BAND OF BROTHERS | Part 9 :Why We Fight! Part 2/2| First Time Watching | TV Reaction
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- Ray, Alex, and Julien watch part 9 of Band of Brothers | Why We Fight
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Does anybody know what year we're in? And when the series came out?
@@micahlangley1720 the series came out in 2001. The first episode covers 1942 or ‘43 to mid 1944, then the rest of the series covers D-Day(June 6th, 1944) through the end of the war in the summer of 1945. Episode 9 ended with Nixon saying Hitler shot himself, so thats either the end of April or maybe early May 1945 depending on how quickly they got the news
@@Simonsays90 I know this. I have the series. And the Pacific .
@@Simonsays90
The camp shown in Band of Brothers is Kaufering IV (Hurlach) which was found and liberated on April 27, 1945 by the 12th Armored Division with some units of the 101st Airborne Division arriving on April 28 and Easy Company arriving on April 29.
When casting this episode, Spielberg / Hanks hired actual cancer patients to play the prisoners. Many of them were terminal and died shortly after appearing in the miniseries.
Many of those patients wanted to be part of something that would be around long after they were gone and also be part of something bigger than themselves. In a way they live forever thru this episode.
What courage!
I rewatch Band of Brothers every year and cry every time I watch this episode.
This episode is so powerful
No shame at all in crying through this episode. This was a powerful episode. Horrifying but amazing in how well they portrayed it.
Wait untill you watch the Pacific. It's way more graphic.
SCHINDLER'S LIST....a difficult movie as well ....you see more of the monsters treating the Jewish people....a must watch film.
It’s a ROUGH watch. Like, beyond fucked up, this episode pales in comparison
The actors in the work camp were cancer patients. Not all of them lived long enough to see Band of Brothers when it was first aired. And they were in even BETTER shape than the actual work camp inmates. Talk about horrifying living conditions.
8:00 It costs energy and nutrients to digest food. At the very least, if the prisoners ate more food than their body could spend energy and nutrients digesting, the prisoners would literally run out of these before the food was digested and they would die. This is why food intake needs to be controlled for people who are literally starving.
Wonderful reaction, wonderful commentary. This was the best show of visceral outrage I've seen from a group of reactors; and that reaction is definitely well-deserved, given the subject matter.
_And they were in even BETTER shape than the actual work camp inmates._
When the camp shown in Band of Brothers, *Kaufering IV (Hurlach),* was found and liberated on April 27, 1945 by the 12th Armored Division there were only a handful of prisoners found alive, along with about 500 bodies.
@@iammanofnature235 Yep. I think they used the episode to show sort of a mix of the different camps that were found. And there really were camps where they had to force the prisoners back into the very camps they were liberated from for their own safety, and not just because they were starving and needed to have their food intake monitored. There were several instances where prisoners were so malnourished and so broken from the experience that they would just...wander off into the wilderness, aimlessly, and some of them no doubt wound up dying there. They were so far gone it was like their minds had completely shut down and they were just on autopilot.
I'll also never forget reading an account from one of the soldiers who liberated a camp, describing how he came across one of the guys in his platoon just...panicking and traumatized, because he'd given what was left of one of his D rations (military chocolate bars) to a prisoner only for him to drop to the ground and die right in front of him a few moments later. There's really no way to fully capture just how much of a hell on earth the camps were, and it's not at all surprising so many GIs began executing any SS they could get their hands on.
With you saying this is the most horrific thing you’ve seen in a show, the reason it hits so hard is you know it’s real. It actually happened. It’s different than watching like Game of Thrones and seeing some crazy battle happen or just an action movie/show. You know that it’s made up. This wasn’t. This was real. This happened less than 100 years ago. That’s why it hits so much harder and is that horrific. Real people suffered in horrible conditions with no escape except death, and even that was inhuman how they passed. Thank you for this reaction. I’ve seen this series dozens of times and I still cry during this episode. It never gets easier to see, and I hope it never does for anyone. It needs to be painful every watch. We must not forget.
Two understated scenes involve Frank Perconte. First when he's passing the hut and the prisoner salutes him, which Perconte returns. A salute is a symbol of respect between soldiers. By returning the prisoner's salute Perconte is acknowledging what the prisoner has gone through and endured makes him an equal to the combat soldier who has " seen it all ". Second scene is similar, where Perconte exchanges looks with the new guy O'Keefe, who is looking with shock, horror, and disbelief at what he's seeing. Without saying a word Perconte conveyed to O'Keefe that he had now seen war at its worst, that without being in a battle or firing a shot he was now truly a veteran.
It was also the first time he actually called him O'Keefe
@@frozenharold
yes. he is now a war veteran like himself. now he understands it, all too well.
From what I've read about the production of this episode, Spielberg and Hanks intentionally didn't let the actor see the sets for the camp ahead of time. They wanted their reactions to be as real as possible.
And had hired cancer patients and very ill people for the roles.
I've seen this many times but you guys breaking down really got to me. This is why we React.
I think to not cry to this would me that we are not human. Our emotions were on full display
The title for Episode 9
"Why We Fight" is an understatement
That was a pretty tame depiction of what Hitler was really doing to people, the nightmarish tests he conducted on children especially twins and how the women were treated are unimaginable atrocities. Nice reaction and feeling sick is a badge of humanity nothing to be worried about. I have watched this series dozens of times and the tears flow every time. My dad was a Marine and served in the Pacific during WWII, I am evidence that he survived. That theater had a completely different vibe then the European Theater. You are about to find that out.
I am the son of Holocaust survivors including my father's side who lost his 3 sisters, 2 brothers and both parents in Auschwitz. I am glad to hear you 3 guys having such a frank discussion about what happened in so many of those death camps and how it really opened your eyes to the horrors of war.
This is such an important show that needs to be watched. We reacted to this episode with our souls. I will not lie to you. It took us a couple of days to recover. We hate that this happened and I am happy and sad that your Dad survived this situation but went through it. God bless your dad and your fam. Hope you guys prosper forever! Much love from R Knights!
i visited Mathausen in Austria... you can still "feel" death all around you, it's like theres a miasma or something.
it's a weird sensation
So the antisemitism in Germany was well documented by the allies pretty much since the Nazis took power in the early 30's, but they did NOT know about the camps until they were liberated late in the war. There had been rumors that had gotten back to Allied command, but most people assumed the stories were an exaggeration(like the people in town). For the majority of the war though, the Allied soldiers were fighting Germany simply because they were invading the rest of Europe, not because they were trying to stop the atrocities commited by the Nazis
Also as to the people in town, after 12 years of Nazi rule the sorts of people who ask questions they are not supposed to where already locked up or murdered.
