Liberating Bergen Belsen | April 1945
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- čas přidán 17. 02. 2021
- In April 1945, two members of the 1 S.A.S. Regiment were conducting a routine patrol behind enemy lines when they stumbled across something that would haunt them for the rest of their lives; the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. Over the next month, the British Second Army took on the enormous task of bringing relief to some 60,000 emaciated prisoners, whilst also seeing through the last days of the war in Europe. In this video, I detail the British Army's response to, and liberation of, Bergen-Belsen.
This video is dedicated to the memory of all those men, women and children who were sadly victims of the Holocaust. May they never be forgotten...
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My grandfather was in the ‘8th army desert rats’ which was one of the army brigades to liberate Belsen at this time. He didn’t speak too often about his experiences at Belsen , but he did mention how appalling the conditions were when they arrived. He found a Jewish lady who was still alive and around 4 or 5 months pregnant amongst the prisoners, and he gave her his army coat as she barely had any clothes to wear to keep her warm. For many years afterwards until he passed away he never wasted any food that was given to him and always finished everything on his plate. The experience taught him what starvation really means.RIP grandad x
My father was with Eisenhower's Headquarters at that point in the war. He stated that after they liberated one camp Eisenhower issued an order that every one within a certain distance of any camp liberated had to be taken to the camp to witness the conditions. I have a feeling that motivated some to fight just a little harder against the Germans.
My Maternal Grandmother was a Holocaust Survivor. There are many people would not be alive without your Grandfather and his comrades in arms service.
@@dianestafford6968 I wish everyone understood and appreciated what allied forces and victims went through and sacrificed for the current generation…..
Lee, that is a great story - and one I am not trying to diminish, but my mother & father were the same way with food. Thus, none of us kids could get down from the table before finishing EVERYTHING on our plates. But that didn't have anything to do with WWII. It was because they were children of the Depression - when the waste of food (or anything) was extremely taboo. Very likely your father was a child of the Depression, too.
@@ilantee4974 a small world indeed, I hope your father lived a happy life, his contribution to 8th army is greatly appreciated .
My parents were rescued there by the British army. They at the time of the British rescue did not know each other, but we're married in the displaced people's camp there in 1946. They would live in this camp for 5 years and my older brother was born there in 1947. They immigrated to the US in 1950 and I was born in 1952. Thank you to the brave forces that saved their lives at Bergen-Belsen. I would not be alive today if it weren't for your courageous and compassionate actions.
Wow, thank you for your story!
So glad your parent got out.
My uncle James was one of those British soldiers, a young lad from Liverpool and he never ever forgot what he seen there, he died a few years ago, yours and my hero, your story is wonderful.
@@george150799 Thank you for your kind comments. I only wish I would have had a chance to buy your uncle an ale in a Liverpool pub and thank him personally for his service.
My father-in-law was liberated from this camp as a young boy - he was one of the lucky ones who survived. He has spoken about it a few times and I have never seen him waste an ounce of food from his plate - ever! He is a remarkable man!
That is unimaginable! Thank God for his survival! How is he doing present day?
How did your father-in-law get there?
Love and respect for your father in low from Croatia.
As I stated above... it's easy to see many of these survivors as "heroes" but the reality is... a great many of the survivors did not survive because they were heroes but because they turn against their own. Now your father in law might just be a hero but he may also hide the fact that he survived while so many died because of a very specific reason which he prefers for no one to ever know why. Too often we take the words of those we think are heroes but forget that... the truth may not be exactly as we think it is. I don't usually define everyone that survived these horrors as heroes but mostly just survivors as I would not know who actually collaborated and who didn't.
@@DocFripouille hush man. Just fucking hush
Thanks to the British army, my grandmother was liberated from this hell in Bergen-Belsen. My family will be forever grateful
to you.
Shlomi, my mum was Hungarian, dad was British, that's where I was brought up. Anyway, her family hid Jewish people from the Gestapo. She never liked to talk about the war, the Nazis were hated, the communists even more. Lest We Forget. Love to your family, and blessings! 💕💖💗xx
Indeed .... while these Veterans were still alive, I would have a couple of beers with them during their remembrance ceremonies in Europe .
These were held long after Wars end and were fun., yet hard memories for them !
These Veterans were close knit because they went through hell when they came into Europe .....the English , Americans and the Canadians
My Dad was in the British tank Corps and landed on Sword beach on DDay. He was not an emotional man, but what he saw at Bergen-Belsen haunted him (he only talked to me about it twice). I am very glad your grandmother survived and blessings on everyone that did not.
@@Dutchy-1168 not ENGLISH. You mean BRITISH, who landed in the beaches on D-day
i can trace my early history back to the early 1980 tis i was born in the very early 40 tis i could go on BUT I LOVE THE JEWISH PEOPLE GOD BLESS THEM
My grandad was the first army photographer in the camp, when he died we found photos and other things from the war. So sad. He never spoke about his experiences. He was a bear of a man. Rip
the real ones never talk about it, you are right to be proud
@@bigdaddywatt
Truer word never spoken my friend.
Nowadays we're encouraged to discuss what we have witnessed and/or experienced, either intimately within a small tight-knit family setting, amongst other ex-Forces, MH Professionals, or even in the public domain when you feel ready to (if you ever reach that stage I might add)
The OP's grandfather and millions just like him demobbed, returned to their homes, families and employment etc with all of that horror locked away deep down, rarely making its way to the surface... They just got on with their lives, and I have the utmost respect for every single one of them.
The study of "Shell Shock" or "Battle Fatigue" (now PTSD) hadn't moved on as fast as the treatment of physical injuries had by '45, so what little help available to them upon their return would not have done much good anyway.
Was your grandfather John Morris ? I saw a number of photos of the discovery of the camps taken by him on the iwm
That’s amazing! You should share them
The Grandfather of Elliot Rodger who was responsible for the Isla Vista shootings back in 2014 was also a photographer at Belsen camp . His name was George Rodger .
A prisoner there was my neighbour. Did not know this fact until he finally opened up about it about 1 year before he died. He was arrested by the Gestapo then “interviewed” before being sent to the camp. Spent the last 18 months of the war there.
He was a kindly man without rancour or bitterness. He was just happy to live the rest of his life in peace here in Canada.
