In July, the American camera teams are also allowed to film in Berlin. They manage to get unique color shots of the destroyed capital and its inhabitants. While George Stevens does not get permission to film the Potsdam Conference, Major Lawton is at least allowed to be present at the first meeting of the new US President Harry Truman with Kremlin ruler Josef Stalin. Seeing the footage of an absolutely destroyed Berlin, one cannot imagine it will ever be reborn. What a feat.
The destuction of Dresden, Cologne, Essen, Dortmund, Hanover, Nuremberg, Chemnitz were overdone. I AM NOT CONDONING THE LONDON ATTACKS. But GOD DAMN IT. THE RAF TOOK AWAY INNOCENT CITIZEN LIVES WAY MORE! AND VICTORY WAS INEVITABLE. AND THE BRITISH KNEW IT
If you pay attention to this documentary, you realize that it wasn't just the axis powers that were fascists. Its obvious from the way the allied forces treated the losing sides people after the war because thats still happening in places like the middle east to this day, and its not just the US that us guilty of this, its actually a global issue. To this day fascism is still alive and well because the people in power, most of whom are warmongers and dictators, love fascism....
My mother was born on September 11, 1939, on the eleventh day of the WW2, after Germany invaded Poland and started the war. At that time, her family lived near Poznań, a large city halfway between Berlin and Warsaw, and after the outbreak of the war, they fled from German soldiers to the east. During this escape, my mother was born. Further escape to the east was not possible and they tried to return to their home, but their house was occupied by a German family. My grandfather's family was taken in by strangers. My grandfather, grandmother and nine children lived in two small rooms. During the war, three children died, and my mother's oldest brother and sister worked as forced laborers in Germany. This video shows Berlin in ruins, and the lecturers lament the enormity of the destruction of the city, but this destruction is nothing compared to the life destruction inflicted by the Germans on my mother, her parents and her siblings. Berlin was rebuilt, the destroyed buildings were repaired, but no one has repaired the harm done to my mother and her family to this day.
Their house was occupied by a German family. Sounds like the illegal settlements in Israel: chase away the real owners and then take the land and house.
We see a wave of historic revisionism that gets dangerously close to vindicating the Germans for the barbarities they committed in WWII, it shall not pass.
It takes a German production firm, Spiegal TV, to find footage shot by American Film Crew #186 and turn it into an absolute masterpiece. Then again, Spiegal had access to German military reports from the cities that fell to American forces without a fight. Combined with newspaper reports and diary entries from day to day events, they are able to tell the story behind what this crew found and documented through five rather incredible episodes. I enjoyed each one immensely. Thank you Spiegal TV.
Incredible film! I still cannot comprehend how Berlin, Germany was rebuilt so quickly. I have never found a documentary to show how reconstruction took place.
the Marshall Plan, named for Secretary of State George Marshall, who in 1947 proposed that the United States provide economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe.
@@jasonwiley798 yes, I sm fully aware of where the money came from. But what I am getting at is I would Ike to see exactly how that money was put to use. When you see these videos, you can see just how massive the destruction is. But within a few years most seems repaired and Germany is economically dominating Europe. It is almost beyond belief.
My father was US Army we lived in Munich. We lived in German housing from 1958-1963. I grew up with German kids and most of the moms worked bc they had very few dads. Food,even then, was not abundant for the Germans. Many times my German buddies would stay for supper. We played(cowboys and Indians was big),went to school and it was a good time being a kid. The German moms treated me like one of their own , but it was still a rough time for them even after 15 years.
After all those brutalities, that german invaiders made in USA, after all those burned american villages and german conz camps on american soil this US soldier is able to forgive them, what a sweety!...Oh, wait a minute....
The ”stay at home mom” thing isn’t big in Europe to this day. We have very cheap/free kindergartens so as a standard moms choose to work instead of staying home. And the general consensus is that it is also what they want to do.
was at Gießen my college summer 1989 -- yes, got into East Berlin Dad was Base Commander == al "City Manager" non-military activities on a U.S. Army Base -- he loved it Gießen was a rail hub, so logistics center & thus flattened by WW2 bombing Marburg to the north was intact -- drove there a few times for fencing club at Uni In Gießen what was left unbombed was the Licher Brauerei -- got the Manager's Tour -- post-War U.S. Army rations included a can of beer & Licher made it
There's a book called Windswept Lies of War, and it talks from censored history and hidden secrets to lost files and classified documents about World War II, it's the real deal.
My grandfather was in the 82nd airborne and liberated 2 concentration camps. He saw things no one I mean no one should ever see or go through. He came back with a German pistol (they let them come back with a few things not looting by any means) he was shot twice and had a hand grenade explode near him. He wouldn’t talk about his time there but he said if he had to He would do it all over again to save people and stop the monsters doing horrible things. RIP grandpa Bill
Welp if only our grandparents had only seen what would've come of this world today, they wouldn't have set foot out of those landing crafts onto the beach.
@@seizuresalad91 You cannot think that way. History is not linear, it is cyclical and exponential. The horrible things we see today could have happened even if the Axis had won the war. At least we in the west have had 60-70 years of relative peace and prosperity since WWII. We should all live today while sacrificing in moderation for tomorrow.
@@electrominded8372 not saying it is linear but we ultimately took the side of communism and Marxian philosophy. The Frankfurt School philosophers ended up in the US and else where and now we get to dance again. This time it's at a much larger level and yes it is complex now. Look at what happened to Eastern Europe as a result of the war's end and today they still feel the ramifications of such a parasitic ideology.
My 92 year old mother, who lives in Pennsylvania, USA, donated a coat in 1949 to help the Europeans suffering after the war. She pinned her address into the sleeve, and later received a letter from a woman in Poland who lived in Rybienko. I have the letter and would love to have it translated. It appears to be a dialect, Google translate was not able to recognize all the words even though the handwriting is impeccable.
Europe never learns. Their history is full of war. The most peaceful period was when the Soviets and Americans balanced each other out with the threat of nuclear weapons. Now that threat isn't taken seriously and Europe will look like this again unless they give peace a chance.
Unfortunately politicians in Europe, the US and elsewhere are in war mode again. It's always "Never again", 80 years later it's "All over again". "Elites" seem to need war at some point.
What an incredible snapshot in time. I was watching more for an interest in the fashion which in itself can reveal a lot. There were the well nourished, rich women in their hats and furs while the commoners were hauling buckets of rubble from bomb sites. Even the old women had to do it to get food. This is the kind of history more people need to be shown to understand what it was like for people like themselves.
And the woman dressed in their best and wearing heels push carts for miles on those roads looking for their future. Even in dire situations people try their best. War. What a waste.
, вспомни сколько войн было и есть после той? Я пережил две войны в Чечне 1994-1997 потом 1999-2008. Мой народ потерял 30% в 21 веке! Та жа Германия, США смотрели как нас убивают.
I appreciate how this documentary keeps mentioning the year of the particular scene we’re watching. So many documentaries only say the year once and expect us to remember while throwing more info at us. It’d be even better if the date of the scene was in the corner of the screen the whole time to make it easier to follow along.
Other than - there are no words to convey what people should feel after seeing footage such as this. This is why I for one, go out of my way once I know that im in the presence of a Veteran to give to them on behalf of a greatfull Nation a very Heart Felt "Thank You for what you did for all of us". I only as a Citizen Salute all of you.
I knew that a lot of Berlin had been destroyed, but I never realised quite how utterly comprehensive the carnage was. Virtually every building was in ruins.
Filmed nearly 80 years ago, everyone except for babies and young children, are all now deceased, many long gone. The march of time waits for no man, nor tide but keeps on beating, on and on pushing history further and further away.
I am one of those young children, born in 1938. I will always remember things I have seen doing the war and after the war. You are so correct and making your statement.
My Polish Mum & Dad lived thru this era and they suffered but they survived ... Dad spoke many languages and worked as an interpreter for the US Army ... Our family later moved to Australia !
