A Sad & Complicated War Cemetery in the BLOODLANDS of Poland | History Traveler Episode 209
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 พ.ค. 2022
- German soldiers & Holocaust victims buried in the same cemetery? This is one of the things that make the burial grounds in Przemysl such a complicated place. This area of Eastern Europe has been the site of much war and violence over the years, which is why many today refer to it at the "Bloodlands". In this episode, we're exploring this haunting cemetery where the dead from WWI & WWII lie at rest.
This episode was produced in partnership with The Gettysburg Museum of History. See how you can support history education & artifact preservation by visiting their website & store at www.gettysburgmuseumofhistory...
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Other episodes that you might enjoy:
- The Verdun of the EASTERN FRONT at Przemysl Fortress in WWI | History Traveler Episode 207: • The Verdun of the EAST...
- The 12th SS Massacre of the Canadians in Normandy | History Traveler Episode 195: • The 12th SS Massacre o...
- Holdy Battery: The Sister Gun Battery of Brecourt Manor | History Traveler Episode 187: • Holdy Battery: The Sis...
- German Bunkers of UTAH BEACH (D-Day!!!) | History Traveler Episode 190: • German Bunkers of UTAH...
- The Private Collection of Major Dick Winters (EP 151): • The Private Collection...
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In the late 1800's, my great great grandfather and his family(the Nyikos or Nykos) came to America from Hungary. Just years later, he was drafted to serve in WWI and sent back to fight in Europe. He survived the war and returned home. Just decades later, he and his Son, (my great uncle) were drafted and sent back to Europe again to fight the Nazi's in WWII. Imagine escaping a place like that just to be sent back twice, but miraculously survive both times.
Omg!!!
Wow that’s an epic achievement!!
God bless them.
Amazing heros for sure!!!
My great grandfather in Germany had 5 brothers that was killed during WWI. He then moved to the US and my grandfather then fought in WWII for the 6th armored division. We still have a lot of family in Germany so he fought against his own cousins. I actually have a ton of pictures of my grandfather that fought for the 6th armored division and I just recently got his yearbook that was handed out to the soldiers.
Never ceases to sadden me the cruelty of war. What one person can do to another…
Awful.
Great job, excellent video.
Doesn't just take a war... it certainly excellerates it though. Sadly
Who am I.. if you wish to know yourself,.. know your name.
Excellent! Thank you!!
I've been around Zamosc, very interesting 🤔
I've known about the World Wars, and the Civil War for most of my life. However, your videos make them so much more real than a textbook can. Thank you for all your hard work.
Thanks! Glad that the videos are able to add to what you know in some way.
Because of Felicity
Your a little toughy,did you know that?
I agree. Thank you
Same here. While school taught a few paragraphs on each war and how America was involved . .but not in depth like his series has
I look forward to each video and feel smarter for just watching it. Thank you so much for the knowledge
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Every I walk near those mass graves of soldiers fighting for long gone empires, be it German, Austro-Hungarian or even soviet (and belive me, we have A LOT of them in PL), I always recalls a quote from P. B. Shelley's Ozymandias:
"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Pretty somber and sobering place.
This is a small fraction of the people who died in WWI and WWII. Soldiers, civilians all around the world paid a heavy price of war. Thank you for letting us join you in remembering these souls.
Hard to wrap your mind around it all.
I admire the Polish people. It would be difficult to name a country anywhere in the world over the vastness of time that has been subject to more violence from neighboring countries.
Where such death has occurred it leaves a mark on the land. Can never be wiped away, but never must it be repeated. May they rest in peace.
Thank you!
I can find peace and serenity at cemeteries, even military ones, but battlefields are no-go for me. Blood and violence do leave a mark on the land, just call it bad ju-ju.
I just am speechless....why hate is so large that it destroys!? We must stand against this type of thing, no matter the cost!
In the German WWII Cemetery what you may have come across when you found an individual marker was a German Soldier who was killed in Poland was buried by the roadside and was recovered after the fall of the iron curtin and was identified when his dog tags were matched up with Bundesarchiv records. Reintered at Premysl after the initial markers were made, they were given an individual marker.