I knew a couple survivors of the Holocaust - when one survivor showed me his tattooed numbers from Auschwitz, I couldn't help but cry.
He was one of the lucky ones to survive that hell hole
While in the service I met a member of the Civilian Support Group (German civilians working for the US military) that was a survivor of Auschwitz. He did not talk about it at all, but there were several other members of the CSG unit that also survived Auschwitz. They threw a very big party every year on the date the camp was liberated as their birthday party.
But the guy also had no use for a communist of any kind.
I life in Bergen right now. Very interesting video from my hometown
Hatred is very corrosive, and will destroy any vessel that contains it.Thats why the Bible teaches us to forgive our enemies. It isn't easy. In many respects, it is easier to continue to hate our enemy.
An old neighbor of mine in Woolton Liverpool was in one of the medical groups that liberated Belsen, in 1990 him and his wife celebrated their golden wedding, he told me all about it and sobbed, he only passed away last year aged 102 RIP BOB xxxx
When I worked in London in 1982 ( I’m an Aussie), I worked with a guy called Len. He was about 60 and was one of the Brits who liberated the camp. He didn’t say too much about it, but you could tell it still affected him.
My uncle Arthur,was a man who I loved to be around. He was the person who allowed me to drive his old van around a field at the age of thirteen, the experience of which allowed me to pass my driving test at the first attempt. He was a real “”mans man” and was liked and respected by all and sundry. When he died I, along with a packed church, attended his funeral where the Vicar gave a homily. He explained that “Art” had been a good family man but, unbeknown to us all, had lived with something that he kept inside and it was to the Vicar he turned to for help in dealing with it. He was one of the first allied soldiers through the gates of Belsen Concentration Camp and what he experienced was so awful that he could not talk about it for the rest of his life. A tortured soul who I remember with love and respect.
Respect to your uncle Arthur. I remember meeting men like him who had fought in WW2,an incredible generation.🇬🇧
My Grandfather was part of the liberation too. He never spoke of it in any detail, apart from telling his wife my Grandmother about the conditions on first sight.
Great respect to your Uncle and the other people who had to go in and clear up this inhuman mess.
I went to college with Jewish roommate who had a father who was in a concentration camp. Somehow he escaped and he walked across Europe until he could find the Allies. He weighted something like 90 pounds when he finally found the Allies. He never talked to his family about his experiences, but the "lived" them every nite in the nightmares he had that woke up the family.
Sad that there are so many NUTS out there that deny the holocaust every happened...
Nothing but respect to your uncle. A real hero!
RIP all those that perished in those camps , and respect to the men and women that liberated and nursed the survivors.
My father was part of the group that entered Bergen Belsen. He never spoke of it, except to my mother. What she told me was enough to explain the indelible mark that it had made on him. His eye witness experience, together with those of the relatives of so many of the people posting here, give the lie to the revisionists and apologists who deny the Holocaust happened. They should never be permitted to excuse or justify the psychotic vileness of the Nazi regime and its philosophy.
Laird…their dear leader (Hitler, mostly…some say he really didn’t want this to happen to the Jewish population, But, none of the camps and the treatments could have been without his knowledge/consent) was so high on meth (not an excuse) that he thought (or must have) he was the reincarnation of some German hero that saved the German tribe from the Romans. He was trying in his very sick mind to bring back the past and he was not even German. The Nazis didn’t think for a minute they could lose the war, so no one would ever find out what they did…his main problem (among the many) was when he went into the USSR. I did my seminar paper on the war.
My father as well
Thank you for sharing! What an epic state of affairs! We can only begin to imagine!
I hate comments like these so much
My Uncle was there, he only spoke of it to my Dad. One thing that was spoken of was the stench.
Both my parents were prisoners of Bergen Belsen while my 2 sisters and myself were hidden by Dutch families and saved...my mother didn't survive Belsen and died from Typhus... my father survived and found us back in Holland...
This is absolutely heartbreaking
My Dad was a Canadian soldier in the tank division. They landed in France. They went through to liberate Holland. When they reached Germany they got to a concentration camp. It wasn’t until I was an adult he talked about a bit of what he endured. He said there were huge piles of bodies. They gave the Canadian and British soldiers a shovel and a bottle of rum and were told to start digging to bury the bodies. After all they had done to fight their way to victory this was their reward. He was sick with pneumonia and and had a breakdown. He was sent home feeling like he didn’t measure up. He woke up at night until he died in his eighties with nightmares. He became an alcoholic to cope by self medicating. I never knew the Dad I should have because he gave so much. When I now hear of treatment for PTSD I wish it had been available for folks like my Dad .
Wait a minute, the British soldiers made the German citizen and pows get in there and dig them bodies up they didn’t do it themselves, that’s documented.
@@ssherrierable sadly thats not true, the British/Canadian troops just had to dig pits with engineering equipment and use bulldozers to push the bodies into, covering each layer with quicklime, horrible as it may seem today.
The Allies did however "levy" clothing and bedding from local Germans, and make them help bathe the victims :)
There were so many,that a Royal Engineers Bull Dozer driver was given the task of digging a huge grave.
My father also was there with Canadian Army and told me of it when I was 20 years old.
Same with my Dad. Every November 11th he would sit and drink and cry. He went to Bergen Belsen to estimate the number of lorries it would take to move the prisoners to hospital or other. It was hell on earth. He believed till he died at 69 that the Germans were either at your feet or at your throat and had zero respect for the Russians.
My uncle was involved in all this ,he was forever changed ! He took his own life in the early 1960's in three feet of water , he had been a stevedore working on the Thames and could swim well, its good to be able to invoke his memory here, your God bless you.
So very sorry and heartsick to hear about your Uncle. I ask Our Lord to shelter his soul for ever, and that his pain has been healed. Amen. Thankyou for sharing David. 💖💕💔
I'm sorry for your loss! What a tragedy! I can't even imagine all his pain.
May we never forget these poor souls, what they went through, and their brave liberators who fought against the face of evil.
Google the holodamor in 1932 .. and who it was carried out by.
@@hedgefundshyster..3241 its not a fucking contest! any geocide is bad, how about the bengal famine of 1943, the Potato famine in Ireland,,,,
@@keithskelhorne3993 Not the same my friend
I'd been hard pressed not to execute each and every person who was involved in this travesty.
