering IV (Hurlach) and those units of the 101st Airborne Division who did participate arrived the day after the camp had been found and liberated by the 12th Armored Division.
Watching someone as Joyful as you not say a word for more than 3 minutes reaction says a lot over how impactful this chapter is. Thanks for your reaction. And keep the cheerfulness, it brings joy.
My Dad served in the 12th. Armor infantry which was right next to Easy Company. This was the one episode he didn't watch with me because he knew what was coming. This episode is a strong reminder that we must stand our ground against anyone who thinks they superior to another person. We must be on guard even today in America or suffer the same fate as Germany.
@@tomwithey711 Who's talking about jailing people for simply misgendering people, or taking someones kids away for not allowing them to mutilate their genitals... it sure as fuck wasn't Trump. Who wants the 1st Amendment to only apply to them... Leftist Democrats that's who.
My Grandfather was in a unit that found one of these camps. He told me it was the one thing that their training did not prepare them for. He said most of the German civilians they asked knew about the work camps, but did not understand exactly what was happening in them. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge as part of Patton's army and told me he saw men break down at the discovery of the camps that fought through hell on the battle field without blinking. Thank the Lord they were able to expose this evil and put the surviving Nazi's on trial for the world to see. This episode showed why they fought, but more importantly it shows us all why we can not forget. 40 years later as a young solider myself, I was stationed in Germany and I toured Dachau's site. It still makes the hair on my neck stand up when I think about it.
You are a very bright young woman and I appreciate your reaction to the show. To see our youth truly learn about our past is so brilliant. These men really fought for freedom and are truly the greatest generation.
"that's not Mozart, that's Beethoven" is a reference to a line in Schindler's List, in which an SS says "who is this, bach? No, it's Mozart". It's a nod that the episode is going to involve the Holocaust.
Webster saw the captured german officers counting all the vehicles we had,there propaganda had not prepared them for the lopsided advantage the allies had.they were amazed,they still used horses to haul.the lady that confronted nixon,made him feel embarrassed for entering her home,the american command heard the civilians didn't believe the camps were that bad,so they ordered whole town to march to camp next day.during the walk ,they were jovial and happy,till they arrived and saw what was done in there name.the same lady was now embarrassed when nix disapprovingly looked at her.
Webster didn't believe the rumors about Nazi atrocities until they found the camp at Landsburg. It's mentioned in the book that Webster thought those rumors were allied propaganda, which was not unreasonable of him. Who could believe that people were actually capable of something like the Holocaust? He had the sad experience of seeing the proof first hand.
Yeah. A lot of attention gets paid to all the technologically advanced wonder weapons Germany fielded during the war. Superheavy tanks, the first jet fighters and jet bombers, the first submarines capable of staying submerged indefinitely, the first guided torpedoes, the first guided bombs, the first ballistic missile. But despite these technological wonders, their front line armies were still mostly carrying supplies on horse drawn wagons instead of trucks. As Webster said, "you have horses, what were you thinking!?"
@@BigIronEnjoyer To be entirely fair, the Germans made the deliberate decision not to motorize all their divisions because, aside from the industrial effort to build all those trucks, they couldn't keep them supplied with fuel and oil. Horse feed on the other hand was more readily available and could be procured at the front, easing the supply burden. So the Germans weren't being backwards or stupid but in fact quite clever. Of course, they ran out of fuel anyway as the war progressed.
The biggest load of crap that people tried to pull was that they "didn't know." Notice how he commented on the stench. These "camps" were the size of small towns that connected directly to the rail-line infrastructure so they were very close to actual towns that they were within walking distance. The camps with ovens would rain down ash all over the local area. Everyone knew damn well what was happening. They watched as "certain" groups of people would disappear, their businesses closed, robbed and vandalized, your children were taught to hate them in school and would attack them with anything they could find, police and military personnel rounded them up, etc. All that wasn't over night, it took place for over a decade. They stood by and watched it all unfold and didn't say a word because at some level they knew they were involved. (Ex:) Their businesses were handed over to either you or a neighbor and their were regular public announcements. As to the "stench" subject. If you've ever lived near a farm you know damn well that when the wind hits just right, you can smell it from miles away. The camp portrayed is called "Kaufering" and the nearby towns are just 1-4 miles away. Just to give an example, here in vegas there was a pig farm on north 5th st and centennial back in the day and I lived up in N. Fort Apache and Elkhorn. That's over 10 miles away and you could STILL SMELL IT on a summer day. For these people to claim they had no idea they were full of crap. If you watch the old archival footage of german citizens brought to the camps you'll notice how only a few people are actually "crying" or showing any sort of "remorse." Many look annoyed as if they were being lectured and they couldn't care less. Because deep down you know that the Nazi's didn't invade and take over germany, germany became the nazi's of their own free will. You can watch Hitler's speeches throughout the beginning and you'll notice the crowds reaction. He started out with basics like "getting back to work" and "rebuilding jobs lost" and he'd get an applause but when he first passively mentions the "undesirables" he was met with roaring cheers from the crowds. You can see how the crowd changes him and how he changed the crowd. It was a mutual belief they all shared nationwide.
"Why We Fight" comes from a series of documentaries (1942-1945) produced by the US Government Directed by Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak. The following is from study and is as accurate as I can recall. The opening of the box car was a recreation of famous newsreel footage. It was very close to that footage. I believe the boxcar was actually at Dachau and was one of 16 discovered by US troops. The camp shown being liberated here is located near Landsberg am Lech Bavaria and is one of 11 subcamps of the Dachau camp system. This one called Kaufering. Easy Company did not actually liberate the camp though they did visit the camp. It was actually liberated on April 27th, 1945 by the 134th Ordinance Maintenance Battalion of the 12th Armored Division. The reason why the film makers depicted Easy Company liberating the camp was for dramatic impact of the discovery. This was a conscious artistic choice that made the intended impact. This worked out well. There is no way for anyone to see this episode and not break down.
Something that can't be shown in any portrayal is the smells of the concentration camp. Human waste, decay, burned bodies. It's something those who were there never forgot.
It's the overpowering smell of which you speak that calls into question all those civilians who said they were unaware. How can you ignore or fail to notice the stench which constantly emanated from these camps year after year.
I've been impatiently waiting for this upload! Let's goooo! These last 2 episodes tug at your heart big time! Be sure to watch "We Stand Alone Together" afterwards, it's available here on youtube, the documentary that goes along with this show, the interviews with the vets at the beginning of the episodes are from that documentary.
Excellent review. Love how you picked up on so many of the nuances of the episode, that most people miss the first time through because it is such a dramatic and gut wrenching episode. Its probably the most powerful and thought provoking episode of the entire series. What a lot of people forget is that times were very different then and the German government had very tight control over what news was allowed to be broadcast, so very few people knew about the camps. Shows like this are important to remind people never to forget the past. Keep up the great work.
These men and boys were trained for combat. Through the course of the war they had grown accustomed to what armies and soldiers can do to each other in the course of war. What they had no expectation of, or any way to conceive of, were the camps they found and liberated. As much as I can't imagine what combat is like, I also cannot imagine what it could have been like to come upon the Holocaust without knowing anything about it.
As a WWII history enthusiast, there is an old, great, series, documentary called the World at War. It is very well done even if you don't intend to study the topic. One episode covers The Final Solution in detail. Thanks for all that you do!
