Hi Ladies and Gentleman. The diary of Helmut Horner. Hope you're having a pleasant day. Here is the playlist: czcams.com/play/PLyuEmb1VavZARAG13NojLWW1yBVb-E4j7.html
Our small East Texas town's postmaster lost half of his teeth from the Germans kicking them out while questioning him as a POW. He was originally from Huntsville, Texas, and there was a German POW camp there they wanted to know all about. He knew nothing of its existence, having been deployed before it was even built. Bob stuttered for the rest of his life due to this experience. I can only imagine how painful it felt. Once I heard that story, he was my new hero. 💗
That is the down side. One dick brain who thinks you are a untermentchen like you say and here we are. Alot if bever have served saying Helmut got treated to good who would agree in kicking his and all the POWs teeth out because well All Germans are Nazis....does anyone get it?
I have a friend who was captured by the Germans in Dec of 1944 at the "Battle of the Bulge". He was one of 12 survivors from his entire company. He was part of the 106th Division and stationed at Winterspelt. His treatment, by the Germans, was beyond appalling, and many prisoners he was captured with were killed or died from mal treatment, he was lucky to survive. These German prisoners got far better treatment by comparison. They're lucky they were not taken prisoner by the Russians.
Their moral outrage of being caught by Americans is laughable and so hypocritical, like they didn't even acknowledge that the French might have never liked them because they invaded their country and killed a lot of people....then they expect the French to be friendly! LOL
They were lucky not to serve in the Red Army. There is little to distinguish the worst of the Red Army and NKVD with the worst of the Waffen SS. Socialist armies from all countries tend to be the most brutal and cruel in the world.
There was a reason Germans went to great lengths to avoid capture by the Russians and sought out the Americans. It's hard to feel sorry for these POW's, especially after hearing how some Americans were treated by the Germans. The massacre at Malmedy comes to mind...
I was station in Germany in the early 80's most older Germans would avoid Americans, but one day was out exploring off the beaten path and stop at little guesthouse in a very small village I could tell I was not really welcome as American but I greeted the people in a respectful way in German and the look I got was more than expected as time went on I was approached by one patrons asked where I was from in the in the US I said Idaho his eyes just lit up he was in a POW camp outside of Twin Falls ID we began talking for over the next couple months I was visiting with more and more German veterans and former POW's it was one most enjoyable times of my life to hear their stories that most of their families never heard before, the history I learned from the otherside was priceless
Death rate allies and axis prisons: America 0.3%, UK 3%, Russia 37% and Germany 67%. Prisoners were better off in Russian prisons cause German prisons were the deadliest. Germans starved and worked their prisoners to death. They were also heavily tortured.
@@mirquellasantos2716 sources? I had read about the 106th prisoners taken in the ardennes Kurt Vonnagut the author was one and there were others that said they were treated alright but Germany was simply low on everything. Acouple of these guys almost starved from mal nutition before being liberated. They said the guards were in the same boat
@@bigwoody4704 What? Low on everything.... Germans deliberately starved and tortured POW specially Russian and black soldiers. They were also enslaved and had to work long hours. To Germans- Russians were Slavs and Africans were blacks so they had to kill them.
Quite right. One family in Berlin 's father was a mayor for the City of Wedding. As the Russians came into the City people told him to flee to the Americans. He wasn't pro Nazi, and felt he had done nothing wrong. One morning Russians came to his home while he was having Breakfast. They said they needed to go to his office to discuss some business. The Family never heard from him again. Years later there was a book that he left for South America taking millions of dollars. The Family was upset. It was after the collapse of the Soviet Union and East Germany that the Family found out the Father had died around 1953. Since then they have received many letters from people thanking the Mayor for all his good deeds and help. Just as now when choosing what system to be living under one needs to look to North Korea , Russia, and Iran. One can see the importance of Free Press, and people having great education. By the way, the wife of the Mayor never knew what happened to her Husband as she died a few years before 1989. There are many sad stories about the rapes the Russians did when they tool Berlin.
(9:57) "we escape from this awful town with its miserable people who act in raving madness to shower their hatred on defenseless prisoners" The Nazis could never imagine themselves or see the hypocrisy of their own position in war.
Not defending them, but I don't think the average soldier knew of the cruelty of Hitler or the SS. My great grandfather hated Hitler but only ever heard great things about him. Many had heard rumors about the SS and the day he heard he was to be conscripted into the SS he thought it better to die as a soldier for the country and protect save his family from the SS, then be made into a monster. So he joined military, when the war ended he learned about the atrocities and burned his uniform, and threw his medals into a lake and moved to the US, renouncing Germany as a whole.
@johnk3606 the vast majority of the cases of brutality had to do with the SS and that is primarily because the sick twisted pos Shitler decided to take murderers, and violent criminals from prison and give them Authority over citizens, they harassed and murderd soldiers wherever they could as well. Most soldiers were hopped up on meth and propaganda.
My father was a Spitfire pilot shot down by anti aircraft fire 6 weeks before the end of the war. Where he was being held was taken during the US advance into Germany and he stayed with them until war end. He visited a concentration camp outside Munich a day after it was liberated. His description of the inmates still has me shuddering today. Besides being skin and bone he said the vermin crawling over them made them look like they had living clothes. It's no wonder some German POW's got treated poorly.
Well you're nothing but an apologist for nazi genocide. The Germans eagerly bombed European and Russian civilians on top of the genocide of Jews, gypsies, Poles, Russians, and many other groups.
@@bc2578stunningly pompous ... what were the people of the attacked countries to do in your imaginary fluffy world then mate?... stay home and keep their fingers crossed?... The Ordinary German armed forces marched into/bombed/torpedoed/terrorised most of Europe and beyond whilst committing the most vile atrocities on civilian populations on an industrial scale. Grow up.
@@bc2578 Numerous inmates died shortly after the Americans relieved the camp. The fat and healthy townsfolk from around the camp were made to walk through it. all denying they knew anything of what was going on. No doubt the 6 million Jews who were exterminated might have a point of difference.
When listening to him talk about the paltry rations they were given it should be remembered that of the 5.7 million Soviet POWs captured by the Germans, about 3 million of them died in captivity, of disease and deliberate starvation.
There was a POW camp for Germans next to the Huey P. Long bridge a few miles upriver from New Orleans. From what I've read, they were used as laborers on local farms. They made friends with the locals and after the war, they got sent home. Some came back to marry women they had met while here. Years later, others came back to meet up with folks they had met while being in the camp.
My mom's younger brother was a guard at a POW camp, White Sulpher Springs WVa. Mom and my sister went to visit him in summer of 43. He had several of "the trustees" working at his house gardening. They were quite happy and content to be where they were and caused no trouble, mom said.. As I look back on it, 1943 was pretty early in the war for them to see the writing on the wall and know it was over.
That is similar to where I grew up in Central Iowa. My Grandfather had been on the construction crew that built the POW camp. He said that once settled in, some of the POWs were allowed to do paid labor for local farmers. Once in a while for good behavior, they were accompanied to a local movie theater. After the war, some stayed and others came back to farm. My grandmother would say fair treatment was the best way to turn an adversary into ally. I know that doesn't work all the time, but oftentimes. Good story. Thank you.
@@alexmckay5015 Nope none of the Germans were black. But German, Max Schmelling got the living $h1t beat out of him by black US Heavy Weight Champ, Joe Louis in October of 1938 and the fans in Madison Square Garden, NYC, went absolutely W I L D. I kind of expect you were maybe still just a glean in your father's eye at the time. lol
Is he honestly shocked that the French civilians threw garbage at the German POW's trucks at 8:15? After their heavy handed and brutal 5 year occupation of France? That was an interesting eye opener.
It's a common reaction from the Germans. Arrogance and the blindness that come with it are powerful. They were SO SURE that they were acting honorably and smartly they genuinely expected the French to have come around. The French were kind to them before on account of fear, and they were so deep in their propaganda they let that be proof. This is the power of Fascism. It gives you the aesthetics of good, of justice, of compassion... Even as it teaches you hate, cruelty, and contempt. This is the true lesson of the Nazi. Anyone could have been them, with any values or beliefs, if only they were willing to Believe the propaganda.
At 9 minutes the incredible reaction of Helmut to the French anger at the Germans. What could he have expected? The French were under attack by Germany and overrun; the mistreatment by the Germans toward the French is well documented, but still he is surprised and saddened by the French reaction.
@@Peowcatpeow Yup. Things "look different" from one's own perspective. It is difficult for an honest person - and Helmut seems to be one - to even notice, much less acknowledge that they found themselves sworn to the service of evil. "But... *I'm* a good person! I've always been kind and compassionate to the French!" Shifting one's viewpoint so radically is very, very difficult for anyone to do, much less a POW.
Of course, the French collaborated heavily with the Germans, whole regions were in the bag, and there was the Vichy government. And they handed over Jewish refugees, they drew the line somewhat on their own citizens. It is also his reaction based on his experience. For instance his run in with nice SS men. That could have gone differently at a different time, if the SS needed to round up deserters, and these guys were just wandering around trying to get back to their lines.
Not everyone was brutal, so the experiences could be different. I met a man whose father died in Germany during the War as a prisoner. I asked him how he felt about Germans, and whether he had been affected. His response was the Germans controlled his town in Northern France. But it was the young men of 18-20 who taught him to play soccer as a child. Many people have had good and bad experiences as he did. He and his family could find happiness in knowing that soldiers do as they are told but Governments, but are singularly each human with the same desires as they. Love , family, life. I wonder how people in other Countries have thought about American bombs and soldiers in Korea, Vietnam, Loas, Iraq, Panama. I expect their reaction is different today than it was years earlier. One thing remains: People prefer to make their own decisions about their lives.
The French were not just mad at the Germans. During the invasion of Normandy the largest number of casualties were the French people of Normandy and I have seen old newsreels of Allied prisoners being marched through a French town and the people were hitting the prisoners as they marched by! A lot of French actually sympathized with the Germans as a bulwark against Bolshevism. Thousands volunteered to fight for the Germans against Russia. That is a fact that is rarely mentioned in the official histories.
A lot of German soldiers wisely headed West when they saw the war was unwinnable, because everyone knew it was preferable to be a POW of the English or American than Russian.
Where I was growing up in Alberta, Canada there was an older man that ran the ice cleaning machine at the town skating rink. He had a thick Germanic accent. I found out, or so I was told, he had been a WWII POW of the Canadian forces and was sent to a POW camp in Canada. When the war ended, as I was informed, he could return to Germany or stay here. He decided to stay stating that, "If a POW was treated so well then citizenship should be even better." I have read that when the Russian forces were advancing the German officers led their Soldiers west to be captured by the American forces. "You will be treated better as a POW by the Americans than some of our own Generals."
@@aarons3695 what do you mean, they didn't, it was first when Helmut received the chicken from the american GI that told him what awaits them, but at the time, Helmut could of course believe anything!!!
Wanted to go through the town with a machine gun? You mean again? They really are completely unaware that they’re in a land that doesn’t belong to them.
German guy whose country just starved 100,000s of Russians and to a lesser extent, US POWs (including my uncle, John Allen Jones Jr. a ball turret gunner shot down who weighed only 110 pounds and spent months in a hospital after Nazi POW camps.).