We, the "civilized," will never forget, nor forgive.😑
My mothers' first cousin was in the medical corps and in the first unit of medics to enter the camp. The first job he was given was guarding a mound of bodies, in case dogs might eat them. The sound of escaping gas made the bodies moan all night, making him think people were still alive. He would run around the mound, looking for who was alive, but of course none were.
After that night he was never the same man and had a lot of mental problems until he died in the 1990's. He stole the report written by the commanding officer some weeks later. It had just been 'typed up' by a secretary, so wasn't yet signed. He put his arm through an open window to see what it was, then kept it. I still have the report, though it is very fragile now and discoloured. The reading of it is very grim and states the rate of deaths per day since liberation of the camp.
Events like this should never be forgotten, so when someone says it never happened, just give them a smack as they deserve it.
Perhaps the report should be given to the Imperial War Museum for its value as a reminder of a
terrible example of the extended and intentionally cruel pursuit of making war.
Please please donate this to the Imperial War Museum ❤ so it will be preserved for posterity
That is about chilling as it gets. Great respect to him….
The museum, and think about posting it online day by day just as it's written.
My Great Grandfather was one of the first medical personnel sent into Belsen and then Dachau to help the prisonners. He survived both world wars serving with St. Johns ambulance and he would apparently regularly talk about his experiences but he never once talked about what he saw in either of those camps... ever.
Respect to your Great Grandfather, certainly not a job many would volunteer for now
By that time, he had pot-lung from World War 1 so I have an incredible amount of respect!
My uncle also was first in to Benson . All he said was that he couldn’t smoke a cigarette
My Grandpa Bowen was one of the first people at dachau 42nd Rainbow Div
My grandfather Eric was in the Medical Corps. He was also there right at the beginning of the liberation of this camp. He was haunted for the rest of his life at what he saw there. Lest we all forget.
My Dad went there - and gave up some of his rations - like all the guys did..... The Doctors had to thin out all the food to a thin soup and gradually bring the people back to solid food - too many died when they got the food the first time (as they mentioned in the film). RIP to the thousands who died there, and the Millions who died in the Holocaust. May we NEVER forget.
My father went in as well with the reporter Richard Dimbleby. Rarely spoke about it but as a child we lived at Hohne camp nearby which had bee the accommodation for the Belsen camp staff. While there a table lamp in one of houses was found to have been covered with human skin, this was the home of irma gresser the torturer of Belsen. The house was exorcised by a priest because of unexplained activity. Visited Belsen as a 9 yr old and saw all the mass graves. Will never forget.
@@cq44b Ben, what a horrible but fascinating story! It was always rumoured that Hitler worshipped the devil, had rituals etc, mentioning the poltergeist activity is a link to evil. The only way to describe what happened in Germany, how children were indoctrinated to hate, and adults blinded to decency is evil! The awful thing is, it's happening again, you can see where things are heading. But, I will always have a deep and profound love and respect for the Allies, that wonderful generation. Thankyou very much for sharing! With love to you, and your family from Australia xxoo👍👍👍👍💕💖💔💗
Your dad is a hero and important witness. Thank you to him
@@lausiedee 🤗💖
@@cq44b My dad was there aged 19. RASC. He mentioned the BBC reporter but could never remember his name. He was involved in taking some of the people out of the camp to other locations. His mob must have been given leave a couple of weeks later as he arrived back in Manchester on VE day. If it was due to the fact of what they had seen i do not know.
My mum was a military nurse and was called to help the liberation. She hardly talked about her experience but I know it left her scarred. She hated the Nazis for what they did. Never forget .🙏
Which unit was she with Tim?
I would like to know as well. My mum was in the Queen Alexandra Nursing Corps, who did go in, and I believe she did, but I don’t know how to-verify it. She defintely suffered what we would call PTSD, and never told her children, though her sister in law ( my aunt) told me.
Who would be a German with such a violent and cruel past ....?
I have a great uncle who was part of the force that eventually arrived. I never met him but my mum told me he was devastated by it and suffered nightmares for the rest of his life and he was only one of the liberators. The poor prisoners.
Did he tell you that the Germans had agreed to surrender the camp and left , and that the British failed to take the camp as agreed. leaving the camp without food for about 10 days.
I cannot put into words just how outstanding this video is. You did a great service to all those who fought and died, and to all those imprisoned and tortured. This video alone makes sure that none of it has gone in vain.
You speak for me, too. Thank you.
What makes this worse is how deliberately unprepared the Allied soldiers were for what they encountered. They had no idea of the horrors of places like Bergen-Belsen, let alone the sites of gigantic mass murder in the east such as Auschwitz. The Allied governments knew all about what was going on in Germany during the war. At least one successful infiltration of Auschwitz had been done by an officer of the Polish Underground Army and brought out photographs and documents. For whatever the reason, the existence of these facilities was concealed from the officers and men of the Allied armed forces, just as it was concealed from the general public. Nothing was generally known until the first Allied soldiers came "over the hill" to be surprised by the horror they would find.
Why the concealment? At this time we do not know, but I suspect the reason lurks in the various government or military archives that after all these years will still remain sealed.
100% agree I cannot stand the amount of history content that's done in goofy cartoons. Such a disservice to the production value the story's deserve. Now yes cartoon goofyness helps introduce a younger audience but its sanitized in such a way I just don't like.
My Dad was in the liberation of Bergen Belsen concentration camp.. He said they could smell the place from several miles away.. what he experienced was horrific.. sad but true.. thanks from NZ 🇳🇿
I read that Bergen-Belsen was not an extermination camp. Only the name gives me the chills 😩
@@elisabethdakak878 Begen Belsen was different to Auschwitz... My dad went in with the 11th Armoured Division...it is a terrible piece iof history. and the holicaust was planned... take care🇳🇿👍
@elisabeth dakak Yeah, that's why there were so many human bodies still around to rot and produce smell. Fresh corpses, as in recently alive and not exterminated. :(
I can't imagine trying to work through the smell. :(
My grandpa was door gunner and was shot down over Germany. Luckily for him the area he was in was recently occupied, and he was picked up by the brits and taken to their nearest aid station, Bergen Belsen, which only days prior was liberated. What he saw there would motivate him to fight for Israel’s independence a couple years later. Much love.
And that was the thing about it - the German population in the surrounding towns could protest as much as they liked about being kept in the dark by the Gestapo and other authorities, but how could they avoid the stench?