What a memory hit, I was born 1938 in Berlin. Seems almost like yesterday, bombed in the early 1941 by the British and 1944 big time by the U.S. Air-force. Stormed by the Russian infantry shooting at every thing that moved. I remember cleaning brick from the bombed out Ruins, and straightening out nails pulled from wood beams debris. I have been living in California for 63 years and I love it, let’s hope we will never have a full blown 3 rd W.W.
I live in California. I visited Munich. I say the city was lovely. Never. never ever again the German destruction. California is fine. But the Kultur in Germany was fantastic to me
It's overwhelming to see what destruction can happen during wartime. The images of debris being cleared by hand over hand bucket is wild. I asked my teenage son what he had learned about WWII in school and he said very little. It was "touched on". smh. It's amazing that you lived through all of that and lived the majority of your life in America.
I had a friend who was born in Berlin in 1936. He endured the entire Battle of Berlin and its aftermath. Despite our age difference (I was born in 1970), we became close friends. We were pen pals for about 15 years, initially about business, but over time his experience of his time came out and became a regular topic of discussion. I became obsessed with the Battle and the post war years that followed. His description of the fighting, the strafing ("my ears are still ringing" he would say to me) and of course the mass rapes, including his mother and grandmother. I have been to Berlin many times since and had always hoped to visit with him. The best I could do was get my picture taken in front of his former house in Alt Moabit. Seeing pictures of a modern Berlin made him think of his experience as a "bad dream". He managed to make his way to Canada in 1951 or 1952 on the many ships coming out of Bremen at the time. He passed a few years ago and I miss him and his recollections dearly. I'm sure California was a welcome sight away from all of the destruction. Take care and salutations from Arizona.
I'm pleased to note that you found happiness in the United States. I too remember the destruction of Liverpool England, during the heavy bombing raids conducted by the German Luftwaffe, forcing my family to spend many desperate sleepless nights in the protection of air raid shelters. The devastation and loss of civilian life was enormous. I too live in this wonderful country where I've found so much joy. I often equate living in the United States to winning the lottery, which consisted of emigrating from Great Britain, meeting my wonderful wife, starting my family, owning my own business and living the American dream. I'm blessed. 🇺🇲 🇺🇲 🇺🇲 🇺🇲 🇺🇲.
Glad to see someone recorded this, no one should forget what happened. It had to be weird time with all those different soldiers stationed in a occupied zone.
The key to much historical writing depends upon which side of the line you're standing and how much ink you have, since most of history is written with patriotic rose tinted spectacles. Such is the reason many historical events must be viewed with a very jaundiced eye. After WWII Winston Churchill said it perfectly " History will be kind to me since I intend to write it".
These scenes are really sobering. I can’t even imagine the overwhelming feeling people must have had living among seas of rubble, hardly knowing where to begin reconstructing their cities and their lives. Europe in general was absolutely decimated by WW2. But it also gives me some hope because if Europe and Japan could rebuild, then the ruined places of today can be rebuilt as well.
What can’t be rebuilt is the inner hatred and resentment that stems out of warfare… the day Russia invaded Ukraine, a hatred was born that will last for generations.
Don't underestimate peoples amazing resilience in hardships, I think that many where just happy that the abslute terror and misery of war was finally over and they survived. I feel extremy sad for the children, their childhood stolen by the madness of a few.
Please avoid researching the bombing of Dresden and other civilian targets, avoid finding more about the plight of German civilians on the Soviet side, avoid any books on the starvation of 1.5 million unarmed German soldiers after the war by pres Eisen.... Avoid doing an account of the losses inflicted on the German population, avoid looking into why and who started the war, avoid looking into the myth of German villany and absolutely avoid asking who carried out the crimes against humanity. Remember, ignorance is bliss and asking questions can only harm you.
@@oopsmonkeyWhat do you mean? You are talking about the bombing of Dresden but what about the German bombings of Rotterdam and Warsaw in 1939/1940 (and durring the Spanish civil war?). If you bomb people dont expect them to sit idle, they are going to shoot back.
My Mother..born in germany in 1936 lost everything (including all her family) and grew up as a war orphan. I wish she would share more of her past, but she just suffers in silence
I hope that changes - the suffering in silence. Her story needs to be released into the universe and above all, you need to hear it. She needs to tell it. Good luck.
@@FreeDocumentaryHistory Why ? It will not reverse the past and thanks to some influencers on social media, history has been twisted by them, luring in the wrong people for repeating the same mistakes again. THAT is what this woman is suffering about, having lost everything, wondering, whether the nation has given her sense and respect by thinking about, how not to vote those in again, that caused her pain.
@@thies7831what do you mean why? Because humanity need to hear the people that lived through this times story? All of the WW2 generation will be gone from this world and then we cannot get these stories out anymore.
@@thies7831So with that attitude, I guess the next time you catch a cold, your plan is to do nothing and simply expire. Because after all, everyone eventually dies, right? Who needs 20-50 years of extra life. Anyone who knows better and doesn't speak out loudly is as responsible as those who seek to twist history!
My father was an American POW for 9 months. He went to war in Germany in early 1944. He was a medic. They weren’t supposed to take anyone with a cross on their arm as prisoners but dad’s commander was shot in the face arguing at the German officer. Germany never listened to the rules of the Geneva Convention. He weighed 190 when he joined and 92 at the end of the war. He was at deaths door so to speak. He passed in the early eighties and I miss him so much. He was a rock😢
My dad was lucky...44 months in Amarillo, Texas. Didn't have to invade Japan, for obvious reasons. Gratitude and respect to your late father's memory.... My dad passed in '84....will always miss him....
Мой отец - из Сибири. Воевал в Красной армии в 1944-45 гг. форсировал Днепр, шёл по Польше, по Восточной Германии. Дважды ранен. После войны был художником. Умер в 2002-м. Я его очень люблю и скучаю по нему. Он был лучшим отцом!
Its crazy that my great grandma would be born 17 years after the making of this film. She died 2 years ago. I feel truly blessed. This is closest we will get to time travel during our lifetime.
As German born, I have been told many stories by my grandmother and mother that was born in 43. What horror they experienced, and still survived. One can only feel that devastation after seeing this footage. What a nightmare that will hopefully never be repeated.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But it is happening again.. It is no coincidence the elite want to disarm the free people of the planet.... There are no coincidences in today's politics.. Only results of devious plans in play for decades...
I am from India. War never won. It's loses the humanities... please pray for all who suffers in any war around the world in the past.....we all should avoid wars in the future for the sake of humanity
A very noble sentiment, but you can’t unilaterally declare peace. Look at what Putin is doing to Ukraine. When you are attacked, you have to defend yourself.
just imagine what was going on in India at this very time period, few months after the WW2 was over. I just imagine what our freedom fighters might be doing or thinking during that time
@@RebeccaTurner-ny1xxGeneral Patton made the famous remark that we defeated the wrong enemy. Stalin was far worse than Adolf, more prejudice and more heartless with his mind on more and more conquered expanse at the expense of millions of innocents. It would have been best to simply let them destroy each other.
My uncle was with the 82nd airborne and and they were part of the American sector occupying force. I still have his red Berlin pass. He stayed for six months before rotating back to the U.S..
Because it was common knowledge that American military personal took full advantage of desperate starving frightened German women after the surrender during the allied occupation immediately after the war ended. @@jazzcat1056
Interesting sidenote: The Kaiserhof hotel, shown at 8:38, was never reopened like the Hotel Adlon was, that was shown earlier. Instead, it is now the *_North Korean Embassy._* There's an amusing circularity of that, from one brutal dictator to another.
A fabulous documentary. Sadly, we as a species still haven't learned anything from our past. Wars continue to wage around the world, and it would be fair and accurate to say 'There hasn't been a day of peace since WW2' . The arms manufacturers and dealers are always the winners, the public the losers on all sides, while the officials dine in style and comfort. So long as a class system exists there will always be wars to wage and fight, God forbid the status quo be shook.
Might seem that way, but the global percent of people dying in wars is at an historical all time low. Generally speaking, we HAVE learnt, OR it could just be because of the nukes!!