The extras playing concentration camp victims were terminally ill in real life from cancer etc. They dedicated what little time they had left on this earth to the production of episode 9. So that we may never forget.....
America did not go to war in Europe because it wanted to liberate camps. It did not know until it was over. For the second time in 30 years, it was drawn into Euro tribal conflicts by the UK. Nothing ever done about Soviet and Chinese death camps.
-In the beginning, where the musicians where playing Beethoven and not Mozart, it was symbolic. Most people forget that Hitler was not German, but actually Austrian, as was Mozart. Beethoven was German. By playing Beethoven, it was the Germans' way of saying they were liberated from the rule of an Austrian and Germany now was back in the hands of the people. -The 300,000 soldiers you see marching was the Ruhr Pocket; old men and boys who were forced to fight and defend the Ruhr. German resistance fought against Waffen-SS to get the Ruhr Pocket to surrender; doing so convinced Allied bombers to spare cities like Hamburg. When the Ruhr fell, Hitler realized the war was lost and committed suicide. -The camp that the 101st found was Kaufering IV; a subcamp of Dachau. The one that was mentioned being discovered by the Russians was Auschwitz. -We can only estimate how many victims of the Holocaust there were; possibly over 11,000,000. The truth is there could very well be more; much, much more. When the Nazis accepted the fact that they were losing the war, an order was issued to purge any and all evidence of the Final Solution. Mass graves were dug up again and the bodies were burned to ash. Documents, files, important papers carrying identification for current prisoners and executed prisoners was burned. In some cases like Buchenwald, Waffen-SS and Gestapo were sent to try and destroy the camps with the prisoners still inside. We may never truly know how many actually died. -As you said, the Final Solution was kept hush hush from the rest of the world. And I do believe that many Germans did not know. After Kristallnacht, the attack on Jews by brownshirt activists actually caused sympathy for them among the German public. Hitler was outraged at this outcome and had the Jews removed from the cities into ghettos until the camps were ready; out of sight, out of mind. Those that did know about the camps either supported their purpose, or kept their mouths shut out of fear.
You handled that well girl. Bravo. Don't worry I was crying with you 😢 💔. No matter how many times I have seen this episode, it never gets easier. I cry every time.
Wow, I admire your composure during the scene with the concentration camp. I have never seen a representation as close to the scenes that actually happened as that. It shocked me how far the production dared to go to bring the message across. The extras who agreed to participate despite being terminally sick and delivering such a heartbreaking performance deserve all credit in the world. As a German, I already saw pictures of emaciated camp prisoners, but seeing pictures like that in a movie production especially since you can clearly see dying people was something else.
Bless your heart for your post. I'm Nigerian, therefore African, and while knew these things happened, I dont think I realised the gravity until I watched a Discovery Channel documentary with actual videos of a cattle truck at a concentration camp. When it's doors were pulled open it revealed a pile of corpses in every state of decomposition; one actually slid off and fell outside the carriage door and I broke down in tears when I saw that.
These scenes are so hard to watch, and even harder because they are true. In 2015, when I was visiting family in Germany, we saw the camp in Dachau, the very first one. I do not believe that the Germans did not know what was going on, because in order for the death camps and work camps to operate, thousands and thousands of Germans had to work every day to find people, arrest them, contain them, put them on trains, and run the camps where these prisoners were either supposed to be killed outright, or be worked to death.
This is exactly why I love to watch people’s reaction to this show. I’ve watched this show too many times to count and love seeing new perspectives on it all. I loved hearing your view of the music near the end of the episode because I didn’t know or realize any of it. Thankful for that, keep up the good work!
My grandfather from my mother's side was part of liberating one of the first camps that were found. He knew people would deny the holocaust ever happened long before such denial ever happened. In the grand scheme of things, he was literally a nobody, so he'd have no reason to lie. I almost got into a fight more than once over people saying the holocaust never happened and calling my grandfather a liar.
@@danielpopp1526 No. The camps are very well documented. What people are unsure about, is if there were specific death camps with lampshades, razor roller coasters, masturbation machines, freezers that shattered bodies, and gas showers. (all of these things are claimed to be 100% fact)
When they reconstituted the German army in the late fifties it was taught to every single soldier that they did not have to obey an order that would go against the laws of humanity. It was further instructed that if one of their Officers or noncommissioned officers decided to give such an order it was their duty to arrest and/or shoot them.
YOU DID IT! you made it through the worst parts! Episode 10 is much more mild but still has wild moments. I recommend you watch The Pacific next, Its made by the same people but is about the marine corps against the Japanese. God Bless!
Back in the 1960s my dad worked with a WW2 army vet who took part in liberating one of the camps. He told him that you couldn't believe people could do those sorts of things to other people.
No matter how many times I watch this series, this episode always hits me like a ton of bricks. It is a very rough one to watch. If I remember correctly, the director of this episode is the grandson of concentration camp survivors. No words can ever adequately describe how this episode, as well as what was done to all those in the camps, made me feel.
Such a heavy episode. For folks that say there is no "evil"....they need to watch this episode on a loop. I pray and hope this will NEVER happen again. Good reaction/review as always
Then you see certain people doing Nazi salutes and the like-in this country. Or wearing Auschwitz-themed clothing. Damn near makes you feel like Easy could come back to life then.
Oh it will. Not praying that it does, but just a little knowledge of human nature will let you know a repeat is inevitable. The seeds have already begun to be sown.
I love how enthusiastic your reactions to this series have been. The quiet reserve that you showed in this video is a fitting reflection of the subject matter. Fortunately, the next/last episode has a much lighter emotional tone. I also hope that you react to the documentary "We Stand Alone Together", from which the interviews in the series were taken. It gives you one last chance to see the friends you made while watching the series and hear their stories from the men who lived them.
Great analysis. I would add that this episode was also a turning point for Nixon. In the first half of the episode we saw him at his lowest low: demoted, divorced, and having gone through a very traumatic event with the 17th airborne. Then, he sees the camps. And i think that snapped him out of his low point. Not saying he didn't still have issues, but i think it was such a heavy dose of perspective that it made him move past his own woes.
"They'll eat themselves to death" - this refers to refeeding syndrome. Starve the body of enough essential nutrients and over time essential minerals will be depleted. Now make a starved person eat too much and there will be a massive increase in insulin production as well as fat, carb (glycogen), and protein production. But production of all of that, if not controlled consumes more of the essential minerals that are already depleted which can have catastrophic consequences like lethal heart rhythms, altered mental status, etc. Think like you trying to restart a factory with a glutton of raw materials but a modicum of workers and a goddamn hamster running on a wheel to power the entire factory, and keep setting crazy deadlines and keep whipping them to work. eventually, those workers are going to quit. And the hamster will actually tell you to sod off.
I first saw this when it came out over 20 years ago. It is an absolute joy to watch your reactions and hear your commentary, I love how much you appreciate all the different characters and the different dynamics between them. Your channel is so awesome!!
11:52 The numbers on the arms indicated that those Jewish prisoners were from Auschwitz (the camp that was 10 times bigger discovered by the Russians). Auschwitz was the only concentration camp that branded their prisoners with numbers.
i think its called why we fight not because they were thinking we lived normal lives, and now we have to deal with all this, but because they make a point of displaying that they dont know why they're fighting. Nixon struggles with calling his men heroes anymore and Webster starts shouting at the Germans about how pointless this all is, but when they see the camps they realize its not just another war, its not even the same war that started in 1939, its now something truly horrific that needs to stop and as horrible as it is it showed them that everything they've sacrificed isn't in vein and their friends haven't died for nothing like they were starting to believe.