@@OgrimMetal You are over simplifying. As Webster pointed out, the stench of these camps was detectable from a significant distance. Don't make excuses for the Germans, please.
@@davedalton1273 It is not my intention to make excuses. I'm simply pointing out that people (most likely including you and I) living under a murderous tyrannical police state adapt (and survive) by keeping their heads down and their mouths shut.
People aware of the atrocities might not even tell their friends and family out of fear of being branded a traitor.
The allies new that at least some of these camps existed because they had aerial reconnaissance photographs showing them. The question is whether anybody knew what these camps were for. The aerial photos probably didn’t show that.
@@davedalton1273 On this its interesting that the show never mentions anyone noticing a smell, Not when in the town, nor when they were out patrolling, it wasn't noticed by dialogue or physical motion until they got into close proximity.
But in real life there absolutely would be people aware of what happened and in detail, specifically people who had to directly interact with the camp (delivery drivers as a good example), and yes it was public knowledge that Jews were first ghettoed and then put into facilities, and their was knowledge that Germany had work camps and POW camps. It was far less well known to the degree of the horror int eh conditions of the POW camps, the work camps, and the death camps. If you were in the public and wanted to know how bad it was it was hard to discover a significant amount, but if you were just someone who didn't want to know the degree it would be easy to not know the true levels of the atrocities, and that doesn't even touch upon all the medical experimentation they did on live subjects, that would be known to much of the population at all, even if you were looking.
Take for example, you hear about US history about how we treated various minorities, how we treated the various Indian nations, and how we treated US citizens in the penal system. Yet most of us don't go out and see the worst aspects of how we treated various peoples.
I know for example I never went to see any forced labor camps we had back decades ago. Its not taught in detail in schools. You would need to witness more then just seeing crews out working to see how bad (and often utterly corrupt) this practice was for the time. Now over the last century its become far more well known, but for the time itself, most people know they had workers out as prison labor, but to know the real levels of it, far less.
There’s a channel called “Reel History” that does a great job of sifting the facts from fiction in movies and shows like these. He pointed out something interesting in this episode. You’ll notice in the first half you see the troops displaying some of their less endearing characteristics; like Luz and Perco looting the eggs and Luz maybe going a bit too far with the young lady, Janovic (Tom Hardy) fraternizing with locals himself, Perco snapping on O’Keefe, Nixons drinking problems & Speirs & the looting (which is heavily disputed btw). It was great to show that they indeed are human and are real and imperfect people like the rest of us. And the contrast of what was to come later in the episode with the camps made these small imperfections seem meaningless by comparison. It’s really great work honestly.
Yes its an excellent channel highly recommend it for anyone interested in history and movies and wants to learn to seperate history from hollywood
Jared Frederick is a great historian on all fronts, but especially BOB... Lots of cool stuff at the Gettysburg museum too.
I think I should feel bad about the ‘looting’ but I never do. Certainly in Berlin and other cities many Germans watched their neighbors taken away and walked into the vacated houses and stole their belongings, art, silver, heirlooms, money. So I never feel bad.
Shout out to Jared.
@@HK-ny8pr I’m the same. I completely agree with you. Some say that the potting is over exaggerated and that only the lowest of low men would loot on a large scale like that.
John Orloff is the script writer of episodes 2 and 9 of HBO's 'Band of Brothers'.
Mr. Orloff has stated on various websites some insights about the scripts of episodes 9 and 2: (Note: I paraphrase and add some info in brackets[ ]. My apologies to Mr. Orloff if I misrepresent the meaning of any of his statements due to my paraphrasing or additions.)
Statements by John Orloff::
The date [shown at the start of episode 9 --April 11th--] is a production error... in the script it is dated as May 1.
"The book-ends were there for a few reasons... One, to show the industry of the German people in rebuilding (as opposed to the French or Italians). 2. the weariness of the Easy Guys... 3. because I thought it would be dramatically interesting, and lends to a very strong finale of the episode-- the last line is a negative "But he didn't"... The whole episode is a negative and leading to the fact THEY HAD TO COME TO GERMANY.. But MOSTLY-- Beethoven. The Germans gave us Beethoven AND the holocaust. How can that be???
The Beethoven piece -- even which piece [The music played by the four musicians in the bombed-out town square was from one of Beethoven’s last quartets (Opus 131 to be exact), generally considered to be among the best and greatest not only of Beethoven’s oeuvre but of all musical compositions ever written.] -- was in the script before Michael Kamen came into the film. In my original script, that music was also played during the Concentration Camp scene, then dissolving into the final scene... [The deeper meaning of choosing this piece of music was to ask the question: how can a culture that produced Beethoven and his magnificent music (among the glories of human achievement) also produce such heinous crimes, the depths of human depravity?]
The talking heads pre show didn't mention the camps BECAUSE NONE OF THE VETS WOULD TALK TO ME ABOUT IT. At all. Ever. If I asked them to tell me-- the same guys who could tell me about their best friend being killed in front of them-- they couldn't tell me about the camp. They literally said to me, "I can't talk about that". 55 years later, it was still too horrible to discuss...
In the book, this stuff [about the concentration camp] is one paragraph. I imagine for the same reason-- Ambrose told me it was his favorite episode, and I'm guessing its because I found things he didn't.. In fact, the episode is the least taken from the book...
Winters WOULD talk to me, and a story he told me about himself was the core of the episode-- namely walking into the widow's house. I asked Winters if he would mind if I changed that event to Nixon, since I wanted this to be an episode about Nixon's disillusionment turning into understanding of the necessity of the war. [Nixons 'trivial' problems were juxtaposed to the BIG picture of the horrors committed by the Nazi regime.]
These guys are asking themselves in various ways why they left their families for the last 2 years... And they find out. It's not referring to why FDR fought, or Churchill... They realize their sacrifices were necessary...
The Webster issue is a complicated one... -- he knows what's being said [by the baker]... There was some scenes cut from the episode that better explained why he was reacting that way.... They cut about 10 minutes from the first cut...
In my opinion the Baker DID know what was a mile or so away... In fact, part of the episode is talking about the Germans as a whole. What did they think happened to the Jews? They went to the Caribbean? Hitler makes it quite clear in Mein Kampf what he intended-- and he did win an election.... Also, the SS was a HUGE part of society... As was the SA earlier... Many-- MANY-- Germans knew what was going on...
