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Fascinating, but why do North Americans mispronounce Polish , German and other central European place names and surnames. Krakow - Krakoov or Krakoof,😄
When I was in 5th grade, my classmate's grandmother visited our class and spoke to us about her experience as a Holocaust survivor in Poland. It's one of the few clear and vivid memories from my youth.
@@deathlarsen7502 you serious bro, how is the dude lame, can you explain that to me. He shared a memory about a Holocaust survivor in the 5th grade, and it left an impression on the kid, the ladies story.
A thousand thanks for traveling to POLAND to do this video. My husband's great grandfather was from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, a great center of Jewish culture. During WW2 he was herded to Lodz ghetto in Poland, and perished either in the ghetto from malnutrition or disease, OR was sent with all the other old people to the Chelmno concentration camp. We have no record and do not know where and how he died and where he might be buried. Of course, his body could also have been incinerated. His children came to the US prior to WW2 but he wanted to stay in his homeland. There are millions of such stories lost to history, so thank you again for this. This means so very much to so many survivors and descendants of them.
My Great Uncle was in WW2, he never spoke of the war. His "job" was to take pictures of the before and after of bombing areas. What he saw through the lense of a camera im sure was so heart breaking for him. He was such a beautiful soul and I miss him.
This isn't a story about Krakow in particular or Oscar Schindler, but I always think of when I was in college and I was doing a report on Auschwitz for the history class I was taking. An older woman checked the book out for me, and she looked a little emotional in her eyes. She said I always appreciate when younger people take books out on the subject, then she proceeded to tell me she had been in Auschwitz herself. She said never forget. These years later, I never will
Bless You !!! I feel the same way...I knew a woman in NYC whose parents were in the Camps. She said The Jews here wanted Nothing to do with anyone from " there" !!! I saw & felt the hurt on her for them ! that was in the 70's, I Never Forgot & Will " NEVER FORGET " !!
Wow, just wow. You are bang on that this isn't a story, the whole abomination is like a horror thing that is actually real - it happened. I;d be most interested to hear what she told you, you were probably too young and therefore a bit fragile for the whole horrors, just speculating as the survivors are the kindest people I have ever met and was too young myself fully to comprehend. Yes, lest we forget; never should we, any of us,
Agree ! But just as important is the case for the innocent Palestinians who's lands were stolen by Jews right after the second world war. There are Arab Ghettos in Palestine and the largest is Gaza . When will the freedom loving people of the world speak out in defense of these wonderful people who's only crime was to own the land the English government earmarked for a homeland for the Jews.
I went to Krakow back in 2009 as a study/travel course through my college (I had actually graduated the day before the class started). The Schindler’s Factory was in the process of becoming the museum and wasn’t open yet but was a site we visited. Even now it is hard to believe that I had the opportunity to travel to Europe and visit a lot of these sites. It had been the trip of a lifetime and something I had always wanted to do. While we were in Krakow we ate lunch at a restaurant near where some of Schindler’s List was filmed. It was near the steps where the boy hides the mother and daughter when they were liquidating the ghetto. I would love to go back some day and go through the museum. Schindler’s List is probably THE movie that really brought the Holocaust into the public eye more than any before it. Spielberg wasn’t even sure he wanted to do it but it eventually lead to a very close and real connection to his Jewish ancestry and lead to the creation of the Shoah Foundation, without which we probably would have lost so many first-hand witness accounts… especially from survivors. Also, Oskar Schindler is the only member of the Nazi Party to be buried in Jerusalem. His grave is in the Catholic cemetery on Mount Zion. His life is so interesting. He did not start out wanting to save lives. He saw there was profit and opportunity. Then eventually he understood and tried to save as many as he could and became “Righteous Among the Nations”. His story lives on in the generations he helped save.
I remember seeing Schindler's list in the theater when it 1st came out There was not a dry eye in the movie theater you could hear crying and sobbing everywhere It was a very I opening experience for American citizens They need to open their eyes a little wider and recognizing what's going on in America today
Thank you for preserving history and showing the lives not only lost but the people who made it out of the nightmare. It is beyond my comprehension how many people went to the camps and how few came out. We must never forget and we must honor to those who lost everything in the camps. This will prove that evil will not prevail.
The youth of today need to know the truth and facts about the Holocaust. It needs to be taught In every American school, especially with what's happening in today's world 🌎
This horrible story will not be forgotten.And the thing that happened in the past people now are doing it again.I do not know why. Praying that the true king will come to rule and reign upon the earth that we will live in peace forever 🙏
A story of Man’s inhumanity to fellow men which needs to be kept alive to prevent history repeating itself. Thank you for treating it with such reverence and respect
That's such a simplistic way of seeing this. It's also a story about the exact opposite a man who showed incredible humanity when it was very dangerous to do so. Grow up some.
I must give Europeans credit in that they do not try to erase history, even negative history from which we learn lessons, like so many in the USA have done and attempted to do in recent years. BTW, my wife's grandfather was a camp survivor, and as a baby boomer the stories of WWII were part of my upbringing. I suppose that is how/why when my wife and I watched "Schindler's List" we were in tears. Oh, another impactful WWII movie s "The Boy in Striped Pajamas."
In my small home town in Canada, Ive met people from Polland who left once the Nazi's showed up. They were not Jewish, however they fled the country. My grandfather helped take it back, as part of the Canadian Army. He lived to old age. My dad told me so many stories. This video of yours was amazing, it expanded more on the movie I saw in highschool World Religions class, a few years after it was made.
Just unreal on what all happened then. Anytime I watch something on this, I always shed tears for what they went through. And to think that I've read that there are people that think it never happened just floors me!! I remember when the movie came out. My mom and I went to it that first night and there were NO empty seats, no talking, no moving. Could hear a pin drop. Only ONE person left during the movie but was back in 5 minutes (or less). I had to go to the bathroom, but dien't want to leave (and I never did)!! My mom and I would always look at each other during it in shock and sadness throughout the whole movie. thank you for sharing this!
Perhaps a rich Arab will one day make an equally sad move depicting the theft of their lands in 1946. All of what you saw in that movie happened eighty years ago. Yhe imprisonment and suffering of the Palestinians is happening right now. We can remember the dead in ww2 but more importantly we can help the poor Palestinians right now.
My son was stationed in Germany in 2019 . My grandmother came from Krakow before WWI. My son took us to Krakow on our trip to visit . The factory was part of our visit.
Thank goodness that in such a dark time, there were stories like this. People who were brave and good when evil took hold. RIP to all the victims whose lives were stolen, and thank you to all the survivors who overcame their trauma enough to educate younger generations.
Wow- I love how you bring the humanity back to life. This was a terrible time in history that needs to be kept alive so we can stop it from happening again. I appreciate the hard work you have put into the videos. Thank you for caring!
When I went to Europe in 1986 I couldn't make myself go to any concentration camps. I did go to Anne Frank's family hiding place in Amsterdam. That broke my heart!
Yeah honestly, I love history but was awful at retaining the stuff needed to do well in a class (was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult so it makes sense now). But I also had horrible history teachers lol. But i enjoy these videos, and can pay attention to them which is important lol.
I agree. It helps to have video recorded right at the scene, something not all history teachers have available. I was a K-12 art teacher but history has always been a love of mine because we were kids during the Civil War centennial and family vacations were trips to Civil War battlefields. I loved examining artifacts like uniforms, mess kits, saddles, etc. And living in PA we also had access to Revolutionary war sites like Valley Forge and Ft. Ticonderoga. If I were an American history teacher I would make myself period looking dresses and dress up from time to time to teach a certain event in history. What's the point of education if not to make it alive and entertaining? Dates aren't as important as what the treaties meant, who was on whose sides, the motivation behind coming to America in colonial or even 1900 era, and so much more. I have become an aficionado of Russian history, particularly the reign of Nicholas II, his family and the Revolution. I've even been to St. Petersburg as a tourist and saw many of the palaces, churches, museums, etc. I could teach that, I know it all so well. History is endlessly interesting to me, but I concentrate on just a few portions of it just because they interest me the most. The History Underground is an excellent youtube site.
@@monkeyz240 I’m so sorry you had to go through that!!! I didn’t find out I was dyslexic until my sophomore year of high school so I somewhat understand what you went through. I hope you’re doing well in life now!!! 💛
Real, vivid, haunting…the evil in the heart of man. We don’t have a true concept of this. Thank you for reminding us of the people who suffered and the people Mr. Schindler rescued. We should never forget what happened.