"Why We Fight" is also the name of an American propaganda film series the War Dept commissioned from well-known Hollywood director Frank Capra. It was a direct response to the German propaganda Triumph Of The Will by Leni Riefenstahl. The films were originally just intended to help educate and inform a diverse range of U.S. armed forces recruits, so they could understand the dense geopolitical landscape of WWII, but they were so good, President Roosevelt ordered they be shown to the public as well. Also, the animated battle maps are by the Walt Disney animation studio.
8:40: Nice observation there. I have watched this series maybe three times and didn't pick up on that. This is the main reason I enjoy watching reaction videos from across the globe: I get different perspectives, insights, inflections, thoughts and observations. A few years ago I thought the concept idiotic, but with a little digging and random luck; I discovered the reactors that are gems and come with genuine character and individual thoughts and perspectives. ❤
Last year i was finally able to get my hands on 2 org 1940 VAT69 Bottles and some newer "VAT69 Gold" which added nicely to my WW2 E/506th kit and is a big hit at WW2 weekend displays. in 2017 i got to work on a film with Ron Livingston (Nixon) so we got to chat about BOB and how we both tried to out drink Wild Bill & XXX and i got to thank him for doing this series and he signed my copy of BOB which is also signed by some of the other E co vets.
Someday, maybe Spielberg and Co will think of making a movie about WW1 and battles like Sommes, Passchendaelle, Verdun or Ypres. The bloodbath these were will leave you speechless I believe.
Its been so fun to watch this series with you! I hope you will consider The Pacific next, which I assume you've been made aware of already. Some other classic war movies that I havent seen ANYONE react to yet are Memphis Belle, a movie about the air forces bombers, and Tuskeegee Airmen(I like this one more than Red Tails) which is about an all African American fighter squadron in WWII that struggled with racism from their own side and fought through to earn the respect of everyone. I can't find a single reaction to these movies on RUclips so you could be the first!
California I love you as a host. If you read some history books specially the ones written by Time Life, you will see that Germany invaded, killed, occupied, and raped their way through most of Europe, we kicked them (The Germans) out of their houses when we entered Germany, but after we left, they were allowed to come back in. When The German Army did the same thing, they would shoot the people and then take their houses. Germany declared war on The United States of America Dec 11, 1941. Four days after The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The Germans brought war with us on themselves. As the saying goes, " Don't start NOTHING,, there won't BE nothing."
You really do feel for Nixon in this episode... the poor guy goes through a divorce, losing everything while he's overseas fighting, and dealing with major survivor's guilt from losing those guys under his command. 3:05 If you have a best friend like Winters, definitely keep them close. Their friendship before, during and after the war is honestly a strong one and are goals. ❤
Ironically it reminds me of another scene in "Generation Kill", also made by HBO when a Marine finds out his wife is divorcing him while he's deployed. Almost a mirror image of the scene.
This episode always brings tears to my eyes, no matter how often i've seen it. My grandfather spent 3 years of his life in one of these labour camps in Germany during WW2, working himself to the brink of death. He was not part of any minority group, but the German Reich called upon young and able men to come work for the German state. Because he was afraid for reprisals against his family he answered their call. He eventually was able to escape and flee to his hometown where he hid at his local church for the remainder of the war. I cannot possibly comprehend the suffering he must have gone through, and the things he must have seen. He passed away when i was 14, and i wish i had more years with him so i could have talked about his experiences with him. He was such a sweet and gentle man. I miss you pépé. May you rest in peace.
Something else about the house scene. She had the husband, house and dog? Well, the photo of the husband had a black ribbon around it, signifying he had died in combat, a warning sign to Nix.
They had tents... they were just tired of sleeping outside, while the people that started the war lived in relative comfort... then they found the camps.
My father during his trek thru france pushing out the German army upon a few day in Germany came across one ofvthese camps with another division it was also abandoned with hundreds dead and dying it changed my dad forever he had dreams of it 30 years later to see my dad such a big man 6'3" and 350 lbs cry really hit me hard he said he could never forget that smell
I cryed with you girl....ty for watching this.the best ww2 movies series ever!! DID YOU KNOW THERE IS A PACIFIC THEATER ALSO JUST LIKE THIS...its called THE PACIFIC..hope to watch THE PACIFIC with you soon ty again!!
The discovery of the camps changed the attitude about the war for even the civilians back home. Many German prisoners were shipped to the USA to POW camps all over the country. The prisoners that were willing (most of them except the hardcore Nazis) were loaned out to local farms and non-military production factories as labor. They quickly became integrated into the local economy, (trusted by the locals) and many returned after the war to settle in. The camps were discovered and written up and overnight the attitude became very dark. It took years for some folks to separate the average German soldier from the Nazi atrocities.
This is a brilliant episode. We start with the interviews with the vets. They kind of promote the idea of equivalence, we aren’t that different. We see Luz and Perconte with the young girl in the barn. We like them but we are genuinely worried for her. Spiers loots, finders keepers. Winters displaces a family for a warm place to sleep. French soldiers shoot German prisoners and the Easy vets just shrug. Nixon destroys that photo in an alcoholic tantrum these aren’t the guys we met in Episode 1. Then the difference because crystal clear. I understand there are differences between the Wehrmacht and the SS. The lady who clashed with Nixon, her husband was Wehrmacht. During WWI the British exaggerated German war crimes with pretty outrageous stories. This meant when stories about the camps came out people paid less attention than they should have. You held up better than I did.
@@ronweber1402 It's also possible those soldiers were French men serving in the German army. A significant part of the French Resistance and the Free French Forces were keen on "cleansing" the country after the Liberation.
Can't lie, Webster has a point when he was yelling at the German POWs. It's easy to 'both sides' any conflict, but the answer to 'why are we even fighting?' was very different for Allied and Axis troops: Allied soldiers were forced to fight to overthrow a murderous dictatorship that had declared war against them, Axis soldiers were forced to fight because they had failed to prevent murderous dictatorships from rising to power in their own countries. Certainly, opposing fascism in their country would likely have come at great personal cost to the German people, but the failure to do so meant that this cost would instead fall on young men from Allied countries around the world to do it on their behalf. In the circumstances, you can hardly blame Webster for his anger at the servility of the people who could've prevented the Nazis from ever rising to power in the first place.
This series can rip the heart out of you. Watching the people that were there and the emotions they feel while interviewed. The last episode gives you hope. They went through this hell and came home and as Winters said "rebuilt their lives as best they could" Amazing.
I'm glad to see a young woman like you watching this. I'm also glad that those men fought and died... and lived, so that you can sit in a comfortable room, and not experience it for yourself.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God bless the greatest generation. And these people men and women were. Admire the men and people that fought. You hardly ever the women that came behind the soldiers to care for these people and the wounded. What is the old saying? Behind every great man is a women. And they were there to care for these people.
I think this episode goes back the question when Webster was shouting from the truck "Interrupting our lives for what?" and Nixon asking Winters if he really believed they died as heroes when he writes the letters home. Liberating the Concentration camps gave at least some meaning to why they fight even if they where unaware of the camps through most of the war.
You have to remember... this was war. When you conquer, you need places to put your troops. If you can avoid making them sleep outside in the elements, then you do.
