Last Stand at the Leipzig Monument 1945
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- During the US battle to capture the city of Leipzig in mid-April 1945, diehard German troops made a last stand in an extraordinary building. Find out the full story of the last stand at the Monument to the Battle of the Nations.
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Thanks: Webster
Thumbnail: Jecinci
6:56
The destroyed tank is situated at the crossing of the streets Karl-Heine-Straße and Zschochersche Straße.
My Grandmother told me, 2 members (14 yo) of the "Hitler Youth" shot a "Panzerfaust" out of the basement of the house with a drugstore diagonally across the crossing and destroyed the tank.
You are such a good narrator, even subjects that I thought uninteresting are compulsive viewing. Thanks for your efforts.
He could read his grocery list and I would still listen :D
@@1337fraggzb00N lol
It must be the music
Well done, Mark. These snippets of history would be lost but for efforts like yours to educate and inform.
If there's one thing that I've learned from this channel, it's that a hell of a lot of stuff happened on Hitler's last birthday.
Such a good video, I had never even heard of this battle before and I've watched A LOT of WW2 documentaries.
Very interesting indeed.. i was lucky to have spent 5 years in Saxon. And whilst on a visit to the coldirz town museum, was offered a one to one tour of the castle itself by the curator despite being closed for the season. What an honour.
Maybe you could cover the story of the colditz glider sometime. I Love these videos. thanks for taking the time to make them . 🙏
Great story thanks for the information
Mark I recently saw the Leipzig war monument and I must say it an enormous imposing drab looking monstrosity.
That's a lot of stone especially for back then
7:15 'NICHT SCHIESSEN'
2:23 You only have to see the photo of Colonel Von Poncet to know he isn't going to surrender easily.
Maybe a lot of battles through history could have been avoided with the help of a translator and a good 11 hour argument.
Hahahaha - yes, 11 hour argument.
11 HOURS ISN'T AN ARGUMENT, IT'S MERELY CONTRADICTION!
Good job it wasn't the same people negotiating Brexit 😂
@@Dave20105 Burn!
No doubt
Wait what? I was there the day before yesterday, had my mind blown by this amazing structure, read up on it on Wikipedia, saw the part about the last stand, thought to myself "I wonder if there is any WWII footage of that?" and find this video that was released TODAY!? Thanks Mark for reading my mind and this great video :)
The place is amazing and we are lucky that the GDR decided to not remove this monument only because the Russians participated in Napoleons defeat. Would be interesting to know if any footage of Hitlers gatherings there exists.
St. Michael is Germany's patron Saint - just like St. George is England's patron - not Germany's "War god", as was stated. Apart from this erroneous statement, as always a well narrated and interesting documentary and authentic footage of a less well known battle in the final days of the war. What is also interesting is the totally different opinions of the two German commanders, a duty bound fanatical professional soldier on one side, a professional policeman on the other. This inter- German conflict was repeated hundredfold and more during the battle for Germany in 1944-45.
7:17 believe it or not, but I have translated (the lip reading) the communication between german soldier and americans; the german soldier clearly said "nicht schießen!" (NO SHOOTING / DO NOT SHOOT!)
Wow that's awesome, thanks for the info!
Russians would blow up the entire monument sky high along with all red army pows inside.
Hahaha very true.
孫鈺 truth
Against the armed forces of the Soviet Union, the Germans would've fought to the end knowing they'd committed a huge number of war crimes in that country and could therefore expect harsh treatment.
JuanDeSoCal the Sowjets never had a war where they didn't commit war crimes
You should do a video on the Italian submarines in the pacific that went to the Kriegsmarine after Italy’s surrender and later Japan after Germany’s surrender. Same for the U-Boats in the pacific.
Subject of my first book Yanagi back in 2005!
@@MarkFeltonProductions Mark do you sell your books on your own website or is it amazon only?
Could you give some bibliography on the issue? It sounds really interesting and i have never heard of it. Italian subs in the pacific? And later joining the germans and the japanese?
Luigi Toreilli was one of the submarines that served in the 3 major axis nation. Renamed as UIT-25 and later I-504 when transferred. Sank 8 ships total. The US scuttled it after the war. Kind of a shame. The other submarine was Comandante Cappellini which was renamed UIT-24 and I-503.
