The Human Side of War: German Paratroopers' Remarkable Act of Kindness during WWII -
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 มี.ค. 2023
- Movie : The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
During the horrors of WWII, a heartwarming moment of humanity occurred when German paratroopers crossed paths with Jewish families at a railway station in the Netherlands. Despite the risk to their own safety, the paratroopers shared their food with the children, but were confronted by SS guards. In an unexpected turn of events, the paratroopers stood up to the guards and their rifles, resulting in a display of remarkable bravery and compassion. This inspiring true story is a testament to the power of human kindness, even in the midst of the darkest of times.
credit to 11.ai - บันเทิง
The fallschirmjager are not to be messed with.... Great War film. With a favorite actor of mine, Michael Caine.
No paratrooper is ever to be intimidated. Never knew one that was afraid of anything except maybe an officer packing their T10.
@@robertschumann7737 think about it, they’re trained to jump off a plane flying fine but in reality they’re jumping off a flying swiss cheese on fire straight into enemy fire or behind enemy lines. At that point I don’t think much can scare you anymore. My biggest regret never tried joining them , but then again I won’t be able to since my country have a very strict regulation to join the army even a birthmark will make you fail the selection
@@anxiousseal556 let me guess
Indonesia
Well they got messed with and lost the war sooo…
Even allied soldiers respected these fallschirmjager troops..
And there some historical same cases as these when a luftwaffe officer and men defends a group off jews from being sens to extermination camps
Being a good person in a group of bad person is a lot more harder than in a group of good person
Now I know why the good Americans are very tough...
The Wehrmacht were not Nazis
@@ViktoriousDead That doesn't stop the Nazi leadership from potentially executing them, so the original point still stands.
@@ViktoriousDead Some were. They were led by Nazis, and did the bidding of the Nazi party.
Individuals might not have been bad, but it's all the same that it forwarded an institution steeped in evil.
@@ViktoriousDead not all at least
Another example is the luft stalag 3 commandant Colonel Friedrich Wilhelm von Lindeiner-Wildau, who never joined the party throughout his career because he hated nazis, he's the old guard war veteran stereotype. He treated all of the allied pows with decency and respect, personally lead his staff to defend the pows from getting interrogated by the gestapo, even after being investigated and intimidated by the SS.
After the war ended he was brought to England for trial,he was so respected, every allied pows stayed in his camp stood up for him as witnesses to plead not guilty.
Paratroopers are of the toughest soldiers, regardless of the army. Plus, the “crazy factor” and comraderie of being airborne is enough to cow anybody not airborne.
Nah its more that the Luftwaffe and SS hated each other. Also less than 20% of the German population were members of the nazi party.
because you got to be a special breed to think im gonna jump off a perfectly fine plane to be surrounded by the enemy with limited ammunition and no insurance of reinforcement
@@shiroyasha4995
there is certainly a need to be constructed alternatively.
I think it was Russian paratroopers that attacked Hostomel airport , they got slaughtered
@@UserUser-ww2nj
things don't always go exactly to plan.
even if they did, _Russian command doesn't know _*_how_*_ to plan._
"Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to do the right thing in the presence of fear." Someone
Well said!!!!!😎👍
Brilliant words.. a True motive of life
Fears only use is to be a lesson to overcome it.
- Clayton Bigsby quote
Karate kid's Japanese teacher.. Mr Miyagi or smthing like that😅
I remember this one story. True story btw.
An old WWII vet was at a school talking to some kids. A kid asks
“Do you still hate the Germans?”
And the old man replied
“I never hated the Germans. I hated the Nazis”
So am I
@@samuellancaster1305an old man, a German, a kid, or a nazi?
Really that is the point, the Nazis where a political belief, not a race.
Ty
That's why America firebombed Hamburg and Dresden. Cities full of refugees fleeing Soviet atrocities completely destroying those cities not just full of Germans but also ukrainians, lithuanians, Romanians, and others.
“Do what is right, let the consequence follow.”
Its a wrong theory,
Right can be subjective
Right can also get you killed. Sucks.
Exterminating helpless and innocent men, women, and children being wrong is about the least subjective of a conclusion as it gets.
“Battle for freedom in spirit and might,
And with stout hearts look ye forth till tomorrow.
God will protect you; then do what is right!”
@@mchannel1365 subjectivity in itself is subjective. morality might be subjective sure but that doesn't subtract from the value of ones viewpoint. people do what is right because it is right, subjective or not.
"Not all soldiers follow orders we're Humans and not heartless. We have our own free will to choose either to be Good or Evil."
But they did follow orders, and those people were still taken to extermination camps.
Yes, it was an act of kindness, but in the end, they were still their executioners having committed no crime other than being jewish.
@@acun4075 they were working Camps. Search about havara agreement.
@@romanianhustler3309 pardon me, but these camps were, considering we're talking about 1944, extermination camps.
While yes, these camps did start out as forced labor mass prisons, the conditions there led to thousands dying within them. These camps had been a thing for something something 6-10 years already by 1944.