The husband of a much older cousin was with the unit that first entered the camp. Years later he showed me photos that he took of the camp, inmates and dead bodies. There is no way that people can deny that the Holocaust took place.
I was on leave from British Army on The Rhine in the sixties, and met an ex Durham Light Infantry soldier in my local pub. He told me that the 'Durhams's were on of the first infantry regiments to enter Belsen, and said of how shocked they were at the state of the prisoners and how extremely angry real fighting soldiers were at the German guards. He said they captured a German SS officer and told him " You are going to crap on your flag in front of everyone" The German said "never!'' The next day in the same pub the ex soldier said "here look at this" and showed me a large skull and crossbones silver signet ring. He said to me "this belonged to that SS Nazi" and by the way he did crap on his German flag"
My great uncle served in the Royal Artillery at
Dunkirk and North Africa were he was captured and sent to Belsen where he endured terrible hard labour and
horrific conditions and went from a 15stone healthy man to a 6 stone man with TB he did get repatriated back to England but died a fews months after and given a full military funeral.
My dad was in the Royal Artillery 8th Army Desert Rats and was in Scilly and N Africa and Tobruk. My dad survived, though got shot twice in Scilly. If he got captured, maybe my dad would have gone to Belsen too, though I thought that was where the women went. My dad went on to become a farmer and artist, and led a pretty good life, with us being dragged to tank museums every so often
@@beaulieuonnp593 Yeah my great uncle was in the 8th army he got captured by the Germans and handed over to the Italians back to the Germans once the Italians gave up and ended up in Belsen
Heaviest hitting video of this type I have seen. The British conducted themselves with unparalleled compassion and professionalism. Brigadier Glyn Hughes, lead medical doctor, acted magnificently. He was a true hero.
He also stated that he witnessed absolutely NO maltreatment of the prisoners stating as fact all they found was starvation and disease..
Due to months of relentless allied bombing ..
We are just as responsible for the state of the prisoners ..
@@redrotten1
We were fighting a war Mr Reinhard and the existence of KZL Belsen-Bergen was unknown to us at that time.
How dare you attempt to transfer blame for what the Germans did on to the liberators.
As for not having seen any evidence of physical ill-treatment of camp inmates, perhaps those victims were already dead.
@@gordonsmith8899 the usual response I’m afraid, evidence is stacked against your (how dare you) especially when someone in comments states that British soldiers caught cholera at the camp, what chance had the inmates if the solidiers with food and medicine got struck down, the majors interview is available to watch, your right there was a war on .
@@redrotten1 the usual "lets not blame the germans" excuse then?
@@gordonsmith8899 seems this heinrich bimmler chap keeps blocking me, please pass on my utter contempt, disregard and pity to it :)
My great grandad was part of the royal artillery and was one of the first to go into the camp and he only spoke about it once when he was drunk and all he said about it was how many dying children he saw. I can’t imagine how awful it was and hope all those poor people who lost their lives are in a better place and at peace.
Was he with the 63rd Anti-tank? That was the regiment of my grandfather.
Yes he was. He was from Oxford. Sergeant Major Midwinter.
My dad was in the Royal Artillery Eighth Army but he never told me if he went to Belsen. I thought he just went to N Africa, Scilly and Iceland. I am going to have to do some more investigating
@@milanterzic859 The 63rd Anti-tank Regiment and the 11th Armoured Division of the British army liberate about 60,000 prisoners at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
@@MrMenefrego1 Thank you.
One of my uncles (one of 7 brothers who fought in WWII) was one of the first to enter, he could never speak about what he saw and suffered with PTSD for the remainder of his life.
In 1967 i was there as a Dutch corporal We had a camp nearby and i took my men on a Sunday there to show them the remains and photos of the camp, on the return way they were silent for hours.
Respect 😑
I was two months short of my 10th Birthday in 1945. I was sitting in the Ritz cinema in Woking Surrey, when the newsreel showed Bergen Belsen for the first time. I remember it was narrated by Richard Dimbleby. The shock felt in the audience at seeing such a horrible example of the complete inhumanity towards human beings, was overwhelming. Some of the audience were crying, some jumped up and ran out into the vestibule. The rest of us sat numb and utterly quiet with pity throughout the programme. When it was over, I didn't feel like staying to watch a film, so I and I noticed many other's quietly get up and walk out. I've never forgotten it. I didn't tell my parent's what I'd witnessed until it became common knowledge. I still find it disturbing to watch and hope the survivor's went on to rebuild their lives and managed to put the ordeal behind them.
I first saw films about Nazi concentration camps including Bergen Belsen at school when I was 14. I just could not believe what I was seeing it was so ghastly. Several students were so overcome that they had to leave the room.
Thanks for sharing this first hand experience of learning about the Holocaust in real time Dave. It helps others understand the long process of assimilating the atrocious behaviour of our fellow human beings and Europeans during the darkest days.
Great article Dave. Thank you.Indeed a few thousand survived and many were able to build a new life in their own land. It wasn't easy but paradise for most arriving with only hope as their luggage. Their way was paved well by the British 8th army Jewish Brigade and good Christian soldiers and officers. All of us here mourn those who suffered, however we can now stand proud and free because of British and allied actions during the second world war. Kind regards, k9 rescue il.
@@montecarlo1651 NJ
My grandfather was there as a provost RSM. I don't believe he ever recovered emotionally from the horrors that he witnessed.
Yep me too ,I have posted here too
My great grandfather was there. He was a signaller for the 11th armoured. Rest in peace janny
This group is dedicated to the 11th Armoured Division. I've set it up so people who were in the Division, their relatives and anyone else who's interested, can share information, memories and photos.
RIP
My Great-Grandfather was in one of units that liberated Bergen-Belsen camp, I don't know a great deal, most of the stories have been lost to time however I heard that their were so many bodies that bulldozers were used to push them all into mass graves. For these young lads this must have been a life changing thing to witness, completely change your outlook on the world.
Yep I poested here too.
Ya think?
Yep that footage has been deleted from every platform...huge pile of bodies being pushed by a British bulldozer.
My Grandad was one of the first medics into the camp ... haunted him until he died
Eric my grandfather was in the Medical Corps and was also one of the first in the camp. It haunted him so much that he was unable to speak about it after the war. Lest we all forget.