It would of been even more epic if either briefly entered service for the USN and then transferred as war prize to say maybe China or USSR. And sadly a boat with such unique history is lost.
Mark Felton Productions interesting! I’m gonna have to get me a copy now! The story of those Italian subs and U-boats have always interested me!
Amazing video as always.
I was worried that they would be forced to blast the building into rubble. Glad to see it still intact to this day. Such a beautiful work of art.
It did take some serious damage though. The war damages have only just been fully repaired half a decade ago
l thought u were a trader with billions of US$...????
You should make a video regarding South American Expeditionary Forces in WW2 a little known force that participated.
I second that.
Smoking snakes
James Knight have you any idea what kinda weapons they used
Also, the Japanese-Amirican infantry regiment that served in ww2. The most decorated unit in US history.
@@halfcantan1208 The Brazilian division that fought in Italy was equipped with American weapons.
Very cool! I live in Leipzig and had heard about the last stand at the monument. Now I know the details! Thanks
Yup it's kinda funny. Saw the title and instantly klicked. Can see the monument out of my window while writing this text down
Its sad that you had to learn this from a foreigner
I visited this massive building in summer 1994 with my German relations who lived around twenty miles to the South of Leipzig.
was that block with the iron cross on it still there? I am talking about 9:05
Peter Newman - ill bet it was something to behold too.
Me: which division did you serve en grandpa?
Grandpa: 69th
me: Nice
Got em
That monument is exquisite. I have never heard of it before, and was worried that the attackers levelled it. Indeed, Wikipedia reports that the Russians had wanted to destroy it during their occupation for its representation of nationalism, before deciding against it. I must go see this place the next time I'm in Germany.
I live about 5 minutes from the monument. Seeing old pictures from this once so beautiful city still make my heart ache.
Wes 76 germany didn’t start the war. You are a good example why incest is illegal and why I support abortion
@Wes 76 The people who commissioned, designed and built the beautiful city had no desire to cause carnage. It is subsequent generations who were the murderers.
No one desires your sympathy.
tell that Revisionist horseshit to the Polish
I can only imagine. 😪
At least the German commanders were willing to talk right up to the end. That saved so many lives.
Task Force "zwiebel"? Sounds perfect to break through a, ahem, layered defence 😉
Why?
@@ahmedbassam400 Zwiebel is german for an onion, ya know, the layered vegetable
@@ahmedbassam400 Zwiebel means onion.
@@ahmedbassam400 zwiebel=onion
It's Onion in Germam
My grandfather was on the officer's staff of Generalmajor von Grolmann. And it's true what Mark Felton says in the video. The troops were divided under 2 commands.
In addition came the Waffen SS and the Hitler Youth. Those refused the orders to capitulate. The main reason why von Grolmann wanted to capitulate was a warning from the Americans. They had set an ultimatum for surrender. Should that not be kept, they wanted to bombard Leipzig again.
My late father was one of the German defenders of Leipzig (and a native of said city)... escaping the Russian Zone, he went on to become an American citizen, and his children (my brother and I) proudly joining the US military. Oh how the world turns...thank God (and Ronald Reagan) that Leipzig is free once again.
Wy would you be proud of that?
@@MrAkurvaeletbe Which part should he not be proud of?
My grandfather fought and was taken prisoner in the battle for Leipzig. He was a 16 year old Flakhelfer, attached to a 3,7 battery outside of Leipzig. They fired a few shots at Shermans. After the Shermans answered in kind, the survivors surrendered.
@Michael Wolff Of course! It is said that history is written by the victors. I'd like to add that history is suppressed as well. One of my college professors whom served in the Vietnam War told my class that even today he is under some sort of law that concerns whatever that is forbidden to be mentioned to anyone about his time in Vietnam, could still have him face arrest. Because of laws like that, I conclude that we'll never know the full story of certain events in history. I'm sure individuals who are responsible to keeping national secrets to their graves upon years after retirement and beyond are the closest sources than any modern day textbook can portray what has happened in history. I agree, our history is controlled.
