Most movies/series show WW2 from the allied perspective or of the victims. You should watch a German series called "Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter", its English name is Generation War. It shows the life of 5 regular Germans and how WW2 affected them
Nick, thanks for sharing your insights into your relationship with Germany. Especially with the perspective of your generation. I was born not quite 15 years after the end of World War 2. Films in the 1960s to 1970s tended to portray Germans as the "bad guys". Then in in high school, in the late 1970s, I got to know a German family during my senior year. Two of their children attended my high school during that year. One of those children was a daughter. Fast forward to 1989... I reconnected with that daughter. I moved to Germany in 1991, we married, and I ended up working for a German publishing firm in the 1990s. In addition, two sons (with German and U.S. citizenship) came from that relationship. They got to know their American cousins well. My sons have seen "Band of Brothers". They've told me they cannot imagine having to aim a weapon at someone who could potentially be a cousin. As for me, I was raised in Southern California. But "home" for me is a small town in the German state of Hessen where my sons were born and raised. Technically I'm a foreigner in Germany. But through my experience, Gemany and Germans became such a part of who I am that I don't perceive the country and its people as foreign. Nick, as your Mark Twain quote makes obvious... "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." And war (especially today with the spectre of nuclear weapons) can never be an "alternative solution" to social issues. (Apologies for the long post.)
As a german i say, we are not responsible for what happened BUT we are responsible to never let it happen again and never forget about those horrible times.
That's stupid. Because if you feel responsible for never let it happen again, you are automatically responsible for that what happened in the past or why would you take the responsibility for that? Because of guilt.
@@SchmulKrieger responsibility is not guilt. As the earlier generations were responsible for letting it happen it is up to us, to take responsibility for our generation.
I am very moved by the sincerity of the comments today. I always read every comment. I normally give a lot of thumbs up, but felt doing so was too insignificant a gesture to show how deeply they affect me. Bless all of you. Bless Germany. May the rest of us be more like you.
Good one. My wife is German and I am of British stock, and now a German myself. 80 years ago that would have been unthinkable. As you said we are very fortunate to live in these times and be welcomed.
Great video! I, too, have read and seen a lot about WWII. I was born 9 years after the war ended. My ancestry is German. Many of my friends growing up had fathers that fought in the war. My uncle was in the D-day invasion, was injured and spent the rest of the war in England in a hospital. He never spoke about the war that I remember. He did go see Saving Private Ryan with my cousin. We asked him what he thought of the movie. He said it was pretty accurate but was missing 2 things. The pigs and the smells. The pigs had gotten loose from farms and came down to the beaches of Normandy and were eating the dead American soldiers. And the smell of blood and rotting flesh was overwhelming. War is a horrible thing, to be avoided at all costs.
Hello Nick, I'm a German having a Russian wife. Her home town is Wolgograd (former Stalingrad). My grandfather was fighting at the eastern front (luckily not in Stalingrad) and had to go through Russian war prisonership for 3 years. Only three years; he was pretty lucky with it; and lucky to survive and get home. I also sometimes thought how lucky I am not to live in that time. I love my wife and don't even want to imagine that I have to do similar things as my grandfather had to do.. Good video Nick.
I really admire the way in which the Germans have faced their troubled past with such honesty and humility. They've since built a country which is a bastion of democracy.
Thank you for your kind words. It is not easy for us Germans to be proud of our own country. But we have worked on it. Something like this must never happen again, I hope we have all learned from it.
Just this winter I red my Grandmothers journal during WW2 when she lived in a small town with my newborn father before and after the allied troops attacked the town. The uncertainty if she would ever see my grandfather again, the fact that an artilery shell hit her house and just happened to not explode. Contrasting these experience, lived through by a woman I have known in person and how fundamentally different the Germany and the times we live in are, but it is in fact the same Germany ... hard to grasp but makes me incredibly apreciative of my luck to be born when and where I was and thankful towards the properous and peacful life I am able to enjoy!
NALF you are truly incredible!!!! Your a very Talented videographer!!!! And Narrated at that. Ive watched you now for several years, what can I say you got me hooked!! There isnt a day that goes by that I don’t look to see if you’ve posted a new video. By the way damm your looking Ripped!! Looking good my man your in awesome shape!! 😜
My first time in germany was in 1962 and I was visiting a friend who shared an internship experience in Paris. He lived in Hannover and showed me around and he was proud of how the city had rebuilt since the war. There were old fachwerk buildings in a non-strategic area. I enjoyed a soccer game the way it is done in europe. He introduced me to his family who were polite and generous. However i winced at a photo of a family member whose picture was taken during the war. That person was in the uniform of the wehrmacht! As thoughts raced through my mind I realized the soldier probably had no choice in the matter and his family loved him. Fortunately I had the presence not to vent my first thoughts and we all remained friends. In later years I would have very good friends (older than me) who were involved with the german military during the war, and they had interesting stories to tell !
My German professor in college was originally from Leipzig, and had been in the Wehrmacht. He never said much about the war, except that most of them were only there because they had been drafted.
My grandfather was fighting against the third Reich and got caught from the Gestapo. He jumped out of the third floor of the police headquarter in Essen (close to Düsseldorf) and tried to flee to France. Unfortunately they caught him again and he ended up in a concentration camp. He just survived because the war ended few years later. Every time my sister and I had a sleepover at my grandparents home, I heard him screaming and crying at night. The older he got the more he was scared that the Nazis will come and get him again. He recorded his whole story on about 15 tapes and I just managed to listen to one of them because it is so shocking and cruel that I can’t stop crying.
Aber hey es ist unglaublich gut und wichtig dass er das aufgenommen hat. Sowas für die Zukunft zu haben ist gut auch wenn es schwer zu ertragen ist dass zu hören. Ich habe meinen Großonkel interviewt und der war den Sommer davor fast gestorben. Die Erinnerungen wären auch weg gewesen. Bei dem Interview ist dann rausbekommen dass er Deserteur war, was keiner in der Familie wusste.
Nice video, but if you allow me to point out one aspect that is very often overlooked by younger Americans: The influence of US soldiers in the post WW II years, just by being stationed in (West-) Germany and Berlin, bringing in radio programmes, films products and a way of live into a war-torn, just recently enemy, country had a tremendous impact on post war (West)- Germany and its people. The fact that you are playing (American) football for a German team (as well as for the Italian national team) is clearly a testimony of American culture influence over a long time post 1945.
I was stationed in Giessen back in the late 90s. I talked to Germans about it and learned their viewpoints. It's interesting that they're not taught pride in your country as much as we were. They are great people and have a storied history outside of those dark times. When 9/11 happened we went on full lockdown. The locals covered our front gate with flowers and gifts. It really brought us together with the community.
You are right. The 3rd Reich and WW II hurt our country so much that we haven't developed any patriotism and pride out of fear to sound nationalistic again.
@@grandmak. I'd call that BS. There is a lot of pride in Germany. Just read the comments here and under every other german/american related topic. And there is patriotism. We've seen that after the floodings.
@@KokoloresKlimbim Nein, das muß niemand. Wäre auch schlimm, wenn's so wäre. Ich denke, wir haben einen guten Lokalpatriotismus. Das ist völlig ausreichend. Die meisten Flaggen die ich sehe, sind vom Bundesland, in dem ich wohne. Auch das finde ich völlig ausreichend.
As a German living in Greece I too so much appreciate the fact that today we don't meet as enemies. Of course here in Greece I regularly come across places and monuments reminding us victims of the Germans and it always feels so painful, knowing my ancestors were the bad guys. They really were, I know what they did during WWII. And it's so beautiful that whenever I express these feelings to Greeks they all immediately want to assure me that that they don't see me as a part of Nazi Germany, but as a part of today's Germany, a country they appreciate. We're incredibly lucky to have peace!!!
Greek people are clever enough to distinguish between ordinary soldiers and the nazi politics. My father was soldier in greece. He married a woman right of this village where he was "occupant", now he is burried right at the cementery in greece, where all others are. He learned the language fast and helped out whereever he could. The people of the village knowed and loved him, so he`s the first german soldier and cathlic on a orthodoxian cementary.
@Max შემიწყალე it's funny how people can't divide shame from responsability and empathy. And no, Greeks never invaded Germany, they didn't condemn 100.000 Germans to starvation, they didn't burn down German villages, so of course Greeks have a right to see Germany as a country that back then was a terrible aggressor and as a German I have respect for the victims of the atrocities that were committed by people like my grandfather. I think for people that would like to forget what their ancestors did our German approach is unconformable, because it show a way to cope with a terrible past that is based on taking responsibility for what has happened. And lots of people don't want to take responsibility of that kind. And responsability isn't the same as guilt.
@Max შემიწყალე yes but the crimes of the allies were much less than the crimes of the NS regime. Also, the ideology of the western allies was better than the ideology of the NS party, which by itself caused misery among thousands of innocents even before the war (but also during the war). So it is good that they are not treated as equally bad, because they were not equally bad. Apart from this, I also do not believe that people should have guilt for things they did not cause.
I was born in 1940 Germany, and remember some of the war and the aftermath. I remember my mother telling me to lay down in a ditch if I heard an airplane. I remember the night sky lit from the bombings. Most of all, I remember waiting for the return of my father from Russia even though my mother told me he was killed. I hoped he was a prisoner and he would come home. I gave up hope years later. I always knew that someday we would be moving to America, most of my family lived there for many years. We arrived in the U.S. in 1954, by 1959 I was in the U.S. military. I served in North Africa, UN forces in the Congo, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand and was discharged in 1967. Wars are never-ending, humans never change, we just switch sides.
