What REALLY Happened To The German Dead? | Normandy | WW2

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ก.ย. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 356

  • @stefaniecosme4774
    @stefaniecosme4774 หลายเดือนก่อน +39

    After watching a Spectacular short video (which, the theme music from The Pacific was being played, which made it Even More Spectacular) that showed pictures of WWII, then and now, and after watching just a few minutes of this video, I Immediately knew that I Needed to Subscribe to this channel- I also felt the need to comment on something that was said in the part of the video when you/The History Explorer was first walking into the German cemetery, which was something to the effect that by visiting the cemetery that you/your channel Did Not support Nazis nor the Nazi cause- Hearing that you had to basically and preemptively defend the Amazing thing that you were doing, which was showing us another Devastating side to that Even More Devastating war, kind of made me Sad- It also made me think of something that Shifty Powers said in the interview part of Band of Brothers where he said that he came to realize that the German soldiers were also doing what they were, which was what they were told to do as soldiers- He also said he thought that If the circumstances were different, he might had even been good friends with some of those fellow young men (I believe, However, that that would NOT include the SS)- Anyways, I Thank You for what you created for us WWII enthusiasts to enjoy and I Very Much look forward to watching your other videos!

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      Thank you so much and what a fantastic comment. I hope you’ll check out some of my other videos too 😊 Sadly, if you make videos that cover German units/ actions or locations it does tend to attract two types; the first group accuse you of promoting Nazism; the second group tend to feel loyal to the German cause.
      As a result I prefix videos like this with that statement. I find it sad too.
      I really hope you enjoy the channel and thank you so much for your kind feedback

    • @jameshinchliffe8453
      @jameshinchliffe8453 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      ​I enjoy ​@@thehistoryexplorerthe channel is very good. But I can remember the words of my father who's youth was stolen from him by the Germans and the Japanese.He was drafted in the one year draft of 1940 and then he was forced to serve for the duration of the war. He was a southerner which no one gave a damn about anymore than we give a damn about them. Trained under General Patton at Ft Benning in the 2nd Armored Division and served in North Africa, Sicily, and the European theater of operations until the end of the war. He developed a hatred of both the Germans and the Japanese until the day he died because they'd robbed him of the best years of his youth. I have come to agree with him! To hell with both of them! And I don't give a damn where they're buried!

    • @angeloforzinetti3930
      @angeloforzinetti3930 หลายเดือนก่อน

      P

    • @georgemiller151
      @georgemiller151 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I went horseback riding in a part of Belgium about 25 years ago. - I can’t remember the name of the town - but I was guided by a Belgian. There was evidence of the war in the woods (foxholes, etc.) and we got to talking about the war. He said that the front line moved back and forth a few times. There were dead Americans and dead Germans scattered around. He said the locals buried the Americans and marked their graves and they were later recovered by the Americans. “And the Germans?” I asked. “The Germans? We just through them in a pit, covered them up and forgot about them.”

    • @bryanbufton4358
      @bryanbufton4358 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      I can only agree with you. 😅​@@jameshinchliffe8453

  • @Monsoon-sd6vr
    @Monsoon-sd6vr หลายเดือนก่อน +39

    I served 30 years with a combat Regiment of the British Army; during my travels I visited that cemetery. As you point out not to gloat or make fun, that was never our intention, we were just pleased that they looked after their fallen as we would look after ours.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Well said mate

    • @angelamary9493
      @angelamary9493 4 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Rest in Peace All those who Sacrificed their lives on both sides ..

  • @417jumps3
    @417jumps3 หลายเดือนก่อน +145

    I had an uncle who was in the first wave on Omaha Beach. Miraculously he survived the war but was involved in fierce combat. About a year before he died he told me about his war experiences. What I found interesting was his respect for the enemy/Germans. He said they had a job to do just like the allies and had respect for hard but clean combat. He left his experiences at that and I never learned more.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +22

      It’s fascinating isn’t it? Some Germans were worse than others and some had much deeper held beliefs than others

    • @417jumps3
      @417jumps3 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      @@thehistoryexplorer I know, right. Sometimes that’s hard to comprehend but what you said is the absolute truth!!

    • @Jaden-y7e
      @Jaden-y7e หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      3 Replies

    • @labrd41
      @labrd41 หลายเดือนก่อน +17

      I would imagine that very few solders on either side really wanted to be there.

    • @417jumps3
      @417jumps3 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      @@labrd41 oh I’m pretty certain that’s a seriously true statement!!!!

  • @johnnyhollis9977
    @johnnyhollis9977 หลายเดือนก่อน +19

    My father was nearly killed shortly after VE day by a fanatical German known as a Werewolf. My father had no choice but to silence him for good and was subsequently court marshalled for 4 minutes and released with no further action necessary. Little respect was afforded to some German dead as the bitter conflict had killed many allied soldiers who were far too young to die. The same could be said for the German soldiers too who quickly realised that things were not going too well. The dead German was quickly disposed of down a bricked lined ditch and covered with bricks. No marker was added. After seeing the horrors of war first hand it is easy to understand the bitterness that ensued in those awful and tragic circumstances. Great video!