I visited Berlin in 1982 as a soldier on an orientation tour. The Cold War was at its height, but the rules established in 1945 were still in effect. Memorials for the Great Patriotic War were everywhere in the Eastern Side.
I too visited Berlin for the same reason in 1982. I was stationed in Fuerth (outside of Nurnberg), 1st AD (Old Ironsides) during 1981 and 1982. I took the duty train from Frankfurt over night, curtains drawn, security checking you were in your berths at every stop. That one tour, along with visiting the Czech border, shaped my understanding and disdain for communism than I could ever have learned during a normal life without witnessing it firsthand.
@@loriguidos7014 I was an "Occupying Force" dependent who took such duty trains often back and forth between Berlin and Frankfurt - in the 1970s. In retrospect, those were great overnight sleepers! All the frequent stops with East German guards and their German shepards at every station and siding along the Russian sector were somehow more cool than scary... when I was 10~
@@slypear It was quite scary going from the west to east Berlin in the 70s when I was a teen. To us living in west Germany, it was hard to fathom not being able to leave our country as it was with the ones that were trapped in the east. My Grandmother made it out just in time when my Grandfather didn’t come back home.
@@loriguidos7014 and don’t just say horror! free housing, free medicine, free education and compulsory employment. Central heating and hot water. In winter, people wear T-shirts at home, not hats. maternity leave 3 years. vacation per year is 30 days. free travel on public transport. child support payments. free school meals breakfast and lunch. You can continue indefinitely. what a horror it is when everything is free...
My mom made potato soup with steak in it. It was what my grandma made for my grandpa when he returned home from the war. Even had a glass of milk which my grandpa loved. It’s like I stepped back in time.
I wish my dad could have seen this. He was part of the occupation forces and would spend 3 years in Berlin. I have some photos he took of the different sectors, and the British, French, and Russian soldiers there. He told me of recieving a care package from his mom, and sharing some treats with some Russian soldiers. This was before the Berlin Wall went up, and some interaction with the Soviet troops was allowed. My dad loved his time in Germany and made some good friends there. He almost married a German woman, and I wonder if she is in any of the footage seen here. My dad passed away in 2000.
You comment is pretty much identical to my Dad's experience. He, too, made lots of friends while stationed over there and met the love of his life... He was shipped back though - never to see her again but, in some twist of fate.... Furthermore, he managed to name two of his children after her, my Sister Pauline and me... Paul Ian... He had a twisted sense of humour! lol
Why couldn't they take these women with them? Something like when US soldiers were stationed in Ireland for a time being and some of them took local wifes there and brought them to States with them. Thanks for liberating us and may God give long peace to your forefathers - my hometown of 10 000 in Moravia Czech Republic used to have hooked crosses everywhere. People were hanged here, life was tough under Germans for my family. Pavel from Prague.
Почему вы армию освободителей называете оккупационными силами? Разве СССР напал на Германию? Разве Великобритания напала на Германию? Разве США напала на Германию? Разве Польша напала на Германию? Разве эти страны возвели в абсолют идею превосходства их расы над другими? Разве эти страны называли свою нацию богоизбранной? Вам следует изучить эти вопросы, прочитать большой объем информации и документов, чтобы не делать в будущем такие ошибки. Да да, именно ошибки!
@@OCDadalтакже как и всегда, в брак сложно вступать с человеком с клеймом несчастья. Проще уехать и найти женщину более счастливую у себя дома. Это разрушило и разрушает многие жизни. Сейчас также на международных сайтах знакомств видно, как мужчины несмотря на войну в Украине и России ищут среди женщин веселых, жизнерадостных, незатронутых горем. Эти мужчины отрицают, что невозможно нормальному человеку в этих условиях играть в счастье. Такова жизнь.
My grandfather was a prison of war was one of the many British army who stayed fighting to let the rest of the the British and French army to be saved to fight another day at Dunkirk my grandfather was in prison off war in Poland in till 1945. Rip grandad you was a real hero and all the rest of the army, navy, royal air force who fought in the second world war.
I visited Germany during the summer of 1984, I was 17. West Germany by then a recovered economic miracle was a fascinating place full of wonderful cars and machines but also an armed camp. The sky was full of American helicopters and British jets. It was very tense.
My much loved late father was a displaced person who had been taken from his village in Poland, now Western Ukraine, by the Germans. He never saw his family again. He was taken to work on a farm in Austria and was treated badly. Never fed properly but expected to work dawn till dusk. His stomach ruined forever. He went from camp to camp as a displaced person. Eventually coming to Britain where he was treat well and he worked all his life in a factory where he met my mother and they had a good life together until he passed away in 1998. He could not return to his home and family. Under soviet rule, he would have endangered his family and so spent most of his life not knowing what had become of them. What ever the Germans suffered, they inflicted so much heartbreak on so many people because of their leaders, but condoned by them. Now my fathers family in West Ukraine, as it became after the border changed with Poland, are now in an unwanted war with Russia. We found them finally in the mid 1990s. My father was the only sibling alive. His parents and brothers and sister dead. We met the younger ones, thankfully. The impact on the lives of so many people is horrific. The suffering that went on for more than one generation. For what?
I once worked for man that was a top turret gunner in a B-24 that bombed Cologne several times. He went there after the war ended and bought some post cards from an old man selling those on a road bridge. The old guy pointed out where the structures in the post card photos once were since everything had been turned to rubble. He showed me the post cards one day and remarked that he felt bad about helping to blow up such a pretty city.
A country of men and women, who demanded war. A country who killed millions and harmed many millions more, are feeling and dealing with what they cheered about when it was other people. I have sympathy for the hungry children and do not relish anyone's pain and hunger, but I save my heartache for the dead and my family in Vilnius.
Found out after my grandmother died we had a German grandfather from Hambruch and his last name was Hambruch.. My great grandmother also was married to a Goddard. They moved to the United States in the 20’s.
Agreed. However, sadly the current mood of "don't speak the truth, it's a distraction from our fascist ideals" and "burn the history books, they're giving the people wrong ideas", might stand in the way of your valid suggestion for enlightenment.
I was stationed in what was West Germany from 1982 to 1990. In 1984, when you went through Check Point Charlie into East Berlin, you saw a day-and- night difference between what freedom brought the West Germans, and the rationing and poverty that the Communists brought to what was East Berlin and East Germany. When the Berlin Wall came down in November of 1989, I saw how much the Germans in the East wanted their freedom. The time my family and I spent living in Frankfurt and Heidelberg were some of the best years of our lives.
@@peterherard8207 May be not the Stasi, but free medicine, education and homes - why not? Now many of them feel they are the second sort of people in their own country, with their wages etc. noticeably smaller than in the western part.
Morality. The last few sentences and that quote about morality are noteworthy after we consider the most recent wars along with the morals displayed by the losing/ trying to lose side.
I'm just admiring all of those women being able to still smile and come together after the war. Knowing that maybe almost all of them have lost their husbands.
You admire people who zealously attempted to eliminate an entire demographic? They lost their husbands because they started a war with the world. That was their choice.
They also lost their fathers. It was a different place then it is today. Two world wars take most of Germany's male population over 40 years. Add the losses from the other countries and EU take a different shape then the 300 plus years of violence prior.
I was in Berlin in 1977. Some things I recognize and some I don't. We could drive the tour bus past the Soviet War memorial but could not stop. We waved to the guards. The tour guide said she got one return wave in some years. The zoo was great. I was surprised how much Dutch art was in the museums. We could not use the S Bon, but could use the U Bon as the S Bon was run by the East Germans. The wall was still up.
It is striking to me that even while living in the rubble of the apocalypse, the Berliners are wearing pretty dresses, smart suits, and ties. While in the most prosperous country in the history of the world, the Americans wear gym clothes. War crimes aside, It had to have been a vibrant and proud city.
Куда отбросить воен преступления? Именно германской армией в годи второй мировой вот также как Берлин били разрушени СОТНИ городов СССР, а также Польши , Франции, Великобритании.не нужно из нацистов делать няшек...