I had to do my own research. Which brings up a wider issue-- ALL the [script] writers did original research. We went way beyond the book-- I interviewed every single living person who was at Brecourt Manor-- and had a very different version of events than Ambrose wrote...
This was our [the script writers] experience of making the series. ie, talking to men whose memories dim with each passing day...
For example--I interviewed Malarkey, Compton, Lipton, Guarnere, Winters about Brecourt Manor, and not one remembered it the same... Episode 2 is my best guess from all I heard... But none of them remembered it exactly as shown.
The show is NOT a documentary, but the best guess of what we think happened based on hundreds of hours of original interviewing... plus research, etc...
[Episode] Nine was more difficult... because so little was spoken by the vets... But most of what you saw happened... Nixon's divorce, Speirs stealing, Nixon jumping in the plane that went down, fraternization, the widow (though she wasn't at the camp, that was my addition), the cleaning up, etc... The camp was part of a large COMPLEX of multiple camps clustered near Landsberg. Easy did in fact liberate that PART. [ There is some debate whether Easy company or any part of the 101st division 'liberated'/found any of the work/concentration camps first before other units of the US army found them. In any case, many men in Easy company did see the camp and the conditions there shortly after the camp was discovered. ]
Episode 9 has several themes, one of which is the DEGREES of evil. Stealing is bad. So is breaking into the German widow's house, or when Easy rousts out German civilians to sleep in their houses... But then... there is EVIL...
Thank you so much for posting this. I'd never read or heard it before. The parts about Beethoven and the Holocaust just smacked me in the face - OF COURSE that's one of the biggest dichotomies ever! But it also helps defend my theory of the episode, that the first 2/3 were spent softening our response to the Germans. First, we have the opening perspectives from the soldiers, treating them as equals and potential friends. Second, we have the widow scene - Nixon is clearly the intruder here. Third, as you mentioned, there are the "spoils of war" scenes, with the egg stealing, attempted hook-up, actual hook-up, and looting going on. Fifth, the story of Nixon's jump seems to imply that at this point, the war is futile and performative - boys are dying to make generals feel proud.
And then.
And then the show reminds you of the one thing we all know about WWII in Germany that hasn't been touched on at all up to this point. The camp reveal scene is one of the most powerful sucker-punches I've ever experienced as a viewer. It's brilliantly handled, from the tease, to the actual reveal, to the conversations ("the women's camp is at the next railway stop" just floors me), to O'Keefe's breakdown, to Liebgott's collapse at having to give the order to keep the prisoners in the camp. This one hits hard, and it does it so well because it was set up so well.
R Knights - your reactions are perfectly appropriate for seeing this for the first (or second, or twentieth) time. This episode is designed to fuck you up, but in a way that will cement in your head the banality of evil. "Normal" people can do monstrous crimes. It's up to all of us to care for our fellow humanity, and make sure that our societies don't allow the types of cruelty and dehumanization that took place in Nazi Germany to poke their heads up again.
@@moleman1976 Brian M, you are welcome. I had read comments from John Orloff on several websites. I thought gathering them together into one comment could provide a view of the episode from the screenwriters standpoint. The contrasts of good vs bad are shown on many levels in the episode. It does answer the common soldiers question of 'Why we fight' and why they were needed to fight this war to defeat the Nazi regime in Germany.
On March 24, 1945, Nixon was assigned to be an observer with the 17th Airborne Division during Operation Varsity (the airborne crossing of the river Rhine). Operation Varsity was a part of General Montgomery's plan ( Operation Plunder ) to move across the Rhine river near Wesel Germany, east of the Netherlands [This is what operation Market Garden back in Sept. 1944 had failed to do.]. The British army was able to cross the Rhine near Wesel Germany and advance into Germany. They then helped to encircle the 'Ruhr' area which resulted in large numbers of German troops surrendering [as shown in the BOB episode].
Although the war is winding down, the German army had not collapsed yet in March 1945 and was still resisting the allied armies on the western front, which required operations like 'Varsity' and 'Plunder' to be carried out.
I am glad you found my original post to be of interest. Have a good day.
Most of what you said is spot on; however, I feel I must correct you one one small point: Hitler wasn’t elected Chancellor. President Paul von Hindenburg appointed him Chancellor thinking he could be controlled. The rest is history.
When you read about this in school, in your history class or whatever, you really have no idea of the reality of what happened; the scene that you guys just witnessed never even enters your mind. You learn about it and intellectually, you know the Holocaust happened, but to actually see it as brutally honest as it was portrayed here carries a whole different weight. It truly brings it into focus how horrible it was in a way it could never be portrayed in school, unless the students watched this episode
The human mind cannot comprehend it. Like Joseph Stalin said, "One death is a tragedy. One million deaths is a statistic."
Gentlemen, your empathy, kind emotions and the amount of respect you showed during this episode speaks volumes to your character. Well done.
PS. Curse away, my friend. If there was ever a time to do it, this was certainly it.
We wear out hearts on our sleeves
i had the honour to nurse veterans from WW2 in a military hospital, they served in the British armed forces, Army, Royal Navy, RAF, and merchant navy thank you to all that have served and continue to serve
The look on Winters' face when Liebgott tells them about the women's camp...and Perconte unable to look at the dead bodies in the train car.
Or Bull, one of the biggest , toughest soldiers I. Easy Company…he couldn’t even look at the camp as Winters and his detail arrive.
I’ve spoken to Germans who lived through that era and who knew me well enough to be candid. The real truth about ‘Did they know’ tended to be ‘Yes and No’. People in a town like that would have known an installation was there. They would have at least heard rumors it was a concentration camp. And the Nazis made no secret that they wanted to get rid of types of people they deemed ‘undesirable’ so one could make a guess what would go on in such a place if those rumors were true. And it would have been very easy to take a short walk and see. But nearly all people didn’t. In fact they actively avoided it. Because they didn’t want to know. They preferred not to know what was being done in their name so they could sleep better. Everyone had moments of suspicion. Few followed up on it.
Wonderful and very informed comment. That's exactly what it was like.
You omit the fact that even if they knew, what could they do? If you said something you'd end up in the same place, as well as your family. I'm not apologizing for the atrocities, but it's not just black and white. This was a fascist regime and any dissent was not tolerated. If you said anything critical, the Gestapo showed up at your door. Try putting yourself in the same position. I'm willing to bet 99.9% of us would avert our eyes and keep our mouths shut.