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      That’s a terrible story, war brings out the worst in everyone. But at that stage of the war everyone was weary and tired of the conflict

    • @johnnyhollis9977
      @johnnyhollis9977 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      @@thehistoryexplorer Totally agree. My dad suffered internal blast injuries that reduced his quality of life for years after the war. When he died from having dementia in 2006, his personal confrontation with the German tormented him. He told me many stories of his war experiences. Not all of them were that traumatic, others though described total carnage. He was a great man, albeit a bit of a maverick! 😉

  • @boatnut64
    @boatnut64 หลายเดือนก่อน +20

    I've been to Le Cambe. I went there with my Son, on a trip to Normandy. My Great Uncle, Harry Thomas Sharp, was Killed in Action, July 4 1944, at Carpiquet Airport, and is Buried at Beny Sur Mer.
    RIP

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Thanks for sharing 🙏

    • @jocelyneb
      @jocelyneb หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      La Cambe
      German War Cemetary
      Normandy

  • @Strength-in-Union
    @Strength-in-Union หลายเดือนก่อน +36

    Nice one, Buddy.
    Thanks for introducing a German war cemetery to those who may never have given it thought.
    I have visited several - not through any bad reason, but because the vast majority of those dead were only serving their country - as we do. They may still have living relatives, and its important for descendants to be able to honour their relatives. There will be some truly nasty people buried there amongst very many more Germans who just served their country. And we had some truly nasty folk serving in our armies too!
    But they're a' deed, and buried at peace - in some very beautiful cemeteries - ours, and theirs.
    I urge those interested in military history and the content of your videos, to take time to visit cemeteries with war graves. Read the names on the stones - that way, those soldiers are not being forgotten.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Thanks mate. Well said 👍

    • @vicordecastro2851
      @vicordecastro2851 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      ​@@thehistoryexplorer_ may they all rest in peace .🙏 .🙏 .🙏

  • @napierlines6977
    @napierlines6977 หลายเดือนก่อน +30

    The quality of these videos is brilliant. Thank you

  • @craemac
    @craemac 21 วันที่ผ่านมา +7

    “It is well that war is so terrible, or we would grow too fond of it.”
    ― Robert E. Lee

  • @Peace2U-ec6es
    @Peace2U-ec6es หลายเดือนก่อน +24

    Powerful Video. Powerful lessons. Thank you Rob.

  • @StephenGrew
    @StephenGrew หลายเดือนก่อน +12

    War is insanity! Those poor men and women.

    • @TheJon2442
      @TheJon2442 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Sadly and too often started by those who never have to suffer and often profit from their actions.

  • @user-vv6sy2ox4q
    @user-vv6sy2ox4q หลายเดือนก่อน +22

    The massacre at Oradour sur Glane was perpetrated as a reprisal for a crime against German prisoners by the resistance. The captured Germans (including a relatively senior officer of the 2nd SS) were placed into an ambulance and burned alive with civilian spectators laughing at the sight. The Germans were incensed when they heard this news and proceeded to commit their terrible crime. Just an altogether appalling series of events.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      @@user-vv6sy2ox4q yes allegedly that is the case, but it does not justify the actions, as you have already pointed out. A terrible set of circumstances!

    • @graemer3657
      @graemer3657 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      There was a trial after the war of the SS involved in the Oradour massacre.
      14 of the 21 were Frenchmen from Alsace Lorraine who were conscripted into the SS, 13 of them by force. There would have been more people tried, but few of the SS present at the massacre were alive at the wars end

    • @jacquesmalite2612
      @jacquesmalite2612 12 วันที่ผ่านมา

      ​@my aupa was partisan he faughr das reich division.they killed major kampf,a war criminalité.ss killed 700 women and babies in oradour...what soldiers.....krauts will be always krauts.....
      graemer3657

  • @spudgun7474
    @spudgun7474 หลายเดือนก่อน +30

    The vast majomajority of those fighting on the axis side were far from Nazi. The majority were regular citizens fighting for their families and country.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +10

      Yes that’s true

    • @berg6964
      @berg6964 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      100%!!

    • @PrussianRedWhiteBlue
      @PrussianRedWhiteBlue หลายเดือนก่อน

      ITS OK TO BE WHITE

    • @chrishoman3928
      @chrishoman3928 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Not exactly true most were Nazis just not finatic u can look up how many people were Nazis card members for lack off.

    • @Phillip-q9s
      @Phillip-q9s 18 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

      Hardly, when the need for the Einsatzgruppen was established , it recruited older policemen not initially of fighting age, they were given the option of not getting involved in the actual killings with the option of other duties and zero repercussions, but they mostly willing volunteered to carry out these hideous crimes with the aid of the Wehrmacht

  • @TellySavalas-or5hf
    @TellySavalas-or5hf หลายเดือนก่อน +13

    I visited La Cambe cemetry twice! In 1988 and 2001. It's a respected place.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Yes I agree, it was my first visit but I found it to be very peaceful and respectfully done

    • @rolfagten857
      @rolfagten857 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Did you met Ronald Reagan at the bittburg S.S. cemetry , Telly?!