Please tell the story about the 1943 Air Attack on Bari and its consequences. Thx for your work!!!
There was mustard gas on one of the ship's that was sunk I think.
@Erick Vagabond Also eisenhower catching and returning to the soviet russians red army soldiers heading west on foot, whereupon they were taken 20 km or so east and shot. After a while eisenhower's own soldiers refused to turn any more over.
I had one of these for an instructor at the Army Language School in Monterey CA 1964-65 and he said he hid out in the mountains of Austria for six months because he knew what might happen if he were caught. He was half-German ethnically and spoke fluent German, so that helped.
How about the Russians Liberation Army (Vlasov) who fought the Soviets on the Eastern front and surrendered to the Americans only to be handed over to Stalin into certain death and gulag. That would be a story to tell.
@@andraslibal Can't say I have much sympathy for men who fought for people who thought them racially inferior.
@@TheSunderingSea It's very complicated, the matter of "allegiances" in the Second World War. Ultimately they fought for themselves, not for the Germans or Soviets - they fought for whomever they figured would win and give them the best conditions to live under. I don't understand this sympathy, however - they knew what they were doing and what would happen. Why would the Western Allies be under any compulsion NOT to hand them over? You play fucked up games, you get fucked up prizes - the Cossacks and the like were not stupid men. They knew what they were doing and what the consequences were - they get the baseline sympathy that anyone who suffers through this war gets from me, but nothing more than that.
Völkerschlachtdenkmal (great German name), quite some monument! I passed it some years ago. Not too famous, then again most of former East Germany is not too visited (apart from Berlin/Potsdam, sadly)
Really nice video thank you! Just wanted to say that Leipzig was not east Germany at that time,it was "Mitteldeutschland".
Karl-Marx-Stadt on the map is wrong. At this time, it's still Chemnitz.
Just a little side note by the way : Leipzig was not part of eastern Germany at that time. East Germany was Silesia, Pommerania and East Prussia with city's like Breslau, Königsberg, Allenstein or Beuthen. But after the 2. World War the soviet union decided to keep the former east polish territories and give east Germany to Poland. And this is how Middle Germany became East Germany.
Wow! Im german and didnt knew that! Thanks for this very informative video :)
Then you aren't german, you must be an immigrant lol
@@lordsnowy4638 Dummy, while an interesting anecdote this battle by a few hundred men in the very last days was far from important, so most people dont know about this.
@@lordsnowy4638 So you have to be a military history expert to be a "true German". Very interesting...
@@lordsnowy4638 Can you just not post cringy shit like that on this video? This is supposed to be an informative historical channel not "hey look at my edgy political jokes xDDDDDD"
Once again, Mark presents a small but quite excellent bit of history. I find his videoes captivating and full of little bits of trivia that even a major WW2 buff like myself doesn't know about. You know, Mark, you should put some of these on DVD because we'd all pay for them!
Not sure if take requests as such, but is there any chance you could do a video on the Corpo Aereo Italiano
which saw action in the Battle of Britain
If things don’t change, one day all of these videos will be taken off UA-cam
Thank you, and as always a very interesting story!
Agreed.Very good video and an interesting story well told.
Nice video. Do you have any information on how well the Flak Division did against the tanks? I am curious to see some numbers on that.
and I spotted a small mistake, Halle is not in the Harz mountains. Btw, "Festung Harz" may be a good topic for a future video.
No tank was destroyed by Flak in the Leipzig city area. All guns were stationary ones west of the city for protection of Leuna oil refineries, deployed in groups on open fields and not useful for ground combat. As no German Feldheer (regular army troops) available, these AA guns had no protection from artillery and infantry = easy prey. US troops lost 3 tanks in Leipzig, all by Panzerfaust. Further casulties were two more armed vehicles and 20 killed G.I.s.
In total the US Army lost 100 men KIA when conquering western Saxony. Reason: The German forces concentrated on the east. Soviets lost 100,000 men for conquering eastern Saxony. Factor 1:1,000 shows the German priorities in April/May 45.
Greetings from Leipzig
Not as good as you might think.