With the passing of the so called "final solution" or in German, "Lösung der Judenfrage"/"Endlösung" as the Nazis called it, these camps that had already been the cause of death for thousands of people, now were transformed into mass murder machines, industrialising the process of killing people. Mind you, the people in these camps were stripped of their belongings, starved out in ghettos, brutally battoned and had, in many cases, lost parts of, if not their entire family.
@@acun4075 Holobunga is not real.
@@romanianhustler3309 there both type :
Extermination and concentration camps
Even concentration camp were horrible to live in
Most of the German Army really didn't like the SS if i recall correctly
The way i was always told was There was the waffen ss, fighters and expert soldiers, and totenkomf ss scum bags and psychos running the camps
That is in some points right for the beginning of WW2. For the Republic of Weimar, the German Army should be the only regular armed forces. Then, with Hitler as Head of state, the Waffen SS formations were formed and the Wehrmacht feeled betrayed. Later in the war, many Wehrmacht units were happy to have a SS unit at their side, because this units got better weapons (or sooner) and were fighting till the end.
@@scav234 Waffen SS units got better weapon replacements, and the moral to fight were higher, but in the beginning of WW2, the leaders were poor trained and so they had high numbers of casulties. But most of the Waffen SS units commited War crimes, not only the Totenkopf formations. The Totenkopf division was still better as some of the SS formations created out of East Europe people.
The main reason the German military distrusted the SS is because the SS were loyal to the Nazi party rather than Germany itself.
The Heer did not consider Waffen SS as real soldiers. They were the Party's armed private militia, basically, only answerable to the Party.
They didn't think much of their combat training, tactics, ability, or distance for rules of war.
In April 1945, the POW camp my Grandfather was in was liberated, but before the Americans arrived, the SS showed up to eliminate the prisoners. The guards were Wehrmacht and fought the SS protecting the POWs
That's amazing. A story that needs to be told.
@@Cloneofkirby093 A lot of people mistakenly think that the entire German military at the time was in perfect lockstep with Hitler's unique addition of anti-Semitism to NatSoc ideology (which isn't inherently bad as a purely economic model) and that's simply not true. The regular soldiers of the Wehrmacht often hated the SS because the SS went out of their way to recruit bruisers, psychos, prison convicts, basically anyone who would trade punishment for loyalty and be willing to commit those horrible crimes again in the name of the Party.
@@kristofevarsson6903 like how wagner is doing in with russian prisoners in ukraine
Castle Itter camp?
@@kristofevarsson6903 Anti-Semitism isn't something Hitler "uniquely added" to National Socialism. Hitler created National Socialism by taking the socialist foundations (developed by anti-Semites, funnily enough) and married it to social Darwinism and his deeply anti-Semitic Germano-supremacism.
It's true that *Fascism* is not inherently anti-Semitic, and that NatSoc is not a form of Fascism, but rather both are "heresies" of Marxist Socialism.
It's a messy web of totalitarianist nonsense.
God bless those paratroopers
That's gut, but even better, zend yor money to ze Jews.
It happened too in Poland where a Wehrmacht unit came upon an SS Totenkopfverbände group that were transporting Jews. The Wehrmacht soldiers were disgusted and demanded the Jews being frees, whereas the SS group and Wehrmacht Unit held each other at gunpoint. I even believe this incident is made in a movie. But lot of people sees it as Nazi propaganda and dismisses that some Germans were not evil.
Further more the tension between Wehrmacht and SS was already bad, as Wehrmacht didn’t see SS as real soldiers and SS didn’t see Wehrmacht as real Germans either for their lack of fanatical nationalism.
@@privateerbouncher9622 Yess, and zey need our help until ze end of eternity. So remember, Gentiles, to alvays help zem. Alvays trust ze English and Amerrigan movies.
The SS was actually well disliked by the other branches of the military due to their actions. A squadron leader in the German Luftwaffe once said that if he ever saw his men shoot down a parachuting enemy pilot, he would shoot them down himself.
Is regular german army hated Is them. They actually fought each other
That was actually manfred von richthofen, a german pilot from the first world war who was respected by the enemy for his victories and skills in the air. He was the one who said that quote to his men
@@visstraunt That's not true. Richthofen actually encouraged targeting pilots to end the fight quickly. The quote was actually said by Gustav Rodel, a Luftwaffe commander. One of his subordinate, Franz Stigler, escorted a beaten down and barely flying B17 bomber out of German flaks cause he didn't have a heart to shoot given the state of the bomber.
I know no one will accept this. But my grandfather was in the Waffen SS during WW2 on the eastern front. He was taken as a POW. While he was being marched along under armed guard he handed his gold signet ring to a little girl with his name and address in Germany in it along with his food ration pack. He died in Russian captivity. Well in 1954 my grandmother received a small parcel in the post from Russia. It contained my grandfather’s signet ring with a letter in Russian thanking her for my grandfather’s kindness in giving up all his food to her daughter. This letter was sent by the mother of that little girl. And I now in 2023 wear this signet ring. The point is that there were people caught up in the river of history that they could not stop - and that individual acts of human kindness still broke through the barriers of hate and evil.