I agree that it is fascinating and emotional and the music added a lot to the atmospheric content. I had a habit some years ago of visiting old cemeteries and graveyards and in my town of Maidstone in Kent I was wandering around when I came upon what seemed to me to be rarely visited section. I don’t know what made me stop but I could see a gravestone was half covered with brambles. That didn’t seem right so I painstakingly cleared most of it away. There to my surprise was Hebrew writing and the Star of David and in English the ladies name. It stated also that she survived the camps. Seeing that was extremely sad in that she survived to a good age but seemingly nobody had maintained the grave site. This lady was one of the small percentage that did survive and there cannot be very many left alive. God bless them all. Thanks JD.
There may be no one left to clean the gravestone. My grandparents were buried and my father never showed us where they were, if he even knew. It’s very sad.
My father served in the military in WWII. His memories actually shaped the rest of his life. He never got over what he saw. I was born after the war so I did not experience what my mother did with my father. Bless you Dad,. Ii love you and miss you.
Just the same for me Sunny. I never knew what it was until they had died and yet they showed their love thereafter that I should be safe and warm. My Father a Catholic in the Polish war consigned to a death camp for jews as a barber. He escaped from his situation to neutral hospitality was hospitalised and went back into the war in protection of the jews in Italy as a tommy to guard the synagogue in compensation as best he could as a man that had lost his soul to have to kill someone.
You created your most heart-rending, emotionally affecting, and interesting content during your trip to Poland. This is saying a lot given the high quality of your body of work and your ability to cut history down to the reality of what happened to the people who took part in the historic events. Outstanding series of videos!
@@TheHistoryUnderground my dream is to travel the steps of the allies from Normandy to Berlin. Any suggestions of where I should stop along my travels?
He covered portions of the American Civil War also. A war perpetrated by Confederates who tried to destroy the USA to preserve and expand African American slavery which had been in existence since the early 1600's and during which millions of African Americans were killed.
That was very eerie and haunting knowing so many lives were snuffed out because of their ancestry. No words can convey the horror that innocent people were dealt harshly with and treated like in the Nazi way of thinking, undesirables or trash. But, God in his mercy sent Schindler there to save as many lives as he could in spite of the Nazi spite. This video was well done JD.
I am gonna be honest, this might be one of my favorite episodes of the History Underground. It felt like 5 minturs when i was done with this one. Great job JD!
Man, I wish you'd been my history teacher in high school, I would've gotten interested in history so much earlier. You do this so exceptionally well, sir. You always handle these sensitive and tragic topics with great reverence, respect, and knowledge. Thank you for making these videos, teaching us, and letting us see these places we'd otherwise never get to see. Next time you're in Europe, check out the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundlander Memorial Park near Thiepval, France, it's the only preserved WWI battlefield complete with craters and trenches and the story is amazing, it was part of the Battle of the Somme. Seems right up your alley.
What an excellent video JD. My wife and I met a lady a few years back, her and her sister was sent to several concentration camps . Her father was forced into the German Army, Her mother was sent to a different camp. Remarkably they all survived, I didn’t want to bother her to much. It’s just terrible what the poor people went through..
Thank you for doing this. Thank you so so much. My grandmother and her family were pushed from their homes, and forced into that exact ghetto. She lost everyone in camps but escaped to live in the woods with gypsys for over a year until making her way to Canada. Thank you so much for sharing our history. I hope to god no one, in any religion or any race has to deal with any types of horrors such as this
As I watched this video, it is heartbreaking and stirring of many emotions. The museum is so well thought through and puts faces and living conditions in time of the many hardships they experienced. Your neutral stance of retelling history and Chris' Vlogging Through History, I have learned so much of the plight of my Polish-Lithuanian ancestors. Well done JD.
Excellent job, and I appreciate your perspective. Some colleagues and I took American HS students to Krakow and Auschwitz, and saw a lot of these sites. Completely sobering. I've been to a few of these camps in Europe, and its always difficult to digest what humans have done to other humans, sheerly out of ignorance and hate. Thank you for being such an amazing teacher of history.
Schindler’s List was an amazing movie and now I want to see it again. Thank you for taking us to where his home and factory were. The chairs are very impactful.
@@JC-zy4oz - Good heavens. That’s not what he meant. He means that I try to observe all history objectively. Of course, the Nazis were evil. We all know that.
My sister and I visited Krakow a couple of years ago, beautiful city with a tragic past. We visited a lot of the places you showed in your video, thank you for bringing back both happy and very sad memories
Krakow had a long and often tragic past before the nazis showed up. Few care to admit (if they ever knew) the tragic anti-semitic past of Poland. Jews were actively persecuted, subjected to discriminatory laws, and forced into ghettos (that's were the Yiddish word comes from) and suffered from periodic pograms. Nothing pretty about Jewish history in Poland, Ukraine, or much of anywhere else in eastern Europa.
Another fascinating and emotional journey. The ghetto wall being representative of headstones…and made during Passover..wow. Just, wow. I’m feeling a little stunned by that. Thank you. my hand extends to you to shake JD.
If you think that the design of the shape of the wall that surrounded the ghetto from the city was cruel, wait until you hear about where the camp was built in Plaszow, its barracks and the road on which the prisoners walked. These facts should chill your blood in your veins.
Dude! If your stunned by that, unfortunately, dig deeper!! That's just one example of the millions of sick sh&^%t they did! Mengele, the doctor at Auchwitz. I can't even go into detail about the experiments he did on people, children, twins. The holocaust & slavery..... the two worst acts against humankind ever!
I have been to Krakow yet you have seen and shown me so much more. This is one of your best pieces of work coming as it does on your own participating in today's history on the Ukaranian Polish border. My thanks and my deepest compliments. Amazing work.
Krakow is a beautiful city. Some great open markets and fun night life in the castle square. The city has such rich history and has seen so much, WWII and the Nazis being such a tiny part of it.
Yes BUT AS A JEW AND SOME ONE WHOSE SOUL/SPIRIT WAS MURDERED IN GAS CHAMBER #1 IN AUSCHWITZ IT IS A HISTORY THAT NEEDS AND DEMANDS TO BE TA UGHT! AND YES I AM AN ARDENT ZIONIST
WWII and Nazis being a tiny part of it, the history? The extermination of a huge portion of the population of Krackow, I would not call a tiny part of their history. It's sad how anyone could make such a statement. Krakow was the starting point that set the stage for millions of jews and other unwanted people's to be murdered in Europe while the non-jewish people of the area either did nothing, or helped in the murder of millions of the Jewish population in Europe! Their are some like Schindler who helped the Jewish people and risked their own life but not many. The Jewish people who lost everything and who mostly died after the arrival of the Nazis should never be called, "a tiny part" of any places history!
I had a friend who grew up in Poland. He was in a consintration camp. His family were killed and he survived. He wrote a book and told me don't ever forget.
The title is Remember Us from my shtetl through the Holocaust. by Martin Small &Vic Shayne written 2008 Martin and his wife are passed on to Glory. I am not sure if Amazon carries it or not.@@alejandromandil6357
This is one of the best and emotional videos you’ve done. Brought back memories of visiting Dachau when I was a teenager. Even then, walking on that ground was emotional and made my hair stand on end. You could feel the sense of evil walking the grounds.
I agree, when I visited Dachau in 2009, I felt a very dark heaviness the moment I walked in. Very hard to explain to someone who hasn’t been there…but u know what I felt
Just a minor correction, that I would like to add. There are actually two sections of ghetto wall remaining, not one. The other is about 200 yards further on, and borders a school, which is still functioning today (in google type 'second ghetto wall" for a map location). On the outside of the wall is a kids' playground which is a shock to many visitors. The wall ends at a cliff, with a hill behind, which one can climb. Then walking around the derelict, ancient Austrian fort that is up there, one can look down onto the streets, to see exactly where the girl in the red coat was walking in the movie Schindler' List. I highly recommend exploring this fascinating area, which is just outside the borders of the actual war-time ghetto.
When you watch Schindler's list the ending always brings tears to my eyes. It might be baby for me to say that but it's one of the few movies that makes me tear up at the end.