@@JohnDoe-jn4ex Same with mine, great guy in the greatest generation. Despite how bad it was, my uncle only told funny stories from the POW camps, like how a screaming elderly German woman who came out of a farm house and hit him feebly with a broom as he tried to get out of his parachute, or how the initial Nazi interrogator got mad at him when he said his name (“John Jones Jr” was a common fake name in the 40s), and that he had to show his dog tags to prove that was his actual name, or how they taught German guards who wanted to learn English stupid phrases (such that the proper way to say good bye was “bye-bye, buy war bonds,” from a popular ad campaign to sell war bonds.) He said that most only survived thanks to Red Cross packages, which the German guards only allowed so they could loot and sell most of the contents, and that it was bad from the start, despite the copium for Germans that their POW camps were just fine and food was only short at the end…not true for him.
I’ve listened to this book/diary for many hours while on the road & what I cannot fathom is how these Germans seemed to believe that they were mistreated. A complete inability to wear the same boots that they’d nailed to the feet of all the poor soldiers of all the nations they’d invaded. Herman Wouk mentioned this peculiar German flaw in one of his books.
Having taken enemy prisoners I have given little thought of what happened to them after either. Although at times some hate as i find years pater they got water rations tents and more later that we did not or never had and benefits that I who was 100% disabled in the line of duty still dont rate. But for this guy as a fighting man in a war an NCO I identify with him....and if you cant. You did not serve and you are lesser for that. And if you did serve yeah....your mind is wrongm
@@nemo770 Welcome home brother- I also took enemy prisoners as a Marine in Desert Storm. Iraqi soldiers desperate to surrender and get some food water and shelter. Our corpsmen and then Army medics and rear security personnel treated these men with respect and compassion. I also get very angry when I see my brothers back here in the states living in misery, homeless, addicted, and nobody gives a shit about them. Makes me furious, actually.
Something you are missing is that the common Soldier has little say or knowledge of anything. Walk to this destination. Shoot that way. Hold this bridge. Attack that position. To assign the blame to a common troop is inaccurate overall. That said war does harden and twist men. Today I’d no more freak out over a dead body as I would a weed on the side of a road. Point is you can’t assign a nations wrongs to the lowest man on the totem pole.
@@michaelcavallacci2945 it should make us angry...theres no need for it. Worse than our brethren being neglected, we have a govt that tries very hard to put them in jail. A govt that spares no expense trying to incarcerate our fellow citizens, but doesn't care if they have nowhere to sleep. Crying shame.
Oh brother. Listening to the german complaining about opening the can to eat using a rock. I think back to how cub scouts are taught to open a can in an emergency. I have not forgotten to this day. Simply rub the flat top of the can on a flat stone or concrete surface in a circular motion and in a few moments the lid will simply pop off. Too bad the master race couldn't figure out what our cub scouts already knew.
just a common heer soldier and yet his journal is expressive, a sophisticated grammar and vocabulary. i believe decades ago education was taken very seriously. and his blind spot amazed the french wanted to hurt them...
German soldiers: Work and torture time for all prisoners of war French: But you can't do that. Have you ever heard of the Genova Convention? German Soldiers: We are the Victors and the masters here American soldiers: You just lost the war and the Soviets are closing German soldiers: Nein, Genova convention, mercy, pity us, poor us, Americans......
Now that is quite a disconnect as to why the French are angry at them. Hopefully he finally came to a realization as to why those conquered by them in the early days are all angry at them whether he was friendly or not.
In 1944 the U.S. was not a signatory to the Geneva Convention on the Law of Warfare, but more less observed its provisions, more so than any of the Axis powers or the Soviets. Most of the breaches were not the result of command decisions, but the actions of individual soldiers. Long story. So Helmut was wrong if he thought the Americans were bound by the Geneva Convention, which to the Americans was a guideline, but not law.
There was a 90 year old man died few years ago. He'd been a POW of the Germans. They were starved. He couldn't believe he was still alive when the American army arrived.
My uncle was a pow held by the Germans. Wonder how many days he went with out food. Goes both ways. Bet these German pow where treated way better then he was. Don’t have any empathy for them. Thanks from Sc.
@@mirquellasantos2716 sources i call bullshit specially the soviet %. Ask Hungary,Czech Republic,Poland,Latvia,Estonia,Lithunia and the like how many of their people came back from the Gulags in the east
Typically whenever a battle takes place POW provisions are not thought of and often POW’s are at least temporarily starved and without adequate shelter. In the first 18 months of the German Russian war the Germans took in excess of 3 million prisoners and the Wehrmacht just hadn’t the resources to fight a battle supply troops and feed prisoners, similarly in the 1945 German capitulation many Germans were starved for a time and imprisoned outside as the allies hadn’t the resources to cope with so many prisoners as well as feeding the German civilians and restoring the country’s infrastructure.
Where did you come up with the idea that US ration cans had to be beaten open with rocks or your boot heel? WWII C rations and K rations had keys attached to the cans that were used to open the cans.
Growing up in Ireland I had school friends whose father's were German POWs, 2 families, both stayed in Ireland after the War, they were Luftwaffe Airmen and were interned at the Curragh Camp. It's kind of famous for how prisoners were treated.....beer, whisky, tobacco, vegetable gardens and passes out to visit the cinema....as long as they gave an assurance!.
...foreign combatants who are held in a neutral country, are "internees", they are not "POWS": only enemy combatants fall under the category of prisoners of war.
these guys got taken prisoner at the right place, at the right time, by the right army. im sure every single one of them realized this years later or even sooner.
Wisconsin had many German pow in the state. There was even a case of a butcher shop shop in Milwaukee had a nephew pow work in his building. it is a dam good book read it about 12years ago. STALAG WISCONSIN Originally published: 2002 Author: Betty Cowley
After listening to several of these where the Germans found themselves in Soviet hands this is particularly infuriating. This angry German would have been stripped of everything of value on his first day while being transported to Siberia and eventual starvation. Instead, they are preserving their cigarettes and wedding rings. Perhaps being guarded by soldiers who may have recently liberated concentration camps filled with thousands of dead jews. They all should have been offered the opportunity to swap their American captivity for that of the Russians. The arrogance of fascism. The mistreatment of the criminal master race laid low. He probably spent the remainder of the war in warm, clean camp in New Mexico. Tending the communal garden with camp dances every Friday night.
You have to understand what is going on at the time. This guy had no idea of how Americans vs Russians treated their POWS. Everything is speculation to him at this point. Of course we all know everything today but you would have had no idea At the time. Your whole emotional “fascism” spiel doesn’t even apply if you’ve been following this particular series for SGT helmut.
@@deadlyoneableHe should’ve been able to make an educated guess that being an American/British prisoner, would be preferable to a German, than being a Soviet one
@@deadlyoneable Fascism spiel? I have been listening to this series and the others. There is one where they are marching through Ukraine on their way to Moscow where the German soldier goes on and on how fascism is the only answer to dealing with the "sub humans" in Ukraine and rural Russian country side. Hitler was refereed to as "this generations hero" as related by a 23 year old German soldier witnessing the obliteration of Beerlin. This guy himself is amazed to find out the French absolutely hate his fascist guts.
In the 1960s, a neighbor of mine told me of walking out of Dresden and looking back as the skies were lit up by the flames of the burning city. He was a small boy then. He was Lithuanian, who was sold to a mean German family. In other words, a slave. He did not like his German owners. After the war, he was able to immigrate to America, get a college education, become an electrical engineer, marry a beautiful blonde Lithuanian...she looked like a movie star to me. He had a daughter, and a house in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and drove a new Corvette, and was a better tennis player than me.
I had neighbors in '03 that were Ukrainian, he has served in Afghanistan until the withdrawal, and obviously hated the experience. He and his wife met here, married, and moved in next to me. They were wonderful people, she got her real estate license the first home she sold was one of mine. They actually met here, he had a business opportunity, she was visiting a relative. Sometimes it's just how things happen. I'm still trying to figure out how I ended up here in Southern California. Both grandfathers worked in aerospace, so probably a contributing factor...
My Uncles fought the German in Europe, they each talked to each other about it while us kids played or fished, One truck Driver in Red Ball said the Infantry he hauled and carried supplies to bragged about not taking any POW's, the Infantry ones would say, "Unless we were specifically told to take a POW we shot them all on sight even with their hands up. During a fight even the WIA German was put down. Lots of this went on, they hated the German for getting them in the war, saw so many of their men gunned down helpless and simply said one more dead Kraut gets us closer to home and why should the German get to live when I might not. It is war, it is brutal and merciless.
It wasn't stupid, they considered the USSR as a deadly political enemy. And you have to remember, Germans were desperately short of everything, including food, even as early as 1941, They treated those prisoners as enemies. You should hear about the Soviet treatment of Soviet prisoners returned to Stalin. Look up Operation Keelhaul.
Amazingt to me the lack of understanding. They conquer France and when the French are freed frrom the Germans they are surprised that the French are not acting in a friendly way. He probably would think the Soviets would pat him on the back and say what a good guy he is if captured.
They certainly occupied the entire country in November 1942. As far as I know France was defeated by Germany in 1940 maybe you donb't consider that conquered but Vichy was under the control of Germany and the country stayed that way until 1944.
Problem with the Soviet Union is that there were still many whites in the army, and some other countries didn't like the union and hailed the nazis as heroes.
I find this guy Helmut really fascinating. He has many admirable qualities and his journey is so interesting and difficult. He has slight blind spot in not understanding why some folks might be a bit angry at the Germans after WW2.
It is fascinating to witness the voice of a German POW from a vantage point in time that affords one far more information than the narrator has. I try to think of times I held beliefs that I later shuffled off in the face of new information and life experiences when listening to this. I also wonder how I would have behaved in a totalitarian regime where control of information is the primary governing principle.
@@boxsterman77 very true. Many times have I gone down paths of bizarre beliefs and wondered afterwards how I got there. Listening to the latest episodes shows Helmut comes to change his views. Such a great story.
It's easy to say that with the 20/20 vision of hindsight, but when you are in those times consumed by the fog of war it isn't clear. A fair bit goes unaccounted for when you are focused on survival yourself. Most Germans probably straight up didn't know a god damned thing by and large. Correspondence was monitored and edited as a war measure, state secrets were kept on pain of death. Logistics get muddled to utterly inoperable by allied bombing runs destroying rail and road. It's hard to say, in those circumstances, how many prisoners died from malice versus how many died due to the simple lack of supplies. Its generally pretty shitty to be taken prisoner by the losers in a war. Inevitably whether directly or indirectly your comrades success will hurt you.
The unfortunate advent of soldiers giving their all for the causes created by politicians across the planet makes them just pawns in a giant power game most (not all) times. Many German, ltalian and Japanese soldiers were not fully aware of the mindset and intent their leaders.
"I have no love of self righteous monsters, for I knew many other self righteous monsters in my youth." Make no mistake both sides would be just as ugly in the eyes of a just God.
This is great stuff for armchair historians like myself. I appreciate these reports from the 'other side', as I am Irish American. War is unfortunately a part of the story of humanity...when under it all, we are all brothers and sisters inside.