I totally believe you, war is a terrible thing, but people can still show kindness and mercy even in the darkest of times.
Thank you for sharing.
Your grandfather's history is so touching, and it's so remarkable. Thank you for sharing a brief history of a truly remarkable man, who showed not only courage but honorable to.
That's lovely. My gradfather was in the Waffen SS too. He was a POW for the British the entire war and since he was a baker, got to bake for the English soldiers and the other German POWs.
SS cops a lot of shit because of the ‘clean Wehrmacht’ BS, that sprang up post-WW2. There certainly were a lot of absolute bastards who were radical Nazi’s but there were also a lot of external elements who were integrated into the organisation, like foreign volunteers who just wanted to free their countries from Soviet occupation. A group of these men guarded the Nazi leaders during the Nuremberg Trials and were commended for their professionalism and proficiency.
My uncle's bomber was shot down by flak when he jumped out and landed he broke his leg. A German family in the forest found him, splinted his leg and fed him. He was later captured in the forest by a German patrol. Spent 9months in a German pow camp. Not all Germans were Nazis or blood thirsty. He had great respect for this family. They were devoted Christians.
Thank you for sharing...!
Bomber crews were also lynched, murdered by German civilians if they got them before the military.
Lots of Germans did not support the nazis
What a great story. Thanks for sharing it.
nice
I worked at a factory in the late eighties and my supervisor was a former SS sergeant. He was one of the nicest people I know, when he passed away in 2005, more than 1,000 people came to his funeral. Mostly the workers from the factory and his family but there were some from Germany that made the trip to say farewell to him.
Nice people can still be responsible for bad things. The SS were bastards, and their ideology was the reason for the Holocaust and a world war.
I’lll take a guess and say that he didn’t commit any atrocities against anyone and tried his best to help out the Allies… right?
@@luigimrlgaming9484 he fought in France during the D-Day invasion and was lucky enough to be taken as a POW. He truly hated talking about his time in the army. He was only 17 when he was captured and was brought to the United States. After the war, he decided to stay here and work instead of cleaning up the disastrous situation in his homeland. The rest as they say, is history.
@@BuddWolf That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds like when he Served, he Was one of the Decent Soldiers, who Actually had a Heart!.There Will always be Soldiers that I have a Decent Moral Compass!. That's Probably why So Many Wanted to See him off, at his Passing!. Respect & God Bless, from a British Veteran & R.I.P. to him!.👍😊
Always stand up for those who can't. My dad taught me that. Hes a paratrooper. With 42 years in the military. ❤
Is that why you guys killed millions in iraq ❤
yeah so fun fact the fallschrimjager had a clash with the american airborne a few dozen kilometres from lyons in france and it resulted in a total german victory, about 30 FJs wounded or killed about 70 AA, but the one that where left the fallschrimjagers left behind medical supplies they stole from another camp with hand drawn and written instructions telling the US Airborne how to properly treat gunshot wounds incase they where novices and didnt know
And throughout the war the FJs constantly ended up at odds with the commander of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring for not only showing mercy but compassion aswell
The FJs defended their actions to the end of the war stating it was about winning not slaughtering your enemies
Some members of the FJs that remained at the wars close in europe joined what remained of the 12th and 9th armies escorting civilians out of berlin and into american soldiers to spare them death at the hands of the russians
Its kinda strange to think about these men now, hope they found peace when it was all over
100 Maoris on low ammo bayonet charged 500 FJ on Crete and whipped their arse from being surrounded location
Good men on the wrong side of the battlefield. Those few who survived deserve a long life in peace.
@@urayamusan yeah it is like that for many
Even many of the nazis cant really be said to be evil, but rather young men led astray trying to save their homes
War has so many casualties, some harder to identify than others
@@Rusty_Gold85yeah no
@@Rusty_Gold85 the Germans learned their lesson about unsupported invasions
The scene of the confrontation between the Fallschirmjager & the SS Guards from the movie, The Eagle has landed, actually took place. In the real life incident it was a German Panzer unit which confronted the SS Guards - not the Fallschirmjager unit. The offended German was a Panzer NCO Kurt Knispel, who after this incident went on to become a Panzer tank Ace credited with more than 160 rank kills.
Because of this incident Kurt Knispel was stigmatized by his superior & his achievements in battle was overlooked & downplayed by his unit superiors. He became the forgotten German Panzer tank commander Ace & was overlooked for promotion & medals award
But I bet he had the loyalty of his men. Every time.
Can't find info of that
Kurt Knitspel had altercation with guards because mistreatment of russian POW. He was the highest scoring tank ace in history and also member of Heer (regular German army) . Because he wasn't in the party he did not get the credits like some other tankers, not much different than today. If you are not member of the some party you are little people, and regarding him he was one big "little" man.
Looks like he also got overlooked by this movie
Should have joined the other side.
I studied WWII extensively, every chapter that I've ever read about the German Fallschirmjager is that they fought hard and damn near fearless.
You lose your fear of death by jumping out of planes 🤷🏻♂️. The American Paratroopers wouldn’t even jump the same way as the Germans as it was extremely dangerous.