I always wonder what happened to the wives that divorced their husbands that went to war. As much as I fantasize about the court being like "No you wont get anything maam, your husband is at war and you wanna divorce him for not sending enough letters? Just NOPE. You will get your divorce but you wont get anything". But I know the world isn't so kind and they still probably got a lot out of it. Its just sad to think about.
When Eisenhower was first shown these camps, he brought in news cameras, photographers and ordered as many recorded material to be taken and saved. So that nobody could deny what happened.
'you know how invasive this is?' , yeah, not as invasive as invading countries and killing millions upon millions. If they have to move them out of their home for the soldiers to sleep in for a couple of nights, I won't shed a tear over it. Neither did Dick Winters.
"The woman" in the red overcoat wading and struggling through the bodies who was so offended when Nixon was in her house knew. Her expression said she knew.
I'm a Navy military veteran, our ship was the first responders of the USS COLE ship bombing during my deployment. I didn't want anything to do with the military after that. I soon got out after that then 9-11 happened. I volunteered to come back into the military after probably the worst thing I've seen in my life. I did it because those were my brothers and sisters that died on that ship. It was an obligation that I felt I had to do.
When General (Supreme Allied Commander) Eisenhower (Later President) toured one town he had them assemble in the square and told them that they would help bury the dead. He told the Burgermeister that he was ashamed he his last name was Eisenhower (German)
All the American soldiers were wondering what they were fighting for, but after finding the concentration camps, they knew what they were fighting against
I think you're the first reactor I've watched see this episode who picked up immediately, upon the tone shift and the soldiers reactions, that it was a concentration camp.
i think one of the thing that get's lost in all the lost in all the praise of the show is how many up and coming actors that would be huge appeared in the show like Tom Hardy, James Mcavoy, Michael Fassbender, Simon Pegg, Dominic Cooper and even some really good smaller actors like Andrew Scott, Stephen Graham, and Jamie Bamber who would 3 years later be in my Favorite syfi show of all time Battlestar Galactica.
Wait? Dominic Cooper? Never noticed him. Just checked on IMDb, he was in episode 1, apparently. You can also count Jimmy Fallon (E05, he plays the lieutenant making ammo runs), and Jason O'Mara (Lt. Meehan, Easy's CO who dies in the plane on D-Day)
I found a division newspaper in box of my grandpa's old ww2 things. There's a photo of him and another soldier standing in a room full of bodies in a camp they helped liberate. I swear between that picture and his last picture before he shipped over a year prior, it looks like he aged 30 years.
I lived in Europe for a long time. Many of the Germans I met when we’d talk about the past viewed it in hindsight as the Allies liberating the German people as well from the Nazis as well. You gotta think the first people the Nazis victimized once they established an iron grip was the Germans. I believe more Germans then history says knew what was going on. To talk about it at the time you would’ve found yourself behind barbed wire starving to death with them. That would’ve been a horrible time and place to live.
Nix is the most relatable @1:59 onward. The danger of mourning and hating on a world that's superficial towards that loss is that you can become selfish and lose heart.
I have never seen "Band of Brothers," and so am becoming acquainted with it through reaction videos. This is the episode I have "watched" the most, and I took note of your composure during the concentration camp scenes; perhaps the most dignified reaction to some obviously horrible imagery that I've seen. And as someone else noted, your silence spoke volumes. I actually appreciated your reaction more than any of the several I've seen. It allowed me to focus on the episode and what I was seeing. Thank you. And what gets forgotten is the millions of non-Jews killed in the camps. We don't hear about that much.
❤️BIBLE VERSES OF THE DAY❤️
2 TIMOTHY 1:7 KJV
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
A good verse for this episode
In the last episode you saw how worn out and suffering from PTSD the men of the 101st Airborne were, and at the end they were "pulled out of the line", which means they were sent to an area where there was no combat so they could rest and calm down. The combat missions were being carried out by other units that had been under less stress, such as the 17th Airborne division that jumped into Germany in late March, 1945, and suffered significant casualties doing so. Captain Nixon jumped with them, and you can tell he could hardly stand it anymore. As late as April, 1945, there was still a lot of fighting going on, even though the German defeat had become inevitable and the 101st was not participating in it. But, you can also tell that Brigante had had enough of fighting also, from the way he snaps at the new guy, O'Keefe.
You might as well create a pateron! I’d subscribe
These shows go way too easy on the subject matter and Nazi atrocities extended way beyond the camps for years before Germany's surrender. The faulty logic of believing the common soldier just had to follow orders, like it's some sort of excuse for their brutality or their presence on the battlefield as a conquering army, is even voiced by veterans featured in this dramatization, in their interviews. For a greater understanding of just how much worse it really was, and the crimes against humanity committed by Nazi soldiers, watch all three episodes of the recent Ken Burns documentary for PBS titled "The U.S. and the Holocaust". Those soldiers who were supposedly just 'fighting for their country' murdered millions of civilians.
I just have to say that you are such a pretty lady!
"If anyone ever tells you the Holocaust didn't happen, or that it wasn't as bad as they say, no, it was worse than they say. What we saw, what these Germans did, it was worse than you can possibly imagine." - Edward "Babe" Heffron
Agreed, my history teacher said there is a reason why the history books don't show the female camps because the people in charge thought the general public would not to able to mentally handle or process how horrific it was, the male camps were horrific but the female camps was even worse if that could even be posable, its like thinking of a daytime nightmare what them soldiers done to those women and children.
Many of the soldiers and people who liberated the camps suffered immense mental problems after.
Nobody denies that it happened, they deny the numbers and they make a fair point. Mathematically it doesn't make sense.
@@eodyn7 It doesn’t make sense because you refuse to acknowledge the truth. I bet you can not back up your statement with any facts. I wont listen to that kind of garbage without calling it out.
@@eodyn7 Nazi
Millions were murdered by the Nazis just as millions more were murdered by Stalin and his bunch later. Those are facts.
“Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower
Or they wear clothing like that while attacking the capitol building.
Eisenhower was by far the best US President since 1945, IMO.
@@bizjetfixr8352
In his Presidential exit speech, Eisenhower warned against the Military Industrial Complex. He feared that a shadow govt. was rapidly forming. He was right.
@@JnEricsonx or you can be a far left leaning fascists and you will answer for the deaths of millions of jews sicko
@@JnEricsonx they also claim to be anti-facist while acting extremely facist.
Factoid: The prisoners were played by cancer patients. Some of the patients didn't survive to see this episode come out.
Factoids are things people take as fact that are wrong. What you wrote is completely correct.
Word you're looking for is trivium
Wow!
Fact: the liberation scenes shown in Band of Brothers are completely fictitious. Easy Company did not participate in the liberation of Kaufering IV (Hurlach) and those units of the 101st Airborne Division who did participate arrived the day after the camp had been found and liberated by the 12th Armored Division.
Watching someone as Joyful as you not say a word for more than 3 minutes reaction says a lot over how impactful this chapter is. Thanks for your reaction. And keep the cheerfulness, it brings joy.
"it's about to get dark"
she had no idea
My Dad served in the 12th. Armor infantry which was right next to Easy Company. This was the one episode he didn't watch with me because he knew what was coming. This episode is a strong reminder that we must stand our ground against anyone who thinks they superior to another person. We must be on guard even today in America or suffer the same fate as Germany.