No, the Nazis were never my brothers. My only problem with these videos is that is humanizes monsters. While listening, people should always keep in mind not only the dead Allied soldiers, but also the 12,000,000 they rounded up and executed. They were barbarically cruel, mass murderers. So no, under the skin...we are NOT all the same.
As a Vet I'd like to agree but look around today we are being brainwashed to hate each other while the same assholes in charge (bankers) rule over us and enslave us, it's easy to be a monday morning quarter back.
Nazis were cruel cold blooded murderers... children of Satan. Stop glamorizing them. Neo Nazis are worse... equal to the KKK murderers at heart. We are not all the same... unless you mean biochemically... not socially.
These videos are fantastic. I really like the parts where, “the French show their true face,” lol. You know, the true face of someone whose country was invaded. “I thought they really liked me.” A true sports fan
Least we didn't put them in Concentration camps and gas cambers or mass Graves like they did to our polish friends I k now the Germans r our allies now but I know some few still quietly think same way they did during this time
Many Jewish POWs were put into Concentration Camps when the Nazis discovered that they were Jewish. In one camp, several Mexican POWs were murdered because the Nazis thought they might be Jewish.
I’ve listened to many diary stories by soldiers that were fighting the Russian on the eastern front, that surrendered and how they were treated by the Red Army and the communists . I can’t imagine anyone being happy as a POW, but it doesn’t appear these soldiers are aware how lucky they are to be surrendering to the Americans.
The Americans did let thousands of German POWs starve to death , maybe this is one of the camps this occurred, as I'm listening to this on CZcams the dialogue is incomplete.
@@johndowds5770 Please understand I was speaking in general, but I agree CZcams is an incomplete source of accurate history. All armies commit inhuman acts because they are made up of people. Most are decent but unfortunately some are pure evil. People always leave out facts if that are not to their advantage, best to find as many sources as possible so you get a more accurate honest understanding of any historical event especially warfare, battles and military events.
A direct quote from General George S. Patton: "Born at sea, Baptized in blood, your fame shall never die. The 45th Division is one of the best, if not the best division, in American Arms”. The first Americans to land in Europe, wasn’t Normandy on June 6 1944, but at Sicily almost a year before in 1943 by a Division who spent 511 days in combat. 511 days in combat. Probably one of the most overlooked group of US soldiers of the war. The US 45th Infantry Division “Thunderbirds” Oklahoma National Guard) After Sicily they continued fighting at Salerno, Monte Casino, Anzio (One of the Toughest Battles of WWII, it was an absolute Hellish 3 month battle which the 45th Prevailed. On June 4, 1944 the 45th Liberated Rome. They were also the first allied Troops to reach the Vatican. After Liberating Italy, The 45th Infantry Division participated in its fourth amphibious assault landing during Operation Dragoon on 15 August 1944, at St. Maxime, in Southern France. The 45th Infantry Division landed its 157th and 180th regimental combat teams and captured the heights of the Chaines de Mar. Then The German Army, reeling from the loss at the Battle of Normandy, part of an overall German withdrawal to the east following the landings stumbled across the waiting 45th Infantry Division who engaged and began to route the stunned German forces, those who could hastily retreated away from the fight however the 45th trapped and destroyed German Army Group G, while suffering very few casualties. After they took Epinal, (Another tough fight) they left France proceeded into the Sudatenland and into Germany. The Thunderbirds then moved north to the Sarreguemines area and smashed through the Siegfried Line, on 17 March taking Homburg on the 21st and crossing the Rhine between Worms and Hamm on the 26th.The advance continued, with Aschaffenburg falling on 3 April, and Nuremberg on the 20th. Dachau: The 45th crossed the Danube River on 27 April, and liberated 32,000 captives of the Dachau concentration camp on 29 April 1945. The men so disgusted and shocked at the train cars full of bodies leading into the camp and the condition of those held there rounded up every German of the remaining SS force that held the Camp (Most of the SS who occupied Dachau made a disorganized retreat upon hearing the Thunderbirds of the 45th Infantry Division’s arrival was imminent. Around 75 Germans were captured, lined up against a concrete wall and executed by members of the 45th. The division captured Munich during the next two days, occupying the city until V-E Day and the surrender of Germany. During the next month, the division remained in Munich and set up collection points and camps for the massive numbers of surrendering troops of the German armies. The number of POWs taken by the 45th Infantry Division during its almost two years of fighting totalled 124,840 men. The division was then slated to move to the Pacific theater of operations to participate in the invasion of mainland Japan on the island of Honshu, but these plans were scrubbed before the division could depart after the surrender of Japan, on V-J Day. In the forgotten War in Korea, the “Thunderbirds” of the 45th Infantry (Oklahoma National Guard) were one of only two National Guard units deployed to Korea to fight due to their reputation. They performed exceptionally well while there. The unit symbol of a Yellow Thunderbird on a Red Diamond shaped background is one of the most iconic and recognizable shoulder sleeve insignia in the entire US Military. During World War II, the 45th Division fought in 511 days of combat.Nine soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during their service with the 45th Infantry Division: Van T. Barfoot, Ernest Childers, Almond E. Fisher, William J. Johnston, Salvador J. Lara, Jack C. Montgomery, James D. Slaton, Jack Treadwell,and Edward G. Wilkin. Soldiers of the division also received 61 Distinguished Service Crosses, three Distinguished Service Medals, 1,848 Silver Star Medals, 38 Legion of Merit medals, 59 Soldier's Medals, 5,744 Bronze Star Medals, and 52 Air Medals. The division received seven distinguished unit citations and eight campaign streamers during the conflict. The Main Character of Martin Scorsese’s film: “The Irishman” or “I Heard You Paint Houses” Confessed Murderer, Hitman And likely assassin of friend Jimmy Hoffa; Frank Sheeran was a member of the 45th Infantry Division in World War II; later recalled his war service as the time when he first developed a callousness to the taking of human life. Sheeran claimed to have participated in numerous massacres and summary executions of German POWs, acts which violated the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and the 1929 Geneva Convention on POWs. In later interviews with Charles Brandt, he divided such massacres into four categories: 1.Revenge killings in the heat of battle. Sheeran told Brandt that, when a German soldier had just killed his close friends and then tried to surrender, he would often "send him to hell, too". He described often witnessing similar behavior by fellow GIs. 2.Orders from unit commanders during a mission. When describing his first murder for organized crime, Sheeran recalled: "It was just like when an officer would tell you to take a couple of German prisoners back behind the line and for you to 'hurry back'. You did what you had to do." 3.The Dachau massacre and other reprisal killings of concentration camp guards and trustee inmates. Calculated attempts to dehumanize and degrade German POWs. While Sheeran's unit was climbing the Harz Mountains, they came upon a Wehrmacht mule train carrying food and drink up the mountainside. The female cooks were first allowed to leave unmolested, then Sheeran and his fellow GIs "ate what we wanted and soiled the rest with our waste". Then the Wehrmacht mule drivers were given shovels and ordered to "dig their own shallow graves". Sheeran later joked that they did so without complaint, likely hoping that he and his buddies would change their minds. But the mule drivers were shot and buried in the holes they had dug. Sheeran explained that by then, he "had no hesitation in doing what I had to do”. “Anzio taught me who my enemy was, and what he was capable of”.
I was in the 45th Brigade (700th support battalion) for 9 years in the 80s and 90s. Missed out on any combat. However the unit was a close nit unit with a strong comradery. As capable as any active duty unit (probably more capable, due to our long term familiarity with each other). Testament to the fact that the 700th was active in WW1, WW2, Korean, Global War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. In addition we nearly mobilized in 1991 during Desert Storm. Unit has many honors and citations for its meritorious service by the French, Italy and in Korea.
@@robertsaget6918 Wow, what is wrong with you to CARE so much to leave a comment for something you didn't read. You really need to chill. This isn't it.
😂😂😂My Grandmother told me her Mother never could learn proper English so she just spoke German & French. My Other Grandparents spoke Hungarian,German,French, Italian and couldn’t ever get rid of their heavy Hungarian accents. I’m sure plenty of GIs knew exactly what the POWs were saying.
My Dad and all his many Cousins enlisted. My Dad joined the NY National Guard when he was 18……he couldn’t wait. He wasn’t happy when he was sent to the Pacific. My Mother’s twin brother was stationed in England dropping bombs from high above Germany.
Helmut’s complaints of inadequate food and accommodations in the PW camps in Europe fails to take into account that no one expected Hitler’s “superior aryan” soldiers to surrender en mass! The fact that they did so created a logistical nightmare for the allies.
My father fought in North Africa and Italy after getting home after Dunkirk. He was captured in Italy near the end of the war but was a mere skeleton when he escaped from a death march and hid in a barn. His health suffered for the remainder of his life. Yet here in UK we were told of the Italian and German POW camp prisoners were allowed out, were fed despite the deprivations, kept warm and were never brutalised.
This is true. My uncle was captured when the Australian 6th Division were forced to surrender in Crete and spent 4 years in a German pow camp. He said the only time the prisoners were anxious was when SS units took their turns guarding the camp, and when allied planes bombed the rail head not far from the camp. The rest of the time was pretty easy. There was always something to do and depending on the guards, they were sometimes allowed to walk around the local village and able to buy foods and wine from the locals. Just don't ask me where they got the money from but I'm guessing it was from selling Red Cross parcels that came pretty often. The Japanese POW camps were totally different.
A friend, back in the day, was captured, by the Americans, late in the war. He said that they treated them OK, but it was better when he was transferred to the British.
I had an uncle that was in the Volkssturm just before his 15th birthday with 3 of his friends that were in the Hitler Youth. He was sent to Poznan as part of a reinforcement. His only training was throwing a grenade taught him in the Hitler Youth where he learned that he was lucky to being going East because the Americans' had black soldiers who were actual cannibals. His unit was captured by the Russians near a place called Junikowo (sp) at the end of Feb or beginning of March. The evening they were captured, the group managed to escape during some fighting. After about 6 or so weeks they'd lost 2 of them, but had wandered back to Munich only to find the Americans were already there. They hid in the sewers and once tried to steal food from the garbage area of an American mess hall but they got scared when they saw a "Grosser schwarzer Koch" with a butcher's smock. They hid for another 2 or so weeks before locals convinced them to give up. He said, "f@ck the Russians" that cook gave me nightmares for the rest of my life. It's what you don't know.
Amazing how German POWs got treated better than Black people. While captured, then after Germany fell, They got to go places & do things which Blacks weren't permitted. Hell, they could've been SS war criminals while under captivity in Louisiana, but they were still held in higher esteem than the Black people who grew up there.
@@archlab007 I'm not sure if that's completely accurate, but Americans certainly treated POWs better than the Germans did. There's no reasoning with racists though. It's amazing to me that despite some heated exchanges when Americans liberated concentration camps, that there weren't more summary executions.
@@Viconius I guess we can say that Wa does one philosophical thing: It causes some people to compare & contrast, then realize that we're all the sae...& not always in the warnm & fuzzy ways.