@@JR-bw6jdtrust me I know I've seen German parachutes that look like shit they spun around constantly until they hit the ground
"The line between good & evil runs down the middle of every man." Carl Jung
Even in darkest times, we cannot stop being human.
Now are rhe darkest times for Palestinians!
Some can. 😢
i'm only huuuuman, after all
i'm only huuuuman, after all
don't put the blame on me
don't put the blame on me
@@shahthanvi-ne4ve created by themselves.
Why Don't you share this Lecture with other Muslim countries?
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE
Yes, and we often end up in the darkest times because we are human.
There is an instance in Poland where the Wehrmacht would not allow the SS to cross a bridge to slaughter a Jewish village. SS backed down and left.
An SS doctor (Hans Munich)refused to do barbaric experiments on Jewish prisoners, was captured by the Soviets and tried for war crimes…..but Jews who heard such about his trial testified on his behalf. Soviets exonerated him.
Give us the details about this instance in Poland. Cause I never heard about nay German unit defending Jewish in Poland. I know a lot of stories where Wehrmacht killed Polish families for helping Jewish. According to the Hitler law. This was the only country in Europe Hitler make his cruel law standard. How do you think - why did he do it?
@@jozefbak6033 In 1942, Albert Battel was a 51-year-old reserve officer with the rank of Lieutenant stationed in Przemyśl in southern Poland. He was the adjutant to the local military commander, Major Max Liedtke. When the SS prepared to launch their first large-scale “resettlement” (liquidation) action against the Jews of Przemyśl on 26 July 1942, Battel, in concert with his superior, ordered the bridge over the River San, the only access into the Jewish ghetto, to be blocked. As the SS commando attempted to cross to the other side, the sergeant-major in charge of the bridge threatened to open fire unless they withdrew. All this happened in broad daylight, to the amazement of the local inhabitants.
Still later that same afternoon, an army detachment under the command of Oberleutnant Battel broke into the cordoned-off area of the ghetto and used army trucks to evacuate approximately 100 Jews and their families to the barracks of the local military command. These Jews were placed under the protection of the Wehrmacht and were thus sheltered from deportation to Belzec.
You can look up the rest of Albert Battel in Wikipedia if you like-
The fact that of Nazi Germany to carry out its’ atrocities against Jews the Wehrmacht was needed, and historians estimate 40% of all Jews slaughtered the Wehrmacht played a role in it, but there are ones who refused to…….and when Jews recognize these individuals it should be noted.
What a bunch of bullshit
Soviets letting anyone off just like that? Does not fit them at all
Soviets killed anyone for any reason! Even their own! For way less reasons than Nazis
@@jozefbak6033 Wehrmacht or SS? Extermination of Jews were rarely done by the Wehrmacht
nice story but the whermacht was involved in exterminating jews as well.
Paratroopers are the best, from any place... at any time.
AATW!
Except when they were murdering unarmed civilians in Derry at a civil rights rally. Many were teenagers, who these "brave" paratroopers planted weapons on to justify their murder. To this day stories of brave paratroopers are sparse because they have proven their cowardice in multiple arenas. I am not only talking about british ones either.
@@evergreen1979 That case seems to be very British in nature.
And Sir Michael Cain can actually play the part of a soldier, given his Korean wartime experience.
Special forces will always be special forces. In the modern day we often forget just how cutting edge paratroopers in the 40s were.
As a Paratrooper that traveled all over the globe, we intimidated most but children had no problem making friends with us.
I remember brit paras in Derry and Belfast in the 1970’s when I was a kid, they were fine until they started mowing down the locals, kids included🤬checkout Bloody Sunday (Derry) & Ballymurphy (Belfast) to see the humanity of brit paras ffs even the Nazis showed more compassion for civilians 🥲
Yeah I bet. Thought it was probably the coolest thing seeing a guy safely fall from the sky
sounds like pedos would love to be paratroopers then
@@senanshortt5521 yes. Did you know the british also used concentration camps in their colonies? I would like you to google "Lizzie van Zyl" a victim of these camps.
@@laars2233 they coined the phrase “concentration camps” during the Boer war
And still they fought for a country that did that. Spontaneous empathy.
Yea like they had a choice they didn't vote hilter in he took power and look at the rest of the world at the Time not sunshine and rainbows
There are many stories of kind Germans during the wars. I heard one story directly from a French boy who had been punched in the kidney by his father and the mother was trying to carry him to the hospital. None of the French stopped.The retreating Germans drove him to the hospital far away in the opposite direction to where they were headed risking their own lives.They saved his life and he was never ashamed to say it. I believe the Germans were forced into the war and they were good people under a dictatorship.
"You are bad guy, but this does not mean you are bad guy." - Zangief
#Sinner, ONE that Sins ⚀
Ask Jesus Christ for Absolute Forgiveness for All ur ur Sins.
Good way to describe the German armed forces in WW2 lol
Remember, not every German soldier was a Nazi
No, but they made the nazi murders possible.
Most were though. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_clean_Wehrmacht
But most of them who werent were treated like they were..