History has always been fascinating to me. My Dad was Career Army, serving in WWII, Korea - the duration, and called out of retirement for Vietnam.
My Dad didn't share much, Government personnel approached him at one point & said tell us where you were & when, we can get you more money for your retirement. He calmly said, I've spent many years forgetting when & where, why would I re-live that for a couple dollars? He was very sensitive regarding his time in WWII & the lives lost. I think the hardest part was the attempted eradication of Jewish people. You touch on that in this video.
I was born when my Dad was full on retired, he was 55yo, my Mom was 20yrs his Jr. He did tell some stories, the times that were funny & just living life stories. We actually found out that he had put my Husband's Dad thru basic training for Vietnam before either one of us was a thought. Dad had friends like John Eisenhower & David McInerney. I wish I would have documented in some form his life story.
Dad passed December 7, 2008 - Pearl Harbor Remembrance day.
The made a movie about his Vietnam Military unit & their extraordinary survival its called - Honor in the Valley of Tears. It's worth a watch.
Your video's are amazing. You are honoring these soilders & civilians with such integrity, love & kindness.
Thank you for that.
Wow! Thank you for sharing that and for the kind words.
Very similar story to mine, my dad was 54 when I was born and my mom was 17 years younger than him. Dad fought in WWII and met Mom when his unit liberated her village in northern France. So after 4 years of Nazi occupation and brutality, Dad was literally her knight in shining armor. He didn't talk about his combat experience much either. Mom and grandma on her side were involved in the French resistance and I got stories from them about those days. For example when the Germans were getting ready to hightail it in late 44, the commander of the military garrison in the village called Mom and grandma into his office and told them that he had been perfectly aware of their resistance activities, but that he was no Nazi and wasn't about to denounce them to the Gestapo. And with that he presented them with a bottle of expensive and unopened brandy and asked them to give it to the American military commander when he arrives, 'with my compliments '. Mom was really fond of telling that story.
So sad for humanity! MILLIONS of people died in WW-II over the desires of ONE MAN!! We never learn from our mistakes. To date, we fight each other for no other reason than "Want"! Also, kinda strange the WW-I mass graves were built on a slope as opposed to flat, level ground! We really need to stop this senseless killing we impose on each other! After watching many of your videos, I have finally subbed!
I love videos like these. They are a powerful reminder of what war is truly like. At the end of the day, those fighting and dying in the war aren’t the ones who started it. It was moving to see that this cemetery took the time to represent everyone who died there regardless of their background. It would be difficult to honor the dead of those who caused so much despair to your own people, but we all are but bone in the end. Thanks for sharing this sobering place
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I love that you do all that you do with your son.
One of my favourite words you can learn history but you can never change
Yep. Much to learn here.
@@TheHistoryUnderground can't wait for the next video mate
A sobering look at the actual cost of war. Thank you JD for sharing this with those of us that will only ever see military cemeteries as neat and orderly rows of honored dead. There is another side and this video helped shed light on that.
Pretty jarring. I'd never seen anything like it.
The more I watch,the more I learn,so thank you
I hear you. Thanks! Feel free to share these out if you catch one that you think others might find interesting.
@@TheHistoryUnderground sure will
It really hits you seeing the names of the thousands that died. The results of the evil of war.
Very much so. Each name has a story.
That was very hard to watch! I can’t imagine being there in person JD. Thank you for doing this one and bringing light to all of those soul’s and the history that can never be lost.
Thank you. Certainly a heavy place.
Thank you for sharing this sad history from this part of the world. How horrible that they are now living in war again there.
I know. Tears me up.
The translation for the German cemetery entrance Helden Fahne-Hero flag.
Amazing video. Sad how brutal mankind can be towards itself throughout history.
Makes sense. Couldn't tell what the last word was- Fahne.
No it is a wrong translation. The "f" is actually an old German "s" and so it means "To Germany's heroic sons"
JD. You are a lucky man, I sit on my couch and watch your video's.. But a lot of people don't think about HOW MUCH WORK you put into your video's, ( in my opinion ) .not to mention the money you spend..... Thank you Frank from montana....