  • @longtabsigo
    @longtabsigo หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    Wittman’s unit caught the British troops out of their tanks and other vehicles brewing up their tea! So when W’man “passed by” he was able to score vehicle kill after vehicle kill with no return fire whatsoever. I’ve been told, for what it’s worth, that this action was one of the incidents that led the British military to equip virtually every tank, IFV & APC with a boiler that allows for one to brew up their tea while never needing to exit the vehicle. I suppose I could google it but almost 3am, I’m sure someone (or everyone)will correct me if I am wrong. 😁

    • @lyndoncmp5751
      @lyndoncmp5751 8 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      Actually Wittmann's Tiger was hit by British AP fire at least 5 times including by a Firefly. Pat Dyas' Cromwell fired almost point blank at him twice. None of the 5 hits penetrated the armour of his Tiger although the last hit on his Tiger disabled his Tiger in the running gear and he and his crew abandoned it.

  • @vasilenegulici6146
    @vasilenegulici6146 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    RESPECT CELOR CĂZUȚI ACOLO 😊😢❤ DUMNEZEU SĂ-I ODIHNEASCĂ PE TOȚI 😊❤

  • @jamesbednar8625
    @jamesbednar8625 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    Very good and interesting video!!! Watched a video of a French girl visiting a German War Cemetery in Normandy a few years ago, think it was a smaller cemetery off the beaten path. Her video was during a rainy day which somehow seemed fitting. That was quite a powerful video for she was expecting to feel a bunch of hatred or whatever, but she left very humbled because of the lives lost, regardless of nationality and she realized that a lot of those dead soldiers were around her age group. I have been to the American Cemetery in Normandy, as well as all the beaches and other locations - really does humble you. Regardless of era/battle, have always wondered what happened to the dead of battles, especially way back in the ancient times to present. Of course, the "victors" take care of their own spectacularly and the "losers" - what happens?? Toss into a mass pit most likely/

  • @luckyguy600
    @luckyguy600 หลายเดือนก่อน +16

    It is what it is.
    War never changes/ just the tools used to fight them.

  • @Roller_Ghoster
    @Roller_Ghoster หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    Ive had the honour of visiting all the sites shown. Oradour sur Glane is just below the modern day village. Frozen in time is an understatement. I was there way back in 2011. There was still the remains of a childs toy pram in the ruins of the church. Id say that was one of the hardest things to see in all of those locations. Great work and top quality content.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      I wanted to make a video there not very long again but a few others forgot there before me! I’ll release one from there in 6 months or so

    • @Roller_Ghoster
      @Roller_Ghoster หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@thehistoryexplorer cant wait!

  • @elizabethtaylor3779
    @elizabethtaylor3779 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    Fascinating. I especially appreciate the learning opportunity, provided by someone who relates the information so articulately.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Glad it was helpful! I enjoyed doing the research into this one

    • @Jaden-y7e
      @Jaden-y7e หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      ​@@thehistoryexplorer2 Replies

  • @jjt1093
    @jjt1093 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    There is a good documentary using gps and battle reports for exact locations on the death of wittman, I agree it must of been my fellow countrymen, he passed 150m infront of a row of canadian shermans holding up in an old chateau courtyard.
    Now to this video, very well done, had no idea so much effort was put into relocating the german dead to a central plot, that was an amount of respect to them to do that.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Thank you very much, I’m so glad you enjoyed the video

    • @JesusRunsMyHouse
      @JesusRunsMyHouse 11 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      My dad was 17 when he volunteered and went to war because his two older brothers were already over there. My one uncle was shot down over Guam and him or his has never been found but I remember them putting a picture and his favorite rabbit gun in the coffin and burying it. My other uncle was there from 41 -42 and again 44-45. My dad went on to fight in Korea and Vietnam and came home a alcoholic basketcase

  • @waterpongo6975
    @waterpongo6975 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

    Sad to say I didnt event knowthis cemetary existed. interesting place and really good information in here. well done Rob

  • @davidk7324
    @davidk7324 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    Well done, thank you. We made a stop at Marigny, I believe, during Paul's April tour.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Ah yes! Another great place. Some of the pictures I uploaded were actually from Marigny

  • @clarkkoch4723
    @clarkkoch4723 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    Very good history lesson. Thanks so much.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      My pleasure! I really enjoyed making this one

  • @Tanjacs
    @Tanjacs หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    0:39... The look on these children's faces is just so very scared...!! 😢

  • @PAS_2020
    @PAS_2020 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    Amazing look at the enemy side. This video so full of fact with compassion. You are gifted and respect that very much in all your videos.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Wow, thank you. What a compliment! You’ve made my day 👍

  • @mikeyj9607
    @mikeyj9607 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    In 83 while stations at Pruem AFS maybe 30 miles from Bitburg AFB a couple of us visited the Miltary cematarey there ,the one made infamous from President Regans visit.I was impressed at how it was set up the row of crosses like in Normandy how peaceful it was and how germanic it was .One thing that stood out was they had soldiers interned on both sides of the marker we just remarked typical german efficiency ,none of us knew about the SS dead that was there ,would have made no difference as being in the military we respected the way they buried their men

  • @mampe8898
    @mampe8898 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    I visit here in finland at rovaniemi city german soldiers war cemetery. When they started built it local people were against it of course. Sad place.. there is actually good presentation video.

