The big difference i believe the Estonian Waffen-SS had from other Waffen-SS was that, at the end, they weren't fighting for Germany or her ideology. They only joined and fought for the independence of Estonia. They didn't care about the fate of Germany. They only cared about the defence of their lands. And fought hard for it...
the other ss also didnt fight for germany , the waffen ss was mostly foreighn volounteers , they fought against communism first and foremost which was a danger for all of their countrys no matter if they liked the germans or not
@@tavish4699 The German Waffen SS divisions made up of entirely German soldiers were terrible and most committed war crimes, some of the foreign volunteer Waffen divisions had some of their own, the 1st Estonian Grenadiers (or the 20th Waffen SS Grenadier Division) to this day have had no war crimes attributed to their unit on the scale the other SS divisions became known for. Although these are official war crimes against civilians but the Eastern Front was brutal for all involved so war crimes were broken almost daily between soldiers.
Estonian's are good soldiers. So much so that America even took some of the Estonian units and made them american. They helped to guard the Nuremberg trials etc. Their unit patch was a trip lol. Check it out if you ever get bored
As Estonians, we recognize these actors very well. Most of them studied in the Estonian Theatre Academy together in one group, and their main teacher was the guy who directed this film. They graduated in 2012, if I am not mistaken, just a bit before that movie was made and have all become very loved and successful drama actors by now. This group is famous for doing lots of things together: they studied together, then this movie, other various projects (mostly to do with humour) and most of them work in the same theatre (Tallinn City Theatre) which is considered by most theatre lovers here as the best theatre in Estonia, always sold out and very hard to get tickets for. Estonia has great actors and an excellent drama education, and for us theatre is what church would be for most other people in other nations. We are proud of our actors. This movie is not the best our Estonian movies, it worked the best in cinemas, of course. Watching it on TV will not really work. We do make quite a lot of movies actually, all acted by theatre actors with higher education in drama acting. Very glad that so many people in other countries have enjoyed this film. It also depicts quite well how we actually had to fight each other in this war. Whoever one was fighting for, we were all Estonians trying to survive and to do what he thought was best for the country. We never wanted to fight for the Germans but it was the only choice we had, a choice between two evils. And it is very clear to anyone who has had any encounter with Russians (not necessarily individual people) know that it can not get any worse than that. So fighting with Germans seemed like the better of two evils. That does not mean we were nazzis, supporting Nazi ideas. We were perfectly aware that Estonians were also of a lower race in their opinion. Anyway, now we are free and have built up a nice and well functioning democratic developed country, despite all of our history. But at what cost
Lots of Estonians went to Finland at different times and fought the Soviets up there as part of the Finnish Army. Better place to be in 1945 then hopelessly trapped in Estonia or Kurland pocket.
My great grandfather fought in the tannenberg line and fell back to germany and was eventually captured by the americans and then he was sent back to the soviet union where he was sent to a gulag and only released in 1952 but he could never return to the baltics as he was a "war criminal" by soviet standards
A compelling movie that definitely worth watching. The switch of perspectives is quite unique and would only work for a country like Estonia, caught in a war between two occupiers.
Estonia also has other War movie not that good but still, its about independence war 1918 Nameb on Marble (Nimed marmortahvlil) Elmo Nüganen is also involved there as scenarist. 2002
Nice one sir. And equally nice hair!! One of the many blunders levelled at Adolf H was not ‘liberating’ countries like Estonia or the Ukraine and occupying them. Thing is though, this is like saying “if the Nazis had just stopped being Nazis and liberated these countries……” etc etc, which is just daft. They were, admittedly, very opportunistic but there are limits. Racialism and racism were just too fundamental to their being. I shall watch this film, though. Thanks for the recommendation. Carry on……..
Thanks brother. Thanks for also addressing the endless "what ifisms" of WW2 discussion it can be an exhausting discourse where people end up having to rewrite the whole war haha
A woman from my town was sent to siberia but now hes back, my grandpa was also a soviet solider building the siberian railroad in the 70s, im a estonian btw, my grand grandma is 91 and has survived ww2 too
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne This isn't anti-German nor anti-Soviet propaganda. The movie shows Estonians fighting a foreign war on 2 sides, one side is the Estonian SS which to Estonians mostly volunteered into (because the Germans were seen as liberators for like a year for the Estonians because of the mass deportations commited during the Soviet occupation). Then there is the Estonian Rifle Corp who were mostly forcibly mobilised right before the Germans arrived in 1941. The film talks about how the Estonians fight their own compatriots in the war and it shows the perspectice of both sides also, so it cannot be an anti-German nor an anti-Soviet propaganda film.
@@KoitTammeGermans wanted to make Baltic people to build the "superior race", since according to them the Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians were in the middle of the "inferior, " slavic people and the "superior" Germanic people. And you fell for this racial ideology that murdered Roma, jew, disabled, inclusive the dissidents. Don't forget that they wanted to reduce the poles to 15% percent and make them slaves. They murdered thousands people in Italy. If it wasn't for urss the war could have taken more years.