I appreciate that! It's definitely a 2nd full time job, but I enjoy sharing the experiences and learning from others.
When I hiked the Appalachian Trail I’d often happen upon old cemeteries and take a gander at some of the tombstones. Women.. children… men… soldiers… and even entire families all in a row. The haunting aspect is how short & precious our moment is. And that the sum of it all might be a dusty tombstone in the corner of the lot whom a passerby centuries later might stop and wonder about the person who’s life is now represented by a dash between two dates.
I'm 58 now. But when I was in my early 20's, I had a job with a company that did the on-sight engraving of headstones. In other words, I would go to cemeteries to sand blast names into headstones of people who were added and entered in that plot. I saw many of the same things you mention. Very sad...
Today the day of Remembrance day of Europe is now beautiful told - and hopefully maybe a bit better remembered - so impressive story that needs to be told again and again
Thank you. Much appreciated.
How lucky is your son to have a great man like you to follow!
Finally an episode of History Traveler in my homeland ! Looking forward for some more videos from Poland
This is a part of the World Wars that gets little attention. Thanks for putting a deserving spotlight on it, JD
Thank you.
As usual we didn't get this in our history class. Thank you for sharing JD. Praying for your continuing teaching 🙏.
As a Pole, I really appreciate that you showed a piece of WWII history.
It’s hard to understand the violence and suffering of war. I experienced my little slice in 68-69. As someone who is interested in history we tend to dilute the tragedy with words like casualties and descriptions of tactical maneuvers and strategic plans but at its roots it is horrific.
On another note you have a cinematographer’s eye and an effective way of combining image, pacing and music to effectively communicate not only the history but the solemnity and respect appropriate to the place. Continued nice work.
War takes it toll in so many ways. You would think that people would learn from history. Sad 😔
History changes. Human nature doesn't.
Could you stop at Oradour-sur-Glane? That place always gives me chills and has an extremely sad story behind it
About that quote about Polish losses in WW2...it's not my intention to diminish tragedy od Jewish people in Holocaust but losses of Slavic people in WW2 are even higher, also considered from Nazi's as untermensch or subhuman, mass killed and used as forced labour until death. And nobody talk about that. As being Slavic myself, it hurt a bit.
I'll touch on that sometime in the future. The number quoted at the end of the video would include both Jews and non-Jews in Poland. Tragic.
@Assismus Yiddish is not German, it is Yiddish, and the people who have spoken it were Polish citizens. Sanation antysemitism never did any good to anybody.
I'm part Slovak to,that's sad and alarming.
...perhaps more true than not...but I learned early about russo-slavic death tolls between 1914-1956...and how our WWll ally, 'uncle joe', liquidated tens of millions more of you than 'bruder wolf'' did...I freely spend disdain on nazi and bolshevic (also maoist and khmer) perps and their acts but war accounts for only a fraction of the death and misery Russia's people suffered in that @50-year period...it was the creep from Georgia who did most of his killing before WWll and then afterward, behind the iron curtain...we knew little about it then and only slightly more now...and presently, our friend Igor, we watch another asp in power where you live, swelling with self-importance, guilt and fright, pussing up, with his oilygarch cliques, your nation's offices...and we wonder what we can do to help Russia's people strike them down...before their private armies of criminals and killers murder tens-of-millions more of you in this century!...
@@johnviinalass3865 lol I'm not Russian
Very touching and thanks for showing the cemeteries but having ancestors from that area I would have sincerely wished you had shown the Polish cemetery too, especially since it is Poland.
Yeah, I felt bad about that but we were short on time and had to get to the border where we were working to help with the Ukrainian refugees coming over. I'll go back though.
@@TheHistoryUnderground You are right, taking care of the living comes first. I've been a subscriber for awhile, love your content.
Very moving. In both WW1 & WW2 the eastern front was the most brutal and horrific area of fighting .Overall the casualties were 10 times that of all the combined theatres of operations in both wars .I have a great many Polish friends here in Scotland whom to this day still do not forgive both the Russians and German occupiers. Thank you for highlighting this often forgotten history.