  • @timalexander7758
    @timalexander7758 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    Great video!
    I enjoyed this one very much

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Glad you enjoyed it! I’m getting some heat for this being ‘pro German’ apparently. You can never win. I really enjoyed the research for this one 👍

    • @timalexander7758
      @timalexander7758 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@thehistoryexplorer
      Those are just crybabies looking for something to get offended about.
      You only said What Happened. Just need to tune those people out

  • @prontsc
    @prontsc หลายเดือนก่อน +18

    It was a disrepest to the fallen soldiers, not SS soldiers to be buried in shared and mass graves after the war. My German uncles who died in 1940 had their own graves and tombstones until after the war in the 1950's when they were dug up and reburied, on land no one wanted. Most killed in Normandy were young men/teenagers with no experience since the Nazis' were expecting the Allies to land north by Calais. When I showed my German relatives the photographs I took when visiting, they all asked who is paying for graves upkeep and never have been to any German war cementary. And there's alot of them!

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +10

      Yes the are a lot of them. There are no winners in war, that’s for sure

    • @h.db.9684
      @h.db.9684 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      “Land that no one wants” is a good place for a cemetery. You’re not wasting some valuable property for some people who aren’t affected by their zip code.

    • @eric-wb7gj
      @eric-wb7gj หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      It makes more sense to have them centralised if the area has to be maintained & commemorated. It would make it far more difficult for maintenance crews to tend thousands of separate graves. Also, depending on their location, if there are residents there, they may not want the grave of anyone in it. At least they are not forgotten. After Waterloo, it's said the bones of the soldiers were ground up, sold off & used for fertiliser.

    • @peterwallace9764
      @peterwallace9764 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@eric-wb7gj- That would be very demoralising for any relative with dead soldiers in their past family relatives.

  • @AL6198
    @AL6198 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Very interesting. I am French but was not aware of this German cemetary.
    And yes, Oradour is still remembered by all French people.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Thank you very much. I will release a film on Oradour in the near future, such a impactful and harrowing scene!

  • @j.lietka9406
    @j.lietka9406 14 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I occasionally watch videos where metal detectorists go to WW2 battle fields and remains of soldiers are found. The remains are eventually returned to the country of origin. I would like to see a video on the WW1 & WW 2 memorials to fallen German soldiers. Thank you

  • @Berlin-Kladow
    @Berlin-Kladow หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Interesting. It would be interesting to have a video of visiting other German cemeteries in Germany in the future. I have visited Germany many times but have never had the opportunity to visit any. They seem to be hidden away in shame . I couldn’t find any on websites. It’s truly sobering to visit these sites and remember all the people who suffered the horrors

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      That’s a great idea. I don’t have plans to visit Germany this year but I’ll remember to visit the cemeteries when I do

    • @robertbishop6935
      @robertbishop6935 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      There are a lot of German cemeteries littered around Northern France.

  • @medic1627
    @medic1627 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    In case anyone was wondering, the coins left on the grave are put there to remember the person buried there. It's a form of remembrance, it's letting the person know that you dropped by to visit them.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Thanks for sharing. There were many graves with coins, not just the ones features here 👍

    • @michaelzahnle5649
      @michaelzahnle5649 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@thehistoryexplorer We have the same practice stateside. I've personally left coins on the grave markers of past military members that I've found in civilian cemeteries.

  • @gartwilliams3347
    @gartwilliams3347 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Visited the German Cemetery outside of Bastogne this past May (2024) Very interesting and I was told no Belgiums visit the cemetery. Also the dead were buried in their uniforms, or sheets, no real coffins.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Yes that’s true, the closest they got to coffins was a cardboard type box

  • @Sunnydays14121
    @Sunnydays14121 หลายเดือนก่อน +35

    So sad seeing children in uniform 😢

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      Yes that always gets me 😢

    • @Tanjacs
      @Tanjacs หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      And the look on their faces is so scared...!! 😢

    • @Jaden-y7e
      @Jaden-y7e หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      3 Replies

    • @TellySavalas-or5hf
      @TellySavalas-or5hf หลายเดือนก่อน

      Hitleryouth boys.

    • @fosterfuchs
      @fosterfuchs หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      The first post WWII German war movie is called Die Brücke (the bridge). It's about a group of German teenage friends from a small town who at he end of the war sign up to fight for the German Army. After brief basic training, it's really too late for them to be of any use. So a German officer orders them as an afterthought to defend a bridge at the edge of their town. They take it extremely seriously, and by the end of the movie, only one of them survives. The movie shows the sheer senselessness of what they did.

  • @vilo_h5541
    @vilo_h5541 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    That was very informative. Thank you.