@@arisatran3662Obviously cuz they were brainwashed, it’s not their fault.
@@maxpro751 of course its their fault. it's not like they were brainwashed in a lab. hitler and the nazi party were democratically elected. the german people at the time were crazy racist.
When soldiers are ordered to do terrible things and say “we can’t disobey orders, they have guns pointed at our backs,” they just have to remember that they have guns too.
They can turn around and point their own guns right back.
Ziemlicher Unsinn. Wenn das gemacht werden würde dann gäbe es regelmäßig Aufstände in den Armeen und das kommt nur selten und bei extremen vor.
not if the guns pointed at your back is better
@@delanovanraalte3646"all guns are the same. What sets them apart is the aim."
@@peterclarke7006 some shoot harder some faster some farther not all guns are the same
Die Deutsche Wehrmacht war in meinen Augen die beste Armee der Welt und hat, im militärischen Sinn, unglaubliches geleistet. Aufgrund guter militärischer Ausbildung und vor allem wegen der Disziplin. Ohne Disziplin verkommt jede Truppe zu einem marodierendem Sauhaufen. Die Disziplin in der Wehrmacht wurde aber durch heftigste Strafen durchgesetzt und aufrecht erhalten. Und eine Gehorsamsverweigerung bedeutete damals ein Todesurteil.
Had no idea this happened! Wow you learn something every day!
The Movie and the book is fictional it didn't happen.
The Luftwaffe and the SS often had incidents like this especially involving allied airmen pows,in fact this animosity reached the highest levels where inspite of both being loathsome Himmler and Goring disliked and mistrusted each other though on occasion they’ll band together against a mutual rival like Ernst Rohm …
I thought they killed off Rohm back in the early 30s during The Night of the Long Knives.
@@fasteddy9312 they did, this guy has no clue what he's talking about
The Luftwaffe and the special branches of the army(paratrooper, Jäger, etc), usually had better academic knowledge and usually had better knowledge of the world. Thus the German regime had a harder time fully converting these soldiers into mindless killing machines with a hate for anything not German.
@@fasteddy9312 that is what I was referring to…both Goring and Himmler considered Rohm a threat and joined forces to convince Hitler that he should be eliminated…
@@tubeguy4066 it’s a historical fact that Goring and Himmler collaborated in convincing Hitler to eliminate Rohm..perhaps you should read some of the interviews by allied interrogators of captured nazi officials including Sep Dietrich that confirms this…
Professionals have standards
Well said.
Aye, well said, that he did.
"professionals have standards, be polite, be efficient." -The TF2 Sniper,
And morality.
Yeah like butchering civilians on crete(oops)
Paratroopers are the real deal on both sides
I remember this scene, I highly recommend watching this well made movie.
That's the sad part of war ,good humans both sides forced into horror situations ,
Yes 1 The political class !
Watch Europa the Last Battle.
@@alphawolfgang173 the most made up n*zi propaganda, Göring's propaganda is literally a documentary next to that pile of sh*t
@@alphawolfgang173no go away Neo Nazis don’t ruin a nice video with your hateful misinformation
And played wonderfully by Michael Caine. This was the first movie I saw featuring Michael Caine, and I've loved almost every movie he's been in since.
It's hard to surpass his greatest work:
Goldmember.
This wonderful actor is underappreciated by today's generation.
There was a time when actors were revered for their acting ability and not something gimmicky like today's flashy actors that are nothing without CGI and green screen effects.
I'm not going to name the actor behind that Disney Star Wars character because there's always someone out there that wants to argue so I'll just leave it at that.
Have you seen "ZULU", a younger Michael Cain, a red coat officer.
I knew that was him!
@@DHSICAYAB I saw it. Dad was into that old stuff. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Great action sequences
Stand for something or fall for anything.
The most damning thing to those that just stood by is the actions of those that stood up.
You don’t mess with paratroopers any man crazy enough to jump out of plane with with all that equipment and fight like hell. They deserve respect and don’t care about being outnumber they weren’t nicknamed “hell jumpers” for a reason.
WWII paratroopers jumped behind enemy lines and fought their way out. They knew their parachutes did not work in reverse and they could not be extracted by helicopters. Kill or be killed.
German paratroopers had it worst they could only jump just with pistols and grenades all of their machine guns rifles and ammunition was dropped separately in a container and often would land away from them ! So as soon as everyone lands they have to spot the weapons container and get to it without being shot !
Like I said anyone crAzy enough to jump out a plan even lightly arm and still survive and fight is someone you don’t mess with any paratroopers many got the nickname hell jumpers for a reason my great grandfather told me stories when he was with the armed division of the paratroopers dropping in on both sides. He said “you wouldn’t want anyone else by your side but a paratroopers because those SOB don’t stop fighting tell the jobs done even then they keep fighting and then they get ready to do it all over again and jump out of a fucking plane all over again. Those SOB were some crazy people. And man was it a sight to see”
@@oceanhome2023
Mm,ī😊😊😊
To make things a bit better, German paratroopers didn't land with their kit, and they couldn't control their shutes, something that American and British paratroopers could. This meant that German paratroopers had to land with a pistol, then locate their kit, then fight. Very inefficient and a massive oversight, but damn they had to be made of steel to want to do that. Only issue is, they weren't used as actual paratroopers as much as people think, more elite infantry as their transport's were taken off them to supply troops at Stalingrad, only to be shot down later on
The Eagle has landed an iconic British movie, truly
Bravery is needed today too. May we rise to such moments. Thanks and honor to past brave souls.