I thought this would be a biography about Schindler, but this was even better. You really brought that time back to life for me and my twins (they are 12). Thank you. I look forward to watching more of your videos.
My stepfather lost his entire family in the Holocaust. His parents had enough money to send one of their children to Italy with hotel property papers. He worked for years to get the hotel back, but the German government refused to hand over the hotel and when they finally agreed, they demanded he pay all taxes and fines. He finally gave up, broken hearted.
And in 2023 the Republicans in the USA are pushing towards Autocratic rule under the guise of Freedoms. If you don't learn from history, you will repeat it. 😢
Saw Schindler's List when it came out in theaters. When the credits rolled at the end and the lights in the theater came on, usually people stand up and start to leave. Not this time. Everybody stayed in their seat, we were all looking at each other, stunned. First time I saw that. I later bought Schindler's List DVD when it was released. It's still wrapped in its original plastic, never opened. It's probably the most important film in my collection, but it's the only movie I never want to watch again. Thanks JD, great episode.
Just a few notes. There’s another original ghetto wall, actually pretty close from the one you showed, next to a kids playground. I read an article where the artist to the chairs was quoted saying that when the people of the ghetto were summoned to the square by the Germans, the old folks knew these meetings would take forever, so they brought a chair so they could rest. When the meeting after several hours was finally over, they took their chairs and returned home. But one day, I can't remember the date on top of my head, the Germans closed ghetto A, and old and disabled persons were herded down to the train station to be moved directly to Chelmo. Those who were able to work, were moved into ghetto B. Thanks for the great work you're doing. I love it.
My neighbour passed away 2 days ago, she was a hungarian jewish woman, she was in her mid/late 80s and had come to australia as a child when hitler began his reign of terror across the world, God Bless her, she didnt end up in a camp, they ran as ghetto's were being forced upon people, most of her family did not survive that war, she came here with her mother and her aunt, they were the 3 surviving members of her family, she has 2 daughters and a grand child, she was a miracle and a beautiful woman ❤ there arent many people left from that era 🙏 the world need to remember and keep being reminded by videos and documentaries like this so we never forget ❤
Poland was my last trip before Covid. I actually watched Schindler List before my tour. I walked through the museum for an experience I will never forget. Thanks for the square. I was moved by that area also. I'm actually happy I did watch the movie. You did a great job on your tour and uploading this video. Would love to see a tour from you on Wolfs Lair?
An interesting anecdote I was told when visiting Krakow had to do with Hero's Square. Famed director, Roman Polanski, at that time a child, escaped from Hero's Square by jumping the wall and swimming across the river to the north side of town. He was taken in by a sympathetic Catholic family and secretly hidden to avoid German capture -- he survived the war because of it. Also, the old synagogue in Kazimierz, the old Jewish district, was used as a horse stable by the Germans. I missed Schindler's apartment when I visited. Thnx for detailing that.
Watching this, I can’t help but see the stark difference between the Polish people and the American people. You’ve shown us a museum in a major Polish city that is dedicated to preserving and remembering history. Not just the whitewashed, feel good ideals today’s society chooses to remember but the gritty, ugly, painful history as it actually happened. They have this museum so they can remember and learn from it. The good, the bad, the reality of history as it actually happened. Unfortunately there is a concentrated effort in our country to erase the truth of our history. While the Polish people choose to remember and learn, Americans choose to forget and obfuscate our history. We should take a lesson from the victims of the atrocities of both world wars and not embrace what happened but preserve the history of our country so future generations can learn from it.
It is the same in Germany. At least it was when I was there in 2009. Everywhere you look in Berlin there is a memorial or museum dedicated to that time. Germany’s darkest days not be forgotten. Schools take field trips to the camps. The German Police academy spends a week at Sachsenhausen learning about how it all started. They say it helps them to not only remember their past, but to remember to help prevent it from happening again. Poland became the country where most of the extermination camps were located and had this thrust upon them. America can learn a thing or two from these countries about preserving our past - all of it, especially that which makes us uncomfortable.
That is so well said, and unfortunately also so sadly true in America. Sorry to be political, but that erasing of American history and culture absolutely comes from the Left. It's a very Communist attribute actually.
@Cathy Berry kids I work with have no idea what the Holocaust is. While I can understand it from the elementary school age - and even some of the younger middle schoolers - I can only fathom that when it comes from the high schoolers that it’s because History just isn’t taught anymore. Even when I was in high school (graduated 2005) the Holocaust was just a blip during World History. If they don’t know what the Holocaust is, it’s almost certain that they don’t know the Rwandan Genocide or the Cambodian Genocide, or really any of the systematic killings that have taken place throughout history and even today. History has never really been seen as an important core subject. The main three were Math, Science, and English/Lit. I had really awesome history teachers throughout my school years and my dad has a huge interest in WWII (more the Pacific theater) and ever since watching The Diary of Anne Frank with Millie Perkins, my mom and I have shared an interest in the Holocaust. I do have to be careful at work, the Holocaust is a very dark, gruesome and horrific thing to discuss and has to be done in an age appropriate manner.
As someone who has visited Krakow 21 times since 2016, I know the city and it's history very well. My Polish friend Grazyna was living in Kazimeirz while Shindler's List was being filmed, and she actually met Steven Spielberg. I've stood in the courtyard where the soldiers threw the belongings off the balconies, a very chilling experience! Plazow camp where the Jews were first sent is now a country park, Amon Goeth's house is still there on Himmelstrasse, and Hujowa Gorka where the bodies were burned is a very chilling place!
One of the best if not the best historical documentation that people all over the world should watch!! Wow!! How I wish I was as good as you are in detailing this gruesome yet interesting past!! You're a genius man! Totally!!
Seeing the musuem, and hearing about the well, just brought tears to my eyes. The things these people had to face, had to accept. Lives destroyed, and yet we as humans now seem to take everything for granted, neglecting to forget these people who had everything stripped from them. Thank you so much JD for keeping this history alive and sharing it with the world. I'm sure those who experienced it who are no longer here appreciate the work you're doing.
I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this video. I’m not Jewish (not that I know of) but I have always anguished over these people. I don’t care what you believe about god as long as you believe and no one should suffer at the hands of another because your beliefs are different. Keep up the fantastic work!
An gracious way to present a horrible time in history because it was presented with such care & consideration to those who unfortunately lived through & often died during this time. Thank you
Wow, what a beautiful city. Amazing this place survived the War. The remaining part of the "Ghetto Wall" is very sobering. I didn't realize how much of the Movie was filmed in and around Krakow. That Museum - old factory - was a great view. Interesting: Tearing down and destroying the old monuments and statues. The Photos on the Wall tells it all. Thank God they kept the Gathering Spot as a Memorial. Your Presentation was done really well. God Bless.
Very well said. The absence of presence and the presence of absence. Having lost a child myself, I understand the persistence of this sentiment. It never goes away.
JD, you done this brilliantly well. Your videos are so informative. Really appreciate all of what you do to keep history alive, seems like a lot of folks are trying to forget. Thank you.
Very powerful episode. Well done. My wife worked in a Jewish nursing home for 38 years. As she would do histories on new residents, she would find people that bore the number tattoos from the concentration camps. She learned a lot talking to those survivors. The human spirit is a powerful thing. Thank you for doing this episode and reminding today’s generation that this DID happen. It must never be repeated!
I live near Kraków i know pretty much about story of Kraków, Schindler and Płaszów and i have to Say that you did two gratuluję films about it. A lot of important informations, ecpecially for somebody who is not living in Poland. Respect, very good job
Thanks for the video. I worked in Krakow in 1998 - 2000 before the museums and Plasow concentration camp became a visitor destination. I recall in the Jewish area at the back of the Wawel Castle many empty unoccupied houses and was told these remained unclaimed properties of the families of Jews sent to the concentration camps. It was a very sad and moving sight to see, nothng could prepare me for Auschwitz and Birkenau, especially one trip I made during a snow storm. I will never forget that harrowing feeling, I questioned the term "humankind", thete was no kindness shown to those poor Jews, Romanies, Slavs, Polish, Russians, Jehovas Witness, disabled and mentally challenged people.
Thank you for your time in showing and informative comments. I will never be able to travel to see what you are seeing and experiencing. It is so heartbreaking to know how the hatred of one man can flourish and escalate into the murder of so many! God bless you and your show, safe travel and I will be a faithful member of your show!