Interesting and informative. Excellent photography picture 📷 enabling the viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing. Class A research project!!! Special thanks to the veteran soldier sharing personal information pertaining to capture by the advancing American forces. Much better captivity ( POW) treatment then would the Russians have offered. The disillusioned thoughts of escape when the war for Germany was was slowly closing it's final chapters. The ( POW ) who quit smoking 🚬 cigarettes made a wise health decision. Along with that doesn't attempt to escape.
An American two party political system, largely dominated and funded by first and second generation ethnic Germans. This ethnic grouping was to the fore in winning America's independence, and it controlled light, heavy and new generation industries. WW2 saw a predominantly German- American administration show reluctance to entry a war in Europe against Germany. 31 per cent of US soldiers, all branches, that fought in WW2 were of German ethnicity. Many had family in Germany, including the Trump clan. There can be little surprise that this cultural affinity, and general humanity, revealed itself in moments during the war but especially towards the end of the conflict. Reactions were certainly different from Americans of Polish, Russian, Italian, French, Irish, Nordic and Central European ethnicity in the treatment of Germans.
I mostly agree, but FDR was absolutely salivating to get into the war, he wanted any _casus belli_ he could find. Pearl harbor was Christmas and his birthday all in one to him.
Where I live in the US (Georgia) there were several POW camps where German prisoners were held until the end of the war (many people don't even know we had German POWs in the USA). They were treated so well that many of the camps would allow German POWs to leave the camps daily to go work for area farmers. After the war many former German POWs formerly held in the USA found their ways back to the US because they remembered the treatment they received when they were POWs. Many of them married American girls they met (many farmer's daughters) while they were in the camps. I personally know of 3 different families in Georgia who are direct descendants of German POWs from WWII.
This is interesting. I also never really knew we had POW camps here until I went backpacking in Michaux State Forest in south central PA and realized they have a historic site in the middle of the wilderness where there was once a POW camp for Germans. Being a backpacker AND history buff, it was like hitting two birds with one stone. Very cool!
The reason I find this story believable is the shocking arrogance displayed throughout. Many post-war memoirs by germans were written to absolve them of blame and make them look better, but the general attitude of a german soldier was pretty much this. "How dare they not treat us like kings! We deserve the best! They can't do this to us! How dare the French be mean to us!" A barbarian horde convinced of their own righteousness...
@@TheOwlsarewatching606 there'll always be people with a weirdly open mind when it comes to Nazis and a weirdly closed mind when it comes to other things ;p
Under difficult circumstances it is a tribute to human decency and military order that reasonable efforts were made to treat German prisoners in accordance with treaties we previously agreed to follow.
2:24 What profound insight! He was only 28 years old when he wrote this. I was 40 before I realized that the world wasn’t at war with me. The more I hear this man’s thoughts, the more I wish I had a chance to meet him and shake his hand.
My uncle was incharge of intake POW chow halls. This was the first place they would get to eat. At that point the U.S.Army wanted the german soldiers relaxed. This was for two reasons. First to keep the peace. Second, my uncle spoke german and he wasnt in those chow halls for the fun of it. He was there to listen. Spying. The Americans didnt take all that much shit from the prisoners. A german POW could wind up very dead very fast if he stepped out of line. My uncle was also looking for SS officers hiding in enlisted mens uniform. When found they where given time for one last cigarette. My uncle did the honors on a number of occasions. My uncle told us how the Germans wanted to act all innocent, but after four years of fighting them the Americans werent taken in. The Americans would also take these prisoner though and to towns so that the people could get a wack at them. Americans had some scores to settle,take heart, they did.
I would say he was lucky to be alive. Some American soldiers would be cruel but they would be in the minority. The biggest problem was supplies. America could supply a lot of rations but not enough to supply the army, the population and prisoners of war. Just to many. These three are planning escaping. Escape to where? If they are caught by the French they could be easily shot. What makes me wonder is how prisoners were expected to open rations if they took away all the knives? Malicious or just idiots?
If you noticed one of the others says what actualy happened. They were not expecting so ma y prisoners. Another sad reality is after the war tens of tbousands did die from starvation and exposiure and disease because the allies didnt expect so many MILLIONS.
@@Albemarle7 Yes, I think I still have one that I used to use before MRE's came out. The trouble is it sounds like they didn't hand them out. Maybe someone had the idea it could be used as a weapon.
Interesting observations about the French. A large portion of the people eagerly supported the Germans and a French SS division fought to the bitter end in Berlin and had to blasted out of rail tunnels with anti aircraft guns by the Soviets.
The Reich and the USSR were political competitors for the proper socialism. Many French, and others, joined Germany because they wanted to fight communism, not for the victory of Nazism.
@@gerardodwyer5908actually that’s not quite correct. It was called The British Free Corps. They were recruited from POW camps. At no point did it exceed more than 27 men in strength.
How lucky Helmut is. Poor defenseless prisoners? The the Wehrmacht committed atrocities against children and civilians, too. It wasn't just the SS and the Einsatzgruppen. Briella was right, they deserved no better.
Evil cares above all about Aesthetics. These soldiers kept an absolute APPEARANCE of kindness and honor. It was everything to them. Then when they were asked to do terrible things, they did it. They can't figure out why their victims hate them so much because they believe their appearance of fairness is the real thing. They can't and don't go so far as to ask "Would we not be blamed for starting this war?" Because to them, their truth and justice has already been proven. They acted fair, thus they were fair, thus it is cruel and unreasonable to be angry at them! They're only willing to change the surface level of their beliefs. They can't ask "Is this war fair?" Also, there's a common myth that they didn't know about all the war crimes and Holocaust. This is simply not true. They may have been personally in denial about it, but it was a stated and clearly communicated policy of the Furher. It's like someone today saying the average American wouldn't know about Trump's Wall. They just thought that was *right*. The evil is not that they were tricked.... It's that you don't need to trick people to get them to betray goodness. You just need to teach them a new good.
its astounding how ungrateful these swine were at the time considering everything they've done. that said i do appreciate the honesty that this particular piglet didn't hold back
8:50 I imagine in a time when not greeting your oppressor with anything short of enthusiasm could bring unwanted attention to you and your friends there was a great deal of "friendly French" who would have been happy to slit your throat if he thought he could get away with it, and I don't doubt that happened from time to time. I imagine that many Germans died in shock watching their blood spraying the grinning face of someone they thought was a friend, that "friend" having just drawn a sharp blade across their neck. Most of the German solders were not evil. They were young boys doing their duty for their country.
I love these 'audio book chapters' because they get me to look at a different viewpoint which I did not grow up with. It does help me see the German servicemen as human beings. But still.... It's amazing how German POWs got treated better than Black people. While captured, then after Germany fell, They got to go places & do things which Blacks weren't permitted. Meanwhile, I can imagine that a Black US Serviceman taken as a POW by the Nazis wouldn't have been treated any better than the Jews, as they were Undermensch in the eyse of the Germans. Hell, these German POWs could've been SS war criminals while under captivity in Louisiana, but they were still held in higher esteem than the Black people who grew up there.
Having some German heritage it saddens me the way the Germans treated not only POWs but civilians as well. It maddens and confuses me why they don’t understand the deserved hatred they clearly earned. That goes for the Japanese as well. How do these people justify their nation’s aggression and brutality and not understand why these people they waged war on hate them. Clearly not the master race they thought they were or they would have been smart enough to get it.
"We think about you in the same way you think about the Jews, the Poles, the Slavs, the Roma, homosexuals, etc. We think about you in the same way you thought about them, but our intolerance is backed up by evidence." That's why they didn't like you.
Hi Ladies and Gentleman. The diary of Helmut Horner. Hope you're having a pleasant day.
Here is the playlist: czcams.com/play/PLyuEmb1VavZARAG13NojLWW1yBVb-E4j7.html
You are awesome! Thank you so much!!!
Wow!!!!! Thank You, Thank You! Astonishing story, translation etc. High End, Literature!
I wish they were titled part 1 and part 2 ex.
A fantastic and very skilled writer. A contemporaneous account so skillfully written. Did he go on to be a post-war writer?
@@jackiebinns6205 i'm not certain but i don't think they are exactly continuous. quite a few of them don't really flow from one to another.
Funny how these three german POW friends couldn't fathom why the french, and also the american GI:s hated them so much....Queeee....???🧐🤔💤💤💤
The French were being assholes to be honest. They acted like animals because someone had a certain uniform.
The French and the Americans DIDN'T hate the Germans.
Our small East Texas town's postmaster lost half of his teeth from the Germans kicking them out while questioning him as a POW. He was originally from Huntsville, Texas, and there was a German POW camp there they wanted to know all about. He knew nothing of its existence, having been deployed before it was even built. Bob stuttered for the rest of his life due to this experience.
I can only imagine how painful it felt. Once I heard that story, he was my new hero. 💗
That is the down side. One dick brain who thinks you are a untermentchen like you say and here we are. Alot if bever have served saying Helmut got treated to good who would agree in kicking his and all the POWs teeth out because well All Germans are Nazis....does anyone get it?
So he sought out this POW camp and exposed himself to an attack by German POWs?
@@boxsterman77 Learn to read between the lines.
If memory serves, Lake Texoma was built partially by German POWs.
@@boxsterman77 No he was capured in Europe.
I have a friend who was captured by the Germans in Dec of 1944 at the "Battle of the Bulge". He was one of 12 survivors from his entire company. He was part of the 106th Division and stationed at Winterspelt. His treatment, by the Germans, was beyond appalling, and many prisoners he was captured with were killed or died from mal treatment, he was lucky to survive. These German prisoners got far better treatment by comparison. They're lucky they were not taken prisoner by the Russians.
Their moral outrage of being caught by Americans is laughable and so hypocritical, like they didn't even acknowledge that the French might have never liked them because they invaded their country and killed a lot of people....then they expect the French to be friendly! LOL
They were lucky not to serve in the Red Army. There is little to distinguish the worst of the Red Army and NKVD with the worst of the Waffen SS. Socialist armies from all countries tend to be the most brutal and cruel in the world.
I woulda' let Stalin have all of Germany
@@leojanuszewski1019 I would have cut Stalin's throat at Yalta. All socialists are the same.
There was a reason Germans went to great lengths to avoid capture by the Russians and sought out the Americans. It's hard to feel sorry for these POW's, especially after hearing how some Americans were treated by the Germans. The massacre at Malmedy comes to mind...
Funny that they are insulted because they didn’t get to eat as much as they wanted and are shocked that people don’t like them.
I was station in Germany in the early 80's most older Germans would avoid Americans, but one day was out exploring off the beaten path and stop at little guesthouse in a very small village I could tell I was not really welcome as American but I greeted the people in a respectful way in German and the look I got was more than expected as time went on I was approached by one patrons asked where I was from in the in the US I said Idaho his eyes just lit up he was in a POW camp outside of Twin Falls ID we began talking for over the next couple months I was visiting with more and more German veterans and former POW's it was one most enjoyable times of my life to hear their stories that most of their families never heard before, the history I learned from the otherside was priceless
Sweet. I’ve been waiting for this one. Thanks. This guy is so lucky to be an American POW and not a Russian one.
Death rate allies and axis prisons: America 0.3%, UK 3%, Russia 37% and Germany 67%. Prisoners were better off in Russian prisons cause German prisons were the deadliest. Germans starved and worked their prisoners to death. They were also heavily tortured.