Grave sites like that should be enough to teach people about the horror of war and its best to avoid it. Unfortunately seems like some now want to repeat history. Great video
Humanity is VERY stupid! We never learn from our mistakes no matter how many die making them!!
“Wait till you see it.”
“See what?”
“What a man will do to another man.”
(Fury) just a movie but I love that quote.
Very true
So sad what people are capable of doing to each other
I was born and raised in the town of Jaroslaw, not too far from Przemysl. I had no clue of the history and battles that took place so close to my hometown, thanks for the interesting content !
It's sad that the graves haven't been cleaned up...thank you for these videos
Who doesn’t love a good cemetery video!?!? I will never forget the way I felt in school when learning about WWII and the Holocaust…. It is honestly to this day gut wrenching to think of all of those innocent, good people who died…. For no reason…. So sad.
I wonder if the Holocaust is even taught in schools anymore!
@@sarge6870 I’m not sure… I’ll have to ask some highschool kids. My kids are too young to learn about that stuff.
Thanks for sharing this Cemetery 🪦 and the back ground. It's hard to comprehend.
It's amazing to see what happen in that time so many lives gone
Pretty heavy.
07:54 The translation is Germany's Sons of Heroes. It's written in an old fashion font, the supposed "f" (in second word) is a "s"
Thanks! I appreciate that. Always learning :)
@@TheHistoryUnderground keep on doing good video stuff. We all can learn from this.
Thank you so much for all of your interesting and educational videos. Poland is on my bucket list, and you have provided a wealth of ideas for places to explore.
👍🏻
It's wonderful and important that you are telling these stories that don't make it to history books and movies. Thank you for keeping their memories alive.
If I could even bring myself to speak about the atrocities that happened (over centuries) in Eastern Europe, it would present a huge challenge. I'm not sure I have that within me. For now, I thank you and your Son for being the best of people. Take care ...
Appreciate that. Thank you.
You do outstanding work! Thank you for not forgetting all those that died and telling a small part of their lives…even if it’s centered around their deaths. War is a terrible thing. My dad fought in WWII and was there for the hanging of Mussolini. He was there for the liberation of Auschwitz. He witnessed terrible things and carried those memories the rest of his life. Seeing these cemeteries is sobering…all those names is mind blowing. You never stop to think about how many people have died in a war until their names are written down or all the gold crowns that were ripped from their mouths, shoes in piles, suitcases, and photos. Never forget.
Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviets. How did you father manage to see that?
If you've watched a few episodes and feel like I've earned it, be sure to subscribe so that you don't miss any new content when it comes out.
Also be sure to check out The Gettysburg Museum of History and their store at www.gettysburgmuseumofhistory.com. Thanks!
I will definitely do that,also, I know you said you have merchandise, I normally don’t buy merch because it might not look good, but with watching your channel, I would love to wear yours
@@steveshipkie1624 - Thank you. I appreciate that. You can find some shirts on the store here: www.thehistoryundergroundstore.com/
@@TheHistoryUnderground Thank you, I will order something shortly
You earned my subscription awhile ago. You have more than earned my respect and admiration for all that you do. i watched one video and then i went to Ukraine you. i haven't left. i see God's love in You.
i know so little about the Eastern front. Thank you for showing me these people and places. Saving and sharing their stories enriches us all.
God bless you !:-) 💜🙏⚡️
Oh yeah,
1:11 gorgeous composition 👍
I don’t know if anyone else hat commented on the language you didn’t know, but am 99.99% sure that it is Hebrew. Another excellent episode, very emotive and powerful in a place that where peoples that had been enemies in life, but are now United in death. Thanks for sharing your experience with us all. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴🇺🇸👍🇺🇦
Enjoying my history “crack binge”. Great videos.
Glad you like them!
Brother that's a very sobering video all of the young people who had to die is indescribable. Thankyou and be safe out there
A fascinating and atmospheric look at an old Polish cemetery. It saddens me too that this place contains people and soldiers from two wars but especially the Jewish folk and the obliteration of the older Jewish part. Sad also for the six thousand Germans whose names were on the many stone tablets. Thank you JD.