I just discovered your channel this evening. This Holocaust video was the first one I watched. It was absolutely fascinating and I very much enjoyed the way you narrated the story. I was certainly brought to tears more than once. I think of some of my dear Jewish friends and how they're always so thankful for their free lives here. They will never forget what happened to their people. I have subscribed to your channel and look forward to watching more of your fine work. Thank you.
Thank you for reminding people that the Holocaust didn't happen in one day. Many people I speak to, that's their viewpoint. This is why it is so important that we protect our rights because it starts off slow with just one or two little rights being taken away and before you know it this is the same fate you end up with. No group of people regardless of skin color, religion, political views, ideologies, or for any other reason deserve to be treated like that. You cannot like some group of people or agree with them but that doesn't mean you have the right to infringe on their rights as human beings.
Was in krakov recently, love the history of the city and love the city itself. This is where my family fled the germans in ww2 before they ended up in Britain ( middlesbrough) .
The camera work and editing are extremely good.. I'm a bit of a history buff so I didn't learn anything new here.. but I would definitely recommend this video to someone who wants to learn about this.. good video
@@TheHistoryUnderground have you heard of the Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton?? They write songs about all this.. No bullets fly (about Frans Stigler Nazi fighter ace) who became an honorary member of the USA 8th air force post war) and Christmas truce as well as many others may be to your liking..
You, literally, took me on a tour of the museum !!! I thank you because at 70, living in NC...I doubt I will ever get there !!! What a Wonderful Presentation !!! BIG WOW !!! 😊
Thank you for putting one of Europe s most insidious events forward so levely. One subject especially overlooked is the eradication of the gypsies by the Nazis. Have you already covered the subject. If not would you be tempted to do so. Mick Thurston
Once again thank you, JD for making these videos and bringing this terrible part of history to light. My grandfather was born in Krakow but left for thr US when he was very young. Many of relatives stayed and several were murdered in the Holocaust even though they weren’t Jewish, they were catholic Poles. With more and more of the greatest generation passing away every day it’s so important for us to carry on this history.
Is it not more important to help the living as opposed to continually going back eighty years in time remembering the dead. There is nothing we can do to save or help those poor souls who died during ww2. But we can help the six Million Palestinians living in constant fear of being bombed and burned alive by American made planes and rockets. Start discussing the situation with friends and family, or more importantly your political representatives. Make it be known that you are not comfortable living in a country "America " which not only supports the ongoing attrocities in Palestine, but finance the nation which is holding six Million Palestinians inside the worlds largest outdoor prison, and kills them with total impunity regardless of what the UN has said on the matter. What are you afraid of ! Being labelled antisemitic. Big deal. This word has been thrown arround so much and in ever flippant situations that it has lost any stigma it once caused.
I have watched quite a few of your videos and it never ceases to amaze me when a TH-camr with limited resources, money, staff and writers produces videos that are the equal to and in many ways surpass the big-name documentaries. With only a 1/4 of a million subscribers you pull together a series that deserves to be seen by a much wider audience. Having visited Dachau, it is difficult to wrap your head around what you are seeing, after all its now just empty buildings and old fotos. 2 things I saw finally made an indelible impression on me that I still remember 30 years later, 1 was a map of all the concentration camps, (we are all familiar with the main ones) there were hundreds and even more incarceration centers. 2 was a small plaque in the crematorium to some British female SOE agents who were tortured and then killed in the camp. Thanks for doing what you're doing!
Wow. Thank you for the kind words. I'm just a one man operation but having people watch, comment and share these videos is a big help. Hopefully, we can all work together to help broaden people's knowledge of history.
@@TheHistoryUnderground Well as evidenced on street corners worldwide, sometimes the 1 man band outshines the other acts. I am a 22 years US Army SF combat veteran and a rank amateur historian. Stationed in Europe for 13 years my eyes were opened to the vast amount of history at every step. Do you have any plans of following in the footsteps of the 1st Special Service Force in Italy (Aleutians and S France). And do you have any plans to visit places like Vindolanda on Hadrians wall or Carnuntum Roman archeological park in Austria. De oppresso liber
The Schindlers real story story is a heartbreaking one and that museum a humbling one. The movie tells the story with enough power to cut right thru the daily noice. Great video, as usual!
I travelled to Krakow some years ago on business and unfortunately never associated Krakow with Schindler. If it wasn’t for your brilliant series I would still be in the dark. Thank you for this emotional journey through our brutal past.
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!
Fascinating, but why do North Americans mispronounce Polish , German and other central European place names and surnames. Krakow - Krakoov or Krakoof,😄
True documentarrian
Don't forget, at the start of WW1 Hitler was not there
or before that
and at the start of WW2, there was still a Kaiser
The work camps were set up, before the war and Poland is part of the Holy Roman Empire
Bro, Schindler's list is junk
Its not real
It was embellished off a book, that was also embellished
When I was in 5th grade, my classmate's grandmother visited our class and spoke to us about her experience as a Holocaust survivor in Poland. It's one of the few clear and vivid memories from my youth.
sounds like you had a lame childhood if that's the best you got
@@deathlarsen7502 you serious bro, how is the dude lame, can you explain that to me. He shared a memory about a Holocaust survivor in the 5th grade, and it left an impression on the kid, the ladies story.
@@alleyal5898 well maybe if you and he got a life you would have had a better memory of childhood
@@deathlarsen7502 once you graduate middle school your memories will start to fade too
@@wspencerwatkins you make no sense you must have gone to public school and barely gotten out with Ds
A thousand thanks for traveling to POLAND to do this video. My husband's great grandfather was from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, a great center of Jewish culture. During WW2 he was herded to Lodz ghetto in Poland, and perished either in the ghetto from malnutrition or disease, OR was sent with all the other old people to the Chelmno concentration camp. We have no record and do not know where and how he died and where he might be buried. Of course, his body could also have been incinerated. His children came to the US prior to WW2 but he wanted to stay in his homeland. There are millions of such stories lost to history, so thank you again for this. This means so very much to so many survivors and descendants of them.
Chelmno was not a concentration camp..it was an extermination camp like Sobibor, Auschwitz, Treblinka, Madjanek
@@amandaallen9460 You are absolutely right. Sorry for using the incorrect term.
His memory is now etched upon the hearts of all his decendants, echoed in the smiles and laughter of your family. Thank you for sharing your story.
Also, the capital of Lithuania was then known as Wilno and was also a part of Poland.
Sadly the Germans kept records.
My Great Uncle was in WW2, he never spoke of the war. His "job" was to take pictures of the before and after of bombing areas. What he saw through the lense of a camera im sure was so heart breaking for him. He was such a beautiful soul and I miss him.
This isn't a story about Krakow in particular or Oscar Schindler, but I always think of when I was in college and I was doing a report on Auschwitz for the history class I was taking. An older woman checked the book out for me, and she looked a little emotional in her eyes. She said I always appreciate when younger people take books out on the subject, then she proceeded to tell me she had been in Auschwitz herself. She said never forget. These years later, I never will
Oh my…..
@@TheHistoryUnderground Buddha?
Bless You !!! I feel the same way...I knew a woman in NYC whose parents were in the Camps. She said The Jews here wanted Nothing to do with anyone from
" there" !!! I saw & felt the hurt on her for them ! that was in the 70's, I Never Forgot & Will
" NEVER FORGET " !!
Wow, just wow. You are bang on that this isn't a story, the whole abomination is like a horror thing that is actually real - it happened. I;d be most interested to hear what she told you, you were probably too young and therefore a bit fragile for the whole horrors, just speculating as the survivors are the kindest people I have ever met and was too young myself fully to comprehend. Yes, lest we forget; never should we, any of us,
😢❤
That wall was chilling. This was a very disturbing video but always important to
keep these events in memory. Thanks JD.
Thank you. And yes, the wall was moving to see.
@Dolf Dogeler
Wtf are you blithering on about? The only event that didn't happen is you getting sobre. Drunken doofus.
@Dolf Dogeler
If the entire world hates you then that's YOUR problem, Dumbledore.
@Dolf Dogeler I feel nothing but sadness for people like you with a dead heart and the lack of grasp on reality.