One of the reasons West Germany was able to recover quickly, was the fact that many German POWs in US POW camps took English lessons from qualified teachers. Many received proficiency certificates in English from American Universities. Armed with knowledge of English they returned home and were able to get jobs in Allied Gov't agencies which made reconstruction easier.
I married into a Berlin family and was quite close to my mother-in-law. As a daughter of German immigrants in the late 20s I learned a great deal about Germany in and after the war. I have memoirs from my husband and his brother and her. The Russians were terrible and took watches but didn’t know how to wind them, some lined the inside of their coats with unwound watches. They were seriously uneducated. Family members were spirited away for labor camps by the Russians. Rape, yes, of family child helper. My family came from both the north of Germany and all the way to Switzerland border, next to the POW and downed ally soldiers, pilots escape route to Switzerland next to the town of Singen. 82 and as a scientist I still have a very good photographic memory plus many documentations from that era. Living with a survivor (he passed at 84) was a learning experience not available in the written word.
I have a similar family story. My father came to the US in 1928 from the Volhynia region of Ukraine (now) and it was Russian then. He then fought in the Second World War . Although he was German he didn’t like the Germans of 1944. I think a lifetime of living in an area that was passed from Prussia to Poland, to Russia stripped him of allegiance to Germany. He only considered himself American and was a staunch hater of war of any kind. The Battle of the Bulge defined him for the rest of his life.
@@kathysanden1539 No true German would lose faith in the NSDAP, they literally saved the country from the brink of collapse due to the bagel eaters. Go learn your history.
In July, the American camera teams are also allowed to film in Berlin. They manage to get unique color shots of the destroyed capital and its inhabitants.
While George Stevens does not get permission to film the Potsdam Conference, Major Lawton is at least allowed to be present at the first meeting of the new US President Harry Truman with Kremlin ruler Josef Stalin.
Seeing the footage of an absolutely destroyed Berlin, one cannot imagine it will ever be reborn. What a feat.
The destuction of Dresden, Cologne, Essen, Dortmund, Hanover, Nuremberg, Chemnitz were overdone. I AM NOT CONDONING THE LONDON ATTACKS. But GOD DAMN IT. THE RAF TOOK AWAY INNOCENT CITIZEN LIVES WAY MORE! AND VICTORY WAS INEVITABLE. AND THE BRITISH KNEW IT
If you pay attention to this documentary, you realize that it wasn't just the axis powers that were fascists. Its obvious from the way the allied forces treated the losing sides people after the war because thats still happening in places like the middle east to this day, and its not just the US that us guilty of this, its actually a global issue.
To this day fascism is still alive and well because the people in power, most of whom are warmongers and dictators, love fascism....
Wow two months after the war. What the allies didn't want to show the mas rape of Germans some as young as 8 years old
Kremlin ruler?
¹¹
My mother was born on September 11, 1939, on the eleventh day of the WW2, after Germany invaded Poland and started the war. At that time, her family lived near Poznań, a large city halfway between Berlin and Warsaw, and after the outbreak of the war, they fled from German soldiers to the east. During this escape, my mother was born. Further escape to the east was not possible and they tried to return to their home, but their house was occupied by a German family. My grandfather's family was taken in by strangers. My grandfather, grandmother and nine children lived in two small rooms. During the war, three children died, and my mother's oldest brother and sister worked as forced laborers in Germany. This video shows Berlin in ruins, and the lecturers lament the enormity of the destruction of the city, but this destruction is nothing compared to the life destruction inflicted by the Germans on my mother, her parents and her siblings. Berlin was rebuilt, the destroyed buildings were repaired, but no one has repaired the harm done to my mother and her family to this day.
Their house was occupied by a German family.
Sounds like the illegal settlements in Israel: chase away the real owners and then take the land and house.
Мой отец - воин Красной армии из Сибири был ранен и лежал во фронтовом госпитале в Познани в Польше.
(В 1944-м)
@@xxxxxxxx3476 Это точно.
We see a wave of historic revisionism that gets dangerously close to vindicating the Germans for the barbarities they committed in WWII, it shall not pass.
It takes a German production firm, Spiegal TV, to find footage shot by American Film Crew #186 and turn it into an absolute masterpiece. Then again, Spiegal had access to German military reports from the cities that fell to American forces without a fight. Combined with newspaper reports and diary entries from day to day events, they are able to tell the story behind what this crew found and documented through five rather incredible episodes. I enjoyed each one immensely. Thank you Spiegal TV.
2:08 Last generation of German women raised with the full attributes
And, the reason Film Crew 186 was there in the first place? Did that have anything to do with Germany, too?
@@brycecrousore1985 Uh, yeah. I suppose it did. Obviously. I appear to be missing your point.
@@brycecrousore1985 Maybe film Germany after the war ?
Jews are much more intelligent than Germans!
Incredible film! I still cannot comprehend how Berlin, Germany was rebuilt so quickly. I have never found a documentary to show how reconstruction took place.
the Marshall Plan, named for Secretary of State George Marshall, who in 1947 proposed that the United States provide economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe.
Lots of hard work and American money
@@jasonwiley798 yes, I sm fully aware of where the money came from. But what I am getting at is I would Ike to see exactly how that money was put to use. When you see these videos, you can see just how massive the destruction is. But within a few years most seems repaired and Germany is economically dominating Europe. It is almost beyond belief.
American money.
The will of the people made this possible . Never again !!!!@@urracabolivar1374
My father was US Army we lived in Munich. We lived in German housing from 1958-1963. I grew up with German kids and most of the moms worked bc they had very few dads. Food,even then, was not abundant for the Germans. Many times my German buddies would stay for supper. We played(cowboys and Indians was big),went to school and it was a good time being a kid. The German moms treated me like one of their own , but it was still a rough time for them even after 15 years.
Oh dear .. my heartfelt sympathy… oh wait a minute 🙄.
After all those brutalities, that german invaiders made in USA, after all those burned american villages and german conz camps on american soil this US soldier is able to forgive them, what a sweety!...Oh, wait a minute....
The ”stay at home mom” thing isn’t big in Europe to this day. We have very cheap/free kindergartens so as a standard moms choose to work instead of staying home. And the general consensus is that it is also what they want to do.
And just imagine that Bavaria was the richest part of Germany (still is)
The Morgenthau plan for Germany after the war was to starve all the German people to death. Nice, right?
We just lost Dad a month ago at a ripe age of 90. He grew up in the Geissen area of Germany and would have been 12 years old here. Rest in peace Pops!
I was stationed in Giessen two times in the 70s and 80s your Dad is from a very beautiful city and the people in that city were very great.
RIP.
I from Pakistan. Your Dad RIP
Rest in peace, Mr Dad.
was at Gießen my college summer 1989 -- yes, got into East Berlin
Dad was Base Commander == al "City Manager" non-military activities on a U.S. Army Base -- he loved it
Gießen was a rail hub, so logistics center
& thus flattened by WW2 bombing
Marburg to the north was intact -- drove there a few times for fencing club at Uni
In Gießen what was left unbombed was the Licher Brauerei -- got the Manager's Tour -- post-War U.S. Army rations included a can of beer & Licher made it
There's a book called Windswept Lies of War, and it talks from censored history and hidden secrets to lost files and classified documents about World War II, it's the real deal.
Sure dirt1?
With a well-published author with hundreds of peer-reviewed articles to their name, this is unquestionably the book to read!
Having never read this book, i always denied the official story given to for this war. Im definitely getting this book. Thank you for posting.
It is about ww1. Stop lying. Acting like u have read the book 😂.
@@JRnyc oh please tell me why you think World War II started
Love it. Been a WW2 history buff for many, many years but I've somehow missed the aftermath like shown in this video. It's incredibly interesting.
What a fantastic service this documentary does to both history and hopefully our future.
the video was uploaded 9 hours ago, but how the hell you were able to comment 2 weeks ago?🤔
@@Suraj-ix7lva question that needs to be addressed
What a historic, and unique color video. Special thanks.