In many ways, the Russians were worse that the Germans. The War ended in 1945, however, the Soviet Union still had a stranglehold on Estonia until the Fall of the Soviet Union many years later.
Excellent overview. Sad sick tragic history. commies and nazis = BAD & BAD. Very correct historical summary. Very sad. Great movie - very well done & sad. Be Safe out there. Peace & Health to Us All.
Throughout Estonian history, Estonia has always been the battlefield of devastating wars that weren't even about them. (Livonian War, Great Northern War, WWI, WWII) It's honestly a surprise Estonians still exist, many of these wars had the population drop immensely (Livonian War 50% and some will say 70% for the Great Northern war.) Estonia is a survivor of centuries of being the battlefield.
@@FoundInEstonian you being nearly brought to "extinction " might have been because you are a small amount of people id also love to know how exactly you were nearly brought to extintion i find it highly dramaticed
This same story applies to Latvian SS divisions who fought until the bitter end, with the 19th Latvian SS division being trapped in the Courland pocket.
The Estonian SS are notable for being one of the few units within Nazi Germany to not have commit many, if any atrocities. The extermination of Jews and other groups the Germans deemed "undesirable" within Estonia and surroundings lands were conducted by foreign units, largely Germans themselves. For these reasons, many in Estonia hold our SS members in high regard, seen as tragic heroes, fighting for our right to exist. The tragedy's the fact that the promise of our freedom was a lie fed to us by the Germans, there's no denying were the Germans to be victorious the only thing different in Estonia would be that 1/4 of our nation would be German instead of Russian, like it is today. Russians and their sympathizers would have you believe otherwise, mind you, with essentially everything I just mentioned. It's part of the narrative they've been building since the end of WWII, of them being the saviors of Europe who could do no wrong. The simple fact of the matter is that 315 thousand Russians didn't simply rise from the mud and spawn in Estonia, nor did they *just* immigrate, they were brought in while Estonians were either shot on the spot or railroaded into the deepest hells of Siberia. There is nothing under the sun that can justify or even excuse such actions that took place all across Eastern Europe, especially not since many of the perpetrators and supporters of these actions are alive to this very day. Worse yet, the fact that these practices are once again being put in place in Ukraine. For their entire history, Russians have been and will likely continue to be little more than sadistic executioners and slayers of other people and cultures. And if not that, then themselves.
After becoming independent of the former Soviet Union Estonia gave medals to all of these men they could locate for "fighting communism." My favorite scene in this film is when they shoot the Commissar. The Ukraine in 2023 still honors its men in German service who fought the Soviets.
It didn't. The USSR had to take the Baltics or Germany would have. Had that happened then the USSR would have fallen in Barbarossa and the entire population of Leningrad and Moscow killed. That was Hitler's plan and he would have achieved it, had he been able to start in the Baltics and west Ukraine / east Poland.
because they didnt. the select few (like 5 estonians total did any genocide) individuals do not convict the entire nation, especially if the rest of the nations was against it. if that was the case then russia was a much bigger nazi state during ww2 than you would bear
All Estonians were and are Nazis, hated Jews and were organizers of Holocaust. The same with Latvians, Lithuanians, Finns, Polish, Ukrainians and other Russia's neighbors! Only Russia is peaceful, glorious, benevolent Empire under its Great Rulers!
Estoniaaaaa! It’s nice to see one of your favourite UA-camrs and heritage combine. Good vid :)
Long live the great Estonian nation!
The big difference i believe the Estonian Waffen-SS had from other Waffen-SS was that, at the end, they weren't fighting for Germany or her ideology. They only joined and fought for the independence of Estonia. They didn't care about the fate of Germany. They only cared about the defence of their lands. And fought hard for it...
the other ss also didnt fight for germany , the waffen ss was mostly foreighn volounteers , they fought against communism first and foremost which was a danger for all of their countrys no matter if they liked the germans or not
@@tavish4699 The German Waffen SS divisions made up of entirely German soldiers were terrible and most committed war crimes, some of the foreign volunteer Waffen divisions had some of their own, the 1st Estonian Grenadiers (or the 20th Waffen SS Grenadier Division) to this day have had no war crimes attributed to their unit on the scale the other SS divisions became known for. Although these are official war crimes against civilians but the Eastern Front was brutal for all involved so war crimes were broken almost daily between soldiers.
@@EstonianSharknot all German divisions were bad
Estonian's are good soldiers. So much so that America even took some of the Estonian units and made them american. They helped to guard the Nuremberg trials etc. Their unit patch was a trip lol. Check it out if you ever get bored
Oooh can’t say I ever been this early before, but thanks to your other videos Johnny I had to watch this movie, great review!
Thanks for watching Rismarck!