Agree ! But just as important is the case for the innocent Palestinians who's lands were stolen by Jews right after the second world war. There are Arab Ghettos in Palestine and the largest is Gaza . When will the freedom loving people of the world speak out in defense of these wonderful people who's only crime was to own the land the English government earmarked for a homeland for the Jews.
I went to Krakow back in 2009 as a study/travel course through my college (I had actually graduated the day before the class started). The Schindler’s Factory was in the process of becoming the museum and wasn’t open yet but was a site we visited. Even now it is hard to believe that I had the opportunity to travel to Europe and visit a lot of these sites. It had been the trip of a lifetime and something I had always wanted to do. While we were in Krakow we ate lunch at a restaurant near where some of Schindler’s List was filmed. It was near the steps where the boy hides the mother and daughter when they were liquidating the ghetto. I would love to go back some day and go through the museum. Schindler’s List is probably THE movie that really brought the Holocaust into the public eye more than any before it. Spielberg wasn’t even sure he wanted to do it but it eventually lead to a very close and real connection to his Jewish ancestry and lead to the creation of the Shoah Foundation, without which we probably would have lost so many first-hand witness accounts… especially from survivors.
Also, Oskar Schindler is the only member of the Nazi Party to be buried in Jerusalem. His grave is in the Catholic cemetery on Mount Zion. His life is so interesting. He did not start out wanting to save lives. He saw there was profit and opportunity. Then eventually he understood and tried to save as many as he could and became “Righteous Among the Nations”. His story lives on in the generations he helped save.
I cried as I read the last part of your comment. Blessings to you ⚘
"Any man can have redemption in the eyes of God."
No relies?
Sorry misspelled. No replies?
So many lessons about government control and tolerating godlessness
I remember seeing Schindler's list in the theater when it 1st came out There was not a dry eye in the movie theater you could hear crying and sobbing everywhere It was a very I opening experience for American citizens They need to open their eyes a little wider and recognizing what's going on in America today
Jason I was one of those viewers that couldn’t control my emotions. The Pianist was another film that tore me to bits.
because current America is like Nazi Germany?
Did you just make a link between the holocaust and the usa today? I hope i didn't read it correctly.
What the hell does the mass murder of the holocaust have to do with ANYTHING going on in the USA today????
What is going on in the U.S. that is on par with the Holocaust? Please explain....
Thank you for preserving history and showing the lives not only lost but the people who made it out of the nightmare. It is beyond my comprehension how many people went to the camps and how few came out. We must never forget and we must honor to those who lost everything in the camps. This will prove that evil will not prevail.
I agree. We must never forget. And yes, they should be honored. I had friends who were in Auschwitz.
What a heartbreaking story but one that must be told. The History of the lives lost and those saved still touches my heart .
The youth of today need to know the truth and facts about the Holocaust. It needs to be taught In every American school, especially with what's happening in today's world 🌎
@@robindew9072😢
This horrible story will not be forgotten.And the thing that happened in the past people now are doing it again.I do not know why. Praying that the true king will come to rule and reign upon the earth that we will live in peace forever 🙏
I totally agree. I hope it is being taught in schools.
A story of Man’s inhumanity to fellow men which needs to be kept alive to prevent history repeating itself. Thank you for treating it with such reverence and respect
That's such a simplistic way of seeing this. It's also a story about the exact opposite a man who showed incredible humanity when it was very dangerous to do so. Grow up some.
Sadly not a one time event but an ongoing tragedy perpetrated by many countries.
Stay awake
I must give Europeans credit in that they do not try to erase history, even negative history from which we learn lessons, like so many in the USA have done and attempted to do in recent years. BTW, my wife's grandfather was a camp survivor, and as a baby boomer the stories of WWII were part of my upbringing. I suppose that is how/why when my wife and I watched "Schindler's List" we were in tears. Oh, another impactful WWII movie s "The Boy in Striped Pajamas."
In my small home town in Canada, Ive met people from Polland who left once the Nazi's showed up. They were not Jewish, however they fled the country. My grandfather helped take it back, as part of the Canadian Army. He lived to old age. My dad told me so many stories. This video of yours was amazing, it expanded more on the movie I saw in highschool World Religions class, a few years after it was made.
He did not help get Poland back as they were under Soviet occupation until 1989. People forget Poland was handed over by the allies.
Great Respect to your Grandfather......🇨🇦
This is a part of history that many people( 35 and under) have not been taught in school. Thank you so much for this video.
I'm 28 from the UK and at school we learned about Nazi Germany til we were blue in the face
We learned about it. It was part of the standard curriculum in Colorado.
@@mwillis7791 That is awesome to hear. It's not true of many school districts in the US.
Just unreal on what all happened then. Anytime I watch something on this, I always shed tears for what they went through. And to think that I've read that there are people that think it never happened just floors me!! I remember when the movie came out. My mom and I went to it that first night and there were NO empty seats, no talking, no moving. Could hear a pin drop. Only ONE person left during the movie but was back in 5 minutes (or less). I had to go to the bathroom, but dien't want to leave (and I never did)!! My mom and I would always look at each other during it in shock and sadness throughout the whole movie. thank you for sharing this!
Perhaps a rich Arab will one day make an equally sad move depicting the theft of their lands in 1946. All of what you saw in that movie happened eighty years ago. Yhe imprisonment and suffering of the Palestinians is happening right now. We can remember the dead in ww2 but more importantly we can help the poor Palestinians right now.
.ìíl
Oh boohoofuckinHOO!@@den264 You want to help the Palis go live on the west bank or Gaza. Or better yet, Saudi Arabia.💩
I have watched the movie several times, we must never forget.
My son was stationed in Germany in 2019 . My grandmother came from Krakow before WWI. My son took us to Krakow on our trip to visit . The factory was part of our visit.
Thank goodness that in such a dark time, there were stories like this. People who were brave and good when evil took hold.
RIP to all the victims whose lives were stolen, and thank you to all the survivors who overcame their trauma enough to educate younger generations.
AMEN!
Wow- I love how you bring the humanity back to life. This was a terrible time in history that needs to be kept alive so we can stop it from happening again. I appreciate the hard work you have put into the videos. Thank you for caring!
Your production just keeps getting better and better. Great work.
Much appreciated!
When I went to Europe in 1986 I couldn't make myself go to any concentration camps. I did go to Anne Frank's family hiding place in Amsterdam. That broke my heart!
BTW - if you don't teach history at a school somewhere, there are a lot of people missing out on one of the best history educators around.
🙂
He does teach if i remember correctly, he's mentioned it in a few videos before.
Yeah honestly, I love history but was awful at retaining the stuff needed to do well in a class (was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult so it makes sense now). But I also had horrible history teachers lol. But i enjoy these videos, and can pay attention to them which is important lol.
I agree. It helps to have video recorded right at the scene, something not all history teachers have available. I was a K-12 art teacher but history has always been a love of mine because we were kids during the Civil War centennial and family vacations were trips to Civil War battlefields. I loved examining artifacts like uniforms, mess kits, saddles, etc. And living in PA we also had access to Revolutionary war sites like Valley Forge and Ft. Ticonderoga. If I were an American history teacher I would make myself period looking dresses and dress up from time to time to teach a certain event in history. What's the point of education if not to make it alive and entertaining? Dates aren't as important as what the treaties meant, who was on whose sides, the motivation behind coming to America in colonial or even 1900 era, and so much more. I have become an aficionado of Russian history, particularly the reign of Nicholas II, his family and the Revolution. I've even been to St. Petersburg as a tourist and saw many of the palaces, churches, museums, etc. I could teach that, I know it all so well. History is endlessly interesting to me, but I concentrate on just a few portions of it just because they interest me the most. The History Underground is an excellent youtube site.
@@monkeyz240 I’m so sorry you had to go through that!!! I didn’t find out I was dyslexic until my sophomore year of high school so I somewhat understand what you went through. I hope you’re doing well in life now!!! 💛
Real, vivid, haunting…the evil in the heart of man. We don’t have a true concept of this. Thank you for reminding us of the people who suffered and the people Mr. Schindler rescued. We should never forget what happened.
I agree that it is fascinating and emotional and the music added a lot to the atmospheric content. I had a habit some years ago of visiting old cemeteries and graveyards and in my town of Maidstone in Kent I was wandering around when I came upon what seemed to me to be rarely visited section. I don’t know what made me stop but I could see a gravestone was half covered with brambles. That didn’t seem right so I painstakingly cleared most of it away. There to my surprise was Hebrew writing and the Star of David and in English the ladies name. It stated also that she survived the camps. Seeing that was extremely sad in that she survived to a good age but seemingly nobody had maintained the grave site. This lady was one of the small percentage that did survive and there cannot be very many left alive. God bless them all. Thanks JD.