I did my military service in Germany in 1962-65. I was quite impressed with the country and its people at that time. Remember, it was a mere 17 years after the War when I got there. I took every opportunity to socialize with them. I had many friends at the local university. Of course, the most important German I met was my wife to be, a marriage that lasted 49 years. I was fortunate to have relatives that were civil servants in the Hessian government. My brother-in-law was Ober Kriminal Kommisar in Hessen during the time of the Bader Meinhof gang. My father-in-law spent 12 years as an officer in the Wehrmacht, and he loved to reminisce with me about being with Rommel in North Africa and his time in Russia. He was asked to return to the new German Army when it was formed, but his wife said "No more"! After the War, the Allies had a definite de-Nazification program. Patriotism and militarism was discourage in all facits of German life, particularly in the schools. Such things as our American school kids saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, is virtually unknown in Germany.
The Pledge of Allegiance is not just unknown, it’s a concept we can’t wrap our heads around. We just don’t understand it. The only people to pledge allegiance in Germany are working for the state. And politicians for example have a line in their pledge (for governmental jobs), that says more or less that they will do everything in their power to help make life for everyone in her better.
As an American, it has always astounded me how Germany was able to rebuild so thoroughly after the war. To see photos and films of devastation from 1945, and then to visit Germany today, the recovery is amazing. Yes, I know, a lot of it was Marshall Plan (American) money, but it is the amount of work it took to recover that makes it so stunning. For example, I saw die Frauenkirche in Dresden in 2007, rebuilt using bricks scorched from the firestorm in 1945, and collected by hand, no doubt, by die Trümmerfrauen (the post-war "rubble women"). In 1979, I was in Lübeck visiting die Marienkirche and seeing that parts of the church were still being rebuilt, years after the war's end. Germany also has sought to learn from its past and to atone for it in a very admirable way. I have visited history museums in Germany where I saw army and police cadets who were brought there to remind them of the horrors of a totalitarian state. All this makes me appreciate Germany even more... By the way, my father, in the US Second Infantry Division, was in the second wave of D-Day; he then crossed the Rhine at Remagen and fought his way across Germany, all the way to Pilsen. He was lucky enough years later to meet German men who had probably been shooting at him in 1945, for all they knew, and they all had a great time together... But he did suffer upon his return from what we today would call PTSD, according to family recollections about his nightmares. Whether that turned him into a man whom I feared as a child, I'll never know...
For many Germans the war continued after may '45. Not with weapons but with work. The harder they worked the easier the sleep afterwards. They continued to fight for their country in another way, rebuilding what was lost. To ease the pain. To regain pride. To overcome the misery. To slowly travel back to normality, if ever. The scars of war go deep, maybe that is why he could talk to German soldiers easier than to you, they were both there and than. Many US soldiers returned home where there had been no war, and those who were not in it couldn't understand. I am from the Netherlands and my parents, uncles and aunts all had their loads to carry. Sometimes they could talk and laugh about it, and than suddenly there was silence. The next generation only got small bits of what they had faced. I had an uncle whose mood could change in a second, partly character but also deep scars.
Interesting fact about the Marshall Plan: France and the UK received much more than Germany and somehow Germany managed to overtake them as leading economic powers.
yeah, was also american money in the beginning that got our little Adolf (Austrian btw) going 😉 Nevertheless, lots of aspects about the third reich were turned and highly influenced by „winners telling their perspective“ not how life really was. Lots of things were really good for most of the people - obviously there was a minority who was brutally treated - but still, the general historic perception and even state declared aspects, both German and American, are not the truth, one has to read between the lines and understand that until war broke out (not cause Hitler just wanted war for the sake of it but because Poland treated the German minority like shit and regulalry killed many of them etc.) the general wealth increased extremely strongly and people finally had food, jobs and proudness for their country again. Read the book „the war that had many fathers“ or in German „Der Krieg der viele Väter hatte“ and you will be able to come a bit closer to the „truth“.
I am grateful for my grandpa that he survived this war, that he tell us everytime how it was and what he learned and that he keeps everybody around him aware of how important it is to learn from that horrible piece of history.
My grandma is the same. I'm so grateful to see this part of history through her eyes. It's so much more personal and tangible. My grandpa on the other hand can't talk about it. Whatever he went through must've been unimaginable. I'm so glad that I wasn't born during that time.
Grandpa, singular That really says it all, doesn't it? I for one am not grateful for the grandfather who survived the war, because I remember him as a vile and evil old man who manipulated and hurt everyone around him. Thankfully, he developed a debilitating condition which largely limited his ability to inflict physical harm on his family members, such as my grandmother, who was unwilling to abandon him. His final "fuck you gesture" was to die on the evening before my birthday. He still lived way too long and years of abuse caught up with my grandmother, who died just a few months later. I often wonder if he had always been like this or if something happened to him that destroyed his humanity. My maternal grandfather ended up with a bullet in his head in spring 1945, just a few weeks before the end of the war. My mother never knew him and the only thing of him that lives on is my middle name. So yeah, f*ck Nazis and I'll become the next Georg Elser before I'll let history repeat itself.
Nalf! Man I say that like once a week just randomly. Started watching you a few months back, love the channel. I want to thank you for acknowledging this issue. This week I was checking out my binoculars and thinking about what stuff I'm taking on my big European adventure in the next few months. And it occurred to me how virtually none of the vlog channels I watch of people traveling in Europe (and its a LOT) bring up this subject. On the one hand, current citizens are not responsible (mostly...) for the past, everybody gets that. But on the hand, the peace and prosperity over there had a cost. So I don't think topic should be completely avoided. So...its tricky.
As somone born in former West Germany in 1965, I do not think it has to be tricky. The comments by Germans here do reflect the thinking of the German majority IMHO. I hope you have a nice time in Europe. Greetings from Germany!
@@ralfklonowski3740 Thanks for the well wishes. I've spent most of the last year learning German at home slowly, until it's really time to get serious. But I've mentally committed to not vilify anybody but to at least acknowledge, and just hope for the best. And like Nalf, just take everything in. Since we're in the same age range, we might have a similar outlook. All of Europe has a long history, and many perspectives.
Good vid, Nalf!👏 That plane sequence says it all. It's crazy. And if you have/had grandparents who went through this, you know it's not long ago and you think it could get near again faster than you might think. I pray it won't. 🙏
Agreed. War is one of the most psychotic approaches to life - usually enforced by psychopaths. So sad. My father, born in the US to German immigrants, was drafted for WWII when he was 18. Weird for him and his (our) family. Afterward he was a distant and absent human being and father, a walking shell of PTSD. I hope we can lighten up when it comes to our collective social relationships, and shine a light on those in positions of power who seem off. Bless you. 🙏🏼🇩🇪
I spent time growing up in Munster, German. My school was an ex-SS barracks (Edinburgh School, Nelson Barracks). I used to think the bullet holes and the remains of where the Eagles carrying a laurel crown with a Swastika in the centre were pretty cool. But I had German friends who obviously hadn't been born during the Second World War, let alone fought in it, that carried a burden of unimaginable shame. They had grandparents who they loved but at the same time, dreaded them saying anything about their experiences in that war.
True. Our forefathers were so paralyzed by what they saw or did they couldn't talk. Understandable but also a burden. My parents were so strange when they tried to be funny. Something was wrong, I could sense that. But no one would explain.
There was an article about a group of people from my hometown that went to support Hitler (I think it was before he came into office) and after the war to this day the relatives of those people are still ashamed and for the longest time swore that their was no group that supported the Nazis. My grandparents were born towards the end of the war so I never had to ask they about their involvement but I know that their fathers and uncles did live trough that period and it is shocking to see old pictures and think about their potential opinons. Sometimes my grandparents would talk about their childhood and I can not even beginn to imagine how their life must have been. And if there ever was a conversation with their parents and their involvment. That must be a very difficult conversation to have.
Hey Nalf. Thank you for this episode. It is great that you lived in our country and that most people were friendly and hospitable. In every state in the world the people have to take care of peace and democracy. Good that the US and germany are friends today. All the best and many greetings from westfalia (Germany).
Hi Nalf, great that you share your experiences with Germany and the Germans with us. IMHO more Americans should read the book - rise and fall of nazi germany.-. Not only because of German history, more to reflect the rise of Hitler with the current political situation in the us. I really hope that the Americans learn from the hard lessons we Germans had.
Agree. Even though I don't know the book. But only from the title I'm sure it does one thing which is very important in my opinion: It tells the whole story from start or even before to the end and maybe a bit after. From my perspective it seems like the US focuses very much on the war itself when it comes to this topic and not so much on everything around it and the time before the war. But for the society now that's the most important part. I mean I kind of understand why it might be like this in the US (if my impression is right at all): the war was the part the US was actually involved. Everything else was just far far away from Americans at this time. But like I said, now for learning from the past for the future the war itself is kind of unimportant, especially compared to the way that lead the German society to a dictatorship that caused this war, the holocaust and many other cruelties.
Good stuff, NALF! My grandfathers fought the Japanese in the Pacific theatre together with American troops in the Philippines. But through funny circumstances that brought my parents to Germany I was born here and identify as German. Sometimes it's a strange feeling. Especially when I think about WWII and how different life would be for me back then.
Thank you for handeling the history with so much care and compassion and drawing the right conclusions. We all can be so grateful for the peaceful, mostly united world we have today. I'm glad that these days I can visit the US, the rest of Europe, Japan and most other countries as a tourist to learn about them. And though there are some problems today, many of us are living in paradise. War on the other hand is hell. One can only imagine what it must have meant for these young men from back then: a constant lack of sleep and food, cold/hot/wet weather, constant danger for your life, cruelty, dirt, pain, death, not knowing if you'll ever get home again, not knowing if your loved ones are okay and so on It really makes you appreciate the supposedly small things: shelter, a warm bed, rest, enough food, security Many people really don't know how well they're off nowadays.
When I was a child, my grandfather often had visits from his former comrades of his pioneer unit. Then the battle of Stalingrad was re-enacted together at the coffee table. The coffee pot was the “Red October” tractor factory (the roof (lid) had already been blown off there) and the cups were the Russian T-38 battle tanks. As a child I listened to the stories in awe. Otherwise my grandpa never talked about the war. not a word. After his death we found his officer's diary and we were able to explain his silence. It must have been a really shitty time. We should learn from the experiences of our ancestors and ensure that this black history is never allowed to repeat itself.