@@mirquellasantos2716 sources? I had read about the 106th prisoners taken in the ardennes Kurt Vonnagut the author was one and there were others that said they were treated alright but Germany was simply low on everything. Acouple of these guys almost starved from mal nutition before being liberated. They said the guards were in the same boat
@@bigwoody4704 What? Low on everything.... Germans deliberately starved and tortured POW specially Russian and black soldiers. They were also enslaved and had to work long hours. To Germans- Russians were Slavs and Africans were blacks so they had to kill them.
My wife's grandfather said the same thing and was captured at the same time. They stayed alive eating spoiled cabbage. Liberated by Russians.
Quite right. One family in Berlin 's father was a mayor for the City of Wedding. As the Russians came into the City people told him to flee to the Americans. He wasn't pro Nazi, and felt he had done nothing wrong. One morning Russians came to his home while he was having Breakfast. They said they needed to go to his office to discuss some business. The Family never heard from him again. Years later there was a book that he left for South America taking millions of dollars. The Family was upset. It was after the collapse of the Soviet Union and East Germany that the Family found out the Father had died around 1953. Since then they have received many letters from people thanking the Mayor for all his good deeds and help. Just as now when choosing what system to be living under one needs to look to North Korea , Russia, and Iran. One can see the importance of Free Press, and people having great education. By the way, the wife of the Mayor never knew what happened to her Husband as she died a few years before 1989. There are many sad stories about the rapes the Russians did when they tool Berlin.
(9:57) "we escape from this awful town with its miserable people who act in raving madness to shower their hatred on defenseless prisoners" The Nazis could never imagine themselves or see the hypocrisy of their own position in war.
Not defending them, but I don't think the average soldier knew of the cruelty of Hitler or the SS. My great grandfather hated Hitler but only ever heard great things about him. Many had heard rumors about the SS and the day he heard he was to be conscripted into the SS he thought it better to die as a soldier for the country and protect save his family from the SS, then be made into a monster. So he joined military, when the war ended he learned about the atrocities and burned his uniform, and threw his medals into a lake and moved to the US, renouncing Germany as a whole.
@@gen.washington1893too bad he threw away the medals. Very collectible.
@rosscampbell1173 Yeah, it would have been pretty cool to have such pieces of history.
Good that they are gone. The brutality of Germans toward those they captured or the towns they occupied was rewarded with such things.
@johnk3606 the vast majority of the cases of brutality had to do with the SS and that is primarily because the sick twisted pos Shitler decided to take murderers, and violent criminals from prison and give them Authority over citizens, they harassed and murderd soldiers wherever they could as well. Most soldiers were hopped up on meth and propaganda.
My father was a Spitfire pilot shot down by anti aircraft fire 6 weeks before the end of the war. Where he was being held was taken during the US advance into Germany and he stayed with them until war end. He visited a concentration camp outside Munich a day after it was liberated. His description of the inmates still has me shuddering today. Besides being skin and bone he said the vermin crawling over them made them look like they had living clothes. It's no wonder some German POW's got treated poorly.
Wow
This POW wasn’t treated poorly.
Well you're nothing but an apologist for nazi genocide. The Germans eagerly bombed European and Russian civilians on top of the genocide of Jews, gypsies, Poles, Russians, and many other groups.
@@bc2578stunningly pompous ... what were the people of the attacked countries to do in your imaginary fluffy world then mate?... stay home and keep their fingers crossed?... The Ordinary German armed forces marched into/bombed/torpedoed/terrorised most of Europe and beyond whilst committing the most vile atrocities on civilian populations on an industrial scale. Grow up.
@@bc2578 Numerous inmates died shortly after the Americans relieved the camp. The fat and healthy townsfolk from around the camp were made to walk through it. all denying they knew anything of what was going on. No doubt the 6 million Jews who were exterminated might have a point of difference.
When listening to him talk about the paltry rations they were given it should be remembered that of the 5.7 million Soviet POWs captured by the Germans, about 3 million of them died in captivity, of disease and deliberate starvation.
And you never hear the Russians cry about it .
Why would they? Few care.@@raymondmanderville505
@@raymondmanderville505😂
@@raymondmanderville505 Modern events in Ukraine should tell you how much Russians care about Russians
It's funny how the Wehrmacht can quote the Geneva Convention only after becoming prisoners.
There was a POW camp for Germans next to the Huey P. Long bridge a few miles upriver from New Orleans. From what I've read, they were used as laborers on local farms. They made friends with the locals and after the war, they got sent home. Some came back to marry women they had met while here. Years later, others came back to meet up with folks they had met while being in the camp.
My mom's younger brother was a guard at a POW camp, White Sulpher Springs WVa. Mom and my sister went to visit him in summer of 43. He had several of "the trustees" working at his house gardening. They were quite happy and content to be where they were and caused no trouble, mom said.. As I look back on it, 1943 was pretty early in the war for them to see the writing on the wall and know it was over.
That is similar to where I grew up in Central Iowa. My Grandfather had been on the construction crew that built the POW camp. He said that once settled in, some of the POWs were allowed to do paid labor for local farmers. Once in a while for good behavior, they were accompanied to a local movie theater. After the war, some stayed and others came back to farm. My grandmother would say fair treatment was the best way to turn an adversary into ally. I know that doesn't work all the time, but oftentimes. Good story. Thank you.
I’m from River Ridge and remember seeing those abandoned buildings, on the West Bank.
I take it none of them are black ?
@@alexmckay5015 Nope none of the Germans were black. But German, Max Schmelling got the living $h1t beat out of him by black US Heavy Weight Champ, Joe Louis in October of 1938 and the fans in Madison Square Garden, NYC, went absolutely W I L D.
I kind of expect you were maybe still just a glean in your father's eye at the time. lol
Is he honestly shocked that the French civilians threw garbage at the German POW's trucks at 8:15? After their heavy handed and brutal 5 year occupation of France? That was an interesting eye opener.
It's a common reaction from the Germans. Arrogance and the blindness that come with it are powerful.
They were SO SURE that they were acting honorably and smartly they genuinely expected the French to have come around. The French were kind to them before on account of fear, and they were so deep in their propaganda they let that be proof.
This is the power of Fascism. It gives you the aesthetics of good, of justice, of compassion... Even as it teaches you hate, cruelty, and contempt.
This is the true lesson of the Nazi. Anyone could have been them, with any values or beliefs, if only they were willing to Believe the propaganda.
@@RobinTheBot he was so annoyed at the former German Jew who became an American officer .
He could not imagine it would come to that , swine .
At 9 minutes the incredible reaction of Helmut to the French anger at the Germans. What could he have expected? The French were under attack by Germany and overrun; the mistreatment by the Germans toward the French is well documented, but still he is surprised and saddened by the French reaction.
Yes! and after the things they did to innocents what did they expect?
@@Peowcatpeow Yup. Things "look different" from one's own perspective. It is difficult for an honest person - and Helmut seems to be one - to even notice, much less acknowledge that they found themselves sworn to the service of evil. "But... *I'm* a good person! I've always been kind and compassionate to the French!" Shifting one's viewpoint so radically is very, very difficult for anyone to do, much less a POW.
Of course, the French collaborated heavily with the Germans, whole regions were in the bag, and there was the Vichy government. And they handed over Jewish refugees, they drew the line somewhat on their own citizens.
It is also his reaction based on his experience. For instance his run in with nice SS men. That could have gone differently at a different time, if the SS needed to round up deserters, and these guys were just wandering around trying to get back to their lines.
Not everyone was brutal, so the experiences could be different. I met a man whose father died in Germany during the War as a prisoner. I asked him how he felt about Germans, and whether he had been affected. His response was the Germans controlled his town in Northern France. But it was the young men of 18-20 who taught him to play soccer as a child. Many people have had good and bad experiences as he did. He and his family could find happiness in knowing that soldiers do as they are told but Governments, but are singularly each human with the same desires as they. Love , family, life. I wonder how people in other Countries have thought about American bombs and soldiers in Korea, Vietnam, Loas, Iraq, Panama. I expect their reaction is different today than it was years earlier. One thing remains: People prefer to make their own decisions about their lives.
The French were not just mad at the Germans. During the invasion of Normandy the largest number of casualties were the French people of Normandy and I have seen old newsreels of Allied prisoners being marched through a French town and the people were hitting the prisoners as they marched by! A lot of French actually sympathized with the Germans as a bulwark against Bolshevism. Thousands volunteered to fight for the Germans against Russia. That is a fact that is rarely mentioned in the official histories.
A lot of German soldiers wisely headed West when they saw the war was unwinnable, because everyone knew it was preferable to be a POW of the English or American than Russian.
Where I was growing up in Alberta, Canada there was an older man that ran the ice cleaning machine at the town skating rink. He had a thick Germanic accent. I found out, or so I was told, he had been a WWII POW of the Canadian forces and was sent to a POW camp in Canada. When the war ended, as I was informed, he could return to Germany or stay here. He decided to stay stating that, "If a POW was treated so well then citizenship should be even better." I have read that when the Russian forces were advancing the German officers led their Soldiers west to be captured by the American forces. "You will be treated better as a POW by the Americans than some of our own Generals."
The whining of this war criminal is baffling. The Germans murdered over half of the POWs they took and he complains?
no, they didnt, stop with your nonsense
😂
The death rate if Americans taken ny the Germans was depending on the source between q and 3 %. Those captured by the Japanese 51%.
@@aarons3695 what do you mean, they didn't, it was first when Helmut received the chicken from the american GI that told him what awaits them, but at the time, Helmut could of course believe anything!!!
I smiled when the old woman dumped her chamber pot on their heads.
Wanted to go through the town with a machine gun? You mean again? They really are completely unaware that they’re in a land that doesn’t belong to them.
Briller moment lol
German guy whose country just starved 100,000s of Russians and to a lesser extent, US POWs (including my uncle, John Allen Jones Jr. a ball turret gunner shot down who weighed only 110 pounds and spent months in a hospital after Nazi POW camps.).
My uncle was swept up into this storm. R.L Fleming he pasted in 2019. He is on Google. An awesome man he was.
@@JohnDoe-jn4ex Same with mine, great guy in the greatest generation. Despite how bad it was, my uncle only told funny stories from the POW camps, like how a screaming elderly German woman who came out of a farm house and hit him feebly with a broom as he tried to get out of his parachute, or how the initial Nazi interrogator got mad at him when he said his name (“John Jones Jr” was a common fake name in the 40s), and that he had to show his dog tags to prove that was his actual name, or how they taught German guards who wanted to learn English stupid phrases (such that the proper way to say good bye was “bye-bye, buy war bonds,” from a popular ad campaign to sell war bonds.)
He said that most only survived thanks to Red Cross packages, which the German guards only allowed so they could loot and sell most of the contents, and that it was bad from the start, despite the copium for Germans that their POW camps were just fine and food was only short at the end…not true for him.
Aww poor nazis!
The Germans didn't care if their prisoners starved.
MANY ALLIED SURRENDERING TROOPS WERE SHOT DEAD EN-MASS,
@@MrDaiseymaylol, that doesn't make it okay. Nor was that okay. Don't you agree?