There is another movie that recreated this scene, and there were several instances on the eastern front of German soldiers fighting SS over Jews. I wish I remembered the movie! Does anyone remember it?
Also the world’s Number 1 tank ace, Kurt Knispel, was refused the Knights Cross because he pistol whipped SS officers who were mistreating a Soviet prisoner. He wore his hair long and with a beard in defiance.
Generation War, I think
Yeah and the numbers of people killed by the wehrmacht in cooperation with the ss is still higher. Lets not forget the clean wehrmacht myth is a myth. They went into the soviet union fully prepared to starve out and kill the civilians to fuel their invasion.
The part about Knispel comes from a fictionalized series with no real sources to speak of. The authenticity of the claim has not been verified.
@@Wolverinejackman I have researched the hell out of Knispel for my military science minor in 2002 (I’m a retired LTC) and his attacking of the Nazi soldiers happened on a rail line and he was sent to the SS for punishment….the wehmacht officer referred it back to their own disciplinary channels in an attempt to cover for him.
At NO POINT EVER had the story been accused of not being fact…except of course, by you. I see absolutely nothing in any missive that attacks the authenticity of this story and it is backed by multiple witnesses as well as communiques where he was refused promotion and the Knight’s Cross on account of his anti Nazi behavior.
I can only imagine ‘not been verified’, to you, means ‘we have no iPhone recording of it so it cannot be true’.
@@mamavswild
Thanks for setting the record strait on this one; as Hollywood was mostly on a onesided reality depiction of which most Americans sadly get their history from and now they're off the rails into Sodom & Gommorah
THE Falschirmjager were the VERY BEST GERMAN SOILDERS. They were Respected by by both the British & American SOILDERS. They Claimed that they always fought with Honor & Bravey.The Green Devil's are Still admired as Honored Warriors!!
No wonder the SS backed down, they're just a bunch of delusional brainwashed men with not much combat skill outside of basic training.
Sadly a single act of Kindness is often forgotten among a sea of hateful actions.
Fallschirmjaeger was the most honoured unit ever served german,their tenacity and bravery was recognized by every us unit who faced them
Simply put, don't confuse the Nazis with the luftwaffe. Something that history classes should be teaching more of.
Thats exactly the same as saying dont confuse the Wermacht with the Nazis and dont condfuse the Kriegsmarine with yhe Nazis😑🥱
@@deerasmus3870 the Wehrmacht is the entire military, the Heer is the army
@@totallynotacarrot4369 they and both played a massive role in the war crimes committed.
@@samuel10125 Yeah but the only difference is I'm willing to bet the SS did that shit with a smile and no pushing, It would take alot to get the Wehrmacht to do something like that this is likely because they were going to be charged with treason and killed if not. So be honest wtf would you do, if it was kill them or we kill you and your relatives.
The Nazis shouldn’t be confused with anybody that is not an actual Nazi. The Nazis were a political party, with the Waffen SS being the combat arm of the party’s Schutzstaffel, Hitler’s muscle and protection prior to the war. The Wehrmacht was the German Military, which did not include the SS. Yes there were atrocities and war crimes committed by the Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine, however they were nowhere near to the extent of those committed by the SS, the motivations for said crimes were also very different.
I always love hearing the story of WW1 when all the soldiers fighting on the battlefield Decided on the day of Christmas, to stop firing which was against orders but they decided to stop and met in the middle of the battlefield with compassion, celebrated Christmas in that moment of peace between them and this went against those above them, orders of continue to fight. Some say they come together long enough to sing their country's Christmas song and they had a cup of coffee in that moment of peace. I wish the whole world could somehow find that compassion again but hold on to it when those big wigs tell them to drop an explosive onto a city or not to arm those land mines in he roadways. And maybe when they get in a face off with their enemy o choose not to raise their weapon but to look into the eyes that would have been closed permanently just a second ago, and really see that person as a child, a son, or maybe even a dad or granddad. See them and refuse to raise their weapons at each other and just simply give pleasentries and wish them well. Use the compassion that we so quickly dismiss like we don't have because the mass media has mislead us to believe a lie and out of the anger that was created from the lie you take the shot that takes that dad, brother, or son's future away from them only to have to live with the guilt after discovering those above them had lied, and it all could have been avoided. May God have mercy on us all.
Snoopies Christmas makes me think of that (although of course snoopy is fictional it represents this idea)
Then they proceeded to borderline war crime each other until millions died. Nice sentiment tho.
@@andiemarie5160 ......but you probably support our (USA) involvement in the Ukraine War, right?
@@shuroom57 - you missed the point completely.