There may be no one left to clean the gravestone. My grandparents were buried and my father never showed us where they were, if he even knew. It’s very sad.
My father served in the military in WWII. His memories actually shaped the rest of his life. He never got over what he saw. I was born after the war so I did not experience what my mother did with my father. Bless you Dad,. Ii love you and miss you.
Just the same for me Sunny. I never knew what it was until they had died and yet they showed their love thereafter that I should be safe and warm. My Father a Catholic in the Polish war consigned to a death camp for jews as a barber. He escaped from his situation to neutral hospitality was hospitalised and went back into the war in protection of the jews in Italy as a tommy to guard the synagogue in compensation as best he could as a man that had lost his soul to have to kill someone.
You created your most heart-rending, emotionally affecting, and interesting content during your trip to Poland. This is saying a lot given the high quality of your body of work and your ability to cut history down to the reality of what happened to the people who took part in the historic events. Outstanding series of videos!
Thank you. Lots of history in that part of the world. Much of it quite sad.
@@TheHistoryUnderground my dream is to travel the steps of the allies from Normandy to Berlin. Any suggestions of where I should stop along my travels?
He covered portions of the American Civil War also. A war perpetrated by Confederates who tried to destroy the USA to preserve and expand African American slavery which had been in existence since the early 1600's and during which millions of African Americans were killed.
@Dolf Dogeler what makes you believe that I have not done so?
@Dolf Dogeler By Allies, I hope you are talking about the Russians. That is who raped and pillaged.
The movie The Pianist, also portrays Poland during ww2 really well
Great movie!
That wheelchair scene, ooof!!!
That was very eerie and haunting knowing so many lives were snuffed out because of their ancestry. No words can convey the horror that innocent people were dealt harshly with and treated like in the Nazi way of thinking, undesirables or trash. But, God in his mercy sent Schindler there to save as many lives as he could in spite of the Nazi spite. This video was well done JD.
Thank you. Pretty sobering place.
I am gonna be honest, this might be one of my favorite episodes of the History Underground. It felt like 5 minturs when i was done with this one. Great job JD!
Man, I wish you'd been my history teacher in high school, I would've gotten interested in history so much earlier. You do this so exceptionally well, sir. You always handle these sensitive and tragic topics with great reverence, respect, and knowledge. Thank you for making these videos, teaching us, and letting us see these places we'd otherwise never get to see. Next time you're in Europe, check out the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundlander Memorial Park near Thiepval, France, it's the only preserved WWI battlefield complete with craters and trenches and the story is amazing, it was part of the Battle of the Somme. Seems right up your alley.
Oh wow. I'll definitely check that out. Thanks and thank you for the kind words. That means a lot.
Agree. Awesome work
Not the only preserved battlefield there are areas around Vimy Ridge and others in Flanders.
Excellent video. My mother was a Polish Jew who was born in USA, but her parents luckily got out of Poland in time. Really hits home, thank you.
The detail about the arches on the wall is both fascinating and very telling.
Pretty chilling.
At first i thought the design was nice until he mentioned ⚰️
What an excellent video JD. My wife and I met a lady a few years back, her and her sister was sent to several concentration camps . Her father was forced into the German Army, Her mother was sent to a different camp. Remarkably they all survived, I didn’t want to bother her to much. It’s just terrible what the poor people went through..
Thank you for doing this. Thank you so so much. My grandmother and her family were pushed from their homes, and forced into that exact ghetto. She lost everyone in camps but escaped to live in the woods with gypsys for over a year until making her way to Canada. Thank you so much for sharing our history. I hope to god no one, in any religion or any race has to deal with any types of horrors such as this
As I watched this video, it is heartbreaking and stirring of many emotions. The museum is so well thought through and puts faces and living conditions in time of the many hardships they experienced. Your neutral stance of retelling history and Chris' Vlogging Through History, I have learned so much of the plight of my Polish-Lithuanian ancestors. Well done JD.
Thank you. And yes, Vlogging Through History is top notch stuff.
Excellent job, and I appreciate your perspective. Some colleagues and I took American HS students to Krakow and Auschwitz, and saw a lot of these sites. Completely sobering. I've been to a few of these camps in Europe, and its always difficult to digest what humans have done to other humans, sheerly out of ignorance and hate. Thank you for being such an amazing teacher of history.
Please keep teaching the children in your classes.
Schindler’s List was an amazing movie and now I want to see it again. Thank you for taking us to where his home and factory were. The chairs are very impactful.
I really love how humble you are, and how you don't pick sides, you just inform as you yourself are learning! Very well done my friend
Thank you. Alway learning :)
Pick sides? What side is there?
@@JC-zy4oz - Good heavens. That’s not what he meant. He means that I try to observe all history objectively. Of course, the Nazis were evil. We all know that.
My sister and I visited Krakow a couple of years ago, beautiful city with a tragic past. We visited a lot of the places you showed in your video, thank you for bringing back both happy and very sad memories
Krakow had a long and often tragic past before the nazis showed up.
Few care to admit (if they ever knew) the tragic anti-semitic past of Poland. Jews were actively persecuted, subjected to discriminatory laws, and forced into ghettos (that's were the Yiddish word comes from) and suffered from periodic pograms. Nothing pretty about Jewish history in Poland, Ukraine, or much of anywhere else in eastern Europa.
Another fascinating and emotional journey. The ghetto wall being representative of headstones…and made during Passover..wow. Just, wow. I’m feeling a little stunned by that. Thank you. my hand extends to you to shake JD.
Thank you. And yeah, the way that wall was built is beyond awful.
If you think that the design of the shape of the wall that surrounded the ghetto from the city was cruel, wait until you hear about where the camp was built in Plaszow, its barracks and the road on which the prisoners walked. These facts should chill your blood in your veins.
@@grin1972 thanks…I think….
Dude! If your stunned by that, unfortunately, dig deeper!! That's just one example of the millions of sick sh&^%t they did! Mengele, the doctor at Auchwitz. I can't even go into detail about the experiments he did on people, children, twins. The holocaust & slavery..... the two worst acts against humankind ever!
Very well said!
I have been to Krakow yet you have seen and shown me so much more. This is one of your best pieces of work coming as it does on your own participating in today's history on the Ukaranian Polish border. My thanks and my deepest compliments. Amazing work.
Krakow is a beautiful city. Some great open markets and fun night life in the castle square. The city has such rich history and has seen so much, WWII and the Nazis being such a tiny part of it.
Definitely hope to return someday.
Yes BUT AS A JEW AND SOME ONE WHOSE SOUL/SPIRIT WAS MURDERED IN GAS CHAMBER #1 IN AUSCHWITZ IT IS A HISTORY THAT NEEDS AND DEMANDS TO BE TA UGHT! AND YES I AM AN ARDENT ZIONIST
Going in March, cannot wait.
Totally,loved Krakow I wish I can go back one day
WWII and Nazis being a tiny part of it, the history? The extermination of a huge portion of the population of Krackow, I would not call a tiny part of their history. It's sad how anyone could make such a statement. Krakow was the starting point that set the stage for millions of jews and other unwanted people's to be murdered in Europe while the non-jewish people of the area either did nothing, or helped in the murder of millions of the Jewish population in Europe! Their are some like Schindler who helped the Jewish people and risked their own life but not many. The Jewish people who lost everything and who mostly died after the arrival of the Nazis should never be called, "a tiny part" of any places history!
I had a friend who grew up in Poland. He was in a consintration camp. His family were killed and he survived. He wrote a book and told me don't ever forget.
The title of the book?
The title is Remember Us
from my shtetl through the Holocaust.
by Martin Small &Vic Shayne written 2008
Martin and his wife are passed on to Glory.
I am not sure if Amazon carries it or not.@@alejandromandil6357
This is one of the best and emotional videos you’ve done. Brought back memories of visiting Dachau when I was a teenager. Even then, walking on that ground was emotional and made my hair stand on end. You could feel the sense of evil walking the grounds.
Thank you.