@@Ryan-vg4wn My advice for Germans is- Don't do to others what you don't want done to you.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
I’ve listened to this book/diary for many hours while on the road & what I cannot fathom is how these Germans seemed to believe that they were mistreated. A complete inability to wear the same boots that they’d nailed to the feet of all the poor soldiers of all the nations they’d invaded. Herman Wouk mentioned this peculiar German flaw in one of his books.
He spent no time thinking of the misery he had inflicted on others for no good reason.
When you are hungry thats all you think about.
Having taken enemy prisoners I have given little thought of what happened to them after either. Although at times some hate as i find years pater they got water rations tents and more later that we did not or never had and benefits that I who was 100% disabled in the line of duty still dont rate. But for this guy as a fighting man in a war an NCO I identify with him....and if you cant. You did not serve and you are lesser for that. And if you did serve yeah....your mind is wrongm
@@nemo770 Welcome home brother- I also took enemy prisoners as a Marine in Desert Storm. Iraqi soldiers desperate to surrender and get some food water and shelter. Our corpsmen and then Army medics and rear security personnel treated these men with respect and compassion. I also get very angry when I see my brothers back here in the states living in misery, homeless, addicted, and nobody gives a shit about them.
Makes me furious, actually.
Something you are missing is that the common Soldier has little say or knowledge of anything. Walk to this destination. Shoot that way. Hold this bridge. Attack that position. To assign the blame to a common troop is inaccurate overall. That said war does harden and twist men. Today I’d no more freak out over a dead body as I would a weed on the side of a road. Point is you can’t assign a nations wrongs to the lowest man on the totem pole.
@@michaelcavallacci2945 it should make us angry...theres no need for it. Worse than our brethren being neglected, we have a govt that tries very hard to put them in jail. A govt that spares no expense trying to incarcerate our fellow citizens, but doesn't care if they have nowhere to sleep. Crying shame.
Oh brother. Listening to the german complaining about opening the can to eat using a rock. I think back to how cub scouts are taught to open a can in an emergency. I have not forgotten to this day. Simply rub the flat top of the can on a flat stone or concrete surface in a circular motion and in a few moments the lid will simply pop off. Too bad the master race couldn't figure out what our cub scouts already knew.
So difficult to absorb,how can the invaders,the jailers and torturers be shocked at the hatred they earned!
75 million MAGA Nazis Don't get it, either.
This is absolutely fascinating
just a common heer soldier and yet his journal is expressive, a sophisticated grammar and vocabulary. i believe decades ago education was taken very seriously.
and his blind spot amazed the french wanted to hurt them...
German soldiers: Work and torture time for all prisoners of war
French: But you can't do that. Have you ever heard of the Genova Convention?
German Soldiers: We are the Victors and the masters here
American soldiers: You just lost the war and the Soviets are closing
German soldiers: Nein, Genova convention, mercy, pity us, poor us, Americans......
We must be better than the monsters we fight.
That's how you keep them dead.
Now that is quite a disconnect as to why the French are angry at them. Hopefully he finally came to a realization as to why those conquered by them in the early days are all angry at them whether he was friendly or not.
I have just one word to write - Ouradour.
In 1944 the U.S. was not a signatory to the Geneva Convention on the Law of Warfare, but more less observed its provisions, more so than any of the Axis powers or the Soviets. Most of the breaches were not the result of command decisions, but the actions of individual soldiers. Long story. So Helmut was wrong if he thought the Americans were bound by the Geneva Convention, which to the Americans was a guideline, but not law.
In listening to the series, it is interesting to hear the change in tone regarding Hitler from absolute adoration to spite, anger, and disgust.
that's all right then
Outstanding narration! Beautiful use of descriptive words. True mastery of painting scenes in my mind's eye!
It's computer generated I believe as some of the words are mangled.
form over content
There was a 90 year old man died few years ago. He'd been a POW of the Germans. They were starved. He couldn't believe he was still alive when the American army arrived.
My uncle was a pow held by the Germans. Wonder how many days he went with out food. Goes both ways. Bet these German pow where treated way better then he was. Don’t have any empathy for them. Thanks from Sc.
The Yankees deliberately starved to death a million German POWs.
Death rate for POW- American prisons 0.3%, Brit prisons 3%, Soviet prisons 36% and German concentration camps 67%.
And to be captured by the Japanese 51%.
@@mirquellasantos2716 sources i call bullshit specially the soviet %. Ask Hungary,Czech Republic,Poland,Latvia,Estonia,Lithunia and the like how many of their people came back from the Gulags in the east
Typically whenever a battle takes place POW provisions are not thought of and often POW’s are at least temporarily starved and without adequate shelter. In the first 18 months of the German Russian war the Germans took in excess of 3 million prisoners and the Wehrmacht just hadn’t the resources to fight a battle supply troops and feed prisoners, similarly in the 1945 German capitulation many Germans were starved for a time and imprisoned outside as the allies hadn’t the resources to cope with so many prisoners as well as feeding the German civilians and restoring the country’s infrastructure.
Transport to Eastern front could solve this problem
Where did you come up with the idea that US ration cans had to be beaten open with rocks or your boot heel? WWII C rations and K rations had keys attached to the cans that were used to open the cans.
There were cans of meat and other things that were sealed and needed an opener. They were usually opened with a bayonette or large knife.
Growing up in Ireland I had school friends whose father's were German POWs, 2 families, both stayed in Ireland after the War, they were Luftwaffe Airmen and were interned at the Curragh Camp. It's kind of famous for how prisoners were treated.....beer, whisky, tobacco, vegetable gardens and passes out to visit the cinema....as long as they gave an assurance!.
That's an interesting story. I'd know Ireland had POWs as it was neutral. Was there some agreement between Ireland and the UK or the USA?
...foreign combatants who are held in a neutral country, are "internees", they are not "POWS": only enemy combatants fall under the category of prisoners of war.
Probably still pissed
@@CW-nt1sd Who?.
@@daleburrell6273 Same thing, different name
these guys got taken prisoner at the right place, at the right time, by the right army. im sure every single one of them realized this years later or even sooner.
They were treated better than they deserved!!!
Wisconsin had many German pow in the state. There was even a case of a butcher shop shop in Milwaukee had a nephew pow work in his building. it is a dam good book read it about 12years ago.
STALAG WISCONSIN
Originally published: 2002
Author: Betty Cowley
After listening to several of these where the Germans found themselves in Soviet hands this is particularly infuriating.
This angry German would have been stripped of everything of value on his first day while being transported to Siberia and eventual starvation.
Instead, they are preserving their cigarettes and wedding rings. Perhaps being guarded by soldiers who may have recently liberated concentration camps filled with thousands of dead jews.
They all should have been offered the opportunity to swap their American captivity for that of the Russians.
The arrogance of fascism. The mistreatment of the criminal master race laid low.
He probably spent the remainder of the war in warm, clean camp in New Mexico.
Tending the communal garden with camp dances every Friday night.
No one deserves communism, not even germans
You have to understand what is going on at the time. This guy had no idea of how Americans vs Russians treated their POWS. Everything is speculation to him at this point. Of course we all know everything today but you would have had no idea At the time. Your whole emotional “fascism” spiel doesn’t even apply if you’ve been following this particular series for SGT helmut.
@@deadlyoneableHe should’ve been able to make an educated guess that being an American/British prisoner, would be preferable to a German, than being a Soviet one
@@deadlyoneable Fascism spiel? I have been listening to this series and the others.
There is one where they are marching through Ukraine on their way to Moscow where the German soldier goes on and on how fascism is the only answer to dealing with the "sub humans" in Ukraine and rural Russian country side. Hitler was refereed to as "this generations hero" as related by a 23 year old German soldier witnessing the obliteration of Beerlin.
This guy himself is amazed to find out the French absolutely hate his fascist guts.
In the 1960s, a neighbor of mine told me of walking out of Dresden and looking back
as the skies were lit up by the flames of the burning city. He was a small boy then.
He was Lithuanian, who was sold to a mean German family. In other words, a slave.
He did not like his German owners. After the war, he was able to immigrate to
America, get a college education, become an electrical engineer, marry a beautiful
blonde Lithuanian...she looked like a movie star to me. He had a daughter, and
a house in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and drove a new Corvette, and was a better
tennis player than me.
I had neighbors in '03 that were Ukrainian, he has served in Afghanistan until the withdrawal, and obviously hated the experience. He and his wife met here, married, and moved in next to me. They were wonderful people, she got her real estate license the first home she sold was one of mine. They actually met here, he had a business opportunity, she was visiting a relative. Sometimes it's just how things happen. I'm still trying to figure out how I ended up here in Southern California. Both grandfathers worked in aerospace, so probably a contributing factor...
:(
My Uncles fought the German in Europe, they each talked to each other about it while us kids played or fished, One truck Driver in Red Ball said the Infantry he hauled and carried supplies to bragged about not taking any POW's, the Infantry ones would say, "Unless we were specifically told to take a POW we shot them all on sight even with their hands up. During a fight even the WIA German was put down.
Lots of this went on, they hated the German for getting them in the war, saw so many of their men gunned down helpless and simply said one more dead Kraut gets us closer to home and why should the German get to live when I might not.
It is war, it is brutal and merciless.
The German policy towards Soviet prisoner's was also stupidity. Sun Tzu would not approve.
It wasn't stupid, they considered the USSR as a deadly political enemy. And you have to remember, Germans were desperately short of everything, including food, even as early as 1941, They treated those prisoners as enemies. You should hear about the Soviet treatment of Soviet prisoners returned to Stalin. Look up Operation Keelhaul.
Amazingt to me the lack of understanding. They conquer France and when the French are freed frrom the Germans they are surprised that the French are not acting in a friendly way. He probably would think the Soviets would pat him on the back and say what a good guy he is if captured.
they didnt "conquer" France, they didnt even occupy the whole country.
They certainly occupied the entire country in November 1942. As far as I know France was defeated by Germany in 1940 maybe you donb't consider that conquered but Vichy was under the control of Germany and the country stayed that way until 1944.
@@caryblack5985 no, like I said, the entire country was NOT occupied.
@@xisotopex What part was not occupied?
Problem with the Soviet Union is that there were still many whites in the army, and some other countries didn't like the union and hailed the nazis as heroes.
I find this guy Helmut really fascinating. He has many admirable qualities and his journey is so interesting and difficult. He has slight blind spot in not understanding why some folks might be a bit angry at the Germans after WW2.
It is fascinating to witness the voice of a German POW from a vantage point in time that affords one far more information than the narrator has. I try to think of times I held beliefs that I later shuffled off in the face of new information and life experiences when listening to this. I also wonder how I would have behaved in a totalitarian regime where control of information is the primary governing principle.
@@boxsterman77 very true. Many times have I gone down paths of bizarre beliefs and wondered afterwards how I got there. Listening to the latest episodes shows Helmut comes to change his views. Such a great story.
It's easy to say that with the 20/20 vision of hindsight, but when you are in those times consumed by the fog of war it isn't clear. A fair bit goes unaccounted for when you are focused on survival yourself. Most Germans probably straight up didn't know a god damned thing by and large. Correspondence was monitored and edited as a war measure, state secrets were kept on pain of death. Logistics get muddled to utterly inoperable by allied bombing runs destroying rail and road. It's hard to say, in those circumstances, how many prisoners died from malice versus how many died due to the simple lack of supplies.