I married a german girl and her father I found out later was also in Stalingrad...at the age of 17! He was severly wounded which saved bis life as he was flown out on one of the last flights to leave Stalingrad. He also never talked about the war.
When we try to at least get a grasp of who our grandparents were/are (at their best and worst) think about the ammount of trauma and unfathonable descissions they had to just 'push down and lock away' because there was no time, no space and no support to even start to work through what they had experienced. Impossible for that to not mess you up in some way as a person!
My father didn't talk much about the war either. he was born the year the nazis came to power so still a child during war. But what impressed/shocked me the most weren't the stories itself he told me but the normality, the banality of the events we couldn't imagine nowadays.
I’ve seen band of Brothers probably 20 times. Owned it in Blu-Ray for a while. Maybe I was a bit too young to see it, but it was a big part of my adolescence. I’ve also as well, however, watched the flipside; the 2013 series Generation War, concerning the German side. Was interesting and good too. Damian Lewis plays a great Capt. Winters in Brothers. One of the great TV performances ever, I think.
NALF, this powerful video really shook me, started "cutting the onions" when you got onto how you and your pal and teammate would have been enemies trying to literally kill each other rather than work in a charity drive together. As a man deeply entrenched in classical music, I admire the German people and the German culture, and what they've contributed to human history. I also respect how they've faced up to the horror of WWII, and their societal response fighting back "nostalgic" neo-Nazis in their midst, to never make the mistake again that their great-grandparents made. We could learn a lot here at home from their experience, facing our own history honestly. Maybe that way we might actually take seriously and stop once and for all the hordes of neo-Confederates pining for "freedom" with dreams of launching a second Civil War. The Germans could teach us a thing or a thousand how such fantasies end.
It's an interesting dycotomyto be a German in my generation (in my 30s). On the one hand I strongly hold the belief to not make daughters & sons responsible for the actions of their fathers & mothers. I hold others but also myself to that standard. On the other hand all of WW2 and the Third Reich IS undeniably the history of my country, the history taht shaped teh country I live in today. And frankly, not that long ago when my grandparents were young. And I also don't want to be blind to that either.
Great to use your platform to bring this to the attention of your audience! War is a terrible thing and the way Germany has developed itself after the war is admirable. Mark Felton has interesting video’s on WW2.
Wow just wow Nalf. Thank you so much for talking about this. You don't know what this means to me. I lost all my great granddads and granddads in these wars. The only male figure which survived is my dad. All my grannies and aunts were widows at a very young age. They never marrierd again or found a new love. REMEMBER THAT.NEVERFORGET.
I live in the first German city to fall into American occupation. Aachen. In the region I can find many remnants like foxholes, old tank wrecks and the 'Panzerhöcker' the anti-tank blockade. It's sometimes strange to walk among those sites. Thank you for the video!
the beginning really had some of bo burnhams inside vibe. really cool video thank you for your perspecitve. its always very interesting to see how other people percieve my country
I am so glad, that I can live in peaceful times. 80 years we would be enemies, trying to kill each other. Now I am watching this little video and I am so happy, that you appreciate and like my homeland.
Like ten years ago my daughter went to France as an exchange student. That made me think. 70 years ago young German men were sent to France to fight the enemy, How glad can we be to live in the present where we sent our kids to France for cultural exchange and to learn about different cultures? Peace is such a valuable gift. Thank you for your video.
You're right, war is just so... odd. As a German, I'm thankful that the allies showed up but I never understand how we can actually expect people to be soldiers. Or expect them to not have PTSD. It just doesn't make sense to me. My grandfather was 16 towards the end of WWII and still in school. He sort of flirted with the idea of being progressive and not siding with the Nazis and whatever, being a teenager I guess, when his favourite teacher, who he really admired, was shot very publicly in the town square for greeting the class with "good morning" instead of "Heil Hitler" and my grandfather decided right there that he'd do anything the Nazis asked of him after all. I'm sure there was more to it than that but he told this story to his teenaged granddaughter so he probably tried to make it palatable for me. He did end up having to be a soldier and then he was a POW for two years, coming back home to his widowed mother and three younger siblings at the ripe old age of 19. He wasn't okay for the rest of his life. He was a good husband, father, grandfather and he provided for his mother and siblings, he was successful professionally, he had a good life and was loved very much - but he was not okay.
Sad story. At least your grandfather talked about his experiences. I think many involved - on both sides - were too traumatised to speak, even to their nearest and dearest.
*_"...when his favourite teacher, who he really admired, was shot very publicly in the town square for greeting the class with "good morning" instead of "Heil Hitler" ..."_* Sorry, I don't believe that story. Even the death sentences of the so called "Volksgerichtshof" under Roland Freisler against the white rose or the members of the resistance group around Stauffenberg weren't executed in public. And just for saying "good morning" instead of "Heil Hitler"? The regime was fanatic, of course, but they didn't kill everyone who didn't make the nazi salute. In Fact they were also very sensitive that there were also rooms of contradiction and critic, even they where very small. We know that at the end of the war, weeks before the german surrender many of the "Standgerichte" executed deserters in public, hanging them with shields around their neck with writings like "I copperated with the bolshevics" or "I betrayed the german people".
@@CoIntelPro23 She didn't mention who shot him. Might just as well have been a small town with an overzealous nazi population turned angry lynch mob, especially towards the end of the war.
@@CoIntelPro23 I do believe it. There is a story of an old man who lived in my small hometown and was a bit of a drunkard. One time he said "Heil Beer" while he was drunken in a pub. The next day he was gone. Nobody asked - but everybody knew he was shot and why he was shot. My grandmother also feared for her live after she once said: "Heil Asshole." But the boy who listened to it didn't rattle her out. They did set "examples" like these. And depending on who listened - your life was on the line. It could be - that having a certain social status - or living in a less agressive "neighbourhood" - things might have been different.
@@ErklaerMirDieWelt I would not totally exclude that, but remember, even the so called "Werwolfkommandos" at the end of the war, who should start partisan warfare against the Allied Troops were a big failure and more a propaganda instrument than an effective fighting force spreading fear among the enemy soldiers. At the end of the war, when allied troops were advancing, everybody tried to protect his own life, tried to cut every ties to the nazi party, everyone knew there would be trials against them. As a punishment it would be more usefull to draft him into the "Volkssturm" so that he can die for the "Führer" on the frontline.
Great video, Nalf! As a german guy i am really aware this horrible time should never be forgotten. Even my parents (8 years old at the end of WW2) and me are not responsible for what happened, we are HIGHLY responsible for never let such things happen again. There may be idiots in germany that want the era back, but they are few, and there are enough people standing against them. And over all i think germany makes a good job handling our history.
There is truly no serious group trying to get the Nazi time back. Nowadays calling someone a "Nazi" is more or less just a tool for most politicians to make cheap political points without a proper argument.
Most of the Germans learned absolutely nothing from WWII. The way to "never let that happen again" would be to teach critical thinking in schools and to question everything. In this way people could get much less affected to state propaganda! But what do you see when you look around? Only hate and discrimination of people who don't share the same exact believes or political views.
@@Bei_Gandalfs_Bart Well that's true for most western countries. But yeah Germany should have known better, instead of promoting blind obedience and attacking any disagreeing opinion.
@@Frosty1979 But..... What I saw in the US under Trump.... reminded me much of what we saw in Germany under Hitler. NO ONE can point a finger, and EVERYONE has the responsibilty to never let that happen in their country. Otherwise history will simply repeat itself.
My father was an Allied truck drive in WWII. I studied as much as I could about WWII as an adolescent child. I was interested in the methods and machinery of war with a particular fascination for tanks. Later in life I found myself drawn to the political and social histories of war. How did they start and how did they end. The way victors changed the stories and themes of wars.
It is excellent and worth watching it because it shows how people are ready to exploit their compatriots but also treating the enemy with compassion. Brilliant!
I get your thoughts totally, being the son of a American GI and a German mother having a Grandfather fighting on the beaches and one in the dunes makes me kind of a child because of WW2. Lets be friends instead of being enemies is the much better way to go and hopefully one day in a far far future mankind will realize we all humans and peace is the only way for all of us no matter where we are born! Have a great day and stay safe and healthy.
I really appreciate your view and perspective on another country and its history and people (though I personally do not identify with germany as a nation or nation states at all for that matter), especially considering the way in which germany and WWII are portrayed in the media you likely grew up with. We are absolutely privileged to live in a space and time where war does not affect our personal lives or that of our families in a tangible way. Instead, we benefit from a vast freedom of expression and movement, practically unseen in history. Let's all be thankful for the lives we are able to lead right now, in spite of any personal hardships one may experience right now. Again, I really appreciate your thoughts and comments on this topic, and I hope, your time in germany and the relationships with the people here are as enjoyable as can be. Cheers!
I had 2 uncles who went to war 2 and neither one ever said much about their experience. Many vets are reluctant to do this as, I imagine, would bring up too many suppressed memories. War is a bad thing and humanity should be on guard to not stumble into it. Also Albert Speers memoirs "Inside the Third Reich" is a very good book.
I was born in 1978 and during visits in France, Spain, Belgium, I still remember my grandparents telling me to be behave and be quiet. Don't speak German in public too loud. I still try to behave as best as I can when I am in foreign countries 😄
One of my favourite mini-series, too. But one thing went into my mind: You say, it's hard to believe, young man as you and your team mates, 70 years ago would have been sworn enemies (which i think was true on the battlefield, but not necessarily in civil live, but what do i know) - if you look back in American history, you will find similar constellations within your country, dating barely more than 100 years back.