Big surprise 🙄
@@dennisivan85 Horrible people.....
This story along others prove that the pilots of WW1 and WW2 were honorable and respected
My dad was a Fallschirmjäger. He was shot in the leg & later in life lost his leg. Both his brothers died in Russia. The things my mother told me are horrific..
I love the German col's role,felt sorry for him and his men that they were on the wrong side..
The right side
Really brings it back into full circle the realization that a good portion of the Germans fighting in WWII either volunteered for their country and homes or were drafted.
And many of these participated in genocide
@@OTDMilitaryHistory I would like to see you facing severe punishment for not following orders. Do you even understand how MERCYLESS the SS was? They would kill german soldiers for stuff like that, as you might have seen in the clip. The would kill you.
@@OTDMilitaryHistory Literally what does that have to do with what I said? That much is obvious, I'm talking about the good few who actually fought for honest reasons
@@themightyhood-4117 It has everything to do with it. Just they thought it was good what they were doing doesn't mean it was. Their service led to the continuation of the Holocaust and the destruction of Germany.
@@themightyhood-4117 I agree not all Germans were bad
One of the best war movies ever made.
The acts of countless heroes went un recognised
Hats off to paratroopers. Soldiers that don't feel right if they're not surrounded by the enemy
Amen
This TH-cam video reminds of the 1960's movie of the Great War, "Blue Max." In my personal interpretation of the movie it raises the question of soldier's responsibility to duty, honor, and country. The main protagonist is a young and ambitious fighter pilot, who enlisted into the new German flying corps. Spending two years in the trenches and then raised from the rank of file of the German Imperial Army, the new recruit felt he had to measure up with his new comrades, the majority being if aristocratic and noble stock of the German Empire. Their noble airs were off putting for the new recruit with their code of chivalry, while the common foot soldiers struggle in the mud and died in droves.
In a couple of scenes, his comrades mourned the loss of their fallen comrades and later the death of two British airmen who the protagonist had killed. His comrades could not understand his callous ness, and his inability to express grief. But to the generals he was raised a hero calling him, "a young man with vigor who is willing to do what he can to fight and win."
In this scene, "The Eagle Has Landed," it is a reminder that war is inherently brutal but each man is responsible for their actions and for their personal honor.
At the same time its no use getting shot by your own side for disobeying orders
There is a fine line to follow
War is hell
Well said
Paratroopers are a different breed
The Will power to stand up for what is right will always be amazing thing to see and do!
michael caine was awesome in this film
That's true, but not a lot of people know that
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
One of the best lines in this scene was Oberst Steiner's (Michael Caine) reply to the SS officer when confronted for the action depicted here: "difficult decisions are the privilege of rank".
My father was platoon commander of a Gebirgsjägerzug (Mountain ranger platoon) and he rescued 6 Russian jewish men who had to work for them for the revenge of Russian troops. Greetings from Linz Austria 🇦🇹 Europe!
Good men will always stand up top evil and evil will never triumph over good in the end.
Dale, I hope you're not older than 15. Both parts of your pronouncement are demonstrably (by thousands of years of human history) pollyannaish wish-fulfillment warm-and-fuzzy babble.
Keep it real, only then can we see clearly enough to stand up to the ugliness & evil that is always nearby.
You wish....
@@johnstuartsmith Get ready to find out bud. I know what is coming and you are in for a shock!
Good thing the good guys always win every war, huh? You know America is the only reason the Soviet Union survived and that was through the action of Lend-Lease which helped rebuild the Soviet Union's military since most of the ussr war machine was in the Ukrainian and Belarusian territories. Do you know how the Soviet Union repaid America's generosity?
@@NS_Voice Using your logic Nazi Germany is the good guy. lol
I once knew a man back in 1982, "Louis Ludwig" who was a former WW2 German Paratrooper and a German car mechanic. He had been POW during the war and had been sent to the states for its duration. Louie was a hell of a character , a true hustler.
Evil people will prevail when good people do nothing. That’s why 98% of good people will stay quiet in fear of being outcasts
Read the book as a kid, phenomenal. Haven't seen the movie I'll have to put that on my list
Paratrooper’s are a special kind of soldier’s!!!👍🫡🇪🇸
Don't include British paras in that !!! They murdered women ,men even priests giving the last rites to dying Irish people in Belfast and Derry .
Even in the darkest times, brave souls stand in front of the mighty Villains.
They didn’t stand too in front. They still let the SS murder those children.
I love this clip. Even when the worst is prevailing, there is hope that human good will is possible.
I can only imagine the messed up head space of someone in whom the sight of kindness towards children provokes hatred.
A real soldier doesn't treat others inhumanity.
A real man doesn't treat others with inhumanity either.
You lose the title of human when you agree to kill for your government. No pride in that
Holy cow Michael is really young there in that movie and was a great movie. I guess I'm getting older too. 😂😊
First, I finished the book back in freshmen year, I even had the first batches signed by Jack Higgins, I bought it from a very old bookstore. Then, I found out there was a movie about it. Watched it and read the book again. Boy, what a great experience.