  • @Thecarman1994
    @Thecarman1994 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I visited with my father 30 years ago. He was stunned to see a grave with his own date of birth. Dad had had a life, a family and a career.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      It’s enough to make you stop and think

    • @Thecarman1994
      @Thecarman1994 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@thehistoryexplorer yes, dad lived to age 96. What might that young German have achieved

  • @Mag_Aoidh
    @Mag_Aoidh หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Excellent as always Rob.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Thank you! Appreciate the very kind feedback

  • @paulevans3827
    @paulevans3827 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Rob, another excellent video thank you so much your content is always excellent👍Paul

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      That means a lot buddy, thank you. 🙏

  • @strontiumstargazer103
    @strontiumstargazer103 29 วันที่ผ่านมา +7

    There’s a lovely tranquil tree shaded gothic crossed German cemetery in Belgium. However the Belgians buried the Germans upside down so that they’d never be at rest and planted the trees so that they’d never be in the sun.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  29 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      Their cemeteries are really something else. Very sombre

  • @Birkebeinern
    @Birkebeinern 27 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    It was really an informative video.
    You really did a good research.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  27 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      You are most welcome. Thank you for the kind feedback 👍

  • @allencollins6031
    @allencollins6031 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Thank you for the History. And the video/picures that bring it life.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      My pleasure my friend. I hope you’re doing well

  • @stevenewman1393
    @stevenewman1393 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    😉👍Very nicely greatly wonderfully well done and very nicely informatively explained on the historical facts of this burial cemetery for German soldiers during WW2 indeed Sir!👌.

  • @midnightchannel111
    @midnightchannel111 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

    Someone should do a video in the tension, and finally outright antagonism, between the Weirmacht on the one side, and the SS and Gestapo on the other. The former were soldiers doing what they thought was their duty. The 2 latter were outright Evil that had taken over their country.
    My Dad was a bomber pilot in WWII and both he and my Mom taught us to not look at German soldiers with blame, but at the German people who allowed Hitler to take over. They were adamant about that, the German people did nothing to stop him as he rose to power.
    Germany of that time is * not * "off the hook for what they started, and Amercians today know sadly little about the war ( * especially * little about the war in the Pacific, and flat out * nothing * about Japan of that time). Germany started the war, they represented Evil in their civil actions againt their own alone, even before you consider what they did to everyone else. But the Weirmacht had constant arguments with bith the SS and Gestapo, which got worse as the war progressed. By the end of the war, there was actually one Weirmacht unit that went over to stand with and support the Resistance in the Caucasses area agaisnt the SS troops attacking them: these German soldiers knew the war was over and saw no reason to, in their minds, slaughter these citizens who were standing up against them.

    • @donbartholomew8273
      @donbartholomew8273 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Germans in the 1930s were much like the MAGA Republicans, willfully ignorant or at least horribly dangerously naive

  • @JACQUESLUCONT2333
    @JACQUESLUCONT2333 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    Hi, im from Russia, and thank you for your videos.

  • @herbertvonsauerkrautunterh2513
    @herbertvonsauerkrautunterh2513 7 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I went to find the grave of my mother's friends father near monshau. I think it was around there. He died around the time on the Ardennes offensive. Huge cemetery but I found it

  • @mrrw1936
    @mrrw1936 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I just find this so fascinating. these subjects are always toucjy but the professionaism here with the productoion and resaerch is so good to see

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      You are very welcome and thank you for the kind feedback

  • @keithscott1255
    @keithscott1255 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Noticed the wooden barrel shot off a Sherman at 9.24.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Yes indeed. A OP variant from K Battery. Good spot!

  • @jerseycitysteve
    @jerseycitysteve 13 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    We should remember that on the Eastern Front, there were hundreds of villages that met the same fate as oradour-sur-glane.

  • @760Piper
    @760Piper หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Very powerful video. Curious as to why Wittman was buried alone and with another soldier.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Glad you enjoyed it. In a future video I explain how his remains were not found for some time and how he was moved here to be buried

  • @americanpatriot2422
    @americanpatriot2422 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Great video

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Thank you American Patriot 🇺🇸 👌

  • @jim7544
    @jim7544 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    The SS soldiers were the same as all the others - many were 17 years old in the HJ Division.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Very true. Although I would say the difference is their indoctrination And ideology

  • @stevensole1909
    @stevensole1909 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    RIP to those brave soldiers

    • @Sp10580
      @Sp10580 10 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Trust you mean the brave allied soldiers and not talking about the nazis

    • @stevensole1909
      @stevensole1909 10 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@Sp10580 100% no. I mean the Germans. Allies were bullies who had more money and greater numbers. Germans were the brave ones.

  • @griffhenshaw5631
    @griffhenshaw5631 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I went to the village in 76..
    Very sobering.

  • @RivetGardener
    @RivetGardener หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    War is a horrible and disgusting thing. I have always wondered what came of the Panamainian bodies strewn along Omar Torrijos Airport when we took it down on 20 DEC 1989. And what about the rest when we cleaned out the other areas, the streets where we fought and the buildings we took over. As an Airborne Infantryman we did our job and moved on. Who cleaned up behind us? I have no idea.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Oh wow you were involved in that? Very interesting

  • @tombristowe846
    @tombristowe846 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Good vid. There is another interesting German burial ground near Mont St Michel., at Mont d'Huisnes. It's a mausoleum, or an ossuary, where the bones of about 12000 Germans are buried.