My grandfather was in the 82nd airborne and liberated 2 concentration camps. He saw things no one I mean no one should ever see or go through. He came back with a German pistol (they let them come back with a few things not looting by any means) he was shot twice and had a hand grenade explode near him. He wouldn’t talk about his time there but he said if he had to
He would do it all over again to save people and stop the monsters doing horrible things. RIP grandpa Bill
Welp if only our grandparents had only seen what would've come of this world today, they wouldn't have set foot out of those landing crafts onto the beach.
@@seizuresalad91 You cannot think that way. History is not linear, it is cyclical and exponential. The horrible things we see today could have happened even if the Axis had won the war. At least we in the west have had 60-70 years of relative peace and prosperity since WWII. We should all live today while sacrificing in moderation for tomorrow.
People need to experience what that generation went through.
@@electrominded8372 not saying it is linear but we ultimately took the side of communism and Marxian philosophy. The Frankfurt School philosophers ended up in the US and else where and now we get to dance again. This time it's at a much larger level and yes it is complex now. Look at what happened to Eastern Europe as a result of the war's end and today they still feel the ramifications of such a parasitic ideology.
You can’t seriously think America took the side of communism. I STG goose steppers get worse at this every year.
my mom was a little girl in Poland .....the pain of war goes on for decades. it never goes away.
My 92 year old mother, who lives in Pennsylvania, USA, donated a coat in 1949 to help the Europeans suffering after the war. She pinned her address into the sleeve, and later received a letter from a woman in Poland who lived in Rybienko. I have the letter and would love to have it translated. It appears to be a dialect, Google translate was not able to recognize all the words even though the handwriting is impeccable.
As was my mother ❤. Your words speak the haunting, heart breaking truth. God bless you and your loved ones.
Thank you. My Mom is finding peace in her late 70's after 40 years of depression. God Bless you also.@@DonnaMaria-xq2zk
So sad.
@darleneschneck
I could help you. Rybienko is in Kashubia region and I think there are kashubian words in the letter.
Now, 79 years later, it's vital to remember what dictators destroy: everything & everyone they can reach! Let this please be a lesson to us all.
Churchill sold out Germany to the communists.
I wish we will learn but I don’t think so if you see US is supplying weapons to a nazie regime Ukraine and a war that US engrener
The main lesson of history is that it repeats itself.
Europe never learns. Their history is full of war. The most peaceful period was when the Soviets and Americans balanced each other out with the threat of nuclear weapons. Now that threat isn't taken seriously and Europe will look like this again unless they give peace a chance.
America 🇺🇸 is being destroyed from within ,woke culture, social equality issues, open borders, climate change issues, will destroy our freedoms!
Amazing Documentary, may history never forget.
Since people may try to destroy it to rewrite it
They already have forgotten.
Unfortunately politicians in Europe, the US and elsewhere are in war mode again. It's always "Never again", 80 years later it's "All over again".
"Elites" seem to need war at some point.
What an incredible snapshot in time. I was watching more for an interest in the fashion which in itself can reveal a lot. There were the well nourished, rich women in their hats and furs while the commoners were hauling buckets of rubble from bomb sites. Even the old women had to do it to get food. This is the kind of history more people need to be shown to understand what it was like for people like themselves.
Good observation.
I noticed so many of the young German men/boy survivors had incredibly skinny legs.
And the woman dressed in their best and wearing heels push carts for miles on those roads looking for their future. Even in dire situations people try their best. War. What a waste.
Let us all remember and say NEVER AGAIN!!!
Мой отец - воин Красной армии, когда шел по Восточной Германии в 1944-м году рассказывал, что у них было много еды. В России в СССР тогда был голод.
, вспомни сколько войн было и есть после той? Я пережил две войны в Чечне 1994-1997 потом 1999-2008. Мой народ потерял 30% в 21 веке! Та жа Германия, США смотрели как нас убивают.
This is such a great piece of wwII history. Should never be forgotten the horror that the world suffered during this time.
Personally, I think it's a war crime to bomb not cornered soldiers hiding in a city, but bombing a whole country as a way of fighting back
Another group went thru 400 years of hell, this is nothing.
Thank you for this incredible footage. Been awake since 2am and have been scrolling forever for something as interesting as this! 👏 👍
Wow, a truly wonderful documentary. I have forwarded it via email to my brother who also loves history. Thank you!
I appreciate how this documentary keeps mentioning the year of the particular scene we’re watching. So many documentaries only say the year once and expect us to remember while throwing more info at us. It’d be even better if the date of the scene was in the corner of the screen the whole time to make it easier to follow along.
seen snippets of this for years.thanks for the whole show.
Other than - there are no words to convey what people should feel after seeing footage such as this. This is why I for one, go out of my way once I know that im in the presence of a Veteran to give to them on behalf of a greatfull Nation a very Heart Felt "Thank You for what you did for all of us". I only as a Citizen Salute all of you.
I knew that a lot of Berlin had been destroyed, but I never realised quite how utterly comprehensive the carnage was. Virtually every building was in ruins.
Look at the images of Warsaw after ww2
Filmed nearly 80 years ago, everyone except for babies and young children, are all now deceased, many long gone. The march of time waits for no man, nor tide but keeps on beating, on and on pushing history further and further away.
Thanks captain obvious 🙄
The remaining German men were sent to camps and gulags. Most did not return.
I am one of those young children, born in 1938. I will always remember things I have seen doing the war and after the war. You are so correct and making your statement.
@@hbendzulla8213Goodness you're 85 years old, you've got 20 years on me and I feel old let me tell you, lol. God Bless
So must we, looking into the future for a better mankind.
Amazing work, thank you. A painful reminder
My Polish Mum & Dad lived thru this era and they suffered but they survived ...
Dad spoke many languages and worked as an interpreter for the US Army ...
Our family later moved to Australia !
This was a fantastic documentary thanks for sharing
Great video thank you for preserving our history
The kids are always the tear jerker for me. So innocent.
They were all guilty one way or another…..
@@jamesmack3314Don't forget to take your meds 👍
@@jamesmack3314like you’re guilty for gaza?!
I have seen some of the kids on the videos being little jerks as well.
Thank You Free Documentary
Great content as always
What a memory hit, I was born 1938 in Berlin. Seems almost like yesterday, bombed in the early 1941 by the British and 1944 big time by the U.S. Air-force. Stormed by the Russian infantry shooting at every thing that moved. I remember cleaning brick from the bombed out Ruins, and straightening out nails pulled from wood beams debris.
I have been living in California for 63 years and I love it, let’s hope we will never have a full blown 3 rd W.W.
I live in California. I visited Munich. I say the city was lovely. Never. never ever again the German destruction. California is fine. But the Kultur in Germany was fantastic to me
It's overwhelming to see what destruction can happen during wartime. The images of debris being cleared by hand over hand bucket is wild. I asked my teenage son what he had learned about WWII in school and he said very little. It was "touched on". smh.
It's amazing that you lived through all of that and lived the majority of your life in America.
I had a friend who was born in Berlin in 1936. He endured the entire Battle of Berlin and its aftermath. Despite our age difference (I was born in 1970), we became close friends. We were pen pals for about 15 years, initially about business, but over time his experience of his time came out and became a regular topic of discussion. I became obsessed with the Battle and the post war years that followed. His description of the fighting, the strafing ("my ears are still ringing" he would say to me) and of course the mass rapes, including his mother and grandmother. I have been to Berlin many times since and had always hoped to visit with him. The best I could do was get my picture taken in front of his former house in Alt Moabit. Seeing pictures of a modern Berlin made him think of his experience as a "bad dream". He managed to make his way to Canada in 1951 or 1952 on the many ships coming out of Bremen at the time. He passed a few years ago and I miss him and his recollections dearly.
I'm sure California was a welcome sight away from all of the destruction. Take care and salutations from Arizona.
I'm pleased to note that you found happiness in the United States. I too remember the destruction of Liverpool England, during the heavy bombing raids conducted by the German Luftwaffe, forcing my family to spend many desperate sleepless nights in the protection of air raid shelters. The devastation and loss of civilian life was enormous.