@@catherinelw9365 You’re very right that the majority of people would keep their heads down. The German experience is not a unique situation and should be a cautionary tale for any democracy. That said, some Germans did what they could in ways small or great. It’s also not quite so that any dissent brought the Gestapo to your door. People told ironic jokes about Hitler and Goering and would openly grumble about things like rationing, policy, etc. But you could only do this safely if you were the sort of German the Nazis liked, and if you kept it in certain unwritten limits.
well said too add to that- most camps had a "no go are" were locals could't go with in so many miles of the camps.
There also was a media like today. How would word have gotten out? There was only state propaganda
I’m one of the ‘watches BoB’ annually brigade. It starts off as just another show, but trust me, everything you have watched, everything you will watch, you will measure against Band of Brothers and nothing comes close, it does affect you, especially this episode. There is some well crafted tv and film out there but the experience of watching BoB stays with you. It will be 2042 by the time you’ve watched it for 20 years! Always be there for your mates, have a beer together and enjoy Episode 10.
June 6th is coming up, that means its time for me to binge the series again!
No one could ever imagine that an atrocity as this could be done by one human to another, yet when an evil exists no human is safe.
in one episode of the band of brothers podcast (i forgot which ep), they actually said that the crew purposely did not let the actors show the camp to them before filming so that they would have a more realistic reaction. so the reaction of them seeing the camp for the first time in this ep is actually them seeing it for the first time.
Yes I read that some where. That must have been a real shock to the actors when they went to record that day. Very smart on the director to keep the emotion genuine
It all starts with dehumanization of a group of people. That is why statements like "they are not people" or "they are monsters" are very dangerous. It is the first step towards having no regrets when hurting someone.
The sad fact is that most of us (given the right circumstances) are capable of such atrocities which is why we need to be very careful of letting ourselves accept dehumanization of anyone by anyone.
Current example would be Russians trying to dehumanize Ukrainians AND at the same time the rest of the world trying to dehumanize Russians. One is as bad as the other and is an attempt (of powers that be) to make it easy for one side to kill the other without any thought. Once you're on that level the atrocities come by themselves.
Even something as simple as "Krauts", "Charlies" leads to the same. You are creating an entity separate from the group, although Kraut was used to refer to germans, the word implies more of a monolith. While shooting a Kraut, you are shooting at the idea. You don't have to think about the individual german.
If we go back to what spears said a few episodes ago, for a soldier to function as they are supposed to function, they have to get past their human compassion and this is one step in that. All war depends upon it.
@@henryofskalitz5212 Any sort of group identity politics leads to the same. All group identity politics have the same goal. To convince people to look at someone not as a person.. but as a member of a group.
You're correct as far as soldiers (and them functioning how they are supposed to) go. They are giving themselves something to hold on to so they don't go mad.
The thing is that for a normal human it is extremely hard to kill a person. You can read about any war and you'll see reports of soldiers refusing to fire, deliberately missing or doing something else that prevents death.
Most of the soldiers training goes into making him act before he thinks. While that can save the soldiers life it also is one of the reasons for PTSD once they come home and have time to think about what they were doing.
For soldiers It's not the dying that is the hard part. It's seeing and causing death of others.
Sadly politicians that start identity politics which cause wars rarely get held accountable for the pain they cause. They don't participate in the actual fighting... they send others to fight for them.
Kinda like "Rapists" and "Drug Dealers" or calling Muslims "Terrorists"
@@art2736 Ah yes the terrorists like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Muhammad Ali right?
I could agree on Rapists and Drug dealers but those labels are (usually) assigned to people that commit the offenses the label implies unlike what you did with Muslims where you applied actions of minority to the whole group. If you applied your "Muslim" logic elsewhere you could call all priests child molesters or all wives and husbands as cheaters. They would both be equally untrue and misleading.
@@art2736 🙄
German here;
The question, "how much german civilians and common soldiers rly were aware of" is discussed and largely debated even till this day, here. I think it comes down to "how much did they wanted to know" bcs everybody who wanted to know, was able to find out. But u have to consider that knowing (and espacially sharing this knowledge) might brought urself in a dangerous situation. It was also prolly hard to rly get a sense for the overall scale of the Situation.
One interesting fact to have in mind, is that the Wehrmacht Generals on the eastern front reported to Berlin, that the increasing number of mass executions of civilians by firing squads, is demoralizing too many Soldiers. This was a factor for the decision, to stop using mobile killing groubs and start building death camps.
Considering this, u can tell that the german government def had an interest in keeping the Holocaust as secret as posible.
In hindsight, its always ez to say that some1 should have done something. Most ppl who did, ended up getting killed. Keep in mind that ppl back than had only few ways to communicate or to get informations.
U can also ask urself, if there is anything going on in ur area, that u know about but dont do anything - bcs its easier to just not think about it and protesting against it, might bring urself in trouble. The Prison System, Meat Industry, War Crimes etc. - ye, there is a lot of wrong going on in this world, but few ppl care. Most dont want to know and keep their clean worldview. Ppl back than werent much different.
Im not trying to justify things, dont get me wrong. My point is, that if u want to understand, how the Holocaust could happen and how we can prevent it from happening again, u need to try to understand the ppls worldview and stop thinkin they were any different from us today.
I understand this point. Tbh, in this video I was reacting out of emotions and speaking out of emotions. It has taken several days to consider what you and others have been saying. It makes perfect sense. Again, its not to justify anything but more like trying to understand how this happened and why it happened. It makes perfect sense now if the people in town did not know or did not act. It was a crazy time to say the least. It just awful that this happened and continues to happen all around the world.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out-
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out-
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemöller. Upvote.
Many people don't understand that fascism was an accepted ideology all over the world before WWII. Don't forget that how black people were treated in the us was very similar to how Jewish people were treated in Germany in the 1930s. Japan was doing the same horrible shit on the other side of the world... This opened the eyes of a lot to what fascism could lead, and it still took another 20 years to get rid of segregation in the US. We love to think we fought the nazis because they were nazis, but we fought the enemy who happened to be nazis. WWII started because major powers wanted to keep as much of the world on their side. The US supported Europe passively because they were allied with the UK and France, but got boots on the ground only because Russia would have gained control over Europe if they defeated teh Germans. That all these kids died for an amazing cause in the end was important for everyone to cope with what happened.