  • @Maxl1409
    @Maxl1409 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Thank you very much for this video!
    Just something I notice when referring to german names, etc.: "ei" is pronounced like "I" and "ie" is pronounced like "ee", in this case "Diekmann"="Deekmann" (like in "seek", "deep", etc.) Keep it up!

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Thanks for sharing! Every day is a school day

  • @rainmanmainplan4421
    @rainmanmainplan4421 หลายเดือนก่อน

    When i visited this cemetery it was very dense and felt very heavy and just felt bad really that soo many lives were lost

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yes I know what you mean! Luckily I was there on a lovely summers day but I imagine in the winter it would feel quite ominous

  • @angelamary9493
    @angelamary9493 4 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Rest in Peace All Those who Sacrificed their lives on both sides ...some ones father ..Son .. Brother ..Uncles ..

  • @MartinVSmith6334
    @MartinVSmith6334 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    There is a German War Cemetery in Mota Santa Anastasia, Sicily that is kept as nice as any Commonwealth or American Cemetery is in a foreign country. Ironically it about 5 miles from the American Naval Air Station in Sigonella. Not unusual to see flowers on a few graves. Have not been there in about 10 years.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Yes exactly and let’s not forget these soldiers had families, sons and mothers, just as we do.

  • @Namtov
    @Namtov หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Why is there coins on Wittmanns grave ? Is that a sign of respect or ?.
    I have visited more german wargraves and in the late 19eighties, I visited a gravesite and at a grave I saw a buket of flowers with a ribbon saying "Ein stiller Gruss aus der Heimat" (Der, die, Not sure ) Translated it would be "A silent greeting from home". It touched me that someone would visit a grave 45 years later.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Originally I thought the coins were for people who revere Wittmann but actually I saw coins and other items on many graves. Perhaps family members. I’m not sure

    • @johnny99497
      @johnny99497 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I believe the coins are given to pay the ferryman of the Valhalla. It is an ancient Nordic tradition.

  • @donrodgers283
    @donrodgers283 10 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I’m 75,an American, my father was in the army and was a replacement in Italy and made it to Germany. He never spoke to much about it. When I was drafted in 1968 and was told I was going to Vietnam he told me this, stay low, look, listen and smell. I inherited my childhood home. Never went through much in the attic. After I retired that was the big honey do list. I found a box containing things from his time in Europe. 6 diary’s listing every country, battle date/dates and every man he knew who was killed starting in Sicily and ending in Germany. My wife and I read these together over 3 weeks. When I can home he said I know what you saw please leave it there and that was it. I saw 1 year, he saw 3 years. I don’t know how he did it.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  10 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      I love reading stories and accounts like these. Thank you for sharing 🫡

    • @gyrogeargoose
      @gyrogeargoose 5 วันที่ผ่านมา

      My Goodness, what a 3 weeks you and your wife had! Much respect to you and your Dad! Amazing that he filled out 6 diaries! Please have them published perhaps? You are both American heros. My Dad fought aboard the USS Essex in the Pacific. God's Finest Blessings To You and Your Family, Sir! Marshall in Oklahoma

  • @gillgetter3004
    @gillgetter3004 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Thanks I wondered what happened to the German dead👍

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I hope you took something from the video. I found the research really interesting

  • @lunn77
    @lunn77 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I went to oradour sur glane. Amazing and sad place. It's a must to go if ever in that area.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Oh I agree! I have a video coming up on Oradour

    • @lunn77
      @lunn77 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@thehistoryexplorer looking forward to it 🙂👍

  • @chrishensley6745
    @chrishensley6745 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Nice video...I respect the German soldier for there way of fighting where alot had to fight...like the 17 and 75 year old men that died there....they were smart in ALOT of ways......Unlike the Japes......that is a different story/bunch of people right there.

  • @anthonysherry2628
    @anthonysherry2628 หลายเดือนก่อน

    My late father served in the British Army, Royal Tank Regiment. He met my German mother in Munster. When i see these video's i feel sad, so many young taken on both sides. But they did their duty, right or wrong. What a waste.

  • @jasonvazquez2563
    @jasonvazquez2563 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    Great video, I wouldn’t call Wittmann “infamous” but I’d call him famous. Yes he was in the SS but I’ve never heard anything about him committing atrocities and I’ve studied him exclusively for years. His kill count may be slightly exaggerated but when your fight a foe like the soviets that believe (and still do) in meat wave tactics I don’t see that number being all that hard to reach, staying alive at the same time was probably difficult though . The soviets lost over 20 million people. They didn’t die from the cold. His performance at villers bocage is a great example. I get he was a nazi, he was in the SS both are despicable but enough of the victor writing history. If you can provide evidence or a book that would imply and/or prove that his kill count was fabricated please let me know I’d like more information and I’m running out of books to read on the subject.

  • @michaelcarnes4377
    @michaelcarnes4377 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    The German soldiers fought under orders for their Fatherland. They should be respected. The bad were the NAZI, others were just like you and me.