The guns open with no protection for the crew, the allies just called in an artillery strike when they ran into flack guns
@@thorstenm.2219 100,000 men!!! Such a huge loss of life to take 1 city.
St Michael a "war god?" Not really.
I life in middle saxony and i find it very interresting how WW2 looked in the places were i life.
To be honest the City of Colditz is not so far away neither.
Thank you for this video 🎥, found youre YT channel by surprise and im hella glad i did ;-)
Yours sincerely
Der Wüstenfuchs
Hallo fieldmarshall
Willkommen Kamerad
@@Mohatheking19 greetings, how are you?
@@MrNebelschatten So you are "Besser Wessi" 'sitzpinkler' ??
@@MrNebelschatten what drugs did you take?
i doubt any of the people who fought in any wars would had fought if they could see what kinda world we live in now, and how the vast majority of people are brainwashed... i salute all of those brave men for sacrificing their own lives for ours but i regret they did it... it's pathetic the state of the world we live in now.
Another fascinating piece of WW2 history that so few know about. Thanks Mark
Seeing a history related video in my recommended. good.
Seeing a history related video by Mark Felton Productions in my recommended. FANTASTIC!
You have an anime profile pic so I can’t agree
@@reecev2087 Don't worry. I'm not forcing you to.
I'm so glad the Germans decided to let this monument stand. So much culture was lost during the war. Germany would have been better off had they surrendered earlier.
In a monument dedicated to German soldiers, it was not a easy choice for Von Poncet to surrender
Great history of this unique building
"The arch angel Michael considered a war god by the Germans...."
a german from america fighting germans; battle of leipzig (1945)
You are very good at setting up the details of the battle, but lacking in specific information. What were the details of the agreement that led to Von Poncett's surrender? What happened to Von Poncett? Did he survive the war? What about the fate of the American POW's inside the Leipzig Memorial? Did they survive? How were they treated? Don't get me wrong here, Mark. Your videos aren't bad. They're just lacking a little bit in the finer details. Good job!
Wir hätten nie verlieren dürfen.
THIS would make a great movie.
If I was the germans I would not have surrender so easy
good video on the military history, but Leipzig has importance with the protestant reformation and martin luther. Michael is not "considered a war god by the germans" in Christianity the archangel Michael is the "warrior angel" whereas Gabriel is the "messenger angel." so the warrior aspect is similar however the pagan concept of war "gods" (lowercase G) in reference to angels is inaccurate and actually blasphemous to the religion of most Germans of the time.
"We've defeated the wrong enemy"
George S. Patton
I visited the monument with my wife a couple of years ago and we were very impressed by it.
My main reason for visiting was my interest in the Napoleonic wars, but there was no mention of the roll it played as shown in the video though. Thanks for a very interesting and detailed account, much appreciated.
I’m glad that the monument was spared, through war we have lost so many pieces of history and luckily, this one was saved through negotiation.
Outstanding presentation with accurate historical facts....British accent always makes it more absorbable and intriguing
Once again, the true stories are more amazing than any fiction. A solid granite temple as a bunker, filled with statues and 300 die hards. Withstanding direct artillery like its nothing. At least the final surrender was negotiated, instead of a miserable bloody grind to the last man.
The mayor and home guard commander committing suicide instead of surrendering to US troops? They must have had some heavy things on their conscience. Maybe this was more common among people who were ashamed of going along with the Nazis.
or they bought into the propaganda that American troops would torture, rape and eat them.
@Western Unity Italian leadership pretty much deserved it though
They probably knew they were rope bait for their crimes.
@Western Unity If that was true than how do you explain that so many Nazi officials, Wehrmacht generals and SS officers got off scots free?
Some people still took death before dishonor seriously. Fighting to the end is part of a heroic tradition that has little regard for base criminality.
I've been to Colditz Castle, the Battle of Nations monument, and the Bach "church".
Very nice area and people.
The mo u mentioned was awesome to see outside, inside, and on top observing the surrounding areas.
The monument has a great museum about the 1813 battle.
Thanks for the video!
An amazing story. This would make an outstanding film
What an amazing story. I feel like every one of your short videos could be made into a feature film. You know you’re onto something when your “likes” number over 500 with 0 “dislikes”. Congrats
What a nice history, thanks as always!