I too live in this wonderful country where I've found so much joy. I often equate living in the United States to winning the lottery, which consisted of emigrating from Great Britain, meeting my wonderful wife, starting my family, owning my own business and living the American dream. I'm blessed. 🇺🇲 🇺🇲 🇺🇲 🇺🇲 🇺🇲.
@@pip393 congratulations I’m very happy for you. Again wars off what reason or nature are horrible.
Merry Christmas to you and family.
Glad to see someone recorded this, no one should forget what happened. It had to be weird time with all those different soldiers stationed in a occupied zone.
I absolutely adore all these colorized WW2 videos. I just love history.
This is NOT colorized. It was originally shot on Kodachrome film.
My bad, you're totally right. That makes it even cooler. @@Secession1900
UA-cam is certainly not the place to look for history
The key to much historical writing depends upon which side of the line you're standing and how much ink you have, since most of history is written with patriotic rose tinted spectacles.
Such is the reason many historical events must be viewed with a very jaundiced eye.
After WWII Winston Churchill said it perfectly " History will be kind to me since I intend to write it".
@@ChairmanMeow1 Viewing a people, and city in ruins is not "cool".
its so hard to believe that all the beautiful people in this video by now are dead.....
the baby might with the bug might still be around
These scenes are really sobering. I can’t even imagine the overwhelming feeling people must have had living among seas of rubble, hardly knowing where to begin reconstructing their cities and their lives. Europe in general was absolutely decimated by WW2. But it also gives me some hope because if Europe and Japan could rebuild, then the ruined places of today can be rebuilt as well.
What can’t be rebuilt is the inner hatred and resentment that stems out of warfare… the day Russia invaded Ukraine, a hatred was born that will last for generations.
Don't underestimate peoples amazing resilience in hardships, I think that many where just happy that the abslute terror and misery of war was finally over and they survived. I feel extremy sad for the children, their childhood stolen by the madness of a few.
This film left me with a cold feeling in my chest.
Congratulations, you are human.
Please avoid researching the bombing of Dresden and other civilian targets, avoid finding more about the plight of German civilians on the Soviet side, avoid any books on the starvation of 1.5 million unarmed German soldiers after the war by pres Eisen.... Avoid doing an account of the losses inflicted on the German population, avoid looking into why and who started the war, avoid looking into the myth of German villany and absolutely avoid asking who carried out the crimes against humanity. Remember, ignorance is bliss and asking questions can only harm you.
@@oopsmonkey I avoided reading this response after the first sentence.
@@oopsmonkeyWhat do you mean? You are talking about the bombing of Dresden but what about the German bombings of Rotterdam and Warsaw in 1939/1940 (and durring the Spanish civil war?). If you bomb people dont expect them to sit idle, they are going to shoot back.
It was a great compliment by several cited in this film to compare Berlin to Carthage.
The quality of your news documentaries is top-notch. 👌 Impressive storytelling! 📖"
LOL. Storytelling indeed, certainly not History
History repeating itself. Same game, different players.
Germany on the worst side again.
UCRAIN3 Russia now very sad.humam history
@JoseFernandez-cp3cv nah its the genocide happening in palestine
@@irshaadisaacs17Stalin killed 50'000 + Russians during his reign and was just as paranoid as Adolf and as some members of Knesset.
@staciasmith5162 Germany supports Ukraine, which is the right side. Putin is the wrong side.
My Mother..born in germany in 1936 lost everything (including all her family) and grew up as a war orphan. I wish she would share more of her past, but she just suffers in silence
I hope that changes - the suffering in silence. Her story needs to be released into the universe and above all, you need to hear it. She needs to tell it. Good luck.
@@FreeDocumentaryHistory Why ? It will not reverse the past and thanks to some influencers on social media, history has been twisted by them, luring in the wrong people for repeating the same mistakes again. THAT is what this woman is suffering about, having lost everything, wondering, whether the nation has given her sense and respect by thinking about, how not to vote those in again, that caused her pain.
@@thies7831what do you mean why? Because humanity need to hear the people that lived through this times story? All of the WW2 generation will be gone from this world and then we cannot get these stories out anymore.
а о чем ей рассказывать, как зиговала фюреру? Об этом теперь стыдно признаваться.
@@thies7831So with that attitude, I guess the next time you catch a cold, your plan is to do nothing and simply expire. Because after all, everyone eventually dies, right? Who needs 20-50 years of extra life.
Anyone who knows better and doesn't speak out loudly is as responsible as those who seek to twist history!
My father was an American POW for 9 months. He went to war in Germany in early 1944. He was a medic. They weren’t supposed to take anyone with a cross on their arm as prisoners but dad’s commander was shot in the face arguing at the German officer. Germany never listened to the rules of the Geneva Convention. He weighed 190 when he joined and 92 at the end of the war. He was at deaths door so to speak. He passed in the early eighties and I miss him so much. He was a rock😢
My dad was lucky...44 months in Amarillo, Texas. Didn't have to invade Japan, for obvious reasons. Gratitude and respect to your late father's memory.... My dad passed in '84....will always miss him....
Bless his soul amen
Bless him He is not forgotten!
Мой отец - из Сибири. Воевал в Красной армии в 1944-45 гг. форсировал Днепр, шёл по Польше, по Восточной Германии. Дважды ранен. После войны был художником. Умер в 2002-м. Я его очень люблю и скучаю по нему. Он был лучшим отцом!
Здравствуйте. История Вашего отца трогает
Its crazy that my great grandma would be born 17 years after the making of this film. She died 2 years ago. I feel truly blessed. This is closest we will get to time travel during our lifetime.
So she was born in 1962.Died quite young but being great grandma in her 40tish is impressive
My condolences.
?????
????
Sounds unlikely
As German born, I have been told many stories by my grandmother and mother that was born in 43. What horror they experienced, and still survived. One can only feel that devastation after seeing this footage.
What a nightmare that will hopefully never be repeated.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But it is happening again..
It is no coincidence the elite want to disarm the free people of the planet....
There are no coincidences in today's politics.. Only results of devious plans in play for decades...
I have the same hope. Sadly, I think we are seeing this nightmare repeated in Ukraine, and in a number of other, more remote places. 😢
@@MarkMark The russians have ruined parts of Babi yar, imagine that, it is so freaking sad and horrible.
@@mikebrown41182thanks to NATO. And Joe Biden
@@MarkMarkrepeating in Ukraine? What nonsense, you can’t compered this to wars
I am from India. War never won. It's loses the humanities... please pray for all who suffers in any war around the world in the past.....we all should avoid wars in the future for the sake of humanity
A very noble sentiment, but you can’t unilaterally declare peace. Look at what Putin is doing to Ukraine. When you are attacked, you have to defend yourself.
just imagine what was going on in India at this very time period, few months after the WW2 was over. I just imagine what our freedom fighters might be doing or thinking during that time
Yes if it's destined to happen for change in system it should happen @@BenLapke
So sorry! That is not the way of humans. Humans fight wars. Always has been, and
always will be. May the Force be with you.
Tell that to the elite bankers who could not care less about the average person.
If your in a country where the leader puts up a giant picture of himself RUN lol
😂 Damn good advice! Amen 🙏
It wasn’t just the leader, the civilians who wholeheartedly supported him were also to blame
@@theresamurphy3351- They got snookered by lies and BS big talk. Same thing happening now in the US.
Verdade ! Quem idolatra a se mesmo , e é amante de se mesmo , não ama nem respeita seu próximo.
We had this in America a decade ago and I thought the same thing. It was one of the reasons of what made me feel so uncomfortable about Obama.
Thank you for posting this footage.
There are no winners in war, only destruction, physically, emotionally, spiritually and politically. We still haven't learnt our lesson.
Would you rather the Germans had won?
@@RebeccaTurner-ny1xxGeneral Patton made the famous remark that we defeated the wrong enemy. Stalin was far worse than Adolf, more prejudice and more heartless with his mind on more and more conquered expanse at the expense of millions of innocents. It would have been best to simply let them destroy each other.