Probably one of the saddest cemeteries that I've ever been to.
Thank you sir for such an amazing video. These cemetery remaind us of the bloody history and cruelty of the mankind. These cemeteries are a reminder and also a lesson for the future generations that these wars should be avoided. But the unfortunate thing is that we forget the past and tend to repeat the same mistakes... tq sir for enlightening us with the history 🙏
JD it's truly sad and dark and gloomy. Your a very busy man, thanks for that. 👍
Thank you. Appreciate that. And yeah, I do stay quite busy but if people are learning and sharing, it's worth it.
JD I have been loving the content here especially all of the Gettysburg videos! Love learning about battles that I have never heard of especially in WW1
Thanks! Appreciate that. I've been learning a lot in the process too.
I don't hear or know much about the battles fought on the eastern fronts, for WWI or WWII. Thank you for this..... ❣ so many people that sacrificed their lives...🙏
Thanks. I'm definitely hoping to get back to the Eastern Front at some point and do a lot more.
Sobering, thanks for sharing.
Amazing video yet another place that I will never stand in front of. Thank you for the video.
Glad that I could share the experience.
@@TheHistoryUnderground many thanks for the work you do
May they never be forgotten. Rest in peace 🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️
Timothy Snyder’s book BLOODLANDS is an excellent recounting of this tragic area of the world.
History repeating itself was surely seen here. I can’t imagine being in one devastating war and 20 years later you’re back at it again with the same two countries. Sometimes I wonder if we really know how lucky we really are. Thank you again for another eye opening video.
Please continue the amazing work. You do a hell of a job. I've gone from reading to my son to watching you when you have new post. I thank you for doing it right !
Thank you JD. Truly sad to see the results of war that we are left with.
Very much so.
It proves one thing ...they had no regard for humans in life or death....thk you for a part of history we would never know about.......
What a fascinating cemetery.
Very much so. I could have spent an entire day there.
Love the way you tastefully and respectfully talk about this haunting and terrible place and tell us the history of what took place . It shows the the waste that is war and the madness of war .
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Have you ever thought of writing a book with pictures of this subject? I would definitely buy it!!!
I've had people recommend that to me before.
It is interesting that the Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted a war, but were so ill prepared for it. It is sad that no one is taking care of these cemeteries. Thank you, have a better week.
JD thank you for what you do man, I have no connection to those people but was very touched by your story.
Thank you. Pretty sobering place to be.
The Blood Lands, such an appropriate name. The Europeans have been warring with each other for so many decades / centuries and once again a conflict is raging for literally no reason. May it end soon.
Totally agree. How much life has been lost in this region?
Thank you very much. You said it all. Bloodlands of Poland.
Sobering place.
so sad, any surviving family probably never saw these. Rest in peace
Another reason I enjoy your channel you show the good and the bad without trying to hype it up great video
Such a sorrowful waste of human lives. Thanks for bringing this to us that had no clue it was there until now.
Bless you and your son for all you did to help out the refugees from Ukraine.
it is very important to keep history alive, and you do a fine job of it. thank you and carry on.
Thank you. Much appreciated. I don't think that anyone has ever showed this place on TH-cam before. Hopefully people will share it out with others.
Thank you for your videos, without them history would struggle to stay alive or even be relevant for that matter
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Somehow just the huge stone slabs with the thousands of names on them is even more sobering and haunting than the perfectly looked after graves in Normandy.
I thought the same thing. And to know that they're all stacked in that small plot of ground.
@@TheHistoryUnderground For me the individual grave stones means they meant something to somebody their lives mattered and their deaths mattered, that grave site it’s as if they are nothing more than an afterthought just flung aside into a hole to be forgotten.
Thanks JD. 👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you for watching.