I`m proud to say i have been inside this huge monument back in 2013. I had no idea it also has a WWII history. Trekked over to Dresden a few days later which is even nicer than Leipzig and visited the military museum there. Nice summer memories :)
It was not called Karl Marx Stadt until in the fifties, but, as it's called now, Chemnitz.
Thank god I found your channel, so many unique events that were not very well documented and/or were not talked about much. I subbed on your first video it was so good. I can't wait for you to do a video on the Siege of Budapest during 1944-1945. It was similar to Stalingrad but the fighting was much more desperate with 4 attempts at rescue(5 attempts if you consider the last one that was canceled before starting). The relief force got so close that the German Budapest garrison could both see and hear the approaching fighting, the sound of which was magnified by heavy cloud cover, while the relief troops heard the city’s haunting air-raid sirens. At night the relief force and the defenders communicated with each other using flares..... many thought they were going to be saved but Hitler would not authorize a breakout, Budapest being a fortress city and whatnot. This battle was one of the most intense battles of WW2 period and I wish it were better heard of. Anyways, thank you for the video and I look forward to more!
The British would build a monument to the Upper class elite entitled officer class who suffered 20 miles from the front line because the tea and biscuits had run short which means they would be entitled to a medal .
After about a hundred videos the only point I would argue is that the Archangel Michael is the Christian war god and not exclusively the German's war god.
It is such a tiny point and still factually accurate as presented.
Mark Felton is too good for UA-cam.
I grew up in Achternmeer, Germany. This is very interesting for me. Thank you.
At 3 pm on the 19th, Trefousse, a German prisoner, and the executive officer of the 273rd Regiment, Lt. Col. George Knight, approached the monument under a flag of truce. When Poncet and two other German officers met them, Trefousse pointed out the hopelessness of the situation but Poncet responded that he was under a direct order from Hitler not to surrender. He did, however, agree to a two-hour ceasefire to allow at least a dozen American casualties to be removed.Throughout the ceasefire, the two argued in front of the entrance to the monument’s gift shop. At 5 pm, the heated discussion moved inside. While celebrations among the American troops were in full swing elsewhere in Leipzig, the grim exchange at the monument continued past midnight.“If you were a Bolshevik,” Poncet sneered, “I wouldn’t talk to you at all. In four years, you and I will meet in Siberia.”Trefousse retorted, “If that is true, wouldn’t it be a pity to sacrifice all these German soldiers who could help us against the Russians?”Terms of Surrender As it seemed the impasse would never be resolved, Trefousse extended one last option. If Poncet surrendered and walked out of the monument alone, his men could follow one at a time. At 2 am on April 20, the diehard Nazi commander strode out of the main entrance. The pockmarked, damaged monument was secured, but not before some confusion ensued as to the disposition of the newly acquired prisoners.Word reached Trefousse that only Poncet would be allowed out of the monument and that the rest of the Germans would temporarily remain inside under guard. When Trefousse tried to persuade the captives to accept the change in terms, he offered to try to get them 48 hours’ leave in the city in exchange for a pledge not to escape. One German insisted on the original bargain and was allowed to leave the monument. Trefousse went to Lt. Col. Knight for permission to grant the 48-hour leave. Knight agreed but insisted that the Germans had to be moved without General Reinhardt getting wind of the compromise. As Knight supervised the disarming of the enlisted prisoners, Trefousse guided more than a dozen German officers through the lines to their homes in Leipzig. When it was time for them to return to captivity, only one failed to appear, although he did leave behind a note of apology
Hi Mark, thank you for your excellent videos. Allow me to remark on the Archangel Michael. It's the patron Saint of Germany. It's not really considered a "war God"... . At least not officially (I've never heard him called that before). Rather, he's a protective Angel and yes, a warrior for a righteous cause. He also speaks first judgment over the dead and protects "the tree of life". Your parallel with "wargods" is interesting but should be qualified if you were to draw such a comparison. Your statemant "...was considered" is not really correct and at any rate, much too abbreviated. So, Michael is there, because 1) he's the patron Saint of Germany, he must be there. 2) He indeed stands for defence of a just cause, the just judgment of the dead and protects the continued posterity and prosperity of the country.