Well said . I’m first Gen American, parents immigrated 1960 I have strong relationships with the relatives that are left , sadly not many at that. My aunts house in North Germany near Bremerhaven many Americans and British troops were laid up in there to sleep after the war and there are markings on some roof rafters from them back then. I respect my Mother and father and my grandparents all the older folk who rebuilt the country not to mention rest of Europeans for their rebuilding. My Ex wife’s grandfather a fighter pilot took his wife and first born in a fighter aircraft out of surrounding area of Stettin/ Szezin Prussia/Poland because of the advancing Russians. Then there’s my Grandfather was first Eng Room Tech on a Destroyer prior to WWII , then switched to Submarine Duty in Eng Room , when tides turned on Wolfpack he managed to get out Submarine service and there after ….IDK any rate …. Well done said NALF I know allot of my parents war stories just missing some bits and pieces but family here are my siblings and the few in Bremerhaven… TG im the one who keeps us all close cause I’m the only one that speaks both Hoch Deutsch and Pfälzisch ….
another excellent video. Thank you Nalf. I believe the EU has played a large part in keeping the peace in Europe and young people there today feel closer to each other regardless of which country they live in. I actually served for 4 years in the German military (a long story) back in the 1970s. It was a very different military to the one I had grown up with as a child watching the Hollywood World War II movies. Thanks again for your great TH-cam Channel.
Well spoken NALF, I watch band of brothers at least once a year to refresh my mind of the terrors of war. I'm in Bavaria right now working for the US Army and along side Germans also. I think all the time how far we have come from the those terrible days in the 40's. I love being here and I value my German friends.
Very true. It'd be a great world if we could get rid of both. The are the corrupted parts of administration and believes. In an ideal world we would just have an administration to make everything work and everyone could freely believe in whatever they wanted without the institution of religion. That would probably erase most of worlds conflicts.
What a great video. I felt the same way in 2018 when I visited. My grandfather was a tail gunner in a bomber in WWII. I was standing in the same place he bombed 70 years ago.
I love Easy German episodes and though I have never been to Germany, I share the same appreciation for its people. Cheers, from down South here in São Paulo, Nick.
Really stunning, this video, great work Nick! We can all be so happy not to have that horrible choice between killing ore being killed. But a war is always the end of a development that changes peoples' minds to convince them that a certain people is "the enemy". That process is very well explained in the little book "The murderous identities" by the catholic Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf. He describes how every human has several parts of identity and that under certain circumstances this fact is misused by politicians to create hostilities. Around 1990 our school in Berlin had an exchange with a school in Wolgograd, the former Stalingrad. One day when the Russian students were in Berlin I saw a German and a Russian boy riding their bicycles side by side and communicating in a weird mix of German, Russian and English. And when I remembered that 50 years ago the grandfathers of these boys could have been forced to kill each other I couldn't help crying. We all can actually see this misusing of "identity" in the US where some people seem to forget that they are all citizens of one country. Thank you once more for this excellent video!
"Believe me when I say to you I hope the Russians love their children too We share the same biology, regardless of ideology But what might save us, me and you Is if the Russians love their children too" Sting
By this you could imagine what a great institution the European Union is. 27 nation working (sometimes more, sometime less ;-) ) together. I'm not only German, I am also a European Citizen. This citizenship doesn't exist but this fact makes it even better. Being part of something with 24 official languages, more minority languages more cultures more indivituals binded by the ideal of working together in peace... Your problems become unimportant and you can earn a lot of positivity, joy and strength out of it 🙂
Likewise, the Euro has been a tremendous achievement for encouraging cooperation and interaction among Europeans. Whenever anyone questions the economic benefit of the Euro Zone, I like to suggest they pull out their calculators and add up the costs of the semi-permanent War Zone that Europe once was, until WW2 finally put an exclamation mark at the end of a thousand-year-old arms race. War may be good business for the weapons manufacturers, but it's hell on the rest of us. Prosperity begins with peace.
The ideo of a united Europe is a great one. But the execution with the current Union is lacking. There isn't enough democratic legitimization in its institutions and there are vastly contradicting interests in certain fields.
@@stefanbrill4165 So either always keep things as they are (wrong as they may be) or fighting, destruction and war? No alternatives, no in between? Like, reforming or rebuilding? Holy crap, with a simple mindset like yours the world must be easy. And yes, it is undemocratic. Even the really EU friendly programm like "Die Anstalt" pointed that out. The political institutions as well as the European court vastly lack democratic legitimization and control mechanisms. Or as they said so beautifully: "Ist ja leicht, sich im Hotel Europa zurecht zu finden. Besteht ja eh alles nur aus Lobby."
@@7shinta7 No need to get emotional and lash out. Yes, the EU is not perfect. Yes, the EU could be more democratic. But it is *more* democratic than quite some of its current (or former) member states. Take the UK: the most powerful unelected bureaucrat was Cummings, effectively the Dark Lord in control, until the clash with a WAG. No British minister has ever gone through a scrutinizing procedure and had to be accepted by the house of commons. Other than the EU commissionaries: the EU parliament has to agree and we have seen commissionaries rejected. Take Hungary. Take Poland. Take the Czech republic. Many of the actual and perceived failures and imperfections of the EU are caused by member states, not by the EU itself. However, the EU always gets blamed for things going wrong, it is the perfect scapegoat for everything. Never it is the other way round. Have you ever seen a member state getting fire for mishaps or shortcomings caused by the EU? I cant't remember anything like that.
If you're interested in the background and what led to the Third Reich, you should read the trilogy by Professor Richard J. Evans. He actually starts with the founding of the German (Prussian) Empire under Bismark and how that influenced German nationalism and everything coming in the decades after that, over WWI to WWII. Occasionally a very dry read, but also very interesting.
This may also be a fair warning: the third Reich wasn't just some weird abstract movement of another age of time in history. It wasn't that long ago and the people back then weren't so different from the people today as we might think (or wish). Meaning it could and probably will happen again. And to be honest guys, the USA in its current state is closer to the Germany before the dawn of the third Reich than the current Germany: deeply, extremely deep, divided over any political issue, nationalism that gives me the goosebumps as an observer, a preposition mindset that the US is above all international agreements up to even disobey Geneva war conventions and more. That is not to say that there is a dictatorship coming up anytime soon in the US, but the example of German history should be a warning to us all, that it sometimes evolves quickly into some horrific nightmare and it is too late for you to realise. I recommend The Diaries of Victor Klemperer in this regard, where you can experience how the air to breath became less and less over the years after Hitler's election.
My grandmother was a young girl when Dresden was bombed. The summer I turned 8 I spent a week or two with her. In front of the ruins of the Frauenkirche she told me that she was there when the bombs fell. She and her doll. I didn't understand either what she told me nor what she didn't say until I was about 18. The military history museum (Militärhistorisches Museum) has a "shard" (designed by Daniel Libeskind) that points towards where the first bombs hit. You can go in there. If you do, keep in mind that the entire military complex is behind you. It still is. There are some smaller military buildings in front of you, but way to the left. They weren't hit. The experience is different knowing this.
Some of your videos give me the feeling of "This documentation to subject X has an promising start. I will watch this to the en… Wait? What?! It's already over?!!"
Most movies/series show WW2 from the allied perspective or of the victims. You should watch a German series called "Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter", its English name is Generation War. It shows the life of 5 regular Germans and how WW2 affected them
AFAIR Polish people aren't that impressed ...
@@agn855 If you want to get more the side of what happened in Poland, "the Pianist" is a good movie to watch
@@Nihal-wx3th one of the saddest and most depressing movies I've ever watched. But it's worth it.
@@Nihal-wx3th The Pianist is a Masterpiece in my opinion. Thanks for mentioning it.
I second this, although it is a series, which is very controversial.
Nick, thanks for sharing your insights into your relationship with Germany. Especially with the perspective of your generation.
I was born not quite 15 years after the end of World War 2. Films in the 1960s to 1970s tended to portray Germans as the "bad guys".
Then in in high school, in the late 1970s, I got to know a German family during my senior year. Two of their children attended my high school during that year. One of those children was a daughter.
Fast forward to 1989...
I reconnected with that daughter. I moved to Germany in 1991, we married, and I ended up working for a German publishing firm in the 1990s. In addition, two sons (with German and U.S. citizenship) came from that relationship. They got to know their American cousins well. My sons have seen "Band of Brothers". They've told me they cannot imagine having to aim a weapon at someone who could potentially be a cousin.
As for me, I was raised in Southern California. But "home" for me is a small town in the German state of Hessen where my sons were born and raised. Technically I'm a foreigner in Germany. But through my experience, Gemany and Germans became such a part of who I am that I don't perceive the country and its people as foreign.
Nick, as your Mark Twain quote makes obvious... "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."
And war (especially today with the spectre of nuclear weapons) can never be an "alternative solution" to social issues.
(Apologies for the long post.)
Ich freue mich, daß Du in Hessen ein Zuhause gefunden hast!
As a german i say, we are not responsible for what happened BUT we are responsible to never let it happen again and never forget about those horrible times.
And now we have a lot of work to do.
@@CoIntelPro23 maybe. I think those
people are not many....but who are very loud
@@vieraeugigerZyklop they might be a minority but what concerns me most is the silence of the majority.
That's stupid. Because if you feel responsible for never let it happen again, you are automatically responsible for that what happened in the past or why would you take the responsibility for that? Because of guilt.
@@SchmulKrieger responsibility is not guilt. As the earlier generations were responsible for letting it happen it is up to us, to take responsibility for our generation.
I am very moved by the sincerity of the comments today. I always read every comment. I normally give a lot of thumbs up, but felt doing so was too insignificant a gesture to show how deeply they affect me. Bless all of you. Bless Germany. May the rest of us be more like you.
Thank you.
Short video….long time subscriber….sound, Musik and editing top notch…. Super.
Good one. My wife is German and I am of British stock, and now a German myself. 80 years ago that would have been unthinkable. As you said we are very fortunate to live in these times and be welcomed.
We are highly responsible for never let such things happen again. thank you for this kind clip
Wow, dude this was so touching, not gonna lie, it brought tears to my eyes. May nobody ever witness such cruel times ever again.