Regarding the Germans not knowing, here in Belgium we use the phrase "Wir haben es nicht gewust" ("We didn't knew") often when someone makes a statement that you can't disprove, but is extremely improbable. Those camps existed for years in small towns, towns where you know everything about everyone. It's impossible not to know in my opinion, those people didn't want to see because it wasn't of their concern... but not knowing, I refuse to accept that. This camp was less than a mile from town...
They had to know. There is no way they didn't.
Black people were treated the same way in the US? Are you on drugs? I hate stupid comments like this.
Most of the children were killed upon arrival to the camps. A lot of mothers died as well because they didn’t want to leave their kids. Kids stood on their siblings shoes to look taller (making them appear older) so they’d not go to the gas chambers.
I recently went to a museum about the holocaust. It was so powerful, heart breaking, and life changing. Survivors biggest thing they wanted us to take away from their stories was this: love everyone, no matter who they are or how different their culture is from yours. Hate and fear only breed evil. Love each other! Stand up for the ones our culture considers less or useless, but in doing that make sure you don’t fall into the same thing/trap (thinking of them “bad guys” as less or useless). Teach and encourage each other to love. ♥️
Ps. If any of this isn’t right, please feel free to correct me.
One of the great ironies of the war was that some of the satellite camps of Dachau were liberated by units of the 442 combat team whose members were Japanese Americans whose families were incarcerated in U.S. concentration camps
Very true. Also, to put things in perspective, there are many stories of captured SS who were sent to prison camps in the deep south of the United States during the war, and how they were treated better than the black soldiers on the base who guarded them. There are even some some accounts of how racist right wingers in the towns near the camps would arrange to let the SS out of the camps and invite them to their houses for dinner because they felt an affinity for the Nazi racist ideology. I imagine it sounds too crazy to be true, so I invite anyone who thinks so to look it up.
This episode was the hardest. But what sucks is the same thing was happening under soviet communism . Stalin killed twice as many and put "enemies of the state" in gulags which were their versions of concentration camps.
Its crazy to think that these things happened
@@RKnights which is why Ukrainians hate Russians to this day. Look up the Holodomor.
Did the German public know? The reality is complicated. The German population was under martial law since 1940. Many in the metropolitan centers had better access to the outside world, but most of those in rural Germany- where the vast majority of camps were located- could only travel with permission of the SS, and most of the small town Germans were not allowed to leave the country as they were conscripted into forced labor for the war effort. Even the German army was not directly associated with it. The SS were essentially imperial guards, a separate branch from the army. But even if you did know, what could you do? It would be highly risky to try to contact any humanitarian aid organizations or make too much noise lest you want to end up in a camp yourself. Some surely did know, some were even Nazi sympathizers, but how could any of them have known the scale of the operation? Also worth noting that most of the Russian POWs had it just as bad, they were locked up in stockades and left to starve and freeze to death. Could have been a POW camp for all the people knew. War is hell.
You guys all pointed out, early in the episode, that civilians suffer the worst, roughly 2 million German civilians were killed in WWII (many by US bombs). The people never asked for that war, or any war. Be mindful when judging the German public because we can't know what they went through, and there's no telling what any of us would have done in their shoes. Personally, I would have kept my mouth shut in the hope that one day it will all be over.
When the British Army liberated Bergen-Belsen camp they set the guards to work burying the bodies. When the Germans asked for breaks, as per their rights as POWs, they were allowed to take them laying face down in the graves they were digging.
The guy walking up to them holding another inmate , wad speaking Polish, he was saying, please help he's still alive. Please help him, he's still alive, or something along those lines
Reaction straight from the heart guys. I've seen this dozens of time and hurts me every time. Thank you.
EDIT: How great of film making is this to evoke these feelings from you? An amazing display of man's inhumanity to man.
I don't care what a bunch of old-fashioned a-holes think, you guys are real men. There are so many that think that men are not allowed to show emotion and especially on TH-cam reactions try to hold back any sign that they're sad. I applaud you guys for being able to let it show. If you can't look at the horrors of the Holocaust and then get a bit emotional then I worry about you. And as you said the fact that some people not only deny that this ever happened but are wanting to do another one now. There are groups of people following these same paths right here in the US. I'm going to have to stop here though because it also makes me furious.
i'm an "old fashioned asshole", and there are numerous points in this program that still make my face wet despite the fact that i have watched it at least 20 times, and know a lot more about Easy Company than your average bear. those people ragging on reactors for showing emotion are just scumbags. they are probably emotionally stunted 12~16 year old boys that haven't grown a whisker; or an ounce of compassion, conscience, or humanity yet. i actually had the good fortune to bump into Dick Winters when i was driving taxi in Pennsylvania. we didn't have time for an actual conversation, but i thanked him, shook his hand, and as he was walking away, i flashed a quick salute to his back. he died a few years later.
Great reaction. The real liberations were far worse than what was depicted, though Spielberg and crew did a phenomenal job on this. During the liberation of Dacheau, the pure stress caused otherwise religious and normal U.S soldiers to line up and execute the captured guards, give prisoners weapons to execute guards, there are even accounts of a private pulling his gun on a colonel and having a nervous breakdown, threatening to kill him. Patton whom was usually a rock solid character and ruthless combat veteran puked and had to leave the camp
The reality of the situation had to rock the most steadfast person.
The camp where Patton puked was Ohrdruf, part of Buchenwald. That was the first camp liberated by US forces.
What you're referring to is when Lt.Col Felix Sparks pulled his gun on Brig. Gen Henning Linden and threatened to kill him if he ever came near him again. Mark Felton did a video on this a little while ago.
One of the hardest watches there is, yet very important especially in these times. Let us not forget we are all humans and that in the end what we think divides us it what actually brings us together. The human experience, althought different for each of us is also very similar in many ways. It has been a journey with you guys, and I appreciate the vulnerability you showed when exposed to these horrors.
You need to think about it, you need to keep it in your mind so you NEVER forget what happened there to make sure it NEVER happens again.
Schindlers List, once you see that story movie, you'll never be able to erase the pure evil witnessed on screen but at the same time be inspired by true greatness in humanity... a much watch guys thanks
That order not to release them until they'd had medical treatment wasn't an overreaction. I saw an interview with a WW2 vet who described giving two men in a concentration camp chocolate bars and seeing them die on the spot.
Yep sadly many many died from “overeating” and I put that I quotation marks because it wasn’t a lot that took them to overeat and it’s just such a damn shame. To survive that far and accidentally eat too much. Breaks my heart.