Especially in America - you guys elected Trump.
@@tomwithey711 Who's talking about jailing people for simply misgendering people, or taking someones kids away for not allowing them to mutilate their genitals... it sure as fuck wasn't Trump. Who wants the 1st Amendment to only apply to them... Leftist Democrats that's who.
Not all of us and he's on his way out and to prison. That enough for you,?
My Grandfather was in a unit that found one of these camps. He told me it was the one thing that their training did not prepare them for.
He said most of the German civilians they asked knew about the work camps, but did not understand exactly what was happening in them.
He fought in the Battle of the Bulge as part of Patton's army and told me he saw men break down at the discovery of the camps that fought through hell on the battle field without blinking. Thank the Lord they were able to expose this evil and put the surviving Nazi's on trial for the world to see. This episode showed why they fought, but more importantly it shows us all why we can not forget. 40 years later as a young solider myself, I was stationed in Germany and I toured Dachau's site. It still makes the hair on my neck stand up when I think about it.
Nixon was traumatized by how he close he came to death and covered it with drinking and sarcasm.
He also alluded to some survivor's guilt. "Oh well, wasn't me".
You are a very bright young woman and I appreciate your reaction to the show. To see our youth truly learn about our past is so brilliant. These men really fought for freedom and are truly the greatest generation.
The first and only time we ever see Spiers shook.
Spiers would have like a lot of ammo for a firefight then.
"that's not Mozart, that's Beethoven" is a reference to a line in Schindler's List, in which an SS says "who is this, bach? No, it's Mozart". It's a nod that the episode is going to involve the Holocaust.
Webster saw the captured german officers counting all the vehicles we had,there propaganda had not prepared them for the lopsided advantage the allies had.they were amazed,they still used horses to haul.the lady that confronted nixon,made him feel embarrassed for entering her home,the american command heard the civilians didn't believe the camps were that bad,so they ordered whole town to march to camp next day.during the walk ,they were jovial and happy,till they arrived and saw what was done in there name.the same lady was now embarrassed when nix disapprovingly looked at her.
Webster didn't believe the rumors about Nazi atrocities until they found the camp at Landsburg. It's mentioned in the book that Webster thought those rumors were allied propaganda, which was not unreasonable of him. Who could believe that people were actually capable of something like the Holocaust? He had the sad experience of seeing the proof first hand.
Yeah. A lot of attention gets paid to all the technologically advanced wonder weapons Germany fielded during the war. Superheavy tanks, the first jet fighters and jet bombers, the first submarines capable of staying submerged indefinitely, the first guided torpedoes, the first guided bombs, the first ballistic missile. But despite these technological wonders, their front line armies were still mostly carrying supplies on horse drawn wagons instead of trucks. As Webster said, "you have horses, what were you thinking!?"
@@BigIronEnjoyer To be entirely fair, the Germans made the deliberate decision not to motorize all their divisions because, aside from the industrial effort to build all those trucks, they couldn't keep them supplied with fuel and oil. Horse feed on the other hand was more readily available and could be procured at the front, easing the supply burden. So the Germans weren't being backwards or stupid but in fact quite clever.
Of course, they ran out of fuel anyway as the war progressed.
The German civilians knew damn well what was happening how could they not with thousands upon thousands of people being round up day after day.
The biggest load of crap that people tried to pull was that they "didn't know." Notice how he commented on the stench. These "camps" were the size of small towns that connected directly to the rail-line infrastructure so they were very close to actual towns that they were within walking distance. The camps with ovens would rain down ash all over the local area. Everyone knew damn well what was happening.
They watched as "certain" groups of people would disappear, their businesses closed, robbed and vandalized, your children were taught to hate them in school and would attack them with anything they could find, police and military personnel rounded them up, etc. All that wasn't over night, it took place for over a decade. They stood by and watched it all unfold and didn't say a word because at some level they knew they were involved. (Ex:) Their businesses were handed over to either you or a neighbor and their were regular public announcements.
As to the "stench" subject. If you've ever lived near a farm you know damn well that when the wind hits just right, you can smell it from miles away. The camp portrayed is called "Kaufering" and the nearby towns are just 1-4 miles away. Just to give an example, here in vegas there was a pig farm on north 5th st and centennial back in the day and I lived up in N. Fort Apache and Elkhorn. That's over 10 miles away and you could STILL SMELL IT on a summer day. For these people to claim they had no idea they were full of crap.
If you watch the old archival footage of german citizens brought to the camps you'll notice how only a few people are actually "crying" or showing any sort of "remorse." Many look annoyed as if they were being lectured and they couldn't care less. Because deep down you know that the Nazi's didn't invade and take over germany, germany became the nazi's of their own free will. You can watch Hitler's speeches throughout the beginning and you'll notice the crowds reaction. He started out with basics like "getting back to work" and "rebuilding jobs lost" and he'd get an applause but when he first passively mentions the "undesirables" he was met with roaring cheers from the crowds. You can see how the crowd changes him and how he changed the crowd. It was a mutual belief they all shared nationwide.
Did you notice that Perconte starts calling O'Keefe by his proper name once they're in the camp?
You're not thinking of being a wise-ass then, thats for sure. Plus everyone's SOUL had just been rocked.
The look on the face of O'Keefe says it all. He had just seen the white elephant and wanted nothing more to do with war.
"Why We Fight" comes from a series of documentaries (1942-1945) produced by the US Government Directed by Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak.
The following is from study and is as accurate as I can recall.
The opening of the box car was a recreation of famous newsreel footage. It was very close to that footage. I believe the boxcar was actually at Dachau and was one of 16 discovered by US troops. The camp shown being liberated here is located near Landsberg am Lech Bavaria and is one of 11 subcamps of the Dachau camp system. This one called Kaufering.
Easy Company did not actually liberate the camp though they did visit the camp. It was actually liberated on April 27th, 1945 by the 134th Ordinance Maintenance Battalion of the 12th Armored Division. The reason why the film makers depicted Easy Company liberating the camp was for dramatic impact of the discovery. This was a conscious artistic choice that made the intended impact. This worked out well.
There is no way for anyone to see this episode and not break down.
Something that can't be shown in any portrayal is the smells of the concentration camp. Human waste, decay, burned bodies. It's something those who were there never forgot.
It's the overpowering smell of which you speak that calls into question all those civilians who said they were unaware. How can you ignore or fail to notice the stench which constantly emanated from these camps year after year.
Before he passed away, Carwood Lipton said he refused to watch this episode, specifically because he said it would bring back the smell.
I've been impatiently waiting for this upload! Let's goooo! These last 2 episodes tug at your heart big time! Be sure to watch "We Stand Alone Together" afterwards, it's available here on youtube, the documentary that goes along with this show, the interviews with the vets at the beginning of the episodes are from that documentary.
Excellent review. Love how you picked up on so many of the nuances of the episode, that most people miss the first time through because it is such a dramatic and gut wrenching episode. Its probably the most powerful and thought provoking episode of the entire series. What a lot of people forget is that times were very different then and the German government had very tight control over what news was allowed to be broadcast, so very few people knew about the camps. Shows like this are important to remind people never to forget the past. Keep up the great work.
These men and boys were trained for combat. Through the course of the war they had grown accustomed to what armies and soldiers can do to each other in the course of war. What they had no expectation of, or any way to conceive of, were the camps they found and liberated. As much as I can't imagine what combat is like, I also cannot imagine what it could have been like to come upon the Holocaust without knowing anything about it.