  • @ArnieC1974
    @ArnieC1974 19 วันที่ผ่านมา

    There is an other one who you should visit! It's beautiful! It's on a backroad to le mont saint Michelle and the name is Huisnes-sur-Merthere you will find the cemetery. You have to climb a lot of steps and then you find yourself in a big round circle where all Germans are intured in there own grave, so they are not buried but all have there own plot stacked 6 rows high. You can see a lot there and it's kept very well by the German government. You can walk there for hours and still haven't seen it all. It has a beautiful Chappell as well with all the names engraved. I found it on my way back from Saint Michelle but you can better first go there!

  • @wumhenry123
    @wumhenry123 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Good to hear that even the german side recognized the war crime of Diekmann and wanted to court martial him.

  • @lloydgoldston3620
    @lloydgoldston3620 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    Anytime someone calls Wittmann The Black Baron I just have to shake my head. Michael Wittmann was never called that during the war unlike The Red Baron who was known by that name during WW1. Post war rubbish thanks to a quasi scientific television show on who killed Wittmann where that silly moniker first appears. Please do history a favor and don’t perpetuate myths.
    Diekmann is pronounced Deekman and not Dykmann. In German Ei sounds like eye and ie sounds like ee as eel.
    Otherwise a very well thought out, respectful look at the cemetery at La Cambe and the massive amount of war dead interred there.
    Sorry to be pedantic. I do appreciate and enjoy your YT releases.
    Thanks

  • @TKM1951
    @TKM1951 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    It occurs that if they were being moved to central resting places ,why weren’t they repatriated

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      It’s just as the American soldiers see moved from various locations to the main US cemetery. Some families did choose to have their family members brought back to the US

    • @eric-wb7gj
      @eric-wb7gj หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I suppose it depends on who's paying, & if there are any living relatives to claim them, or if the government wishes to carry out the task. I read of an WW2 account where a German mother got a note from the railway station saying there was a package for her to pick up, it was a large one, & she had to pay for it's transport. When she got there, she found it was the body of her son in his coffin. She had to pay the fee, then walk him home about 5km to their village for burial.

    • @Dulcimertunes
      @Dulcimertunes หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@eric-wb7gj😢

  • @dianeday1297
    @dianeday1297 9 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    The sad thing is, we can never seem to kill off the ideologies that get us into wars.
    It's defeated in one war just so another country adopts it, then another war occurs.

  • @rolfagten857
    @rolfagten857 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    What if the German Soldier was a British or Irish national in the German army would they also bureid ther?!

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      The Germans buried plenty of allied soldiers

  • @adhofsink1216
    @adhofsink1216 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Have you ever been to Ysselsteyn in the Netherlands?

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      No I havnt actually but I do have plans to visit the Netherlands again soon

    • @adhofsink1216
      @adhofsink1216 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@thehistoryexplorer It is worth the visit. 👌

  • @josephmccorkel7021
    @josephmccorkel7021 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    You won't see me there

  • @rosewhite---
    @rosewhite--- หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Dirk Bogarde was with intel and travelled through the area and noticed bulldozers making huge trenches for the truckloads fo German body parts.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I’ve never heard that. Interesting

    • @rosewhite---
      @rosewhite--- หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@thehistoryexplorer it was in the falaise area a day or two after the fighting stopped.
      his autobiography is quite an interesing read.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@rosewhite--- thank you! I’ll try and check that out

  • @Dulcimertunes
    @Dulcimertunes หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    The Nazis didn’t need a reason to incinerate civilians

  • @garyhill1050
    @garyhill1050 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The wermacht were regular soldiers over time the were disgusted by Hitler's planning and there is proof that the wermacht were sick of Hitler but the sad part is they were being led by the ss who were the fanatics. during the last months of the war the majority of the German army that was still fighting were ss and in that time frame many were the fanatical 17 to 20 year olds

  • @johnoliver8833
    @johnoliver8833 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Pretty sure that tano commanders success was due to either him or his mate text book copied an englishmans booklet on tank warfare

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      I know the story you’re referring to. They captured British doctrine booklets and Rommel is claimed to have said ‘the British have the best doctrine in the world but their officers do not read it’s

  • @josephd9190
    @josephd9190 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    lol had to put it not about honoring but to learn about “our enemy”. Dude the wars been over for decades. Can’t you just show use the cemetery and just do it to remember the pointless loss of life war causes and to pay respects to the dead. These things are always so political. Lost my interest after that comment

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Fair comment. I meant no offence by it, merely that they were the adversary on the other side of this conflict.

  • @Kirtlington-Bandit
    @Kirtlington-Bandit 18 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Everyone should be taken to a war cemetery , whilst stationed in Germany any relative visiting i always took them to one. When you see the ages it really puts your life into perspective and what people sacrificed their life’s for .

  • @JOEBURNES2006
    @JOEBURNES2006 13 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Michael Whittman was a great tank commander most of his kills were on the eastern front. I think his tank kill numbers were right on. The Germans did not exaggerate kills like the Russians did.