Wikipedia has a good article on Refeeding Syndrome.
“If anyone ever tells you the Holocaust didn't happen, or that it wasn't as bad as they say, no, it was worse than they say. What we saw, what these Germans did, it was worse than you can possibly imagine.” ... Edward "Babe" Heffron, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division ...
This was the twentieth century's version of "Replacement Therory".
It's no coincidence the modern conspiracy theory is based on the writings of an anti-Semitic collaborationist who willingly joined the SS.
Apples and Oranges
Great reaction y'all. This episode is soo hard, but so important. Your tears are the real reaction. I cry every time I see it. Thank you for taking the time to watch it.
It was rough. It took a couple of days to recover honestly
My heart breaks for Liebgottt when he has to tell them to get back in the camp. Absolutely devastating. After all the death and destruction he's seen, that's what breaks him down.
Those people in town had restrictions too. These camps where "military domain", and military domains where forbidden for citizens. I think that's why the locals didn't know about those camps.
Just came across you guys. Have to say one of the most honest heart wrenching reactions I’ve seen. I’ll keep watching your channel guys
I'm glad you found us. We wear our hearts on our sleeves. This video was heart breaking. I hope you stick around for some more of our content. 😀😀😀
@@RKnights I’ve got some suggestions for movies if you’re interested
I've seen the whole series at least 20 times and I still tear up or cry on this episode.
I found this information on another person's comment
None of the actors playing American soldiers had seen the concentration camp set, or the extras playing the victims, before they were to film there, and the reactions of most of the cast are genuine. Ross McCall, playing Joe Liebgott, said there were talks of bringing the actors to a camp to prepare them for the scene - but they ultimately decided not to, for the sake of getting honest reactions.
The specific camp that was liberated in this episode was the Ohrdruf Concentration Camp. The liberation occurred on April 4, 1945. The US Army brought in tents and emergency shelters immediately, as well as a volunteer force of medical personnel. The Army began relocating the prisoners as quickly as they could, beginning the day after the camp's liberation. In total it took about a week to get all the prisoners to better accommodations in order to give them medical care and food.
My Gpa was there in April 1945 for about 2 weeks. Between being at Bastogne, losing his buddy the 1st night of the war and seeing the Orhdruf concentration camp, it's no wonder he didn't have much to say about his trip to Europe.
History. It was liberated by a Japanese-American self propelled artillery unit. Winters got to the camp on the second day.
Some of the soldiers did snap when they came upon these atrocities. They couldn't handle seeing this and numerous guards were executed on spot.
True.
Hey guy's have you watched "The Pianist", it's a very good watch set during world war II. Thank you for your reaction!
Lots of folks like to argue over what German civilians in towns like this knew about the camps, whether they knew what was actually going on. Nobody raises the second question, which is, if they had known, what could they have done about it?
A perfect reaction to this episode. No shame in crying. I'm almost 31 and I still shed tears whenever I see this particular episode. Honestly, this episode was watered down for television. The real thing that Easy company found was way worse compared to this version of the camp. But the way it was portrayed, it was more than enough to depict what humans can do to one another just because a certain group of people was different. Looking forward to your reaction in the episode 10 finale.
Im 48 and the tears will always come out. I am an emotional person. So are the guys as you can see. If the subject matter brings them out it will happen. Its probrably why I try to stay away from Tik Tok sometimes. lol
To address the “how could the town not know?” I always think of it like this; do you know what happens in your local prison? Do you know if people come out of there? Or do you just see “bad” people going in to be dealt with.
Also even if some of the town did know, could they say anything or do anything without being accused of a being a sympathiser and killed/imprisoned themselves? Maybe if they had said or done more in the years leading up to this, but by this point it was too late.
Great reaction guys. Sorry I couldn't be there for the premiere. I could see the anger on Ray's face. The next episode has some bad but overall it is a great ending.
I was angry for a couple of days. That really shook me
Nixon, Perconte and even Webster are shown to be on the edge... but seeing the camp puts things in perspective. I know it didn't actually occur as it's portrayed, but it's a great episode.
No,no,no! Keep those images in your head. This happened. It can happen again. Anytime we "other" people, evil happens.
The most heart breaking episode of the whole series, because it's real.
There is no reason to feel the need to apologize for your reaction in this episode. It makes you all human and is pretty much how a lot of people felt the first time seeing this. It's horrifying and rightly so.
Around 3 years ago, I had my son watch both Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan with me (a history nerd through and through). I wanted him to watch them for the first time with me in case he had questions or anything - questions friends or his mom (who he lives with and isn't much into history) wouldn't be able to answer.
The importance of understanding and remembering what those who fought the war had to go through/experienced (and historic events which took place during) is something which should NEVER be forgotten and is a main reason I feel both BoB and SPR should be required viewing at some point in a person's life. I was glad to be able to share those things with my son (who is now 17).
This episode in particular is one of the most important (and unfortunately necessary) of this entire series. The title of the episode is succinct and perfect, and by the end of it, the answer is clear - as the events within it speak to the heart of the evil faced down by ordinary, imperfect people performing extraordinary feats to literally save the world and answer the question of "why we fight".
Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and soldiers take you and your family away. You didn't do anything wrong but they treat you like you did.
That thought is horrifying
Two lesser known movies you should see. The first is a short film in German called Toyland I believe it won the best short film oscar a couple of years back. The second is The Gray Zone. An amazing movie that unfortunately was released right after 9/11 and got no traction. It is about the sodercomando (concentration camp inmates who handled the crematorium) in Auschwitz. Probably one of the most accurate holocaust films ever made.
2:55 - the man is saying: People, help me. Maybe he is still alive. Maybe he can be saved.
My friend Mike (long gone now) was part of a British Tank company that liberated Bergen Belsen, he talked about it because he wanted to witness to people that the Holocast was real, though it caused him pain to relive it to do so. I find it encouraging the it still makes people feel sorrow and anger, lest we ever forget. And yet there was the USSR, China (even today), the killing fields, Rwanda......
Its true. We were not innocent of it either. The indigenous people here in the Americas suffered a ton. I hope that one day we as a human race can learn from our past.
Guys yet again another excellent reaction, an episode that shows you man’s inhumanity to man. Once you have finished Band of brothers I’d ask 2 things of you watch and enjoy “The Men of Easy Company” the accompanying documentary which I’m sure you will enjoy, and then please please react to Schindlers List a harrowing journey through the holocaust which is superb true historical depiction and something we should all watch to understand how fucked up we can be to each other.