As a WWII history enthusiast, there is an old, great, series, documentary called the World at War. It is very well done even if you don't intend to study the topic. One episode covers The Final Solution in detail.
Thanks for all that you do!
And it starts with the massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane
The extras playing concentration camp victims were terminally ill in real life from cancer etc.
They dedicated what little time they had left on this earth to the production of episode 9.
So that we may never forget.....
Such a lovely kind soul. Never change Ms. Blend.I know my grandfather is thanking you from heaven
America did not go to war in Europe because it wanted to liberate camps. It did not know until it was over.
For the second time in 30 years, it was drawn into Euro tribal conflicts by the UK.
Nothing ever done about Soviet and Chinese death camps.
-In the beginning, where the musicians where playing Beethoven and not Mozart, it was symbolic. Most people forget that Hitler was not German, but actually Austrian, as was Mozart. Beethoven was German. By playing Beethoven, it was the Germans' way of saying they were liberated from the rule of an Austrian and Germany now was back in the hands of the people.
-The 300,000 soldiers you see marching was the Ruhr Pocket; old men and boys who were forced to fight and defend the Ruhr. German resistance fought against Waffen-SS to get the Ruhr Pocket to surrender; doing so convinced Allied bombers to spare cities like Hamburg. When the Ruhr fell, Hitler realized the war was lost and committed suicide.
-The camp that the 101st found was Kaufering IV; a subcamp of Dachau. The one that was mentioned being discovered by the Russians was Auschwitz.
-We can only estimate how many victims of the Holocaust there were; possibly over 11,000,000. The truth is there could very well be more; much, much more. When the Nazis accepted the fact that they were losing the war, an order was issued to purge any and all evidence of the Final Solution. Mass graves were dug up again and the bodies were burned to ash. Documents, files, important papers carrying identification for current prisoners and executed prisoners was burned. In some cases like Buchenwald, Waffen-SS and Gestapo were sent to try and destroy the camps with the prisoners still inside. We may never truly know how many actually died.
-As you said, the Final Solution was kept hush hush from the rest of the world. And I do believe that many Germans did not know. After Kristallnacht, the attack on Jews by brownshirt activists actually caused sympathy for them among the German public. Hitler was outraged at this outcome and had the Jews removed from the cities into ghettos until the camps were ready; out of sight, out of mind. Those that did know about the camps either supported their purpose, or kept their mouths shut out of fear.
You handled that well girl. Bravo. Don't worry I was crying with you 😢 💔. No matter how many times I have seen this episode, it never gets easier. I cry every time.
Wow, I admire your composure during the scene with the concentration camp. I have never seen a representation as close to the scenes that actually happened as that. It shocked me how far the production dared to go to bring the message across. The extras who agreed to participate despite being terminally sick and delivering such a heartbreaking performance deserve all credit in the world.
As a German, I already saw pictures of emaciated camp prisoners, but seeing pictures like that in a movie production especially since you can clearly see dying people was something else.
Bless your heart for your post. I'm Nigerian, therefore African, and while knew these things happened, I dont think I realised the gravity until I watched a Discovery Channel documentary with actual videos of a cattle truck at a concentration camp. When it's doors were pulled open it revealed a pile of corpses in every state of decomposition; one actually slid off and fell outside the carriage door and I broke down in tears when I saw that.
These scenes are so hard to watch, and even harder because they are true. In 2015, when I was visiting family in Germany, we saw the camp in Dachau, the very first one. I do not believe that the Germans did not know what was going on, because in order for the death camps and work camps to operate, thousands and thousands of Germans had to work every day to find people, arrest them, contain them, put them on trains, and run the camps where these prisoners were either supposed to be killed outright, or be worked to death.
Germans knew of the camps but not all the details as far as I know, like the extermination parts, they thought they were just work camps
The fact that people being treated for cancer were willing to do this ep to approximate how the actual prisoners would have looked....bless em.
This is exactly why I love to watch people’s reaction to this show. I’ve watched this show too many times to count and love seeing new perspectives on it all. I loved hearing your view of the music near the end of the episode because I didn’t know or realize any of it. Thankful for that, keep up the good work!
My grandfather from my mother's side was part of liberating one of the first camps that were found. He knew people would deny the holocaust ever happened long before such denial ever happened. In the grand scheme of things, he was literally a nobody, so he'd have no reason to lie. I almost got into a fight more than once over people saying the holocaust never happened and calling my grandfather a liar.
Nobody denies the camps existed.
@@aedryk Yes, there are those who deny they existed. Stop lying to yourself
@@danielpopp1526 No. The camps are very well documented. What people are unsure about, is if there were specific death camps with lampshades, razor roller coasters, masturbation machines, freezers that shattered bodies, and gas showers. (all of these things are claimed to be 100% fact)
oh no, look how excited she is at the start. she's gonna need a hug
When they reconstituted the German army in the late fifties it was taught to every single soldier that they did not have to obey an order that would go against the laws of humanity. It was further instructed that if one of their Officers or noncommissioned officers decided to give such an order it was their duty to arrest and/or shoot them.
if you look closely the French officer shooting the SS is Tom Hanks
This is a rough one, the beginning perfectly sets the tone for the episode 😭
YOU DID IT! you made it through the worst parts! Episode 10 is much more mild but still has wild moments. I recommend you watch The Pacific next, Its made by the same people but is about the marine corps against the Japanese. God Bless!
Back in the 1960s my dad worked with a WW2 army vet who took part in liberating one of the camps. He told him that you couldn't believe people could do those sorts of things to other people.
Episode 9 breaks everyone who has a soul.
No matter how many times I watch this series, this episode always hits me like a ton of bricks. It is a very rough one to watch. If I remember correctly, the director of this episode is the grandson of concentration camp survivors. No words can ever adequately describe how this episode, as well as what was done to all those in the camps, made me feel.
Such a heavy episode. For folks that say there is no "evil"....they need to watch this episode on a loop. I pray and hope this will NEVER happen again. Good reaction/review as always
Then you see certain people doing Nazi salutes and the like-in this country. Or wearing Auschwitz-themed clothing. Damn near makes you feel like Easy could come back to life then.
Oh it will. Not praying that it does, but just a little knowledge of human nature will let you know a repeat is inevitable. The seeds have already begun to be sown.
@@kokoeteantigha389 Alas…I fear you are probably correct. Peace
I love how enthusiastic your reactions to this series have been. The quiet reserve that you showed in this video is a fitting reflection of the subject matter. Fortunately, the next/last episode has a much lighter emotional tone. I also hope that you react to the documentary "We Stand Alone Together", from which the interviews in the series were taken. It gives you one last chance to see the friends you made while watching the series and hear their stories from the men who lived them.
Great analysis. I would add that this episode was also a turning point for Nixon. In the first half of the episode we saw him at his lowest low: demoted, divorced, and having gone through a very traumatic event with the 17th airborne. Then, he sees the camps. And i think that snapped him out of his low point. Not saying he didn't still have issues, but i think it was such a heavy dose of perspective that it made him move past his own woes.