Great video! I, too, have read and seen a lot about WWII. I was born 9 years after the war ended. My ancestry is German. Many of my friends growing up had fathers that fought in the war. My uncle was in the D-day invasion, was injured and spent the rest of the war in England in a hospital. He never spoke about the war that I remember. He did go see Saving Private Ryan with my cousin. We asked him what he thought of the movie. He said it was pretty accurate but was missing 2 things. The pigs and the smells. The pigs had gotten loose from farms and came down to the beaches of Normandy and were eating the dead American soldiers. And the smell of blood and rotting flesh was overwhelming. War is a horrible thing, to be avoided at all costs.
This was an incredible episode, thank you for broaching the topic respectfully and inquisitively.
Pretty tough subject. Thank you for taking it into your agenda.
Hello Nick,
I'm a German having a Russian wife. Her home town is Wolgograd (former Stalingrad). My grandfather was fighting at the eastern front (luckily not in Stalingrad) and had to go through Russian war prisonership for 3 years. Only three years; he was pretty lucky with it; and lucky to survive and get home.
I also sometimes thought how lucky I am not to live in that time. I love my wife and don't even want to imagine that I have to do similar things as my grandfather had to do..
Good video Nick.
Beautiful profound and thoughtful monologue. Wonderfully combined with some well chosen film footage for great emotional impact, Lovely work !👍
I really admire the way in which the Germans have faced their troubled past with such honesty and humility. They've since built a country which is a bastion of democracy.
Thank you for your kind words. It is not easy for us Germans to be proud of our own country. But we have worked on it. Something like this must never happen again, I hope we have all learned from it.
Bullshit. Germany now has worst restrictions of Kovid. No more rights
@@ehamann2309
Yes because of so many idiots !
@@norbertderiro9458yes and they all sit in the corrupt government!
@@ehamann2309 Sei einfach bloß froh, dass du nicht in einer richtigen Diktatur lebst! Ich kann dieses Querdenker Gelaber echt nicht mehr hören!
Just this winter I red my Grandmothers journal during WW2 when she lived in a small town with my newborn father before and after the allied troops attacked the town. The uncertainty if she would ever see my grandfather again, the fact that an artilery shell hit her house and just happened to not explode. Contrasting these experience, lived through by a woman I have known in person and how fundamentally different the Germany and the times we live in are, but it is in fact the same Germany ... hard to grasp but makes me incredibly apreciative of my luck to be born when and where I was and thankful towards the properous and peacful life I am able to enjoy!
NALF you are truly incredible!!!! Your a very Talented videographer!!!! And Narrated at that. Ive watched you now for several years, what can I say you got me hooked!! There isnt a day that goes by that I don’t look to see if you’ve posted a new video. By the way damm your looking Ripped!! Looking good my man your in awesome shape!! 😜
My first time in germany was in 1962 and I was visiting a friend who shared an internship experience in Paris. He lived in Hannover and showed me around and he was proud of how the city had rebuilt since the war. There were old fachwerk buildings in a non-strategic area. I enjoyed a soccer game the way it is done in europe. He introduced me to his family who were polite and generous.
However i winced at a photo of a family member whose picture was taken during the war. That person was in the uniform of the wehrmacht! As thoughts raced through my mind I realized the soldier probably had no choice in the matter and his family loved him. Fortunately I had the presence not to vent my first thoughts and we all remained friends.
In later years I would have very good friends (older than me) who were involved with the german military during the war, and they had interesting stories to tell !
My German professor in college was originally from Leipzig, and had been in the Wehrmacht. He never said much about the war, except that most of them were only there because they had been drafted.
Bernhard Wicki - Die Brücke. Also a book by Gregor Dorfmeister. About the end of WWII and how kids were even then drafted to be the last defence…
Best anti war film. Devastating.
My grandfather was fighting against the third Reich and got caught from the Gestapo. He jumped out of the third floor of the police headquarter in Essen (close to Düsseldorf) and tried to flee to France. Unfortunately they caught him again and he ended up in a concentration camp. He just survived because the war ended few years later.
Every time my sister and I had a sleepover at my grandparents home, I heard him screaming and crying at night. The older he got the more he was scared that the Nazis will come and get him again.
He recorded his whole story on about 15 tapes and I just managed to listen to one of them because it is so shocking and cruel that I can’t stop crying.
might not be the worst of ideas to have it be copied and stored somewhere for future generations to review excerpts of it.
@@FrontlinerCdV Excellent idea..
Hello Avalon, i also think, that it is important to keep the memories alive. Is it possible to get in touch with you?
We will not forget what our country did.
Aber hey es ist unglaublich gut und wichtig dass er das aufgenommen hat. Sowas für die Zukunft zu haben ist gut auch wenn es schwer zu ertragen ist dass zu hören. Ich habe meinen Großonkel interviewt und der war den Sommer davor fast gestorben. Die Erinnerungen wären auch weg gewesen. Bei dem Interview ist dann rausbekommen dass er Deserteur war, was keiner in der Familie wusste.
Nice video, but if you allow me to point out one aspect that is very often overlooked by younger Americans: The influence of US soldiers in the post WW II years, just by being stationed in (West-) Germany and Berlin, bringing in radio programmes, films products and a way of live into a war-torn, just recently enemy, country had a tremendous impact on post war (West)- Germany and its people. The fact that you are playing (American) football for a German team (as well as for the Italian national team) is clearly a testimony of American culture influence over a long time post 1945.
I was stationed in Giessen back in the late 90s. I talked to Germans about it and learned their viewpoints. It's interesting that they're not taught pride in your country as much as we were. They are great people and have a storied history outside of those dark times. When 9/11 happened we went on full lockdown. The locals covered our front gate with flowers and gifts. It really brought us together with the community.
You are right. The 3rd Reich and WW II hurt our country so much that we haven't developed any patriotism and pride out of fear to sound nationalistic again.
@@grandmak. I'd call that BS.
There is a lot of pride in Germany. Just read the comments here and under every other german/american related topic.
And there is patriotism. We've seen that after the floodings.
@@peter_meyer und trotzdem muss ich mir keine 🇩🇪Flagge ans Haus hängen.
@@KokoloresKlimbim Andererseits ist die Flagge am Haus auch nichts, weshalb man abfällig von jemandem denken sollte... Das machen nämlich viele Leute
@@KokoloresKlimbim Nein, das muß niemand. Wäre auch schlimm, wenn's so wäre. Ich denke, wir haben einen guten Lokalpatriotismus. Das ist völlig ausreichend.
Die meisten Flaggen die ich sehe, sind vom Bundesland, in dem ich wohne. Auch das finde ich völlig ausreichend.
As a German living in Greece I too so much appreciate the fact that today we don't meet as enemies. Of course here in Greece I regularly come across places and monuments reminding us victims of the Germans and it always feels so painful, knowing my ancestors were the bad guys. They really were, I know what they did during WWII. And it's so beautiful that whenever I express these feelings to Greeks they all immediately want to assure me that that they don't see me as a part of Nazi Germany, but as a part of today's Germany, a country they appreciate. We're incredibly lucky to have peace!!!
Greek people are clever enough to distinguish between ordinary soldiers and the nazi politics. My father was soldier in greece. He married a woman right of this village where he was "occupant", now he is burried right at the cementery in greece, where all others are. He learned the language fast and helped out whereever he could. The people of the village knowed and loved him, so he`s the first german soldier and cathlic on a orthodoxian cementary.
@Max შემიწყალე it's funny how people can't divide shame from responsability and empathy. And no, Greeks never invaded Germany, they didn't condemn 100.000 Germans to starvation, they didn't burn down German villages, so of course Greeks have a right to see Germany as a country that back then was a terrible aggressor and as a German I have respect for the victims of the atrocities that were committed by people like my grandfather.
I think for people that would like to forget what their ancestors did our German approach is unconformable, because it show a way to cope with a terrible past that is based on taking responsibility for what has happened. And lots of people don't want to take responsibility of that kind. And responsability isn't the same as guilt.
We are
@Max შემიწყალე yes but the crimes of the allies were much less than the crimes of the NS regime. Also, the ideology of the western allies was better than the ideology of the NS party, which by itself caused misery among thousands of innocents even before the war (but also during the war). So it is good that they are not treated as equally bad, because they were not equally bad. Apart from this, I also do not believe that people should have guilt for things they did not cause.
I was born in 1940 Germany, and remember some of the war and the aftermath. I remember my mother telling me to lay down in a ditch if I heard an airplane. I remember the night sky lit from the bombings. Most of all, I remember waiting for the return of my father from Russia even though my mother told me he was killed. I hoped he was a prisoner and he would come home. I gave up hope years later.
I always knew that someday we would be moving to America, most of my family lived there for many years. We arrived in the U.S. in 1954, by 1959 I was in the U.S. military. I served in North Africa, UN forces in the Congo, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand and was discharged in 1967.
Wars are never-ending, humans never change, we just switch sides.
Hopefully, one day, humanity can learn to live without violence.
I did my military service in Germany in 1962-65. I was quite impressed with the country and its people at that time. Remember, it was a mere 17 years after the War when I got there. I took every opportunity to socialize with them. I had many friends at the local university. Of course, the most important German I met was my wife to be, a marriage that lasted 49 years. I was fortunate to have relatives that were civil servants in the Hessian government. My brother-in-law was Ober Kriminal Kommisar in Hessen during the time of the Bader Meinhof gang. My father-in-law spent 12 years as an officer in the Wehrmacht, and he loved to reminisce with me about being with Rommel in North Africa and his time in Russia. He was asked to return to the new German Army when it was formed, but his wife said "No more"!
After the War, the Allies had a definite de-Nazification program. Patriotism and militarism was discourage in all facits of German life, particularly in the schools. Such things as our American school kids saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, is virtually unknown in Germany.