I'm glad you saw this. I'm an old Hispano from New Mexico. My father joined up on Dec 8th 1941 in the US navy. My uncle served in the 8th Air Force.A Friend of mine, his father was under kamkaze attack in the Marinas, destroyer picket duty a gunners mate. My dad was also in there in the marinas as a navy CeeBee, who was landing on the beaches with the Marines, sitting up aid stations etc. And was under heavy fire. You need to know the sacrificies that your grand parents or great grand parents made in order for you to live like you do today. All the hate and political divides in this country, holocaust deniers etc, divide us. My advice to you is to find out the truth. There are resoures out there like oral history. One thing that generation, called the greatest generation never really talked about the war. Always, always remember what they did for you. I fear that most young people nowadays don't even know anything about WWII. I'm 62, and I'm afraid that you young people will forget or know nothing about it. Also just for your information there were more causalities over 400,000 in Iwo Jima in the pacific than on the D Day landings in Normandy. It's not much talked about because Victory in Europe was won, while this happened.
Thanks for that info. It's why I had my guys watch it. They are young guys and they know little of what happened. Glad we are watching it. Thanks for hanging out with us
I was worried for you guys to get to this eps. Great eps guys my heart broke during this all over again. So so powerful.
Very Powerful
If you can watch this episode without being sick to your stomach and/or bawling your eyes out, you aren't human.
The real members of Easy Company was not aware of what they were walking into. Spielberg & Hanks made sure none of the cast had advanced scripts before they were driven to the concentration camp set for filming. Their surprise, horror and disgust were caught on film.
As bad as this was in this episode. It was a million times worse. When Gen Patton saw one of the camps, he actually broke down and cried. Supposedly he had nightmares about it till he died.
The gut-wrenching thing is, as powerful as this episode is… it’s just a whisper of the story. There is, I want to say 2 hours of footage shot by the US Army that would become evidence at the Nuremberg trials. It shows…. a level of such profound depravity that the mind can’t even comprehend.
I lived in Germany as an Air Force kid and it seems like I learned about the Holocaust at a much younger age than kids learn about it here in the US…. We even visited the Anne Frank house on my 6th grade field trip.
The first time I saw the footage I grabbed my stomach and this sob came out of me that I hadn’t heard before.
There are no words to describe the horror…. And it was just FILM… stench can’t be filmed.
Its just sad to think that these atrocities happened and continues to happen.
To the guy sitting on the left, We all need to see this, so we never forget! As hard and brutal as it is to watch, this is facts and we all need to know what horrible things can happen when the wrong people are out there. And keep in mind the stuff we saw in this episode is 1% of the horrible things that happened in the camps.
Thank you guys
Thank you for watching with us
The people behind this series gave the best portrayal of this situation, that can be shown on television. But, believe me the real sights they came upon were much worse. Also, be grateful to the medical patients who volunteered to act in this, to make it appear closer to the facts. I felt it necessary back in the `70`s, to watch anything & everything I could about what happened.
The historical pictures & some movie scenes & the stories related by survivors. Showing how their families were separated out from the general population, using local government paperwork. Then taken from their homes to the camps & what happened to them there. Then seeing the "shower rooms" they were herded into, supposedly for health reasons & how the gas cannisters were dropped in from above.
The camps with their ovens & store rooms with mountains of property & personal items, removed from the bodies of those they exterminated. Which we only know about because the Allies were advancing faster than they could dispose of the evidence. The human race must never ever, try to deny the facts of these atrocities & the terrible depths it is possible to descend to, under an authoritarian form of government.
In a documentary I saw, a Sgt from 101 said they only reason they checked the trains, was there ran fluids out of the carts.
When Eisenhower was told of, then visited the camps, he ordered they be filmed. He said…when living memory of this dies, some will try to deny it happened.
To reinforce living memory against denial, townspeople near the camps, as this episode shows, from 8 to 80 were indeed ordered to March through the camps…and the able bodied of those ages were ordered to bury the dead of the camps.
God only knows how this impacted the mental health of the GIs who witnessed that? Every one came away a casualty.
I'm from Sweden and when I was in my mid teens we had a holocaust survivor come to our school and talk about it. I can still remember her face and I'm 38 now...
Should watch the movie Downfall about the last days in Hitler’s bunker, as told by his Secretary who survived the war.
One of my grandfather's was on a ship getting ready to come home and was pulled off to help with one of the concentration camps. He only talked about it once when my cousin was doing a report for school on it.
General Eisenhower (President) toured one of the camps. He brought the Burgermiester (mayor) and citizens of the town he was disgusted and told them he was ashamed his last name was Eisenhower.
They didn’t know about the camps until later. In fact, even Germany’s allies had very little information about Hitler’s actual motives. In the Philippines, when the German Jews who fled Germany took refuge there, they weren’t arrested or imprisoned by the Japanese who later invaded. For the Japanese, they were Germans and allies, even though their passports identified them as Jews and were considered stateless by their own country. And Japan was already a German ally, yet they didn’t know. I bet even most of the German army didn’t even know, since the SS ran the camps.
This totally broke me and I served 24 yrs in the Military and served in several Conflicts . My Dad served in WW2 but never ever spoke of his time in Germany . The 1 thing he talked about was his Hate of the Russians and their treatment of the German people
Yeah, we were fighting them at first because they were invading Europe, and their ally Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor so they (Germany) declared war on us and we joined the fight against them. But like that soldier was saying "WHY ARE WE HERE?! DRAGGING US HALF WAY AROUND THE WORLD FOR WHAT?".. but then they discover that camp, well... if there was EVER a good reason to go to war... that'd be it.
Some information about Lewis Nixon (the 3rd):
Lewis Nixon was born to Stanhope Wood Nixon and Doris Ryer Nixon on September 30, 1918 in New York City. His Father and Grandfather were corporate officers at the Nixon Nitration Works in New Jersey.
As a youth, Nixon lived in New York City and Montecito, California; he traveled the world extensively, including Germany, France, and England. Nixon graduated from Cate School in Santa Barbara, before attending Yale University for two years.
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Lewis Nixon served in the Army during World War II. He was selected (inducted) into the United States Army on January 14, 1941, in Trenton, New Jersey. After graduating from Army Officer Candidate School in 1941 as an infantry second lieutenant, he volunteered for the parachute infantry, part of the U.S. Army's fledgling airborne forces. He was assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR).
Lewis served as a staff officer at the battalion and regimental levels.