Its generally pretty shitty to be taken prisoner by the losers in a war. Inevitably whether directly or indirectly your comrades success will hurt you.
Its a testament to the effectiveness of German propaganda
The unfortunate advent of soldiers giving their all for the causes created by politicians across the planet makes them just pawns in a giant power game most (not all) times. Many German, ltalian and Japanese soldiers were not fully aware of the mindset and intent their leaders.
I have absolutely no sympathy for any German or Japanese soldier of WW2. I knew far too many veterans in my youth.
"I have no love of self righteous monsters, for I knew many other self righteous monsters in my youth."
Make no mistake both sides would be just as ugly in the eyes of a just God.
This is great stuff for armchair historians like myself. I appreciate these reports from the 'other side', as I am Irish American. War is unfortunately a part of the story of humanity...when under it all, we are all brothers and sisters inside.
No, the Nazis were never my brothers. My only problem with these videos is that is humanizes monsters. While listening, people should always keep in mind not only the dead Allied soldiers, but also the 12,000,000 they rounded up and executed. They were barbarically cruel, mass murderers.
So no, under the skin...we are NOT all the same.
@@bullgator Well said... nothing but the truth.
As a Vet I'd like to agree but look around today we are being brainwashed to hate each other while the same assholes in charge (bankers) rule over us and enslave us, it's easy to be a monday morning quarter back.
Nazis were cruel cold blooded murderers... children of Satan. Stop glamorizing them. Neo Nazis are worse... equal to the KKK murderers at heart. We are not all the same... unless you mean biochemically... not socially.
Well said. From an Englishman.
They had a nasty way of treating other people, they were all lucky to be taken alive
These videos are fantastic. I really like the parts where, “the French show their true face,” lol. You know, the true face of someone whose country was invaded. “I thought they really liked me.” A true sports fan
Least we didn't put them in Concentration camps and gas cambers or mass Graves like they did to our polish friends I k now the Germans r our allies now but I know some few still quietly think same way they did during this time
Sadly, there are people all around the world that think that way today...quietly and loudly.
Many Jewish POWs were put into Concentration Camps when the Nazis discovered that they were Jewish. In one camp, several Mexican POWs were murdered because the Nazis thought they might be Jewish.
I’ve listened to many diary stories by soldiers that were fighting the Russian on the eastern front, that surrendered and how they were treated by the Red Army and the communists . I can’t imagine anyone being happy as a POW, but it doesn’t appear these soldiers are aware how lucky they are to be surrendering to the Americans.
The Americans did let thousands of German POWs starve to death , maybe this is one of the camps this occurred, as I'm listening to this on CZcams the dialogue is incomplete.
@@johndowds5770 Please understand I was speaking in general, but I agree CZcams is an incomplete source of accurate history. All armies commit inhuman acts because they are made up of people. Most are decent but unfortunately some are pure evil. People always leave out facts if that are not to their advantage, best to find as many sources as possible so you get a more accurate honest understanding of any historical event especially warfare, battles and military events.
@@johndowds5770 B.S.
I hate war but it is a reality we have to deal with. Thank you service men of all nations ❤
Im very happy i found this channel! I can listen and get work done all day. Very interesting too. Subscribed!!
What a fantastic story of we who follow can only dream. The dispassionate narrative is key.
A direct quote from General George S. Patton:
"Born at sea, Baptized in blood, your fame shall never die. The 45th Division is one of the best, if not the best division, in American Arms”.
The first Americans to land in Europe, wasn’t Normandy on June 6 1944, but at Sicily almost a year before in 1943 by a Division who spent 511 days in combat.
511 days in combat.
Probably one of the most overlooked group of US soldiers of the war. The US 45th Infantry Division “Thunderbirds” Oklahoma National Guard) After Sicily they continued fighting at Salerno, Monte Casino, Anzio (One of the Toughest Battles of WWII, it was an absolute Hellish 3 month battle which the 45th Prevailed.
On June 4, 1944 the 45th Liberated Rome. They were also the first allied Troops to reach the Vatican. After Liberating Italy, The 45th Infantry Division participated in its fourth amphibious assault landing during Operation Dragoon on 15 August 1944, at St. Maxime, in Southern France. The 45th Infantry Division landed its 157th and 180th regimental combat teams and captured the heights of the Chaines de Mar.
Then The German Army, reeling from the loss at the Battle of Normandy, part of an overall German withdrawal to the east following the landings stumbled across the waiting 45th Infantry Division who engaged and began to route the stunned German forces, those who could hastily retreated away from the fight however the 45th trapped and destroyed German Army Group G, while suffering very few casualties. After they took Epinal, (Another tough fight) they left France proceeded into the Sudatenland and into Germany.
The Thunderbirds then moved north to the Sarreguemines area and smashed through the Siegfried Line, on 17 March taking Homburg on the 21st and crossing the Rhine between Worms and Hamm on the 26th.The advance continued, with Aschaffenburg falling on 3 April, and Nuremberg on the 20th.
Dachau: The 45th crossed the Danube River on 27 April, and liberated 32,000 captives of the Dachau concentration camp on 29 April 1945. The men so disgusted and shocked at the train cars full of bodies leading into the camp and the condition of those held there rounded up every German of the remaining SS force that held the Camp (Most of the SS who occupied Dachau made a disorganized retreat upon hearing the Thunderbirds of the 45th Infantry Division’s arrival was imminent. Around 75 Germans were captured, lined up against a concrete wall and executed by members of the 45th.
The division captured Munich during the next two days, occupying the city until V-E Day and the surrender of Germany.
During the next month, the division remained in Munich and set up collection points and camps for the massive numbers of surrendering troops of the German armies. The number of POWs taken by the 45th Infantry Division during its almost two years of fighting totalled 124,840 men. The division was then slated to move to the Pacific theater of operations to participate in the invasion of mainland Japan on the island of Honshu, but these plans were scrubbed before the division could depart after the surrender of Japan, on V-J Day.
In the forgotten War in Korea, the “Thunderbirds” of the 45th Infantry (Oklahoma National Guard) were one of only two National Guard units deployed to Korea to fight due to their reputation. They performed exceptionally well while there.
The unit symbol of a Yellow Thunderbird on a Red Diamond shaped background is one of the most iconic and recognizable shoulder sleeve insignia in the entire US Military.
During World War II, the 45th Division fought in 511 days of combat.Nine soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during their service with the 45th Infantry Division: Van T. Barfoot, Ernest Childers, Almond E. Fisher, William J. Johnston, Salvador J. Lara, Jack C. Montgomery, James D. Slaton, Jack Treadwell,and Edward G. Wilkin. Soldiers of the division also received 61 Distinguished Service Crosses, three Distinguished Service Medals, 1,848 Silver Star Medals, 38 Legion of Merit medals, 59 Soldier's Medals, 5,744 Bronze Star Medals, and 52 Air Medals. The division received seven distinguished unit citations and eight campaign streamers during the conflict.
The Main Character of Martin Scorsese’s film: “The Irishman” or “I Heard You Paint Houses” Confessed Murderer, Hitman And likely assassin of friend Jimmy Hoffa; Frank Sheeran was a member of the 45th Infantry Division in World War II; later recalled his war service as the time when he first developed a callousness to the taking of human life. Sheeran claimed to have participated in numerous massacres and summary executions of German POWs, acts which violated the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and the 1929 Geneva Convention on POWs. In later interviews with Charles Brandt, he divided such massacres into four categories:
1.Revenge killings in the heat of battle. Sheeran told Brandt that, when a German soldier had just killed his close friends and then tried to surrender, he would often "send him to hell, too". He described often witnessing similar behavior by fellow GIs.
2.Orders from unit commanders during a mission. When describing his first murder for organized crime, Sheeran recalled: "It was just like when an officer would tell you to take a couple of German prisoners back behind the line and for you to 'hurry back'. You did what you had to do."
3.The Dachau massacre and other reprisal killings of concentration camp guards and trustee inmates.
Calculated attempts to dehumanize and degrade German POWs. While Sheeran's unit was climbing the Harz Mountains, they came upon a Wehrmacht mule train carrying food and drink up the mountainside. The female cooks were first allowed to leave unmolested, then Sheeran and his fellow GIs "ate what we wanted and soiled the rest with our waste". Then the Wehrmacht mule drivers were given shovels and ordered to "dig their own shallow graves". Sheeran later joked that they did so without complaint, likely hoping that he and his buddies would change their minds. But the mule drivers were shot and buried in the holes they had dug. Sheeran explained that by then, he "had no hesitation in doing what I had to do”. “Anzio taught me who my enemy was, and what he was capable of”.
Killer post
I was in the 45th Brigade (700th support battalion) for 9 years in the 80s and 90s. Missed out on any combat. However the unit was a close nit unit with a strong comradery. As capable as any active duty unit (probably more capable, due to our long term familiarity with each other). Testament to the fact that the 700th was active in WW1, WW2, Korean, Global War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. In addition we nearly mobilized in 1991 during Desert Storm. Unit has many honors and citations for its meritorious service by the French, Italy and in Korea.
Too long, don't care. Happy for you or that sucks, whatever it says.
@@robertsaget6918 *Be Better*
@@robertsaget6918 Wow, what is wrong with you to CARE so much to leave a comment for something you didn't read. You really need to chill. This isn't it.
😂😂😂My Grandmother told me her Mother never could learn proper English so she just spoke German & French. My Other Grandparents spoke Hungarian,German,French, Italian and couldn’t ever get rid of their heavy Hungarian accents. I’m sure plenty of GIs knew exactly what the POWs were saying.
Give them to the Jewish people.
My Dad and all his many Cousins enlisted. My Dad joined the NY National Guard when he was 18……he couldn’t wait. He wasn’t happy when he was sent to the Pacific. My Mother’s twin brother was stationed in England dropping bombs from high above Germany.
Helmut’s complaints of inadequate food and accommodations in the PW camps in Europe fails to take into account that no one expected Hitler’s “superior aryan” soldiers to surrender en mass! The fact that they did so created a logistical nightmare for the allies.
It looks like you are posting this in installments
I found the last episode this week
Really enjoyed it
Thanks !
Thanks !!!👍👍👍
My father fought in North Africa and Italy after getting home after Dunkirk. He was captured in Italy near the end of the war but was a mere skeleton when he escaped from a death march and hid in a barn. His health suffered for the remainder of his life. Yet here in UK we were told of the Italian and German POW camp prisoners were allowed out, were fed despite the deprivations, kept warm and were never brutalised.
This is true. My uncle was captured when the Australian 6th Division were forced to surrender in Crete and spent 4 years in a German pow camp. He said the only time the prisoners were anxious was when SS units took their turns guarding the camp, and when allied planes bombed the rail head not far from the camp. The rest of the time was pretty easy. There was always something to do and depending on the guards, they were sometimes allowed to walk around the local village and able to buy foods and wine from the locals. Just don't ask me where they got the money from but I'm guessing it was from selling Red Cross parcels that came pretty often. The Japanese POW camps were totally different.