I agree, when I visited Dachau in 2009, I felt a very dark heaviness the moment I walked in. Very hard to explain to someone who hasn’t been there…but u know what I felt
Thank you for telling these stories. They are not only stories they are truths. Lest we forget all of those lives and how tragic it was
This was wonderful and heartbreaking to walk with you on this journey of sadness , great narration , thank you .
Thank you for the sensitive and knowledgeable way you have shared an extremely painful subject. May the memory of the 6 million be eternally blessed.
Just a minor correction, that I would like to add. There are actually two sections of ghetto wall remaining, not one. The other is about 200 yards further on, and borders a school, which is still functioning today (in google type 'second ghetto wall" for a map location). On the outside of the wall is a kids' playground which is a shock to many visitors. The wall ends at a cliff, with a hill behind, which one can climb. Then walking around the derelict, ancient Austrian fort that is up there, one can look down onto the streets, to see exactly where the girl in the red coat was walking in the movie Schindler' List. I highly recommend exploring this fascinating area, which is just outside the borders of the actual war-time ghetto.
When you watch Schindler's list the ending always brings tears to my eyes. It might be baby for me to say that but it's one of the few movies that makes me tear up at the end.
I thought this would be a biography about Schindler, but this was even better. You really brought that time back to life for me and my twins (they are 12). Thank you. I look forward to watching more of your videos.
I appreciate that. And thanks so much for sharing it with your kids! 👍🏻
This video was done with so much empathy and love for these poor souls.
Dziękuję za świetne pokazanie i opowiadanie o kawałku przykrej historii mojego kraju! Dziękuję
My stepfather lost his entire family in the Holocaust. His parents had enough money to send one of their children to Italy with hotel property papers. He worked for years to get the hotel back, but the German government refused to hand over the hotel and when they finally agreed, they demanded he pay all taxes and fines. He finally gave up, broken hearted.
Beautifully filmed and narrated. It amazes me how nowadays people still either deny this part of history or makeup their own version.
And in 2023 the Republicans in the USA are pushing towards Autocratic rule under the guise of Freedoms. If you don't learn from history, you will repeat it. 😢
Schindler’s List was first to awaken my knowledge about the Holocaust. I cried and was in shock…
Saw Schindler's List when it came out in theaters. When the credits rolled at the end and the lights in the theater came on, usually people stand up and start to leave. Not this time. Everybody stayed in their seat, we were all looking at each other, stunned. First time I saw that. I later bought Schindler's List DVD when it was released. It's still wrapped in its original plastic, never opened. It's probably the most important film in my collection, but it's the only movie I never want to watch again. Thanks JD, great episode.
Just a few notes. There’s another original ghetto wall, actually pretty close from the one you showed, next to a kids playground. I read an article where the artist to the chairs was quoted saying that when the people of the ghetto were summoned to the square by the Germans, the old folks knew these meetings would take forever, so they brought a chair so they could rest. When the meeting after several hours was finally over, they took their chairs and returned home. But one day, I can't remember the date on top of my head, the Germans closed ghetto A, and old and disabled persons were herded down to the train station to be moved directly to Chelmo. Those who were able to work, were moved into ghetto B. Thanks for the great work you're doing. I love it.
My neighbour passed away 2 days ago, she was a hungarian jewish woman, she was in her mid/late 80s and had come to australia as a child when hitler began his reign of terror across the world, God Bless her, she didnt end up in a camp, they ran as ghetto's were being forced upon people, most of her family did not survive that war, she came here with her mother and her aunt, they were the 3 surviving members of her family, she has 2 daughters and a grand child, she was a miracle and a beautiful woman ❤ there arent many people left from that era 🙏 the world need to remember and keep being reminded by videos and documentaries like this so we never forget ❤
Poland was my last trip before Covid. I actually watched Schindler List before my tour. I walked through the museum for an experience I will never forget. Thanks for the square. I was moved by that area also. I'm actually happy I did watch the movie. You did a great job on your tour and uploading this video.
Would love to see a tour from you on Wolfs Lair?
An interesting anecdote I was told when visiting Krakow had to do with Hero's Square. Famed director, Roman Polanski, at that time a child, escaped from Hero's Square by jumping the wall and swimming across the river to the north side of town. He was taken in by a sympathetic Catholic family and secretly hidden to avoid German capture -- he survived the war because of it.
Also, the old synagogue in Kazimierz, the old Jewish district, was used as a horse stable by the Germans.
I missed Schindler's apartment when I visited. Thnx for detailing that.
Watching this, I can’t help but see the stark difference between the Polish people and the American people. You’ve shown us a museum in a major Polish city that is dedicated to preserving and remembering history. Not just the whitewashed, feel good ideals today’s society chooses to remember but the gritty, ugly, painful history as it actually happened. They have this museum so they can remember and learn from it. The good, the bad, the reality of history as it actually happened. Unfortunately there is a concentrated effort in our country to erase the truth of our history. While the Polish people choose to remember and learn, Americans choose to forget and obfuscate our history. We should take a lesson from the victims of the atrocities of both world wars and not embrace what happened but preserve the history of our country so future generations can learn from it.
That era left a deep scar that they don't want forgotten.
It is the same in Germany. At least it was when I was there in 2009. Everywhere you look in Berlin there is a memorial or museum dedicated to that time. Germany’s darkest days not be forgotten. Schools take field trips to the camps. The German Police academy spends a week at Sachsenhausen learning about how it all started. They say it helps them to not only remember their past, but to remember to help prevent it from happening again. Poland became the country where most of the extermination camps were located and had this thrust upon them. America can learn a thing or two from these countries about preserving our past - all of it, especially that which makes us uncomfortable.
We could turn some of the Native "boarding schools" into a gritty remembering of the crushing of a minority group to start
That is so well said, and unfortunately also so sadly true in America. Sorry to be political, but that erasing of American history and culture absolutely comes from the Left. It's a very Communist attribute actually.
@Cathy Berry kids I work with have no idea what the Holocaust is. While I can understand it from the elementary school age - and even some of the younger middle schoolers - I can only fathom that when it comes from the high schoolers that it’s because History just isn’t taught anymore. Even when I was in high school (graduated 2005) the Holocaust was just a blip during World History. If they don’t know what the Holocaust is, it’s almost certain that they don’t know the Rwandan Genocide or the Cambodian Genocide, or really any of the systematic killings that have taken place throughout history and even today. History has never really been seen as an important core subject. The main three were Math, Science, and English/Lit. I had really awesome history teachers throughout my school years and my dad has a huge interest in WWII (more the Pacific theater) and ever since watching The Diary of Anne Frank with Millie Perkins, my mom and I have shared an interest in the Holocaust. I do have to be careful at work, the Holocaust is a very dark, gruesome and horrific thing to discuss and has to be done in an age appropriate manner.
Heartbreaking-may humanity never have to see these events again-very good documentary!
As someone who has visited Krakow 21 times since 2016, I know the city and it's history very well. My Polish friend Grazyna was living in Kazimeirz while Shindler's List was being filmed, and she actually met Steven Spielberg. I've stood in the courtyard where the soldiers threw the belongings off the balconies, a very chilling experience! Plazow camp where the Jews were first sent is now a country park, Amon Goeth's house is still there on Himmelstrasse, and Hujowa Gorka where the bodies were burned is a very chilling place!
One of the best if not the best historical documentation that people all over the world should watch!!
Wow!!
How I wish I was as good as you are in detailing this gruesome yet interesting past!!
You're a genius man!
Totally!!
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Seeing the musuem, and hearing about the well, just brought tears to my eyes. The things these people had to face, had to accept. Lives destroyed, and yet we as humans now seem to take everything for granted, neglecting to forget these people who had everything stripped from them. Thank you so much JD for keeping this history alive and sharing it with the world. I'm sure those who experienced it who are no longer here appreciate the work you're doing.
Thank you for taking me there.
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I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this video. I’m not Jewish (not that I know of) but I have always anguished over these people. I don’t care what you believe about god as long as you believe and no one should suffer at the hands of another because your beliefs are different. Keep up the fantastic work!
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I’m so jealous of the places you’ve been able to walk WW 2 history. Absolutely amazing.
There is actually a second fragment of the ghetto wall. A short walk from there behind a school, next to a playground. We visited it last summer.
So glad to have stumbled upon your channel! Good work!