The Pledge of Allegiance is not just unknown, it’s a concept we can’t wrap our heads around. We just don’t understand it. The only people to pledge allegiance in Germany are working for the state. And politicians for example have a line in their pledge (for governmental jobs), that says more or less that they will do everything in their power to help make life for everyone in her better.
As an American, it has always astounded me how Germany was able to rebuild so thoroughly after the war. To see photos and films of devastation from 1945, and then to visit Germany today, the recovery is amazing. Yes, I know, a lot of it was Marshall Plan (American) money, but it is the amount of work it took to recover that makes it so stunning. For example, I saw die Frauenkirche in Dresden in 2007, rebuilt using bricks scorched from the firestorm in 1945, and collected by hand, no doubt, by die Trümmerfrauen (the post-war "rubble women"). In 1979, I was in Lübeck visiting die Marienkirche and seeing that parts of the church were still being rebuilt, years after the war's end. Germany also has sought to learn from its past and to atone for it in a very admirable way. I have visited history museums in Germany where I saw army and police cadets who were brought there to remind them of the horrors of a totalitarian state. All this makes me appreciate Germany even more... By the way, my father, in the US Second Infantry Division, was in the second wave of D-Day; he then crossed the Rhine at Remagen and fought his way across Germany, all the way to Pilsen. He was lucky enough years later to meet German men who had probably been shooting at him in 1945, for all they knew, and they all had a great time together... But he did suffer upon his return from what we today would call PTSD, according to family recollections about his nightmares. Whether that turned him into a man whom I feared as a child, I'll never know...
For many Germans the war continued after may '45. Not with weapons but with work. The harder they worked the easier the sleep afterwards. They continued to fight for their country in another way, rebuilding what was lost. To ease the pain.
To regain pride. To overcome the misery. To slowly travel back to normality, if ever.
The scars of war go deep, maybe that is why he could talk to German soldiers easier than to you, they were both there and than. Many US soldiers returned home where there had been no war, and those who were not in it couldn't understand.
I am from the Netherlands and my parents, uncles and aunts all had their loads to carry.
Sometimes they could talk and laugh about it, and than suddenly there was silence. The next generation only got small bits of what they had faced. I had an uncle whose mood could change in a second, partly character but also deep scars.
Interesting fact about the Marshall Plan: France and the UK received much more than Germany and somehow Germany managed to overtake them as leading economic powers.
@@HothHapan Determination and working hard. Cooperation and teamwork.
It is called: Wirtschaftswunder.
yeah, was also american money in the beginning that got our little Adolf (Austrian btw) going 😉 Nevertheless, lots of aspects about the third reich were turned and highly influenced by „winners telling their perspective“ not how life really was. Lots of things were really good for most of the people - obviously there was a minority who was brutally treated - but still, the general historic perception and even state declared aspects, both German and American, are not the truth, one has to read between the lines and understand that until war broke out (not cause Hitler just wanted war for the sake of it but because Poland treated the German minority like shit and regulalry killed many of them etc.) the general wealth increased extremely strongly and people finally had food, jobs and proudness for their country again. Read the book „the war that had many fathers“ or in German „Der Krieg der viele Väter hatte“ and you will be able to come a bit closer to the „truth“.
@@dutchman7623 I visited a very moving war museum near Groesbeek, as well as the war cemetery there, with hosts from Nijmegen.
I am grateful for my grandpa that he survived this war, that he tell us everytime how it was and what he learned and that he keeps everybody around him aware of how important it is to learn from that horrible piece of history.
My grandma is the same. I'm so grateful to see this part of history through her eyes. It's so much more personal and tangible.
My grandpa on the other hand can't talk about it. Whatever he went through must've been unimaginable.
I'm so glad that I wasn't born during that time.
Grandpa, singular
That really says it all, doesn't it?
I for one am not grateful for the grandfather who survived the war, because I remember him as a vile and evil old man who manipulated and hurt everyone around him. Thankfully, he developed a debilitating condition which largely limited his ability to inflict physical harm on his family members, such as my grandmother, who was unwilling to abandon him. His final "fuck you gesture" was to die on the evening before my birthday. He still lived way too long and years of abuse caught up with my grandmother, who died just a few months later.
I often wonder if he had always been like this or if something happened to him that destroyed his humanity.
My maternal grandfather ended up with a bullet in his head in spring 1945, just a few weeks before the end of the war. My mother never knew him and the only thing of him that lives on is my middle name.
So yeah, f*ck Nazis and I'll become the next Georg Elser before I'll let history repeat itself.
@@BrokenCurtain very frank, no sugar coating, I like that.
Yes, the long term damages, even after several generations, are underestimated. 😕
@@BrokenCurtain Spring 1941? The WWII ended in 1945!
@@andrep.3774 I am sure it's just a typo. We knew what Broken Curtain meant.
Nalf! Man I say that like once a week just randomly. Started watching you a few months back, love the channel. I want to thank you for acknowledging this issue. This week I was checking out my binoculars and thinking about what stuff I'm taking on my big European adventure in the next few months. And it occurred to me how virtually none of the vlog channels I watch of people traveling in Europe (and its a LOT) bring up this subject. On the one hand, current citizens are not responsible (mostly...) for the past, everybody gets that. But on the hand, the peace and prosperity over there had a cost. So I don't think topic should be completely avoided. So...its tricky.
As somone born in former West Germany in 1965, I do not think it has to be tricky. The comments by Germans here do reflect the thinking of the German majority IMHO.
I hope you have a nice time in Europe.
Greetings from Germany!
@@ralfklonowski3740 Thanks for the well wishes. I've spent most of the last year learning German at home slowly, until it's really time to get serious. But I've mentally committed to not vilify anybody but to at least acknowledge, and just hope for the best. And like Nalf, just take everything in. Since we're in the same age range, we might have a similar outlook. All of Europe has a long history, and many perspectives.
Good vid, Nalf!👏
That plane sequence says it all. It's crazy. And if you have/had grandparents who went through this, you know it's not long ago and you think it could get near again faster than you might think. I pray it won't. 🙏
Agreed. War is one of the most psychotic approaches to life - usually enforced by psychopaths. So sad.
My father, born in the US to German immigrants, was drafted for WWII when he was 18. Weird for him and his (our) family. Afterward he was a distant and absent human being and father, a walking shell of PTSD.
I hope we can lighten up when it comes to our collective social relationships, and shine a light on those in positions of power who seem off.
Bless you. 🙏🏼🇩🇪
To know history is a necessity, to learn from it is a duty, to act according to it is wisdom.
I spent time growing up in Munster, German. My school was an ex-SS barracks (Edinburgh School, Nelson Barracks). I used to think the bullet holes and the remains of where the Eagles carrying a laurel crown with a Swastika in the centre were pretty cool. But I had German friends who obviously hadn't been born during the Second World War, let alone fought in it, that carried a burden of unimaginable shame. They had grandparents who they loved but at the same time, dreaded them saying anything about their experiences in that war.
True. Our forefathers were so paralyzed by what they saw or did they couldn't talk. Understandable but also a burden. My parents were so strange when they tried to be funny. Something was wrong, I could sense that. But no one would explain.
There was an article about a group of people from my hometown that went to support Hitler (I think it was before he came into office) and after the war to this day the relatives of those people are still ashamed and for the longest time swore that their was no group that supported the Nazis. My grandparents were born towards the end of the war so I never had to ask they about their involvement but I know that their fathers and uncles did live trough that period and it is shocking to see old pictures and think about their potential opinons. Sometimes my grandparents would talk about their childhood and I can not even beginn to imagine how their life must have been. And if there ever was a conversation with their parents and their involvment. That must be a very difficult conversation to have.
Hey Nalf. Thank you for this episode. It is great that you lived in our country and that most people were friendly and hospitable. In every state in the world the people have to take care of peace and democracy. Good that the US and germany are friends today. All the best and many greetings from westfalia (Germany).
Hi Nalf, great that you share your experiences with Germany and the Germans with us. IMHO more Americans should read the book - rise and fall of nazi germany.-. Not only because of German history, more to reflect the rise of Hitler with the current political situation in the us. I really hope that the Americans learn from the hard lessons we Germans had.
Agree. Even though I don't know the book. But only from the title I'm sure it does one thing which is very important in my opinion: It tells the whole story from start or even before to the end and maybe a bit after. From my perspective it seems like the US focuses very much on the war itself when it comes to this topic and not so much on everything around it and the time before the war. But for the society now that's the most important part.
I mean I kind of understand why it might be like this in the US (if my impression is right at all): the war was the part the US was actually involved. Everything else was just far far away from Americans at this time.
But like I said, now for learning from the past for the future the war itself is kind of unimportant, especially compared to the way that lead the German society to a dictatorship that caused this war, the holocaust and many other cruelties.
just scrolling through the comments and seeing the length of the comments, alone shows how much you managed to touch people with this 5 minute video.
Thank you for this thoughtful and though-provoking video!
Good stuff, NALF! My grandfathers fought the Japanese in the Pacific theatre together with American troops in the Philippines. But through funny circumstances that brought my parents to Germany I was born here and identify as German. Sometimes it's a strange feeling. Especially when I think about WWII and how different life would be for me back then.
Your parents did a really good job, Nick! ❤️
Thank you for handeling the history with so much care and compassion and drawing the right conclusions. We all can be so grateful for the peaceful, mostly united world we have today. I'm glad that these days I can visit the US, the rest of Europe, Japan and most other countries as a tourist to learn about them. And though there are some problems today, many of us are living in paradise.
War on the other hand is hell.
One can only imagine what it must have meant for these young men from back then:
a constant lack of sleep and food, cold/hot/wet weather, constant danger for your life, cruelty, dirt, pain, death, not knowing if you'll ever get home again, not knowing if your loved ones are okay and so on
It really makes you appreciate the supposedly small things: shelter, a warm bed, rest, enough food, security
Many people really don't know how well they're off nowadays.