@@Kee2Oz "Stalin was far worse than Adolf" and with that: goodbye.
Greed and power always lead to destruction and sorrow.
No winners keep telling yourself that 😂
My dad was in Germany in 46 , the harsh winter.I have some fascinating photos of his time there during his national service.
You should publish them or at least make a video colllage of them on your UA-cam channel.
It is great hearing people reflecting on their national service. The photos sound everso fascinating.
А мой отец был ранен второй раз 9 января 1945 г. в Восточной Германии (СССР)
скількох жінок він згвалтував?
THIS is what war looks like:
Suffering is NOT optional
And THIS was brought on by British and French cowardly pacifists who tried every pathetic move to avoid WAR.
Indeed. Imagine the suffering innocent people went through.
War didn’t look like this before the Industrial Revolution. Thank you Science !
Very good an informative vedio I like your work on one task
Fantastic series of programmes
These videos and all history of war should be released
Amazing footage ❤❤❤
My uncle was with the 82nd airborne and and they were part of the American sector occupying force. I still have his red Berlin pass. He stayed for six months before rotating back to the U.S..
How many German women did the Whoremongerer abuse while he occupied their nation?
@@jjtrucker5950why would you say that. You don’t know him.
Because it was common knowledge that American military personal took full advantage of desperate starving frightened German women after the surrender during the allied occupation immediately after the war ended.
@@jazzcat1056
Interesting sidenote: The Kaiserhof hotel, shown at 8:38, was never reopened like the Hotel Adlon was, that was shown earlier. Instead, it is now the *_North Korean Embassy._* There's an amusing circularity of that, from one brutal dictator to another.
Dear Mark
thank you for sharing this memorable moment .
A fabulous documentary. Sadly, we as a species still haven't learned anything from our past. Wars continue to wage around the world, and it would be fair and accurate to say 'There hasn't been a day of peace since WW2' . The arms manufacturers and dealers are always the winners, the public the losers on all sides, while the officials dine in style and comfort. So long as a class system exists there will always be wars to wage and fight, God forbid the status quo be shook.
Well... About winners... That time Rothschilds, Rockefeller and few corporations leaded by IG Farben. Nowadays we have another devil. BlackRock.
Not "we" because we do not profit from these wars or start them, it's the bagel eaters that do.
Might seem that way, but the global percent of people dying in wars is at an historical all time low. Generally speaking, we HAVE learnt, OR it could just be because of the nukes!!
Fascinating and important view of WW2 aftermath
I visited Berlin in 1982 as a soldier on an orientation tour. The Cold War was at its height, but the rules established in 1945 were still in effect. Memorials for the Great Patriotic War were everywhere in the Eastern Side.
I too visited Berlin for the same reason in 1982. I was stationed in Fuerth (outside of Nurnberg), 1st AD (Old Ironsides) during 1981 and 1982. I took the duty train from Frankfurt over night, curtains drawn, security checking you were in your berths at every stop. That one tour, along with visiting the Czech border, shaped my understanding and disdain for communism than I could ever have learned during a normal life without witnessing it firsthand.
@@loriguidos7014 I was an "Occupying Force" dependent who took such duty trains often back and forth between Berlin and Frankfurt - in the 1970s.
In retrospect, those were great overnight sleepers!
All the frequent stops with East German guards and their German shepards at every station and siding along the Russian sector were somehow more cool than scary... when I was 10~
As my husband was a GI, we were stationed in Berlin from 92 until 94. Amazing how neglected the East still was compared to the west…
@@slypear
It was quite scary going from the west to east Berlin in the 70s when I was a teen. To us living in west Germany, it was hard to fathom not being able to leave our country as it was with the ones that were trapped in the east. My Grandmother made it out just in time when my Grandfather didn’t come back home.
@@loriguidos7014 and don’t just say horror! free housing, free medicine, free education and compulsory employment. Central heating and hot water. In winter, people wear T-shirts at home, not hats. maternity leave 3 years. vacation per year is 30 days. free travel on public transport. child support payments. free school meals breakfast and lunch. You can continue indefinitely. what a horror it is when everything is free...
i love these video that gives us a look at life in the past
Take in history and learn from it so you don't have to relive it.
My mom made potato soup with steak in it. It was what my grandma made for my grandpa when he returned home from the war. Even had a glass of milk which my grandpa loved. It’s like I stepped back in time.
Great Watch. Do the Sequence. Thank you.
I had not seen this before. Truly amazing
I wish my dad could have seen this. He was part of the occupation forces and would spend 3 years in Berlin. I have some photos he took of the different sectors, and the British, French, and Russian soldiers there. He told me of recieving a care package from his mom, and sharing some treats with some Russian soldiers. This was before the Berlin Wall went up, and some interaction with the Soviet troops was allowed. My dad loved his time in Germany and made some good friends there. He almost married a German woman, and I wonder if she is in any of the footage seen here. My dad passed away in 2000.
You comment is pretty much identical to my Dad's experience. He, too, made lots of friends while stationed over there and met the love of his life... He was shipped back though - never to see her again but, in some twist of fate.... Furthermore, he managed to name two of his children after her, my Sister Pauline and me... Paul Ian... He had a twisted sense of humour! lol
Why couldn't they take these women with them? Something like when US soldiers were stationed in Ireland for a time being and some of them took local wifes there and brought them to States with them.
Thanks for liberating us and may God give long peace to your forefathers - my hometown of 10 000 in Moravia Czech Republic used to have hooked crosses everywhere. People were hanged here, life was tough under Germans for my family. Pavel from Prague.
Почему вы армию освободителей называете оккупационными силами? Разве СССР напал на Германию? Разве Великобритания напала на Германию? Разве США напала на Германию? Разве Польша напала на Германию? Разве эти страны возвели в абсолют идею превосходства их расы над другими? Разве эти страны называли свою нацию богоизбранной? Вам следует изучить эти вопросы, прочитать большой объем информации и документов, чтобы не делать в будущем такие ошибки. Да да, именно ошибки!
@@OCDadalтакже как и всегда, в брак сложно вступать с человеком с клеймом несчастья. Проще уехать и найти женщину более счастливую у себя дома. Это разрушило и разрушает многие жизни. Сейчас также на международных сайтах знакомств видно, как мужчины несмотря на войну в Украине и России ищут среди женщин веселых, жизнерадостных, незатронутых горем. Эти мужчины отрицают, что невозможно нормальному человеку в этих условиях играть в счастье. Такова жизнь.
@@TheValishin Советские войска сначала назывались - оккупационными силами, потом статус сменился на Советский контингент в ГДР. И это - правильно.
One of histories greatest tragedies.
Great documentary.
Great film. Be nice to see more of this footage. 😊
My grandfather was a prison of war was one of the many British army who stayed fighting to let the rest of the the British and French army to be saved to fight another day at Dunkirk my grandfather was in prison off war in Poland in till 1945. Rip grandad you was a real hero and all the rest of the army, navy, royal air force who fought in the second world war.
I visited Germany during the summer of 1984, I was 17. West Germany by then a recovered economic miracle was a fascinating place full of wonderful cars and machines but also an armed camp. The sky was full of American helicopters and British jets. It was very tense.
I was in Berlin in march of 2014 just a few days. This city stunned me with his beauty. My first and best euro trip ever
3:45 That big stretch of forest just beyond the Brandenburg Gate is amazing. I don't know if it exists today or not.
Yes, it is the Tiergarten and the Victory Column is still there too
It’s quite astonishing how quickly Germany rose from ashes and rebuilt so quickly.
The national spirit has been extinguished however.
WW2 finished Germany forever.
@@hia5235 nah
@@hia5235 forever? Really? That’s a bold prediction.
That's purely because of West dumping money on them
@@voido68 not just that. The infrastructure was already there so the fundamentals were sound to begin with which made rebuilding easier.