My father was in the Polish Army and fought the Germans in the streets of Warsaw in 1939 and later Northern France in 1940. Most of his friends were murdered by the Germans and he told me stories about how barbaric the Germans were to civilians and even Polish POWs. He and millions of other Poles even today don’t care about those dead Germans when Poland lost the most people percentage wise just like you stated in your excellent video. The Russians were terrible too to the Poles. My mother was Jewish from. Vienna Austria and was only one of a few members of her family that escaped in 1939. Everyone else who couldn’t get out 24 in total ( age 3 to 56) were massacred. I went to Minsk in Belarus in 2010 with my daughter and visited a number of mass graves of Jewish men women and children . It’s amazing to see one mass grave of 5,000 people and then another of 10,000. all over in different places in the woods. I went there since my grandmother Julie a seamstress from Vienna was sent to Minsk in September 1942 along with some other family members and mass red by the Germans.I’m interested in World War Two history and your videos are excellent. Keep up the good work.
JD, Thank you for bringing this sad story to light that truly emphasize the evils of war.
Glad that I could share the story. Hopefully people are going to share it with others.
Thank you for this history lesson we would never know if not for you
Thank you for all you do to shine a light on history and the cruel cost of war. I rarely comment but want you to know you are making a difference - your efforts are much appreciated. Thank you.
This is an emotional stirring video to see the mass graves. Thank you for the insight of the ramifications of war from the eastern front. It is something that I have not seen.
Hard to wrap your mind around.
Beautiful made JD! What a Incredible episode, to see all those cemeteries. with so many deaths, so many stories, and ultimately no personality at all. It makes you sad to see places like this because then you see the most violent side of history. Incredible!
Thank you 🙏🏼
If I'd had been my history teacher I would've never been late to class.
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I recently found your channel, I’m hook, I’m a new subscriber, thanks for all your hard work, and for educating the new generations not to to ever forget. Blessings to all. Excellent work. 👍🏻
Awesome, thank you! I really do appreciate that. Feel free to share it out with a few others :)
That's some honorable Polish that allow those German soldiers to stay at rest there. Id like to think that they realize most were not Barbarians. I asked a while ago for you to do WW1 stuff...you said thats in the plans when things calm down form the ...well you know...However......I don't think You or I thought this would be the starting point. God bless ya JD...
One of your best ever. You always present with reverence & respect for the subject. Thank you for sharing a place I will likely never see but have long been interested in.
My Grandfather and his family escaped Russian Occupied Poland around 1902. Although I’m sure some of his relatives remained behind. I’m glad my Grandfather escaped from some of the stories I’ve heard.
Extremely impactful video. Even in video, seeing the graves of some of the first victims of the holocaust gives me an unexplainably perspective feeling on the venerability of the human psyche. It’s astonishing what evil man has the capacity invoke on man when given the right environment. I can’t imagine how being there must have impacted you and your son. Thank you.
Love your videos! They are wonderful.
Thank you so much! Hope that people are enjoying them and sharing them with others.
Remarkable work JD 👍🏻😎
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I’m still processing this video. I love all of your work, but this video is moving in a way none of the others have been. JD, you do a great service to all who died, all who served, all of of us left to honor and remember.
Thank you. I'm still processing it too.
Thank you for these stories. This was such a sad place.
One of the saddest cemeteries that I’ve ever been to.
JD, had been catching up on your videos and God bless the time you take to create and share these historical events. You are a beacon for knowledge sir. Thank you 🙏.
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Another sobering video. Thanks
Thanks for watching.
Very sobering. So awful what those people have gone through. Thank you for bringing their story to life.
Imagine a group of people with water trucks, power washers and yards of garden hose assembled and cleaned up the cemetery, spraying down and washing the stones, markers, side-walk stones, etc. taking off all of the moss and crud...
A view from the UK. JD, you may not know it but you have unwittingly come across a quite controversial topic whilst wandering through graveyards. This one in particular is a good example and that is burying German soldiers in the same graveyard as holocaust victims, even allied victims too. To many, even in death, their atrocities go beyond death. Many of us want the German gravesites well away from their victims. The reason is we do not want to be constantly reminded of why sacrifices were made. We wish to remember OUR glorious dead, not theirs whilst alone with our thoughts in the graveyard.