When History is forgotten, history WILL repeat.
There are over 1 million Muslims being held in concentration camps in China this very day.
@@brownwarrior6867 all while China prepares for war with Taiwan. Eerily similar to the Nazi regime
@@Beamboy555 If China think the West will not protect Taiwan, they are in for one hell of a slap.
@@robinmyman I wouldn’t. But I already know the Americans would
Tell that to BIDEN and his cohorts.
4:43 the look in that sgt's face. Imagine what he had just seen with his own eyes, the horror, the stench and right in front of him, clean, well dressed and well fed, the two people who were responsible. It must have taken everything not to just slot them there and then.
Yes he should have slot them
No. They had to be publicly judged before being hanged, so that everybody could see that justice had been done.
He should have slot them
I believe at Dachau a bunch of guards were shot
Both Kramer and Grese met their ends in due course and were hanged by Arthur Pierrepoint.
And that my friends is why we remember and why we'll never forget.
In the background at 4:34 the look on the British Sergeant's face captures the horror, indignation and utter disgust of this scene perfectly. It looks like he is struggling to keep his finger off the Sten gun's trigger.
They should have given those two shovels and had them start digging graves. “You can either dig their graves or your own, you choose.”
If I am correct, there is a bit of film where a German officer approached a British soldier, all smiles and holding out his hand. The squaddy smashed his teeth with his rifle butt .
@@wasp6594 I'd love to see it.
Our Church Warden of many decades - well known for the excellent tours that he gave to groups of visitors, had been a Crocodile (flamethrower tank) gunner. I had known him for many years before he told me so.
He'd fought through the occupied countries using that terrifying weapon from just after D-Day. Although he must have seen terrible things, he said that Bergen-Belsen was by far the worst sight of the war for him. He was one of those tasked with burning the camp, as seen in this video.
The things that people deny ever happened or that want to forget is shocking and shameful.
I'm a Paramedic, and although the circumstances are entirely different, I feel the exact same way regards the Pandemic.
I know it is a very emotive subject and there is a lot of controversy out there regarding it's origins and various nation's responses in dealing with it, but when I see comments posted online stating "it's just the flu", young people refusing to take precautions and then interacting with elderly and vulnerable family members, or the protests claiming it to be a "Great Reset Conspiracy" etc etc etc I feel like inviting each and every one of them to join me for a 12 hour shift, and actually witness first hand what I and my colleagues have relentlessly for almost a year now.
Humanity just does not seem to learn from it's previous mistakes.
@@residentelect so have you ever done a shift in bankruptcy court? Ir kicking people out of their homes? Or repo'ing equipment people need to run their businesses? Talk about not learning, it makes no sense to think that the field you work in just happens to be the field that everyone else needs to take more seriously. This world needs all types, even sociopaths and risk-takers.
Edit: you capitalized paramedic? Come on...
@@justinkennedy3004
Hi Justin, pleasure to make your acquaintance (be it via the Internet)
Firstly, to address why "paramedic" is capitalised is simply down to the device I happen to be using at this time. I use it to with a capital quite regularly when logging into one of the systems I use. The device has learned I use that particular spelling quite regularly, and when I begin typing "par..." it comes up as a suggestion within predictive text and i select simply for convenience.
I assure you that it is not because I am trying to place any great emphasis on my role, thus belittling any other professions, careers, or work.
With the above addressed I'll move on to your main reply; No I haven't been present in a bankruptcy hearing, nor experienced the displeasure of kicking a tennant or homeowner out of their place of residence. I have however witnessed firsthand on both a personal and professional level the utter devastation caused by economic inequality and social deprivation, both of which can be contributory factors towards someone ending up being declared bankrupt or evicted.
In respect of "everyone needs to take more seriously" my field of work, well unfortunately I have to agree to disagree with you.
We do live in a supposedly free and equal society, but as a consequence of interpreting that freedom to it's very limits, we see a real lack of social responsibility.
I'm certainly no socialist, nor facist, but I happen to feel at this very moment in our collective history we should all (me included as I'm no different) just try to consider both the wider consequences of our day to day actions, and if we don't necessarily agree with the advice from healthcare professionals, the scientific community and the government (never imagined myself defending that last one!) try to voice your displeasure in a format which isn't going to put other, more vulnerable, people at risk of transmission and infection, for example protesting in large groups, attending lockdown parties, or spitting at emergency service personnel which seems to be quite "fashionable" amongst some service users right now.
Take care, stay safe and best wishes from the UK.
@@residentelect False equivalence, being able to read the room and it not being all about you. Hopefully you get my point.
@@winstonsmith1585
I do indeed Winston.
Excellent name by the way 👍
Thank god for my relatives the little people of the British Army. Thay never let the suffering down. God bless the British and commonweath forces.
If god only blessed those prisoners.
Really ?go ahead study the History of WW2 when it is not written by your Relatives in UK.let me copy and paste some History Facts for you,....The Persian famine of 1917-1919 was a period of widespread mass starvation and disease in Persia (Iran) under the rule of the Qajar dynasty during World War I. The famine took place in the territory of Iran, which despite declaring neutrality was occupied by the forces of British, Russian and empires. So far, few historians have researched the famine, making it an understudied subject of modern history.
According to the estimates acknowledged by the mainstream view, about 8 to 10 million people died between 1917 and 1919 because of hunger and from diseases, which included cholera, plague and typhus, as well as influenza infected by 1918 flu pandemic. A variety of factors are commented to have caused and contributed to the famine, including successive seasonal droughts, requisitioning and confiscation of foodstuffs by occupying armies, speculation, hoarding, war profiteering, and poor harvests.
@@neshatshajirati5555 The Ottoman empire ruled the area for over three hundred years, but you would not want to blame Muslims would you?
@@neshatshajirati5555 yes and what has this to do with Belsen?
@@neshatshajirati5555 and the Armenian Genocide that even to this day Turkey denies?
In 2014 I was working in Germany attached to the British military at Hone garrison close to Belsen. I spent a day visiting the camp site and education centre. At the time of my visit 4 coach loads of German school students were on a visit to the site. I found it somewhat disturbing how the youth appeared to display little sympathy or interest in the actions of their grandparents generation. Being a reasonable German speaker I was able to listen to the comments they were making, whilst I cannot attribute responsibility to them for the actions of generations before them, I was disappointed that they did not appear to accept they have a responsibility to learn how easily humans can accept such atrocities as ‘normal in warfare’. The actions of the German people should NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
British teenagers would have acted no different.