An gracious way to present a horrible time in history because it was presented with such care & consideration to those who unfortunately lived through & often died during this time.
Thank you
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Amazing video very professional Thanks
Wow, what a beautiful city. Amazing this place survived the War. The remaining part of the "Ghetto Wall" is very sobering. I didn't realize how much of the Movie was filmed in and around Krakow. That Museum - old factory - was a great view. Interesting: Tearing down and destroying the old monuments and statues. The Photos on the Wall tells it all. Thank God they kept the Gathering Spot as a Memorial. Your Presentation was done really well. God Bless.
Very well said. The absence of presence and the presence of absence. Having lost a child myself, I understand the persistence of this sentiment. It never goes away.
JD, you done this brilliantly well. Your videos are so informative. Really appreciate all of what you do to keep history alive, seems like a lot of folks are trying to forget. Thank you.
Thank you. Hopefully people are sharing these videos out and helping other to learn and keep the history alive.
I had chills as you showed the museum.
Schilder was an angel in disguise.
He did the best he could for the people who worked for him.
a sad history, but one that needs to be told and remembered. thank you, you did a great job as always
Every generation should know about what had happened these people
Very powerful episode. Well done.
My wife worked in a Jewish nursing home for 38 years. As she would do histories on new residents, she would find people that bore the number tattoos from the concentration camps. She learned a lot talking to those survivors. The human spirit is a powerful thing.
Thank you for doing this episode and reminding today’s generation that this DID happen. It must never be repeated!
I live near Kraków i know pretty much about story of Kraków, Schindler and Płaszów and i have to Say that you did two gratuluję films about it. A lot of important informations, ecpecially for somebody who is not living in Poland. Respect, very good job
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Great documentary. That part with the empty chairs really got to me since I lost a family member who I deeply loved.
Well done 👍. Education should be reading, writing, arithmetic, and HISTORY!
Amen to that.
I'd love to go there, JD! Thank you for this. I get emotional when I think of the Holocaust and cried at Dachau.
Hard to imagine how people could do this to each other.
Thanks for the video. I worked in Krakow in 1998 - 2000 before the museums and Plasow concentration camp became a visitor destination. I recall in the Jewish area at the back of the Wawel Castle many empty unoccupied houses and was told these remained unclaimed properties of the families of Jews sent to the concentration camps.
It was a very sad and moving sight to see, nothng could prepare me for Auschwitz and Birkenau, especially one trip I made during a snow storm. I will never forget that harrowing feeling, I questioned the term "humankind", thete was no kindness shown to those poor Jews, Romanies, Slavs, Polish, Russians, Jehovas Witness, disabled and mentally challenged people.
Thank you for making this documentary, it was so informative and your style of delivering it was just perfect.
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Thank you for your time in showing and informative comments. I will never be able to travel to see what you are seeing and experiencing. It is so heartbreaking to know how the hatred of one man can flourish and escalate into the murder of so many! God bless you and your show, safe travel and I will be a faithful member of your show!
Wow, fascinating video and very well done as usual. Thank you for bringing it to us ! Looking forward to the next one !!
Thank you.
The story of Rudolf Vbra and Alfred Wetzler's escape from Auschwitz is amazing.
I just discovered your channel this evening. This Holocaust video was the first one I watched. It was absolutely fascinating and I very much enjoyed the way you narrated the story. I was certainly brought to tears more than once. I think of some of my dear Jewish friends and how they're always so thankful for their free lives here. They will never forget what happened to their people. I have subscribed to your channel and look forward to watching more of your fine work. Thank you.
I appreciate that more than you know. Got a lot of content on here that I hope you’ll enjoy. 🙂
I was in tears before I got 7 minutes in. I am so glad you showed up on my home page. I subscribed. We must never ever forget.
Oh wow. I've waited for so long to see something about Schindler in a history video. You're awesome bud. 👌 thank you 😊
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Thank you for reminding people that the Holocaust didn't happen in one day. Many people I speak to, that's their viewpoint. This is why it is so important that we protect our rights because it starts off slow with just one or two little rights being taken away and before you know it this is the same fate you end up with. No group of people regardless of skin color, religion, political views, ideologies, or for any other reason deserve to be treated like that. You cannot like some group of people or agree with them but that doesn't mean you have the right to infringe on their rights as human beings.
Was in krakov recently, love the history of the city and love the city itself. This is where my family fled the germans in ww2 before they ended up in Britain ( middlesbrough) .
Thank you for sharing this video with us. Young people needs to see this. I pray no one allows this to ever be forgotten.
The camera work and editing are extremely good.. I'm a bit of a history buff so I didn't learn anything new here.. but I would definitely recommend this video to someone who wants to learn about this.. good video
Thank you. Hoping that we can all work together to bridge the history education gap a bit.
@@TheHistoryUnderground have you heard of the Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton?? They write songs about all this.. No bullets fly (about Frans Stigler Nazi fighter ace) who became an honorary member of the USA 8th air force post war) and Christmas truce as well as many others may be to your liking..
You, literally, took me on a tour of the museum !!! I thank you because at 70, living in NC...I doubt I will ever get there !!! What a Wonderful Presentation !!! BIG WOW !!! 😊
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Thank you for putting one of Europe s most insidious events forward so levely. One subject especially overlooked is the eradication of the gypsies by the Nazis. Have you already covered the subject. If not would you be tempted to do so. Mick Thurston
Once again thank you, JD for making these videos and bringing this terrible part of history to light. My grandfather was born in Krakow but left for thr US when he was very young. Many of relatives stayed and several were murdered in the Holocaust even though they weren’t Jewish, they were catholic Poles. With more and more of the greatest generation passing away every day it’s so important for us to carry on this history.
Awful what happened to those people.
Is it not more important to help the living as opposed to continually going back eighty years in time remembering the dead. There is nothing we can do to save or help those poor souls who died during ww2. But we can help the six Million Palestinians living in constant fear of being bombed and burned alive by American made planes and rockets. Start discussing the situation with friends and family, or more importantly your political representatives. Make it be known that you are not comfortable living in a country "America " which not only supports the ongoing attrocities in Palestine, but finance the nation which is holding six Million Palestinians inside the worlds largest outdoor prison, and kills them with total impunity regardless of what the UN has said on the matter. What are you afraid of ! Being labelled antisemitic. Big deal. This word has been thrown arround so much and in ever flippant situations that it has lost any stigma it once caused.
I have watched quite a few of your videos and it never ceases to amaze me when a TH-camr with limited resources, money, staff and writers produces videos that are the equal to and in many ways surpass the big-name documentaries. With only a 1/4 of a million subscribers you pull together a series that deserves to be seen by a much wider audience. Having visited Dachau, it is difficult to wrap your head around what you are seeing, after all its now just empty buildings and old fotos. 2 things I saw finally made an indelible impression on me that I still remember 30 years later, 1 was a map of all the concentration camps, (we are all familiar with the main ones) there were hundreds and even more incarceration centers. 2 was a small plaque in the crematorium to some British female SOE agents who were tortured and then killed in the camp. Thanks for doing what you're doing!
I could not of stated it better!
Wow. Thank you for the kind words. I'm just a one man operation but having people watch, comment and share these videos is a big help. Hopefully, we can all work together to help broaden people's knowledge of history.
@@TheHistoryUnderground Well as evidenced on street corners worldwide, sometimes the 1 man band outshines the other acts. I am a 22 years US Army SF combat veteran and a rank amateur historian. Stationed in Europe for 13 years my eyes were opened to the vast amount of history at every step. Do you have any plans of following in the footsteps of the 1st Special Service Force in Italy (Aleutians and S France). And do you have any plans to visit places like Vindolanda on Hadrians wall or Carnuntum Roman archeological park in Austria. De oppresso liber
@@danstoye3902 - Definitely.
The Schindlers real story story is a heartbreaking one and that museum a humbling one. The movie tells the story with enough power to cut right thru the daily noice. Great video, as usual!
Wow, so interesting to see Schindler's actual office and the metal items his company made.
I travelled to Krakow some years ago on business and unfortunately never associated Krakow with Schindler. If it wasn’t for your brilliant series I would still be in the dark. Thank you for this emotional journey through our brutal past.
Krakow is an amazing and beautiful place…hard to comprehend what happened there in 1939…the Schindler factory is fascinating and well worth a visit
Quite the place.