When I was a child, my grandfather often had visits from his former comrades of his pioneer unit. Then the battle of Stalingrad was re-enacted together at the coffee table. The coffee pot was the “Red October” tractor factory (the roof (lid) had already been blown off there) and the cups were the Russian T-38 battle tanks. As a child I listened to the stories in awe. Otherwise my grandpa never talked about the war. not a word. After his death we found his officer's diary and we were able to explain his silence. It must have been a really shitty time. We should learn from the experiences of our ancestors and ensure that this black history is never allowed to repeat itself.
I guess, "shitty time" is still a mild expression for what he (and so many others) went through.
I married a german girl and her father I found out later was also in Stalingrad...at the age of 17! He was severly wounded which saved bis life as he was flown out on one of the last flights to leave Stalingrad. He also never talked about the war.
When we try to at least get a grasp of who our grandparents were/are (at their best and worst) think about the ammount of trauma and unfathonable descissions they had to just 'push down and lock away' because there was no time, no space and no support to even start to work through what they had experienced. Impossible for that to not mess you up in some way as a person!
My father didn't talk much about the war either. he was born the year the nazis came to power so still a child during war.
But what impressed/shocked me the most weren't the stories itself he told me but the normality, the banality of the events we couldn't imagine nowadays.
Pretty tough subject. Thank you for talking about it.
I’ve seen band of Brothers probably 20 times. Owned it in Blu-Ray for a while. Maybe I was a bit too young to see it, but it was a big part of my adolescence. I’ve also as well, however, watched the flipside; the 2013 series Generation War, concerning the German side. Was interesting and good too. Damian Lewis plays a great Capt. Winters in Brothers. One of the great TV performances ever, I think.
Generation War is brilliant, I highly suggest anyone who hasn't watched it to do so (in German it is "Unsere Väter, Unsere Mütter")
NALF, this powerful video really shook me, started "cutting the onions" when you got onto how you and your pal and teammate would have been enemies trying to literally kill each other rather than work in a charity drive together. As a man deeply entrenched in classical music, I admire the German people and the German culture, and what they've contributed to human history. I also respect how they've faced up to the horror of WWII, and their societal response fighting back "nostalgic" neo-Nazis in their midst, to never make the mistake again that their great-grandparents made. We could learn a lot here at home from their experience, facing our own history honestly. Maybe that way we might actually take seriously and stop once and for all the hordes of neo-Confederates pining for "freedom" with dreams of launching a second Civil War. The Germans could teach us a thing or a thousand how such fantasies end.
It's an interesting dycotomyto be a German in my generation (in my 30s). On the one hand I strongly hold the belief to not make daughters & sons responsible for the actions of their fathers & mothers. I hold others but also myself to that standard.
On the other hand all of WW2 and the Third Reich IS undeniably the history of my country, the history taht shaped teh country I live in today. And frankly, not that long ago when my grandparents were young. And I also don't want to be blind to that either.
Great to use your platform to bring this to the attention of your audience! War is a terrible thing and the way Germany has developed itself after the war is admirable. Mark Felton has interesting video’s on WW2.
Thank you! Vielen Dank! Ich bin dankbar für diesen Blick auf Deutschland!
The comparison between the plane flights is really nicely done.
Hits really hard when you fathom the differences.
Wow just wow Nalf. Thank you so much for talking about this. You don't know what this means to me. I lost all my great granddads and granddads in these wars. The only male figure which survived is my dad. All my grannies and aunts were widows at a very young age. They never marrierd again or found a new love. REMEMBER THAT.NEVERFORGET.
I live in the first German city to fall into American occupation. Aachen.
In the region I can find many remnants like foxholes, old tank wrecks and the 'Panzerhöcker' the anti-tank blockade.
It's sometimes strange to walk among those sites.
Thank you for the video!
Also, in the City we still have many shelters, both underground and several stories high.
the beginning really had some of bo burnhams inside vibe. really cool video thank you for your perspecitve. its always very interesting to see how other people percieve my country
I am so glad, that I can live in peaceful times. 80 years we would be enemies, trying to kill each other. Now I am watching this little video and I am so happy, that you appreciate and like my homeland.
Poignant and thoughtful. Thank you.
In hindsight, and regarding present time, THIS is one of your best videos.
I wish the world would just remember, just like you did.
this is like an ad for peace and I love it! the cinematography of this channel gets better and better.
Like ten years ago my daughter went to France as an exchange student. That made me think. 70 years ago young German men were sent to France to fight the enemy, How glad can we be to live in the present where we sent our kids to France for cultural exchange and to learn about different cultures? Peace is such a valuable gift. Thank you for your video.
Awesome and true video. I love your edits.
You're right, war is just so... odd. As a German, I'm thankful that the allies showed up but I never understand how we can actually expect people to be soldiers. Or expect them to not have PTSD. It just doesn't make sense to me. My grandfather was 16 towards the end of WWII and still in school. He sort of flirted with the idea of being progressive and not siding with the Nazis and whatever, being a teenager I guess, when his favourite teacher, who he really admired, was shot very publicly in the town square for greeting the class with "good morning" instead of "Heil Hitler" and my grandfather decided right there that he'd do anything the Nazis asked of him after all. I'm sure there was more to it than that but he told this story to his teenaged granddaughter so he probably tried to make it palatable for me. He did end up having to be a soldier and then he was a POW for two years, coming back home to his widowed mother and three younger siblings at the ripe old age of 19. He wasn't okay for the rest of his life. He was a good husband, father, grandfather and he provided for his mother and siblings, he was successful professionally, he had a good life and was loved very much - but he was not okay.
Sad story. At least your grandfather talked about his experiences. I think many involved - on both sides - were too traumatised to speak, even to their nearest and dearest.
*_"...when his favourite teacher, who he really admired, was shot very publicly in the town square for greeting the class with "good morning" instead of "Heil Hitler" ..."_*
Sorry, I don't believe that story. Even the death sentences of the so called "Volksgerichtshof" under Roland Freisler against the white rose or the members of the resistance group around Stauffenberg weren't executed in public. And just for saying "good morning" instead of "Heil Hitler"? The regime was fanatic, of course, but they didn't kill everyone who didn't make the nazi salute. In Fact they were also very sensitive that there were also rooms of contradiction and critic, even they where very small.
We know that at the end of the war, weeks before the german surrender many of the "Standgerichte" executed deserters in public, hanging them with shields around their neck with writings like "I copperated with the bolshevics" or "I betrayed the german people".
@@CoIntelPro23 She didn't mention who shot him. Might just as well have been a small town with an overzealous nazi population turned angry lynch mob, especially towards the end of the war.
@@CoIntelPro23 I do believe it.
There is a story of an old man who lived in my small hometown and was a bit of a drunkard.
One time he said "Heil Beer" while he was drunken in a pub.
The next day he was gone.
Nobody asked - but everybody knew he was shot and why he was shot.
My grandmother also feared for her live after she once said: "Heil Asshole." But the boy who listened to it didn't rattle her out.
They did set "examples" like these. And depending on who listened - your life was on the line.
It could be - that having a certain social status - or living in a less agressive "neighbourhood" - things might have been different.
@@ErklaerMirDieWelt I would not totally exclude that, but remember, even the so called "Werwolfkommandos" at the end of the war, who should start partisan warfare against the Allied Troops were a big failure and more a propaganda instrument than an effective fighting force spreading fear among the enemy soldiers. At the end of the war, when allied troops were advancing, everybody tried to protect his own life, tried to cut every ties to the nazi party, everyone knew there would be trials against them. As a punishment it would be more usefull to draft him into the "Volkssturm" so that he can die for the "Führer" on the frontline.
Germany is an awsome country and proud to say I have visited four times.
So far.
Great video, Nalf! As a german guy i am really aware this horrible time should never be forgotten. Even my parents (8 years old at the end of WW2) and me are not responsible for what happened, we are HIGHLY responsible for never let such things happen again. There may be idiots in germany that want the era back, but they are few, and there are enough people standing against them. And over all i think germany makes a good job handling our history.
There is truly no serious group trying to get the Nazi time back. Nowadays calling someone a "Nazi" is more or less just a tool for most politicians to make cheap political points without a proper argument.
Most of the Germans learned absolutely nothing from WWII. The way to "never let that happen again" would be to teach critical thinking in schools and to question everything. In this way people could get much less affected to state propaganda! But what do you see when you look around? Only hate and discrimination of people who don't share the same exact believes or political views.
@@Bei_Gandalfs_Bart Well that's true for most western countries. But yeah Germany should have known better, instead of promoting blind obedience and attacking any disagreeing opinion.
@@Frosty1979 But..... What I saw in the US under Trump.... reminded me much of what we saw in Germany under Hitler. NO ONE can point a finger, and EVERYONE has the responsibilty to never let that happen in their country. Otherwise history will simply repeat itself.
@@ockertbrits6907 Really? Trump was that bad? Hmm, can you name one policy Trump introduced which would make him a Nazi? I am curious...
My father was an Allied truck drive in WWII. I studied as much as I could about WWII as an adolescent child. I was interested in the methods and machinery of war with a particular fascination for tanks. Later in life I found myself drawn to the political and social histories of war. How did they start and how did they end. The way victors changed the stories and themes of wars.
Also the movie "Der Pianist" is a very good ww2 movie.
It is excellent and worth watching it because it shows how people are ready to exploit their compatriots but also treating the enemy with compassion. Brilliant!
Thank you NALF for making this video. No more, no less! 🙂
I get your thoughts totally, being the son of a American GI and a German mother having a Grandfather fighting on the beaches and one in the dunes makes me kind of a child because of WW2.
Lets be friends instead of being enemies is the much better way to go and hopefully one day in a far far future mankind will realize we all humans and peace is the only way for all of us no matter where we are born! Have a great day and stay safe and healthy.
Thank you for this video and your insight.