@@mikekenyon8483 perhaps
I hope that Americans, in the US , can find a way to keep ourselves honest to our own history of genocide against the indigenous people here. I find so many people just want to say it is all in the past but the only way to assure it stays in the past is by always remembering and also asking, “how did people allow it to happen?” Not to sit in judgement but just to understand that they, for the most part, were common people, like us living in a different time who saw themselves as good people.
I know many Germans, I work in Switzerland and spend time there often. Adult Germans are very responsible and clear about what happened. They don't shy from accountability and the crucial need to not allow a repetition anywhere. That's my experience in any case.
Кажи ми сега защо Англия помага на нацистти иди в ютуб nazi ykraina 2014 doneck logansk
My grandad was one of the first to liberate Bergen Belsen, if you ever asked him about it all he would he ever say Is the smell was horrendous to put how bad it was into perspective , he fought from Africa , thru Italy and into Europe, after all he had done up to then , this is all he would mention.
Grateful to him and others. Personally I would have been so incensed by what i was seeing idk what i what I would have done to the germans
@@onetwothreefourfive12345 In belsen, the german soldiers taken prisoner (ordinary army personel from the surrounding areas) were all given gas masks while they moved the bodies and did whatever work was necessary. However, NONE of the SS guards based at the camp were given masks, so they all died from typhus etc. This was done deliberately and none of the other 'ordinary' german pow's died. You could say nature was allowed to take its course. These actions would be frowned on now of course, but in 1945 the world was in a different place regarding the morality of certain actions. At Auschwits the american soldiers shot the SS guards out of hand, round the back of a hut and away from witnesses. It was different times indeed.
My father was too. He wouldn't speak about it. If film or photos came up on TV he would walk out of the room.
@@sirmalus5153 do you have links or evidence for these claims. Not that I doubt it but I would like to pursue it further.
Take his word for it buddy
I served in the Canadian Armed Forces in the late 70's and while posted in Germany at the age of 18 got the opportunity to tour this camp. This experience left an indelible mark upon me as to the horrors of hatred and intolerance. Fast forward to 1991 when I met Peter Gary who was among those who were liberated at Bergen Belsen. A very strong man, he openly shared his experience of surviving the Einsatzgruppen when they arrived at his village in Hungary, rounded up all the Jews and took them to the forest to be machine gunned. His mother stepped in front of him and took all the bullets meant for him and over the next 4 years he survived 3 different camps, was forced to serve as a sonderkommando clearing out the bodies from the gas chamber and taking them to the crematorium. Bergen Belsen was his last camp. All of humanity needs to stand against hatred, intolerance and racism lest this evil raises again to leave it's stain upon our lives.
The British burned the camp shortly after liberating it.
I would say quite a bit more than a stain!
These monsters were not all the adjectives you listed, they were truly deranged, in that hey actually believed their ideology. They should have been a study in the psychiatry of evil.
@@redwater4778 So? What would you have done to kill diseases? The survivors had gone to hospitals...The Camp deserved oblitaration...
@@redwater4778 There are memorials and museums there. The many mass graves have had memorials on them since the Brits put up the first wooden signs. Perhaps this is what the Canadian fellow is talking about.
I visited Bergen Belsen at the age of 15, and I'll carry that experience to my grave, its an extraordinary place, where it can be sunny and hot before you cross the threshold, when it suddenly becomes as cold as ice, and there's not a sound, not even bird song, its a somber place, but a must visit place if you are ever in the area, if only to experience the sudden change in temperature
I visited Natzweiler-Struthof in france with my school and had the same experience. I think it was around july and really hot outside (around 30° C), but after entering the gate it felt like it was around 10° C.
It is mandatory for german schools (as far as i know) to visit a concentration camp, but at the same time ww2 isn't teached in a manner it should be to prevent things like that to happen.
Same experience as me. See my post above. I'm glad somebody else had the same eeerie experience as me, if only to corroborate my story.
When I visited Sachsenhousen Concentration camp it was the same for me. No bird song, and a chill in the air on an otherwise sunny day.
That I'm afraid is all imaginary and in your mind. I lived in the camp for 7 years in the SS barracks.
The quietness hits you first even before you arrive, the coldness seems to get through to your bones, visited 55 years ago, my Father said we would never forget the experience, never have. RIP the thousands of people who rest together.
Never forget. Knowledge of, and doing nothing was equal to committing these horrendous crimes. Well presented video. Thank you
My grandma was 15 and in a coma from disease. One of those high-ranking officers noticed a ‘corpse’ still breathing. She woke up days later in that makeshift hospital screaming in Yiddish. This year she met her second great-granddaughter. Her name is Szidonia (Sylvia) Berger.
Something good at least. Kudos to her and long life to you and yours.
Your detail in reporting is much appreciated. To the personnel who responded in true time of need, I salute you. I'm thankful, for those who go creeping around in the night to assure the safety and security of free society.
These films and others like it should be mandatory viewing in all schools. Maybe if folks saw the product of their hate, they would be reticent to repeat it.
In Austria every student learns about the holocaust in school and also gets to see images from concentration camps. When i was 13 my school class even went to the concentration camp Mauthausen and were told about the horrible things that occurred at that place by a survivor. As far as i know, many students in Austria visit such places and i think its a good thing.
@@sergejfahrlich6403 I agree whole heartedly. I wish there was more focus on it in North American schools, from elementary through university.
@@sergejfahrlich6403 you guys should still be paying reparations
@@onetwothreefourfive12345 You know that there is a difference between Germany and Austria?
@@OpaKnows In Germany we had two years of history classes where we learned about the secound world war. Also went to Bergen Belsen and talked with survivors. Hopefully that never changes.
In the Bundeswehr we have mandatory anual political training often touching on WW2 and similar topics. In addition to that there is training to detect political extrems on both sides of the spectrum and how close they are when you dont know who you are speaking with. IMHO that is something that all armys should do, most of them did horrible things in the past and some if not all of them could have been avoided when a soldier would have questend the order he got and refused to take action/ take action in a different direction.
Massive respect to all these Hero's R.I.P to all the victims.