Very good. It is time to open our eyes and recongnize that they were not the same.
The Luftwaffe often clashed with the SS
" _You did not bear the shame. You resisted_ "
Pity the French Resistance gets all the glory, when the German and Polish Resistances made them look like pikers.
@@stevenschnepp576
Sadly most of the French resistence(not all) were Commies...!
Great example of judge a person not the people
That's an act of true nobility,compassion and heroism.
This just made me emotional. God bless every good soul out there. ❤
Please do share some of those emotions for the real people who are suffering a similar fate now in Palestine!
@@Neo.555 God bless you from Thailand 🇹🇭🙏
That shows some people are good just fighting for the wrong side
my great grandmother survived this, she told me stories of the bombs being dropped and how family members were taken on ti trains and 6ft tall full grown men woukd weigh less then 100lbs, food was money/gold, every meal and every dollar was worth so much to them it still effects my grandpa and his mother my great grandmother to this day, she bow has dementia so im glad she could tell me thoughs stories... insane.
God bless you and your family.
Another event to look up, the Battle of Castle Itter. It was in the last days of WWII in Europe, where German, Austrian, American, and French fought together to protect French POWs from the SS.
That would make a good film
@@c.w_ Yeah..a film…pure fantasy. If you want the truth, look towards what Dr. Mathew Raphael Johnson has to say on all this.
What Austrian? Austrians especially in that time were German.
@@SchmulKrieger Austrian resistance members. Austria split from Germany in April of 1945. The Battle of Castle Itter was in May 1945. So Austrian would still be appropriate.
@@SpartanD63 Austrian Resistance is either communist nonsense, fascists or aristocracy.
My dad is a WWII he fought from North Africa to when the war ended in the Eto in Czechoslovakia he told me that they had to separate the German Werhmach troops from the SS because many of the SS where getting beaten up by them and this was before Germany surrendered it was worse when the war was over. Especially if they where toten kauf prison guards . The Waffen ss where treated with more respect if anything but not by much.
One of my favorite scenes from that movie. Michael Caine’s performance is incredible. His emotions are real, a true warrior never supports atrocities against innocent people, they are not the enemy.
The Fallschirmjager were the best troops Germany had. My friend was an American paratrooper in World War 2 and told me nobody fought harder. He had much more respect for them than the SS.
Kindness anytime is better than none
My grandfather was a us army Sergent in ww2 boots on the ground overseas. He fought the Nazis in streets and lived through it. No human should be treated as disposable.
In what way not disposable ?
War has always happened war will always happen
People are disposable
Which streets do you mean?
What made that move upsetting to the SS was that it involved a Russian POW, as they really hated and despised the Russians-- Maybe more hatred shown than to the jews----
True soldiers had honour and respect,these guards never saw war,just soft targets
Michael Caine was amazing in that movie. Just pure class.
my grandpa's unit the 2nd ss panzer division.. he was an officer he would always say we didn't have anything against the jews they are people like us but the Russians are another story.. I was just a boy trying to keep my men alive we all hated the German high command and Adolf hitler.. they expected us to fight with no food or supplies at times... I miss that man because of raw history he had in his memories 😔
Thanks for sharing my father was in firefights as a 17yr old farmboy with Communist terrorists during the occupation and 15yr continuous Communist Coup of Germany during the Weimar 1918-33; tho this is never taught here...!
Is WHY Hindenburg appointed Adolf as the 3rd temporary Chancellor to clean out the Commie attempted takeover that the Central Banksters had intended to be a successful Bolshebik-2 = only Adolf did stop it...!
My father in law...still alive was both the Wermacht, and after the war, with the French foreign Legion... Heinrich Kruger. ( Krueger).
@@michellekrueger5122
Amazing history...my namesake Uncle was killed in the ~
" BATTLE OF THE SOMME" later my father(1928) & mother immigrated here to the U.S. - but met once here...!
what did the Russians do to him he felt that ging east and killing 27 million people was justified ¿
@@ibsnvpabsvap why would something like that need a justification?
There is always good to battle evil, whatever it's shape or form.
Pay attention folks. You dont have to submit to evil and go along to get along
There are good people everywhere, but they've got to keep their eyes open, and act before it's too late. 😉
A word to the wise: There are good people everywhere, but remember that we define good people by their good actions. And it is easy to be a good person when your good actions will not be immediately punished. Just how far will each of us go, personally, to do the right thing? It's not a fun or easy question. Will you sacrifice social position? Good relationships with your family? A job? An entire career? Your home? Your freedom? The security of your children? Your own life? The lives of your family?
How a few bad apples can spoil everything ….
I’ve always loved this scene. They will always have my utmost respect.
It’s a cool story…. That’s all it is.
Well, its a film and in reality the children were murdered in Aushwitch, having or having not met the paratroopers on the way.
Holy crap, that's young Michael Caine
My most sincere apologies for the treatment of another human being in this way I can empathize and testify how that would make me feel oh that's right How that is making me feel. 😢
We need men like them today I hope there are some out there
I promise you there are. How many I can't say. Enough I hope.
Fantastic story. I'd never heard this before.