Muchas gracias 👍 me encanta ver películas documental
Come on number 5! 😮
Spent my Friday night watching this series now. Thank you. I’ve had a lovely time and I promise to remember Film Crew #186. 😅
Love the attitude of the girl at 2:16 who pokes her tongue out as she takes another bucket of rubble. Gold.
I spotted that too. She clearly still retained a sense of fun in the midst of such a miserable existence.
Excellent documentary!
My much loved late father was a displaced person who had been taken from his village in Poland, now Western Ukraine, by the Germans. He never saw his family again. He was taken to work on a farm in Austria and was treated badly. Never fed properly but expected to work dawn till dusk. His stomach ruined forever. He went from camp to camp as a displaced person. Eventually coming to Britain where he was treat well and he worked all his life in a factory where he met my mother and they had a good life together until he passed away in 1998. He could not return to his home and family. Under soviet rule, he would have endangered his family and so spent most of his life not knowing what had become of them. What ever the Germans suffered, they inflicted so much heartbreak on so many people because of their leaders, but condoned by them. Now my fathers family in West Ukraine, as it became after the border changed with Poland, are now in an unwanted war with Russia. We found them finally in the mid 1990s. My father was the only sibling alive. His parents and brothers and sister dead. We met the younger ones, thankfully. The impact on the lives of so many people is horrific. The suffering that went on for more than one generation. For what?
very wise words.
For politics. People don't count.
My Grandfather was forced labour also but treated incredibly kindly by the family. They stayed in contact for many years after the war.
@@juliaforsyth8332 Sadly many were not
Amazing documenter film
I once worked for man that was a top turret gunner in a B-24 that bombed Cologne several times. He went there after the war ended and bought some post cards from an old man selling those on a road bridge. The old guy pointed out where the structures in the post card photos once were since everything had been turned to rubble. He showed me the post cards one day and remarked that he felt bad about helping to blow up such a pretty city.
@@Claire-jj4lc He was free to have those feelings once the war was over.
incredible footage
Fantastic video. Thank you for sharing this video, God bless you 🙏
Essential viewing. Should be compulsory on ever school syllabus.
3:47 love that fly over starting from the Brandenburd Gate. If you follow the same path at the same height with Google Earth it’s pretty neat.
A country of men and women, who demanded war. A country who killed millions and harmed many millions more, are feeling and dealing with what they cheered about when it was other people. I have sympathy for the hungry children and do not relish anyone's pain and hunger, but I save my heartache for the dead and my family in Vilnius.
Found out after my grandmother died we had a German grandfather from Hambruch and his last name was Hambruch.. My great grandmother also was married to a Goddard. They moved to the United States in the 20’s.
Thank you . War is evil .
no my friend, war is a racket
And with Trump. Look out
Perfect 5 part series minus the awful censoring, would be good to show in history classes in schools. This is a timeless piece.
UA-cam is doing this ridiculous censorship across the board. It’s extremely childish!
Agreed.
However, sadly the current mood of "don't speak the truth, it's a distraction from our fascist ideals" and "burn the history books, they're giving the people wrong ideas", might stand in the way of your valid suggestion for enlightenment.
Agree regarding the disgraceful censorship. Goebells would be proud of YT.
Cant you consider that the channel wants to earn money? Boo hoo
@PRubin-rh4sr Lame excuse. That's how history gets buried and repeated.
Absolutely priceless footage!
in despite of this terrible battle, people are more elegant than today
I was thinking exactly that...far better dressed
I was stationed in what was West Germany from 1982 to 1990. In 1984, when you went through Check Point Charlie into East Berlin, you saw a day-and- night difference between what freedom brought the West Germans, and the rationing and poverty that the Communists brought to what was East Berlin and East Germany. When the Berlin Wall came down in November of 1989, I saw how much the Germans in the East wanted their freedom. The time my family and I spent living in Frankfurt and Heidelberg were some of the best years of our lives.
I wonder what the east Germans think now; Post Angela Merkel & her disastrous immigration & 'refugee' policies?
Most people from the East germany now say that life was better with communists, you know that?
@@alexbeck204they're insane then
@@alexbeck204.... bet they miss the STASI too ...... not
@@peterherard8207 May be not the Stasi, but free medicine, education and homes - why not? Now many of them feel they are the second sort of people in their own country, with their wages etc. noticeably smaller than in the western part.
Morality. The last few sentences and that quote about morality are noteworthy after we consider the most recent wars along with the morals displayed by the losing/ trying to lose side.
I'm just admiring all of those women being able to still smile and come together after the war. Knowing that maybe almost all of them have lost their husbands.
And many women were raped by the Russians.
There’s a lesson to be learned in there smiling. Just how quickly you can be forgotten and replaced by that Gender 😂😂😂
And their honour, just like in iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else
You admire people who zealously attempted to eliminate an entire demographic? They lost their husbands because they started a war with the world. That was their choice.
They also lost their fathers. It was a different place then it is today. Two world wars take most of Germany's male population over 40 years. Add the losses from the other countries and EU take a different shape then the 300 plus years of violence prior.
I was in Berlin in 1977. Some things I recognize and some I don't. We could drive the tour bus past the Soviet War memorial but could not stop. We waved to the guards. The tour guide said she got one return wave in some years. The zoo was great. I was surprised how much Dutch art was in the museums. We could not use the S Bon, but could use the U Bon as the S Bon was run by the East Germans. The wall was still up.
S Bahn und U Bahn
@@sinamark-comthanks, until I didn't read your correction, I couldn't understand, that means "U Bon".
Amazing! Excellent 👌 Thanks
I cannot even begin to imagine what this was like. God bless those who sought out the righteousness of the end of such carrnange.
Excellent documentary 👏...a real treat to watch it in color 😊! Thanks ❤.
Powerful images !
It is striking to me that even while living in the rubble of the apocalypse, the Berliners are wearing pretty dresses, smart suits, and ties. While in the most prosperous country in the history of the world, the Americans wear gym clothes. War crimes aside, It had to have been a vibrant and proud city.
Куда отбросить воен преступления? Именно германской армией в годи второй мировой вот также как Берлин били разрушени СОТНИ городов СССР, а также Польши , Франции, Великобритании.не нужно из нацистов делать няшек...
He said," Berlin could never be rebuilt." The Germans rebuilt Berlin! Wunderschön!
Just remember who paid for it .
@@dredbud9272 і хто?
The city is beautiful! I was there two years ago.
Extraordinary seeing this footage..in colour as well (not colorised I take it)…also to see Monty and Zhukov together, two great Generals…
One of the reasons West Germany was able to recover quickly, was the fact that many German POWs in US POW camps took English lessons from qualified teachers. Many received proficiency certificates in English from American Universities. Armed with knowledge of English they returned home and were able to get jobs in Allied Gov't agencies which made reconstruction easier.
dang...they able to learn english just within few month to a year...german back then was really efficientcy
I married into a Berlin family and was quite close to my mother-in-law. As a daughter of German immigrants in the late 20s I learned a great deal about Germany in and after the war. I have memoirs from my husband and his brother and her. The Russians were terrible and took watches but didn’t know how to wind them, some lined the inside of their coats with unwound watches. They were seriously uneducated. Family members were spirited away for labor camps by the Russians. Rape, yes, of family child helper. My family came from both the north of Germany and all the way to Switzerland border, next to the POW and downed ally soldiers, pilots escape route to Switzerland next to the town of Singen. 82 and as a scientist I still have a very good photographic memory plus many documentations from that era. Living with a survivor (he passed at 84) was a learning experience not available in the written word.
I have a similar family story. My father came to the US in 1928 from the Volhynia region of Ukraine (now) and it was Russian then. He then fought in the Second World War . Although he was German he didn’t like the Germans of 1944. I think a lifetime of living in an area that was passed from Prussia to Poland, to Russia stripped him of allegiance to Germany. He only considered himself American and was a staunch hater of war of any kind. The Battle of the Bulge defined him for the rest of his life.
@@kathysanden1539 No true German would lose faith in the NSDAP, they literally saved the country from the brink of collapse due to the bagel eaters. Go learn your history.
Germany sees Soviet people as subhuman.