Lest we never forget for should we all will perish.
Thank you for a brilliant doc.
Reconciliation after total war is essential but forgiveness for crimes of this type is difficult for me personally still. Having visited the site in 2018, I am still struck by the intransigence of current local population (they blame the 'SS' even though they had fled weeks before), and the ability of Jewish visitors to forgive and counsel serving Bundeswehr that visited the site too. Very moving and profound site and video. Thank you for making it.
My granda was part of the British attachment here.He told me 30 years ago what he seen.After seeing what went on there he had a mental breakdown years later.RIP granda.Horrible stories,how humans can treat other humans worse than vermin.
My uncle killed himself after mental problems due to this.
As a soldier in the Dutch Army in 1990 (and while on excercise in Germany) I went to visit this camp and its museum. Quite a humbling experience as you walk past the grounds and you see markers that say here ly thousands of human remains. A stark reminder that genocide is never justified...
My uncle was one of the first people into the camp. The horror affected him deeply, he never forgot.
I love this guys content man🏴
Combat Arms Channel is good to watch too
We must never forget!
@@Traveler7450 or forgive.
I visited a few years back on a trip to Germany.
Eary to say the least, you could feel the cryes for help standing on the compound.
Massgraves of tens of thousands of misstreated humans. Staved and beaten daily.
Be aware of the history.
..
it might repeat itself.
The way the western goverment leaders are to true they act like nazis
At 8:45 the 97 medschool students who came as volunteers...Blessed Be Their Tribe Forever
My grandfather was liberated from Treblinka and my grandmother from Auschwitz. Thank you to the allies for everything you have done for my family and the world.
To think people still deny this when there are so many first hand accounts of those who lived through it, liberated it and even the Germans kept meticulous accounts. I’ll never understand.
Rose K sorry your relative might have escaped from Treblinka but there was no Liberation. Remaining prisoners all killed and all buildings taken/burnt down.
My Great Uncle, Ted Jenkins, was one of the guards of Kramer. All he said of it was that the hardest thing he ever did throughout the war was no shooting him
Thank you for sharing. My grandfather was a british soldier who liberated bergen belsen. It meant a lot to see this.
My late Father was a British motorcycle despatch rider in the British army( RASC) and arrived at Belsen two weeks after it was liberated. He saw Irma Grese under Guard and described her as the most evil looking woman that he had ever seen. He took part in the D Day landings. I am VERY proud of his war service and also that of my late Mother who was in the WAAF.
My Grandad ( long gone now) was a despatch rider in the Army and was one of those soldiers liberating Belsen .... he would never talk about it.
No mention of a small RAF contingent that my father was part of, he told me the stench could be smelt for miles he had photographs of the pits and former inmates, truly terrible.
I visited Bergen-Belson twice in 1983-4, once with family and then with school (was then at Gloucester School, Hohne). Was hard to look at the large photographs that used to adorn the walls of the then visitor hall but even then felt it was the right thing to do to try and comprehend what happened there, but seeing the mass graves with the number of approximate victims buried within was hard to take in for 12-13 year old. The one thing that struck me then and still now, no bird song from the trees surrounding the camp. If given the chance, would visit again and I think everybody should.
thank you for posting, for something like that to happen back then makes you wonder what is around the corner
Nice presentation - awful sight to come across on a Recce, could have been anyone but it was the S.A.S, Lt Randall and Cpl Brown followed by Major Tonkin and Sergeant-Major Seeking. 11th Armd Division and Canadian medical and logistical units arrived a few hours later to the horrors of the camp and start to work. As a former member of the CF, we learned that although small units participated, veterans had to relive these sights and memories for many years. Cheers and stay safe
I was stationed in Germany in the sixties. In 1965 myself and a couple of mates visited the site of Belson. It was one of the weirdest experiences of my life. For one thing, there must have been thousands of corpses buried beneath our feet. But, strangest of all there was not a sound. No birds singing, no dogs barking, just total silence as if we were in a vacuum. That place was completely eerie and not a little discomforting. I was glad to get out of there.
I was Stationed at the Bergen-Hohne Camp in the early 1970s and When I visited Belsen Camp, it felt the same way that 'Wasp' described. The large Black and White Pictures in the Museum near the Main Gates told the Grim Story of the Belsen Camp. I was left Stunned after viewing the Mass Graves Mounds which had simple Signs carved in Stone that read 'Hear Lies Five Thousand Dead. It is an experience I will not forget.
I’m 62 years old. When I was a child my best friend’s dad told us that when he did his UK national service after the war he had to guard one of those death camps. I can’t remember which one, the conversation was fifty years ago. What I do remember is him saying that the birds didn’t sing there.
My father at the end of his life, told us about his experience at Belsen. Our mother explained, that our father was a changed person after the war; to the man she had married
I spent a year, in '77-78, posted as RMO to the garrison at Bergen-Hohne barracks. I bought a folding bike and would cycle a few km east to Bergen village, or occasionally a few km westwards, to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The camp mainly consisted of the museum. There were mounds, marking the burial sites but then, very few trees, hence no bird song. I don't think the birds knew the history of this horrid site.
My 1st floor room at the barracks, overlooked a garden, where there were some graves of camp inmates who had died following the liberation. I had no idea then that these barracks had been used as a hospital.
Very, very good presentation. Thank you for making content which will never let us forget.
As always a well produced video, that brings clarity to such a sad event such as discovering Bergen-Belsen. I look forward to your next video 👍
Random fact of the day MG Roberts' nickname was "Pip" and he was 37 the youngest general rank officer in the British Army.
Thank you for all your work in making this film. We must make sure that this knowledge is passed down to the generations to come. Never forget!
My father, a British POW in Munich in 1941m knew what was happening shortly after arriving. He was later sent to Poland in a French rail car designed for transporting cavalry personnel and horses. The inside walls were covered in writing. The British Jews POW's could translate some of the Yiddish. The writers had known were they were going.
My aunty ( Eugenia Eglington ) was a nursing officer in the Queen Alexandra Nursing Corps. We were told she got an MID for her part in the nursing of Belsen. Her experiences there were credited with curing her Catholicism..... a pity she didn't manage the same for her sisters.
At least those who died after the liberation were able to experience compassionate treatment before their tragic deaths. My heart breaks for all of the horrors the dead and surviving victims experienced from these nonhuman monsters.