  • @TheConfederate1863
    @TheConfederate1863 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I think you can see at the cemeteries who won the war….😢

  • @rossthompson7956
    @rossthompson7956 17 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Two uncles served their also. One B17 navigator and one ground combat. They mever openally talked about it. The navigator said they had to fly to Russia and used the hay stacks for cover as the german fighters shot up the Russian base. Russians were nice to the allies back then.

  • @desmondthompson9123
    @desmondthompson9123 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Midnightchannel you are coating the official history not the Real History about WW 11.

  • @emilioalcazar-su9vi
    @emilioalcazar-su9vi หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Always the topic of the bad waffen ss soldiers..the same song of the last 80 years!!

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      You don’t think the Waffen SS were bad?

    • @emilioalcazar-su9vi
      @emilioalcazar-su9vi หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@thehistoryexplorer there were million people in the waffen SS..all of them bad guys?IS ridiculous and a nonsense..in war,the allied were not the Saints of series,films and comics

    • @williampinchers
      @williampinchers หลายเดือนก่อน

      Whitman panzer ace par excellence he was a warrior not a murderer. They were not all the same , we the allies had our own fruitbars to.

  • @carresteigerwald3278
    @carresteigerwald3278 15 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Im surprised people even visit it.
    That being said, these people, beyond the war, were someone's child. They were a little 4 year old playing with toys at one time.
    I know its very difficult to think about, but the Lord loved them too. However their choices decided most of their fates, regarding their eternal place.

  • @NormanStanleyNew
    @NormanStanleyNew หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    What happened to all the gold teeth from the concentration camps?

  • @kerrydennison7947
    @kerrydennison7947 หลายเดือนก่อน

    It's very sobering to see this considering how the Germans treated the Russian war dead. I have always wondered why the French people even allowed the notorious SS to be buried on French soil you would think they would have forced the bodys to be repatriated to Germany after the war. Then again the Russians simply plowed over the German cemeteries in Russia and turned it back into wheat Fields etc.

  • @paulevison9497
    @paulevison9497 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Sadly you keep calling Heers (army) as werhmarcht which means armed forceces!!!

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      It’s how they are portrayed in the books I used

    • @paulevison9497
      @paulevison9497 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@thehistoryexplorer Then should you not put this right as it's an historical fact
      and helps the narrative?

  • @gregbolitho9775
    @gregbolitho9775 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Glad they got looked after, alot seemed not to be.

  • @hisoverlorduponhigh90
    @hisoverlorduponhigh90 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    Germany was very clear about their grievances. They wanted the terrorists (resistance) turned over, and they wanted the bombing of German civilians to stop.
    I am not rationalizing, just underscoring the atrocities on both sides, during a very emotionally charged episode.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Possibly, but I do feel some were just led to act this way

    • @paddycable1723
      @paddycable1723 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Never forget the genocidal extermination programme on an industrial scale. NOTHING the allies did compares to the horror of that. The Nazis were perhaps the greatest evil ever to be visited upon humankind.

  • @HuppeldePupNL
    @HuppeldePupNL หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great video. Thanks. A word of advice, however: can you please make a bit of an effort to get the pronunciation sort of right, of the French and German names. Ehdolf Dikemun and Ahdolf Deekman do not sound at all similar to most Continental ears.

  • @LucasOliveira-lu7sw
    @LucasOliveira-lu7sw หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Por favor em português BR.
    Não consigo entender,

  • @mrnexus8seven949
    @mrnexus8seven949 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Why are you surprised so many people visit this cemetary?

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Because I’ve been visiting Normandy for over 20 years and this was my first time going to La Cambe

  • @user-xs4st5fx1h
    @user-xs4st5fx1h 6 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Oradour-sur-Glane almost as bad as the My Lai incident

  • @gemellodipriapo
    @gemellodipriapo หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Why should it surprise you so many people visit La Cambe cemetery? History unites us all and Lord knows how many Germans or Austrians must visit. Moreover the German army of WWII had a dark glamour about it. There are numerous reasons for it's pull and that's why some of us have watched your vid. Anyway the title is somewhat misleading.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      It surprises me that so many visit. Half a million in 2023

    • @gemellodipriapo
      @gemellodipriapo หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@thehistoryexplorer WWII is Disney World for adults. And La Cambe has free entry.

  • @HandyMan657
    @HandyMan657 วันที่ผ่านมา

    If you want to know, check out Crocodile Tear as he digs them up. Or watch this for the kind washed version of what happened to them.

    • @thehistoryexplorer
      @thehistoryexplorer  วันที่ผ่านมา

      Bro, what’s the problem? I want all people to be able to watch this so they can learn. That includes people who do not want to see the terrible effects of war

  • @kauaiboy5o
    @kauaiboy5o หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Why weren't the war dead sent back to their country of origin?

    • @TheConfederate1863
      @TheConfederate1863 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Because they were still at war with Germany.

    • @kauaiboy5o
      @kauaiboy5o หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@TheConfederate1863 Why weren't they reburied in Germany?

    • @TheConfederate1863
      @TheConfederate1863 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@kauaiboy5o guess they wanted them to stay with their fallen comrades ? Other nations did the same…