I wonder what your father would have thought about the demands by Jamaicans and others for reparations because of "their" sufferings due to slavery?
@@johncater7861 he would have sympathised because he grew up with the deprivations of the slump in Manchester, always hungry. A slave to circumstances
A friend, back in the day, was captured, by the Americans, late in the war. He said that they treated them OK, but it was better when he was transferred to the British.
War is hell. Always.
Wow. Asinine even in defeat.
I had an uncle that was in the Volkssturm just before his 15th birthday with 3 of his friends that were in the Hitler Youth. He was sent to Poznan as part of a reinforcement. His only training was throwing a grenade taught him in the Hitler Youth where he learned that he was lucky to being going East because the Americans' had black soldiers who were actual cannibals. His unit was captured by the Russians near a place called Junikowo (sp) at the end of Feb or beginning of March. The evening they were captured, the group managed to escape during some fighting. After about 6 or so weeks they'd lost 2 of them, but had wandered back to Munich only to find the Americans were already there. They hid in the sewers and once tried to steal food from the garbage area of an American mess hall but they got scared when they saw a "Grosser schwarzer Koch" with a butcher's smock. They hid for another 2 or so weeks before locals convinced them to give up. He said, "f@ck the Russians" that cook gave me nightmares for the rest of my life. It's what you don't know.
Awesome story haha
Amazing how German POWs got treated better than Black people. While captured, then after Germany fell, They got to go places & do things which Blacks weren't permitted.
Hell, they could've been SS war criminals while under captivity in Louisiana, but they were still held in higher esteem than the Black people who grew up there.
@@archlab007 I'm not sure if that's completely accurate, but Americans certainly treated POWs better than the Germans did. There's no reasoning with racists though. It's amazing to me that despite some heated exchanges when Americans liberated concentration camps, that there weren't more summary executions.
@@Viconius I guess we can say that Wa does one philosophical thing: It causes some people to compare & contrast, then realize that we're all the sae...& not always in the warnm & fuzzy ways.
P
Awesome! Thanks very much
Interesting and informative. Excellent photography picture 📷 enabling the viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing. Class A research project!!! Special thanks to the veteran soldier sharing personal information pertaining to capture by the advancing American forces. Much better captivity ( POW) treatment then would the Russians have offered. The disillusioned thoughts of escape when the war for Germany was was slowly closing it's final chapters. The ( POW ) who quit smoking 🚬 cigarettes made a wise health decision. Along with that doesn't attempt to escape.
Wow! This could be a movie!
An American two party political system, largely dominated and funded by first and second generation ethnic Germans. This ethnic grouping was to the fore in winning America's independence, and it controlled light, heavy and new generation industries. WW2 saw a predominantly German- American administration show reluctance to entry a war in Europe against Germany. 31 per cent of US soldiers, all branches, that fought in WW2 were of German ethnicity. Many had family in Germany, including the Trump clan. There can be little surprise that this cultural affinity, and general humanity, revealed itself in moments during the war but especially towards the end of the conflict. Reactions were certainly different from Americans of Polish, Russian, Italian, French, Irish, Nordic and Central European ethnicity in the treatment of Germans.
I mostly agree, but FDR was absolutely salivating to get into the war, he wanted any _casus belli_ he could find. Pearl harbor was Christmas and his birthday all in one to him.
I hope there are more parts coming from this fellow. It's odd to have ended midsentence. These recordings are fascinating!
Where I live in the US (Georgia) there were several POW camps where German prisoners were held until the end of the war (many people don't even know we had German POWs in the USA). They were treated so well that many of the camps would allow German POWs to leave the camps daily to go work for area farmers. After the war many former German POWs formerly held in the USA found their ways back to the US because they remembered the treatment they received when they were POWs. Many of them married American girls they met (many farmer's daughters) while they were in the camps. I personally know of 3 different families in Georgia who are direct descendants of German POWs from WWII.
We
This is interesting. I also never really knew we had POW camps here until I went backpacking in Michaux State Forest in south central PA and realized they have a historic site in the middle of the wilderness where there was once a POW camp for Germans. Being a backpacker AND history buff, it was like hitting two birds with one stone. Very cool!
@2:13 "...it depends completely on me if and how I come through it..."
Definitely words of inspiration for any trial we might face.
These 3 german friends episodes are really exiting!!!
And exciting as well.
The reason I find this story believable is the shocking arrogance displayed throughout. Many post-war memoirs by germans were written to absolve them of blame and make them look better, but the general attitude of a german soldier was pretty much this. "How dare they not treat us like kings! We deserve the best! They can't do this to us! How dare the French be mean to us!" A barbarian horde convinced of their own righteousness...
tes. But his narration has conned a lot of posts here!
@@TheOwlsarewatching606 there'll always be people with a weirdly open mind when it comes to Nazis and a weirdly closed mind when it comes to other things ;p
"10 reasons you should surrender to the US army. The fifth one will surprise you." 😂
Baffling that German POWs would be indignant at their treatment by French civilians.
This is like listening to Robinson Caruso. Sanctimonious as all get out.
Imma getting the occasional Three Stooges vibe from Hawker & Helmut and the other guy.
He was lucky to be captured by U S.
Under difficult circumstances it is a tribute to human decency and military order that reasonable efforts were made to treat German prisoners in accordance with treaties we previously agreed to follow.
They are lucky they arent going to Russia
if he got captured by the russians, he had a 5 pct chance of survival.
2:24 What profound insight! He was only 28 years old when he wrote this. I was 40 before I realized that the world wasn’t at war with me.
The more I hear this man’s thoughts, the more I wish I had a chance to meet him and shake his hand.
His story is mesmerizing
My uncle was incharge of intake POW chow halls. This was the first place they would get to eat. At that point the U.S.Army wanted the german soldiers relaxed. This was for two reasons. First to keep the peace. Second, my uncle spoke german and he wasnt in those chow halls for the fun of it. He was there to listen. Spying. The Americans didnt take all that much shit from the prisoners. A german POW could wind up very dead very fast if he stepped out of line. My uncle was also looking for SS officers hiding in enlisted mens uniform. When found they where given time for one last cigarette. My uncle did the honors on a number of occasions. My uncle told us how the Germans wanted to act all innocent, but after four years of fighting them the Americans werent taken in. The Americans would also take these prisoner though and to towns so that the people could get a wack at them. Americans had some scores to settle,take heart, they did.
I would say he was lucky to be alive. Some American soldiers would be cruel but they would be in the minority. The biggest problem was supplies. America could supply a lot of rations but not enough to supply the army, the population and prisoners of war. Just to many. These three are planning escaping. Escape to where? If they are caught by the French they could be easily shot. What makes me wonder is how prisoners were expected to open rations if they took away all the knives? Malicious or just idiots?
If you noticed one of the others says what actualy happened. They were not expecting so ma y prisoners. Another sad reality is after the war tens of tbousands did die from starvation and exposiure and disease because the allies didnt expect so many MILLIONS.
The ration boxes contain a tiny tin opener called a P-38. They are about 30 mm in length.
@@Albemarle7 Yes, I think I still have one that I used to use before MRE's came out. The trouble is it sounds like they didn't hand them out. Maybe someone had the idea it could be used as a weapon.
@@Albemarle7 I had one of those in the 1970's attached to my key ring. Very effective.
4 cookies, 3 candies, 3 cigarettes. Maddening.
"Price went up, that's inflation!"
No. The Americans gave out cigarettes - increased the money supply. THAT is inflation.
Interesting observations about the French. A large portion of the people eagerly supported the Germans and a French SS division fought to the bitter end in Berlin and had to blasted out of rail tunnels with anti aircraft guns by the Soviets.
its true. SS Charlagmagne
There was also a squadron within the SS composed entirely of captured British soldiers, many with German lineage.
The Reich and the USSR were political competitors for the proper socialism. Many French, and others, joined Germany because they wanted to fight communism, not for the victory of Nazism.
@@gerardodwyer5908And virtually no members.
@@gerardodwyer5908actually that’s not quite correct. It was called The British Free Corps. They were recruited from POW camps. At no point did it exceed more than 27 men in strength.
How lucky Helmut is. Poor defenseless prisoners? The the Wehrmacht committed atrocities against children and civilians, too. It wasn't just the SS and the Einsatzgruppen. Briella was right, they deserved no better.
Evil cares above all about Aesthetics. These soldiers kept an absolute APPEARANCE of kindness and honor. It was everything to them. Then when they were asked to do terrible things, they did it.
They can't figure out why their victims hate them so much because they believe their appearance of fairness is the real thing. They can't and don't go so far as to ask "Would we not be blamed for starting this war?" Because to them, their truth and justice has already been proven. They acted fair, thus they were fair, thus it is cruel and unreasonable to be angry at them!
They're only willing to change the surface level of their beliefs. They can't ask "Is this war fair?"
Also, there's a common myth that they didn't know about all the war crimes and Holocaust. This is simply not true. They may have been personally in denial about it, but it was a stated and clearly communicated policy of the Furher. It's like someone today saying the average American wouldn't know about Trump's Wall.
They just thought that was *right*. The evil is not that they were tricked.... It's that you don't need to trick people to get them to betray goodness. You just need to teach them a new good.
Your comparing a security wall to genocide............ amazing!
America is the undisputed Reigning champion of dropping warheads on foreheads. If you surrender you win and get ice cream.
its astounding how ungrateful these swine were at the time considering everything they've done.
that said i do appreciate the honesty that this particular piglet didn't hold back
1870, 1914, 1940, you think the french are a little tired of being attacked?
excellent work
8:50 I imagine in a time when not greeting your oppressor with anything short of enthusiasm could bring unwanted attention to you and your friends there was a great deal of "friendly French" who would have been happy to slit your throat if he thought he could get away with it, and I don't doubt that happened from time to time.
I imagine that many Germans died in shock watching their blood spraying the grinning face of someone they thought was a friend, that "friend" having just drawn a sharp blade across their neck.
Most of the German solders were not evil. They were young boys doing their duty for their country.
I love these 'audio book chapters' because they get me to look at a different viewpoint which I did not grow up with. It does help me see the German servicemen as human beings. But still....
It's amazing how German POWs got treated better than Black people. While captured, then after Germany fell, They got to go places & do things which Blacks weren't permitted.
Meanwhile, I can imagine that a Black US Serviceman taken as a POW by the Nazis wouldn't have been treated any better than the Jews, as they were Undermensch in the eyse of the Germans.
Hell, these German POWs could've been SS war criminals while under captivity in Louisiana, but they were still held in higher esteem than the Black people who grew up there.
My family was of German descent and were sent to fight in Guadalcanal and Lwyte.
Having some German heritage it saddens me the way the Germans treated not only POWs but civilians as well. It maddens and confuses me why they don’t understand the deserved hatred they clearly earned. That goes for the Japanese as well. How do these people justify their nation’s aggression and brutality and not understand why these people they waged war on hate them. Clearly not the master race they thought they were or they would have been smart enough to get it.
"We think about you in the same way you think about the Jews, the Poles, the Slavs, the Roma, homosexuals, etc. We think about you in the same way you thought about them, but our intolerance is backed up by evidence."
That's why they didn't like you.