"They'll eat themselves to death" - this refers to refeeding syndrome. Starve the body of enough essential nutrients and over time essential minerals will be depleted. Now make a starved person eat too much and there will be a massive increase in insulin production as well as fat, carb (glycogen), and protein production. But production of all of that, if not controlled consumes more of the essential minerals that are already depleted which can have catastrophic consequences like lethal heart rhythms, altered mental status, etc. Think like you trying to restart a factory with a glutton of raw materials but a modicum of workers and a goddamn hamster running on a wheel to power the entire factory, and keep setting crazy deadlines and keep whipping them to work. eventually, those workers are going to quit. And the hamster will actually tell you to sod off.
That scene where you said "OK, it's about to get dark"...that was Tom Hanks shooting the prisoners.
I first saw this when it came out over 20 years ago. It is an absolute joy to watch your reactions and hear your commentary, I love how much you appreciate all the different characters and the different dynamics between them. Your channel is so awesome!!
11:52 The numbers on the arms indicated that those Jewish prisoners were from Auschwitz (the camp that was 10 times bigger discovered by the Russians).
Auschwitz was the only concentration camp that branded their prisoners with numbers.
i think its called why we fight not because they were thinking we lived normal lives, and now we have to deal with all this, but because they make a point of displaying that they dont know why they're fighting.
Nixon struggles with calling his men heroes anymore and Webster starts shouting at the Germans about how pointless this all is, but when they see the camps they realize its not just another war, its not even the same war that started in 1939, its now something truly horrific that needs to stop and as horrible as it is it showed them that everything they've sacrificed isn't in vein and their friends haven't died for nothing like they were starting to believe.
"Why We Fight" is also the name of an American propaganda film series the War Dept commissioned from well-known Hollywood director Frank Capra. It was a direct response to the German propaganda Triumph Of The Will by Leni Riefenstahl. The films were originally just intended to help educate and inform a diverse range of U.S. armed forces recruits, so they could understand the dense geopolitical landscape of WWII, but they were so good, President Roosevelt ordered they be shown to the public as well. Also, the animated battle maps are by the Walt Disney animation studio.
@@geoffrose9647 huh is there any way to still watch it? cos that sounds interesting.
@@bigenglishmonkey ruclips.net/p/PLugwVCjzrJsXwAiWBipTE9mTlFQC7H2rU
@@bigenglishmonkey Probably.
8:40: Nice observation there. I have watched this series maybe three times and didn't pick up on that. This is the main reason I enjoy watching reaction videos from across the globe: I get different perspectives, insights, inflections, thoughts and observations. A few years ago I thought the concept idiotic, but with a little digging and random luck; I discovered the reactors that are gems and come with genuine character and individual thoughts and perspectives. ❤
Same here. And it was obvious to her.
Last year i was finally able to get my hands on 2 org 1940 VAT69 Bottles and some newer "VAT69 Gold" which added nicely to my WW2 E/506th kit and is a big hit at WW2 weekend displays. in 2017 i got to work on a film with Ron Livingston (Nixon) so we got to chat about BOB and how we both tried to out drink Wild Bill & XXX and i got to thank him for doing this series and he signed my copy of BOB which is also signed by some of the other E co vets.
Someday, maybe Spielberg and Co will think of making a movie about WW1 and battles like Sommes, Passchendaelle, Verdun or Ypres. The bloodbath these were will leave you speechless I believe.
Its been so fun to watch this series with you! I hope you will consider The Pacific next, which I assume you've been made aware of already. Some other classic war movies that I havent seen ANYONE react to yet are Memphis Belle, a movie about the air forces bombers, and Tuskeegee Airmen(I like this one more than Red Tails) which is about an all African American fighter squadron in WWII that struggled with racism from their own side and fought through to earn the respect of everyone. I can't find a single reaction to these movies on RUclips so you could be the first!
California I love you as a host. If you read some history books specially the ones written by Time Life, you will see that Germany invaded, killed, occupied, and raped their way through most of Europe, we kicked them (The Germans) out of their houses when we entered Germany, but after we left, they were allowed to come back in. When The German Army did the same thing, they would shoot the people and then take their houses. Germany declared war on The United States of America Dec 11, 1941. Four days after The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The Germans brought war with us on themselves. As the saying goes, " Don't start NOTHING,, there won't BE nothing."
You really do feel for Nixon in this episode... the poor guy goes through a divorce, losing everything while he's overseas fighting, and dealing with major survivor's guilt from losing those guys under his command.
3:05 If you have a best friend like Winters, definitely keep them close. Their friendship before, during and after the war is honestly a strong one and are goals. ❤
Ironically it reminds me of another scene in "Generation Kill", also made by HBO when a Marine finds out his wife is divorcing him while he's deployed. Almost a mirror image of the scene.
"Do you know how invasive this is?"
I think that's why they call it an invasion. 😄
This episode always brings tears to my eyes, no matter how often i've seen it. My grandfather spent 3 years of his life in one of these labour camps in Germany during WW2, working himself to the brink of death. He was not part of any minority group, but the German Reich called upon young and able men to come work for the German state. Because he was afraid for reprisals against his family he answered their call. He eventually was able to escape and flee to his hometown where he hid at his local church for the remainder of the war. I cannot possibly comprehend the suffering he must have gone through, and the things he must have seen. He passed away when i was 14, and i wish i had more years with him so i could have talked about his experiences with him. He was such a sweet and gentle man. I miss you pépé. May you rest in peace.
I was waitin for this episode, gets me everytime and I've watched it through fully like 5 times
Something else about the house scene. She had the husband, house and dog? Well, the photo of the husband had a black ribbon around it, signifying he had died in combat, a warning sign to Nix.
They had tents... they were just tired of sleeping outside, while the people that started the war lived in relative comfort... then they found the camps.
Thank you for being brave enough to watch this episode. And also for including scripture in your opening
My father during his trek thru france pushing out the German army upon a few day in Germany came across one ofvthese camps with another division it was also abandoned with hundreds dead and dying it changed my dad forever he had dreams of it 30 years later to see my dad such a big man 6'3" and 350 lbs cry really hit me hard he said he could never forget that smell
lucky they found at least one of the prisoners who was still lucid enough to explain about the camp
I cryed with you girl....ty for watching this.the best ww2 movies series ever!! DID YOU KNOW THERE IS A PACIFIC THEATER ALSO JUST LIKE THIS...its called THE PACIFIC..hope to watch THE PACIFIC with you soon ty again!!
The discovery of the camps changed the attitude about the war for even the civilians back home. Many German prisoners were shipped to the USA to POW camps all over the country. The prisoners that were willing (most of them except the hardcore Nazis) were loaned out to local farms and non-military production factories as labor. They quickly became integrated into the local economy, (trusted by the locals) and many returned after the war to settle in. The camps were discovered and written up and overnight the attitude became very dark. It took years for some folks to separate the average German soldier from the Nazi atrocities.
Some of the people knew , Like the mayor and police authority. He they brought up the smell. THEY KNEW
I doesn't matter if they knew. It's not like elections were every 2 years or something.
This is a brilliant episode. We start with the interviews with the vets. They kind of promote the idea of equivalence, we aren’t that different. We see Luz and Perconte with the young girl in the barn. We like them but we are genuinely worried for her. Spiers loots, finders keepers. Winters displaces a family for a warm place to sleep. French soldiers shoot German prisoners and the Easy vets just shrug. Nixon destroys that photo in an alcoholic tantrum these aren’t the guys we met in Episode 1.
Then the difference because crystal clear.
I understand there are differences between the Wehrmacht and the SS. The lady who clashed with Nixon, her husband was Wehrmacht.