Well done. I doubt you could get anyone to recreate the Leipzig Monument for 30 million US in todays dollars. It would be closer to 300 million.
the photo always looks like a scene out of a tomb raider game.
This is by far & away the finest WW2 history channel on UA-cam.
I am living in this city for a few years now ...that monument is pretty impressive and you still can see some bullet holes on the outside...at least last time.i have been there
I just love these videos, they are always informative, entertaining, and satisfying to watch. Really good; this is much better than ‘Mainstream TV’.
I've been to the Volkerschalchtdenkmal a few times and though I knew the US forces occupied Leipzig, I did not know about Poncet trying to use the Denkmal as a holdout fortress. Thank you for your work!
Fantastic stories. Amazing how much I've learned from you even after 40 years of study in History. Thank you!
That building looks straight out of an Indiana Jones film
Wow!
My favorite (thus far) of your uploads!
Thank you so much for producing high quality content!
Cheers! 🇬🇧
been in that building. those statues are morose as fuck. very powerful place
Are you going to make a video about the battle of Castle Itter?
Wow. I had not heard of that battle before. What a beautiful monument 🏛. I hope it’s been restored to it’s full glory.
Glad they've finally surrendered. This spared the monument and lot of lives. Von Grolmann made tough and wise decision in the first place.
dont you know about the german genocide by the soviets and allies ? do you know about the golags they were sent to die in?
@@Iahusha777Iahuah German genocide now being caused by Merkel.
@@Iahusha777Iahuah wdym?
Leipzig and Saxony are in Mid-Germany and not East-Germany.
I feel sorry for the Germans. All politics aside, regardless of who's right or wrong, think about it like this. Imagine British troops making a bitter last stand against an overwhelming enemy at Westminster Abby or the Tower of London. Imagine U.S troops gasping their last breaths in futile defense of the Statue of liberty or the Lincoln Monument. The Germans knew the most bitter of defeats, and it's sad.
Not sure the millions of innocent civilians who were murdered by the Nazi filth care what you feel.
Yes it was a fortress! However to use Holy Ground as a shield is unthinkable for an Honorable man! If Poncet was such a hero he would have fought to the death elsewhere rather than spit in the face of the fallen!
I recall having read that von Poncet managed to negotiate himself a free pass from Leipzig when his troops surrendered, but he was later captured by US troops near Nuremberg when trying to make his way back home in Bavaria. Can anyone share more info on this? Seems like a story too strange to be true.
Very interesting, I wouldn't say it's too strange, especially when negotiations took 11+ hours. it doesn't seem out of the question when you think of all that could have been discussed and planned during that time
These strange, small snippets of the war, are fascinating.
i’m glad the building survived!
Channel is growing fast, it's like a wildfire of good stuff! Keep it up Mark, loving these stories.
Love all the Felton productions but this one... outstanding! Thx Mark for doibg this!!
I have really enjoyed watching your videos . All interesting , well informed , and told in a nice manner .
Really underrated channel thanks for another brilliant video
The siege of poznan please, medieval city, declared festugen large fight using old tactics end in the German Leader committing suicide on a German flag in city center
Imagine if all we had was wikipedia for our info. This is what it says about this topic. How sad:
"During the Third Reich, Hitler frequently used the monument as a venue for his meetings in Leipzig.[13] During WW2, an anti-aircraft gun (Flak) position was established on top of the monument. When the US Army captured Leipzig on April 18, 1945, the monument was one of the last strongholds in the city to surrender. One hundred and fifty SS soldiers with ammunition and foodstuffs stored in the structure to last three months dug themselves in, but were blasted with artillery and defeated." ---- NOT TRUE!!!
Great video and great story too! I didn't knew about Leipzig last stand
Thanks for your channel :)
Greetings from germany
You should do the Soviet Invasion of the Japanese held Kursk islands at the end of the war. One of the islands put up a good fight.
your channel is amazing, you have everything I cant find anywhere else.
That was a GREAT story I️ have NEVER heard of. You are a Master Storyteller. Thank you.
What a fantastic story! The images are top-notch.