My father was in one of the units that arrived at the liberation of the camp. He talked very little about what he saw. He was terribly shocked and could not understand how people could treat other human beings in such a way.
He did say that the army insisted that local German mayors, officials and civilians visit the camp, see the conditions, see the suffering. My father did tell me that after leaving the camp a number of Germans were so shocked,ashamed, that they took their own lives. To escape the horrible reality.
As usual a difficult subject really well presented.
It Amazes me that some young people of today think this never happened, yet they did not talk to people who lived at this time , who were these places and who experienced these horrors!
Sadly, there are Americans today who have adopted the hate and racism that we see in the Trump followers. Can anyone tell me that the morons who invaded the U.S. Capital on January 6 do not remind you of the Nazis from WW 2? Their cowardly actions were not much different than what we saw at the Camps 70 years ago.
@@SRBlair Pointless post, & trying to link the two proves who the ''Moron'' is well done!.
We say "Never Again" and yet atrocities still continue.
The loss of these people must never be forgotten this and then maybe all of the loss and suffering of these people won't have been for nothing.
Thank you very much for showing such important content by not shying away in this age of censorship. I am a very proud supporter of this channel!
My Grandad(Rip😥)was liberated from Bergen Belsen in Apr 45 by his fellow Brits after 5 years behind the wire,as a POW of the Germans?He was captured in St Valery,France in Spring 1940 when as part of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in the 51st Highland Division he was captured there by Rommels 7th Panzer Division,3 week after Dunkirk during the fall of France?🙉🙃5 years he did in total,Death hanging over him everyday in his head,he escaped from 2 stalags so they bunged him in Belsen for his Temerity?🙉🤕👎 He was 7 stone and Lousy(his words)when liberated by his fellow British soldiers?😎👍His experiences haunted him thereafter and drove him to drink which killed him way before his time was due😥,I was very young when he died?God Bless all who suffered and died in that Dreadful War?😥👍A curse on all Warmongers!!Peace everyone?🤕✌
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My uncle served in the 11th Armoured Division & fought right through WW2. He occasionally mentioned his experiences but never once spoke of Belsen right up to his death at the age of 96 years.
My great grandad helped liberate this camp. I never met him but I was told that after the war he spent three years in an asylum as a result of his time working there. He had a big photo album of the war and the camp. My great grandmother burnt one photo a night till they were all gone and they never spoke if the content of the photos. Couldn’t imagine the suffering these people went through.
You have done a fantastic and respectful job with this video thank you liveth
I was stationed close to the camp in the 80's it is a place of reflection you have to visit if you are ever near we MUST never forget.
My late father's Royal Artillery unit 369 Battery 113 LA Regiment was there from day 2 until the 21st May 1945 when it was razed to the ground with fire. His Battery (he was the C.O.) was one of the units instructed to burn it down, they used Bren Carriers with flame throwers on. This dreadful period stayed with my Dad until his death in 1993. The millions of innocent people who died in concentration camps must never be forgotten.
I'm told my Grandad served in the 113th LAA Regiment, Royal Artillery and involved in looking after the survivors. Trying to get hold of his service record. Don't know which of the 4 batteries he was in. Would love to find out more.
A very touching video. Great work.
It fucking ASTOUNDS me that people can still deny that this wasn't part of a larger effort of extermination.
Oh dear, you're astounded.
@@thefastestfox1 I really, really like comment. Mind if I save it?
Nazism and more broadly fascism never really died out sadly its actually growing even in Europe
@@3.S.T.A.L.K.E.R Not just Europe. There is a resurgence of violent and extremist ideology because we became complacent and allowed it to quietly fester and metastasize over the years. I just hope that one day, we'll finally learn to no longer tolerate even the smallest bit of this hateful mindset.
@@StaticImage that's the problem tho how much do you crack down on ideology and how much power do you trust the state with its a double edged sword
My neighbors when I was growing up were both Bergen-Belsen survivors. I remember their Tattoos.
Belsen prisoners were not tattooed. They must have come by train or march from Auschwitz
R.I.P all those that were victim to those atrocities.
My father drove supplies to the camp just after the liberation. He talked about the smell, and how the local German officials from nearby towns were shown the camp and all denied any knowledge of it.
Any local who denied knowledge of it was lying. When the wind was right, you could smell those camps for miles.
I remember that when I was a child there was a man living nearby who never smiled, never laughed, and rarely spoke. Even as children we could see his pain, and I cannot remember any child ever teasing him, even though we found him a little frightening.
I heard adults say that he had been one of those who liberated Belsen, though that meant little to me at the time. Before the war he had been a happy young man according to my family, someone looking forward to the future. I knew that whatever Belsen was, it was something bad.
I was still a child when one day he disappeared. Adults spoke in whispers, and I'd hear the man's name, but when I, or any child, was noticed conversation ended, or we were told to run off and play. I was in my late teens before I found out that he had committed suicide. Unable to live with the horrors he had witnessed he chose death.
Unfortunate to ignore others in obvious "pain."😑
Frumulous, no?
My Father in law who was a British army soldier at the time told me of his time at Belsen, i remember many of the incidents that he witnessed there you don't hear of anywhere else.
My father ,was one of the first men who helped to liberate the people in Belsen concentration camp. He told us stories about what he witnessed. He made us promise that no matter what we were not to join army.navy or raf . it affected him for the rest of his life.why c ant everyone treat each other with respect and love and to live in peace and harmony with each other.
Cinema Newsreel Cameraman Paul Wyand and Soundman Martin Grey of British Movietonews were the first Cinema Newsreel Team into Belsen in 1945 to film the devastating scenes of death decease,
the Newsreel Material was later used at the Nuremburg Trials as evidence the German atrocities
Paul Wyand later wrote a book in he 1950's called "Useless if Delayed " in which he dedicated a whole chapter to Belsen
The book is well worth reading and might be still available in Libraries The Chapter was called from Lunenburg Heath to
Bwlsen
Paul Wyand was my mentor whilst I worked at British Movietonews as a Cinema Newsreel Cameraman in the 1960's
If anybody wonders how Far hate and fear of others can take you.
This is how far.
I was in the Army 79-82..and stationed near Bergen Belsen...i visited the camp one day...a memory ill never forget.