During WWI the British exaggerated German war crimes with pretty outrageous stories. This meant when stories about the camps came out people paid less attention than they should have.
You held up better than I did.
If I'm not mistaken the French shot those soldiers because they didn't surrender and tried to hide. Still extreme but those were extreme times.
@@ronweber1402 It's also possible those soldiers were French men serving in the German army. A significant part of the French Resistance and the Free French Forces were keen on "cleansing" the country after the Liberation.
@@davidlacoste Very possible. In The Netherlands they said the men who collaborated were being shot.
@@ronweber1402 I think it was in all occupied countries to various degrees.
Can't lie, Webster has a point when he was yelling at the German POWs. It's easy to 'both sides' any conflict, but the answer to 'why are we even fighting?' was very different for Allied and Axis troops: Allied soldiers were forced to fight to overthrow a murderous dictatorship that had declared war against them, Axis soldiers were forced to fight because they had failed to prevent murderous dictatorships from rising to power in their own countries.
Certainly, opposing fascism in their country would likely have come at great personal cost to the German people, but the failure to do so meant that this cost would instead fall on young men from Allied countries around the world to do it on their behalf. In the circumstances, you can hardly blame Webster for his anger at the servility of the people who could've prevented the Nazis from ever rising to power in the first place.
Could they have though?
This series can rip the heart out of you. Watching the people that were there and the emotions they feel while interviewed. The last episode gives you hope. They went through this hell and came home and as Winters said "rebuilt their lives as best they could" Amazing.
Episode 10 really got to me 🥹
I'm glad to see a young woman like you watching this.
I'm also glad that those men fought and died... and lived, so that you can sit in a comfortable room, and not experience it for yourself.
You're so bloody bright!!!!
I've watched this a few times and your observations on structural stuff is great
8:55 Gosh! After seeing i don't know how many times, i never thought about this.
Well done, Gabrielle.
This episode has the best acting I've seen in a long time. Did you notice that the camp was the only time Perconte called O'Keefe by his real name.
Your comment on the score and Beethoven was perfect. I had never even thought of that before, but it makes a ton of sense.
Wow first time seeing your reactions. You are very well spoken, and I appreciate your reaction to what this war was ultimately about.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God bless the greatest generation. And these people men and women were. Admire the men and people that fought. You hardly ever the women that came behind the soldiers to care for these people and the wounded. What is the old saying? Behind every great man is a women. And they were there to care for these people.
This is a reaction channel. Ma'am, you scarcely said a word in the last third of the video. What a powerful reaction.
I think this episode goes back the question when Webster was shouting from the truck "Interrupting our lives for what?" and Nixon asking Winters if he really believed they died as heroes when he writes the letters home. Liberating the Concentration camps gave at least some meaning to why they fight even if they where unaware of the camps through most of the war.
You have to remember... this was war. When you conquer, you need places to put your troops. If you can avoid making them sleep outside in the elements, then you do.
I always wonder what happened to the wives that divorced their husbands that went to war. As much as I fantasize about the court being like "No you wont get anything maam, your husband is at war and you wanna divorce him for not sending enough letters? Just NOPE. You will get your divorce but you wont get anything". But I know the world isn't so kind and they still probably got a lot out of it. Its just sad to think about.
When Eisenhower was first shown these camps, he brought in news cameras, photographers and ordered as many recorded material to be taken and saved.
So that nobody could deny what happened.
'you know how invasive this is?' , yeah, not as invasive as invading countries and killing millions upon millions. If they have to move them out of their home for the soldiers to sleep in for a couple of nights, I won't shed a tear over it. Neither did Dick Winters.
"The woman" in the red overcoat wading and struggling through the bodies who was so offended when Nixon was in her house knew. Her expression said she knew.
The final episode is going to hit you like a sledgehammer.
And you will see why it is the greatest TV series of all time.
Just uploaded my reaction to episode 10
I'm a Navy military veteran, our ship was the first responders of the USS COLE ship bombing during my deployment. I didn't want anything to do with the military after that. I soon got out after that then 9-11 happened. I volunteered to come back into the military after probably the worst thing I've seen in my life. I did it because those were my brothers and sisters that died on that ship. It was an obligation that I felt I had to do.
When General (Supreme Allied Commander) Eisenhower (Later President) toured one town he had them assemble in the square and told them that they would help bury the dead. He told the Burgermeister that he was ashamed he his last name was Eisenhower (German)
My grandfather on my mom's side was German....and he fought in the Pacific.
You handled this with such grace and class, hard but nessecary episode
10/10 reaction. Cried with ya.
All the American soldiers were wondering what they were fighting for, but after finding the concentration camps, they knew what they were fighting against
I think you're the first reactor I've watched see this episode who picked up immediately, upon the tone shift and the soldiers reactions, that it was a concentration camp.
A video to get a good perspective of the scale of life lost during world War 2 is "The fallen of world war 2".
i think one of the thing that get's lost in all the lost in all the praise of the show is how many up and coming actors that would be huge
appeared in the show like Tom Hardy, James Mcavoy, Michael Fassbender, Simon Pegg, Dominic Cooper and even some really good smaller actors like Andrew Scott, Stephen Graham, and Jamie Bamber who would 3 years later be in my Favorite syfi show of all time Battlestar Galactica.
Wait? Dominic Cooper? Never noticed him.
Just checked on IMDb, he was in episode 1, apparently.
You can also count Jimmy Fallon (E05, he plays the lieutenant making ammo runs),
and Jason O'Mara (Lt. Meehan, Easy's CO who dies in the plane on D-Day)
I found a division newspaper in box of my grandpa's old ww2 things. There's a photo of him and another soldier standing in a room full of bodies in a camp they helped liberate. I swear between that picture and his last picture before he shipped over a year prior, it looks like he aged 30 years.
You've noticed the difference between the back ground music. Thank you for showing a different perspective.
Supposedly the guy carrying the body was saying "This is my uncle. He's still alive. Please help him..."
I lived in Europe for a long time. Many of the Germans I met when we’d talk about the past viewed it in hindsight as the Allies liberating the German people as well from the Nazis as well. You gotta think the first people the Nazis victimized once they established an iron grip was the Germans. I believe more Germans then history says knew what was going on. To talk about it at the time you would’ve found yourself behind barbed wire starving to death with them. That would’ve been a horrible time and place to live.
Nix is the most relatable @1:59 onward.
The danger of mourning and hating on a world that's superficial towards that loss is that you can become selfish and lose heart.
Another great reaction. I love your ability to keep up and assess the situation and relationships.
Have a good day
Gotta say ur silence said a lot. Very tough episode. I appreciate ur reactions girl.
I'm not sure how humans can do this to each other - love your silent reaction, i think most of us had the same.
Given how upbeat and chipper you are normally, I dreaded this episode. Absolutely dreaded it.
I have never seen "Band of Brothers," and so am becoming acquainted with it through reaction videos. This is the episode I have "watched" the most, and I took note of your composure during the concentration camp scenes; perhaps the most dignified reaction to some obviously horrible imagery that I've seen. And as someone else noted, your silence spoke volumes. I actually appreciated your reaction more than any of the several I've seen. It allowed me to focus on the episode and what I was seeing. Thank you. And what gets forgotten is the millions of non-Jews killed in the camps. We don't hear about that much.
in the end the violinist places his instrument in a coffin style case