Nixon was appointed as the 2nd Battalion intelligence officer (S2). He and the 506th parachuted into Normandy on June 6, 1944. Shortly after Easy Company fought in the Battle of Carentan on June 12, 1944, he was moved up to the regimental level as the 506th S2. He served in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. He developed a drinking problem [vat69], and was eventually removed and assigned back down to the 2nd Battalion as the operations officer (S3).
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Nixon was one of the few men of the 101st Airborne to jump with another division or regiment. On March 24, 1945, Nixon was assigned to be an observer with the 17th Airborne Division during Operation Varsity (the airborne crossing of the river Rhine). He is also one of very few men in the 101st to earn three Combat Jump Stars [Overlord, Market-Garden, Varsity] on his Jump Wings.
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By the end of World War II, Lewis had obtained the rank of captain. Nixon never fired a shot in combat. He returned home in September 1945.
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Lewis married his third wife, Grace Umezawa, in 1956. She had been a student in California in the spring of 1942 when the President ordered the internment of Japanese Americans. Richard Winters served as the best man at the wedding. Nixon got his life back together and overcame his alcoholism during their marriage. They had no children.
After the war, Nixon worked at his family's Nixon Nitration Works in Edison, New Jersey, alongside his father, Stanhope, and longtime friend, Dick Winters. Lewis Nixon died of complications from diabetes in Los Angeles, California, on January 11, 1995. Dick Winters gave the eulogy at Grace's request.
The three prisoners were shot by French soldiers, by their uniforms & helmets, taking revenge on them. Possibly those were former camp guards hiding out, but I couldn't tell. As far as taking over German homes to house our troops, Winters said that after seeing how the Germans treated the citizens in France and Belgium, he had no qualms about kicking them out and billeting his men in their homes. The SS had special killing units; the general Army was the Wehrmacht and were actual combat soldiers; those would have been the ones marching down the Autobahn. The photo in the house Nixon went into was of a Wehrmacht officer, and he was killed which is symbolized by the black ribbon in the upper left corner of the frame. Post-war under the occupation the Germans, all of them, were needed to maintain services and rebuild. Patton took heat for having some former Nazi Party members in positions, etc., but he said he needed them to run things because they were the ones with experience to keep them going. Now, on to Episode 10!!!
What's sad about this episode is the concentration camp scenes were watered down. Not for the sake of censorship. But because it's impossible to accurately recreate the camps as they were being discovered by the Allied Forces. But the Band of Brothers did an amazing job recreating the depictions of the Holocaust during the latter end of the war. And I personally don't see another work like a television series or even a movie to come close to this level of accuracy and have this level of emotional impact at the same time.
thank you
You're welcome
At other camps where allied soldiers made local German civilians walk through, see everything and bury the bodies, some went home later and killed them selves. There was one town where somebody wrote graffiti on a wall in huge letters: “I am ashamed to be German.”
If I'm not wrong, the actors playing the prisoners in the camp were cancer survivors or major illness survivors, that wanted to do their part to make the scene authentic. Something along those lines.
Liebgott the translator was also a Jew. It was hard for him.
After the Allies found these camps the GIs had a different attitude when fighting the Germans. Ike knew there was a problem when no POWs were being taken.
When my father told me about his experience in WW2 . He just said the smell he could never ever forget . And that WAR is Hell, And too compartment it ALL. I Had just gotten out of BOOT camp, and he was worried I was going too Vietnam. I did not. I did serve in many other theater's of conflict . I CRIED during this scene. And guys I have seen some ugly stuff in my 24 yrs of service. But this oh my god..
Thanks for your service Edwin. I can only imagine what you and your dad have gone through. Much love to you and yours
The Allies had known about concentration camps long before that. In London, Polish emissary Jan Karski reported to members of the English government and the press about the implementation of Germans plan to exterminate Jews in Poland as early as 1942. In 1943, he met the President of the United States, Roosevelt, at the White House and gave him the same report. We all know what happened next.
But of course, ordinary soldier might not know.
Something’s to consider, when it comes to the town, not knowing about the camp. For one, information did not move like it does today. These German towns where more rural, and at best, some may have had a radio, but certainly not all of them did. A lot didn’t even have electricity, and people still tracked by horse and wagon, so most didn’t travel outside of their towns. Also, the Hitler regime had an intense and power propaganda machine. So any mentions of camp where certainly denied by the press any media that the people had access to. And if there where any that knew and tried to tell about the camps, they would certainly be killed or placed in camps themselves. So it’s very possible that the town did not know about this. But if they actually did, I don’t know.
I understand what you are saying and I appreciate it. It just seems highly debatable that a camp so close to town not to mention a Nazi officer living in town, had no idea. There must have been movement in town from soldiers coming and going. Now I'm not saying all of Germany was aware but that town must have had some clues.
@@RKnights of course the rounding up of Jews and other undesirables, was well known. Hitler made no attempt to hide that fact. So if they did know about the camp, they may have thought it to be a housing camp, not a death camp. But again that’s just speculation on my part. For all i know they did know about the camp. I honestly don’t know if they actually did or not.
Basically because the Nazis used propaganda they made sure radios were effordable for everyone. They even called radios "Volksempfänger" (people's receiver).
Hitlers own command structure tried to assassinate him but failed. If you crossed or questioned him you were killed, so the people went along to get along. Does it sound relatable to what is going on right now? Ask the Ukrainians. The Baltic's, Sweden and Finland are certainly on high alert. Do you think the Russian people want to be invaders or are they just going along to get along?
@@RKnights the officer in that photo was Wehrmacht, not Nazi. Nazi officers were SS.
The 8th air force had bombed all the bridges, railways and roads in Germany which ruined the German armies logistical system. A unintended consequence was the Germans couldn't get food into any of those camps in the final months of the war.
You guys have to watch "The fallen of WW2" video afterwards. It's informative, and shocking as well. Take care!
I've always been amazed at the depth of inhumanity humans are willing to inflict suffering upon other humans.
Before finding the camps Americans didn't know of them,. Americans had heard of them, but everyone thought it was propaganda. That no one could treat others like that.
Because America had been suckered by similar British propaganda during World War I.
On the same theme, the holocaust, there is a movie by Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci, called "Conspiracy" you should watch. It's based on the actual surviving notes from the Wansee conference, where Heydrich, Eichmann, and a number of nazi top brass decided on the "final solution to the Jewish problem", as the nazis called the genocide
That is on the list to watch and react to.