I really appreciate your view and perspective on another country and its history and people (though I personally do not identify with germany as a nation or nation states at all for that matter), especially considering the way in which germany and WWII are portrayed in the media you likely grew up with. We are absolutely privileged to live in a space and time where war does not affect our personal lives or that of our families in a tangible way. Instead, we benefit from a vast freedom of expression and movement, practically unseen in history. Let's all be thankful for the lives we are able to lead right now, in spite of any personal hardships one may experience right now. Again, I really appreciate your thoughts and comments on this topic, and I hope, your time in germany and the relationships with the people here are as enjoyable as can be. Cheers!
Great, impressive, thought-provoking video!
I had 2 uncles who went to war 2 and neither one ever said much about their experience. Many vets are reluctant to do this as, I imagine, would bring up too many suppressed memories. War is a bad thing and humanity should be on guard to not stumble into it. Also Albert Speers memoirs "Inside the Third Reich" is a very good book.
I was born in 1978 and during visits in France, Spain, Belgium, I still remember my grandparents telling me to be behave and be quiet. Don't speak German in public too loud. I still try to behave as best as I can when I am in foreign countries 😄
Great video, thanks very much NALF
wow tolles Video, tolle Gedanken... bei Minute 4 hatte ich fast pippi in den Augen.
One of my favourite mini-series, too.
But one thing went into my mind: You say, it's hard to believe, young man as you and your team mates, 70 years ago would have been sworn enemies (which i think was true on the battlefield, but not necessarily in civil live, but what do i know) - if you look back in American history, you will find similar constellations within your country, dating barely more than 100 years back.
Nick, this is brilliant, potent, and what the world needs.
Well said . I’m first Gen American, parents immigrated 1960 I have strong relationships with the relatives that are left , sadly not many at that. My aunts house in North Germany near Bremerhaven many Americans and British troops were laid up in there to sleep after the war and there are markings on some roof rafters from them back then.
I respect my Mother and father and my grandparents all the older folk who rebuilt the country not to mention rest of Europeans for their rebuilding. My Ex wife’s grandfather a fighter pilot took his wife and first born in a fighter aircraft out of surrounding area of Stettin/ Szezin Prussia/Poland because of the advancing Russians. Then there’s my Grandfather was first Eng Room Tech on a Destroyer prior to WWII , then switched to Submarine Duty in Eng Room , when tides turned on Wolfpack he managed to get out Submarine service and there after ….IDK any rate …. Well done said NALF I know allot of my parents war stories just missing some bits and pieces but family here are my siblings and the few in Bremerhaven… TG im the one who keeps us all close cause I’m the only one that speaks both Hoch Deutsch and Pfälzisch ….
Thanks a lot for your Appreciation of our history.
another excellent video. Thank you Nalf.
I believe the EU has played a large part in keeping the peace in Europe and young people there today feel closer to each other regardless of which country they live in.
I actually served for 4 years in the German military (a long story) back in the 1970s.
It was a very different military to the one I had grown up with as a child watching the Hollywood World War II movies.
Thanks again for your great TH-cam Channel.
Thank you for this 🙏🏼
Well spoken NALF, I watch band of brothers at least once a year to refresh my mind of the terrors of war. I'm in Bavaria right now working for the US Army and along side Germans also. I think all the time how far we have come from the those terrible days in the 40's. I love being here and I value my German friends.
Take politics and religion out of the equation and we're all just people trying to do our best. Great video.
Totally agree!
Witness the Christmas Truce of 1914.
Very true.
It'd be a great world if we could get rid of both. The are the corrupted parts of administration and believes.
In an ideal world we would just have an administration to make everything work and everyone could freely believe in whatever they wanted without the institution of religion. That would probably erase most of worlds conflicts.
@@7shinta7 And that was one of the greatest achievements of the French Revolution. Nowadays in some countries we re heading back into the Middle Ages.
So right, every single word. Thanks
What a great video. I felt the same way in 2018 when I visited. My grandfather was a tail gunner in a bomber in WWII. I was standing in the same place he bombed 70 years ago.
I love Easy German episodes and though I have never been to Germany, I share the same appreciation for its people. Cheers, from down South here in São Paulo, Nick.
Thank you for a great video Nalf. 👍❤ Happy New Year to you and your loved ones. 🎉🥂
Respect man what a beautiful video
NALF - you are such a nice guy! Legend.
as always - thankyou
👏I like your view at the world and your open mind. Thank you.
Wow. Thank you. What thoughts.
Really stunning, this video, great work Nick! We can all be so happy not to have that horrible choice between killing ore being killed. But a war is always the end of a development that changes peoples' minds to convince them that a certain people is "the enemy". That process is very well explained in the little book "The murderous identities" by the catholic Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf. He describes how every human has several parts of identity and that under certain circumstances this fact is misused by politicians to create hostilities.
Around 1990 our school in Berlin had an exchange with a school in Wolgograd, the former Stalingrad. One day when the Russian students were in Berlin I saw a German and a Russian boy riding their bicycles side by side and communicating in a weird mix of German, Russian and English. And when I remembered that 50 years ago the grandfathers of these boys could have been forced to kill each other I couldn't help crying.
We all can actually see this misusing of "identity" in the US where some people seem to forget that they are all citizens of one country.
Thank you once more for this excellent video!
Correcting myself: The title of the English version of Maalouf's book is "In the name of identity".
I wandered where this was going after the intro and i really appreciate your view on this!
Those were some great clips you chose to include :)
Thank you!
Thank you for this video, I really appreciate it!
Well done Nick !
You are certainly one of the best ambassadors for the US, but thanks for also being one of our own best ambassadors.
"Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
We share the same biology, regardless of ideology
But what might save us, me and you
Is if the Russians love their children too" Sting
More videos on this subject, please Nalf.
By this you could imagine what a great institution the European Union is. 27 nation working (sometimes more, sometime less ;-) ) together. I'm not only German, I am also a European Citizen. This citizenship doesn't exist but this fact makes it even better. Being part of something with 24 official languages, more minority languages more cultures more indivituals binded by the ideal of working together in peace... Your problems become unimportant and you can earn a lot of positivity, joy and strength out of it 🙂
Likewise, the Euro has been a tremendous achievement for encouraging cooperation and interaction among Europeans. Whenever anyone questions the economic benefit of the Euro Zone, I like to suggest they pull out their calculators and add up the costs of the semi-permanent War Zone that Europe once was, until WW2 finally put an exclamation mark at the end of a thousand-year-old arms race. War may be good business for the weapons manufacturers, but it's hell on the rest of us. Prosperity begins with peace.
The ideo of a united Europe is a great one. But the execution with the current Union is lacking.
There isn't enough democratic legitimization in its institutions and there are vastly contradicting interests in certain fields.
@@7shinta7
However true that may be (its not undemocratic): so let's fight it, let's destroy it and start wars again? Right?
@@stefanbrill4165
So either always keep things as they are (wrong as they may be) or fighting, destruction and war?
No alternatives, no in between? Like, reforming or rebuilding?
Holy crap, with a simple mindset like yours the world must be easy.
And yes, it is undemocratic. Even the really EU friendly programm like "Die Anstalt" pointed that out. The political institutions as well as the European court vastly lack democratic legitimization and control mechanisms.
Or as they said so beautifully: "Ist ja leicht, sich im Hotel Europa zurecht zu finden. Besteht ja eh alles nur aus Lobby."
@@7shinta7
No need to get emotional and lash out. Yes, the EU is not perfect. Yes, the EU could be more democratic. But it is *more* democratic than quite some of its current (or former) member states. Take the UK: the most powerful unelected bureaucrat was Cummings, effectively the Dark Lord in control, until the clash with a WAG. No British minister has ever gone through a scrutinizing procedure and had to be accepted by the house of commons. Other than the EU commissionaries: the EU parliament has to agree and we have seen commissionaries rejected. Take Hungary. Take Poland. Take the Czech republic.
Many of the actual and perceived failures and imperfections of the EU are caused by member states, not by the EU itself. However, the EU always gets blamed for things going wrong, it is the perfect scapegoat for everything. Never it is the other way round. Have you ever seen a member state getting fire for mishaps or shortcomings caused by the EU? I cant't remember anything like that.
If you're interested in the background and what led to the Third Reich, you should read the trilogy by Professor Richard J. Evans. He actually starts with the founding of the German (Prussian) Empire under Bismark and how that influenced German nationalism and everything coming in the decades after that, over WWI to WWII.
Occasionally a very dry read, but also very interesting.
Hitler’s War by David Irving is better.
This may also be a fair warning: the third Reich wasn't just some weird abstract movement of another age of time in history. It wasn't that long ago and the people back then weren't so different from the people today as we might think (or wish). Meaning it could and probably will happen again. And to be honest guys, the USA in its current state is closer to the Germany before the dawn of the third Reich than the current Germany: deeply, extremely deep, divided over any political issue, nationalism that gives me the goosebumps as an observer, a preposition mindset that the US is above all international agreements up to even disobey Geneva war conventions and more. That is not to say that there is a dictatorship coming up anytime soon in the US, but the example of German history should be a warning to us all, that it sometimes evolves quickly into some horrific nightmare and it is too late for you to realise. I recommend The Diaries of Victor Klemperer in this regard, where you can experience how the air to breath became less and less over the years after Hitler's election.
My grandmother was a young girl when Dresden was bombed. The summer I turned 8 I spent a week or two with her. In front of the ruins of the Frauenkirche she told me that she was there when the bombs fell. She and her doll. I didn't understand either what she told me nor what she didn't say until I was about 18.
The military history museum (Militärhistorisches Museum) has a "shard" (designed by Daniel Libeskind) that points towards where the first bombs hit. You can go in there. If you do, keep in mind that the entire military complex is behind you. It still is. There are some smaller military buildings in front of you, but way to the left. They weren't hit.
The experience is different knowing this.
Some of your videos give me the feeling of "This documentation to subject X has an promising start. I will watch this to the en… Wait? What?! It's already over?!!"
Thank you Nalf for reminding us how happy we can be to not live in those times.