As Estonians, we recognize these actors very well. Most of them studied in the Estonian Theatre Academy together in one group, and their main teacher was the guy who directed this film. They graduated in 2012, if I am not mistaken, just a bit before that movie was made and have all become very loved and successful drama actors by now. This group is famous for doing lots of things together: they studied together, then this movie, other various projects (mostly to do with humour) and most of them work in the same theatre (Tallinn City Theatre) which is considered by most theatre lovers here as the best theatre in Estonia, always sold out and very hard to get tickets for.
Estonia has great actors and an excellent drama education, and for us theatre is what church would be for most other people in other nations. We are proud of our actors. This movie is not the best our Estonian movies, it worked the best in cinemas, of course. Watching it on TV will not really work. We do make quite a lot of movies actually, all acted by theatre actors with higher education in drama acting.
Very glad that so many people in other countries have enjoyed this film. It also depicts quite well how we actually had to fight each other in this war. Whoever one was fighting for, we were all Estonians trying to survive and to do what he thought was best for the country. We never wanted to fight for the Germans but it was the only choice we had, a choice between two evils. And it is very clear to anyone who has had any encounter with Russians (not necessarily individual people) know that it can not get any worse than that. So fighting with Germans seemed like the better of two evils. That does not mean we were nazzis, supporting Nazi ideas. We were perfectly aware that Estonians were also of a lower race in their opinion.
Anyway, now we are free and have built up a nice and well functioning democratic developed country, despite all of our history. But at what cost
Lots of Estonians went to Finland at different times and fought the Soviets up there as part of the Finnish Army. Better place to be in 1945 then hopelessly trapped in Estonia or Kurland pocket.
my great grandfather included.
My great grandfather fought in the tannenberg line and fell back to germany and was eventually captured by the americans and then he was sent back to the soviet union where he was sent to a gulag and only released in 1952 but he could never return to the baltics as he was a "war criminal" by soviet standards
yes but lets not forget that after findland won, they sent those men back to "warm cuddle" of soviet union.
damn Estonians hit hard
A compelling movie that definitely worth watching. The switch of perspectives is quite unique and would only work for a country like Estonia, caught in a war between two occupiers.
Estonia also has other War movie not that good but still, its about independence war 1918 Nameb on Marble (Nimed marmortahvlil) Elmo Nüganen is also involved there as scenarist. 2002
And now Estonia is a global leader in digital high-tech.
Great for Johnny to let us know about these works.
It's just like that world war 2 korean film where a japanese and a korean both of them were drafted in the german army
"My Way" great film.
@@JohnnyJohnsonHistory indeed
Nice one sir. And equally nice hair!!
One of the many blunders levelled at Adolf H was not ‘liberating’ countries like Estonia or the Ukraine and occupying them. Thing is though, this is like saying “if the Nazis had just stopped being Nazis and liberated these countries……” etc etc, which is just daft. They were, admittedly, very opportunistic but there are limits. Racialism and racism were just too fundamental to their being.
I shall watch this film, though. Thanks for the recommendation.
Carry on……..
Thanks brother. Thanks for also addressing the endless "what ifisms" of WW2 discussion it can be an exhausting discourse where people end up having to rewrite the whole war haha
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne Oh dear……(sighs)
This is the best Eastern Front themed film since 1993's Stalingrad.
A woman from my town was sent to siberia but now hes back, my grandpa was also a soviet solider building the siberian railroad in the 70s, im a estonian btw, my grand grandma is 91 and has survived ww2 too
This is in my top 3 war movie list
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne This isn't anti-German nor anti-Soviet propaganda. The movie shows Estonians fighting a foreign war on 2 sides, one side is the Estonian SS which to Estonians mostly volunteered into (because the Germans were seen as liberators for like a year for the Estonians because of the mass deportations commited during the Soviet occupation). Then there is the Estonian Rifle Corp who were mostly forcibly mobilised right before the Germans arrived in 1941. The film talks about how the Estonians fight their own compatriots in the war and it shows the perspectice of both sides also, so it cannot be an anti-German nor an anti-Soviet propaganda film.
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne Jesus christ shut up you Nazi
@Colonel Of the 82nd Airborne watch the full movie before judging it
@@KoitTammeGermans wanted to make Baltic people to build the "superior race", since according to them the Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians were in the middle of the "inferior, " slavic people and the "superior" Germanic people. And you fell for this racial ideology that murdered Roma, jew, disabled, inclusive the dissidents. Don't forget that they wanted to reduce the poles to 15% percent and make them slaves. They murdered thousands people in Italy. If it wasn't for urss the war could have taken more years.
Good movie 👍🍺
In many ways, the Russians were worse that the Germans. The War ended in 1945, however, the Soviet Union still had a stranglehold on Estonia until the Fall of the Soviet Union many years later.
Can you do video about suomi kp m31
What the song in the beginning?
ua-cam.com/video/T6tj-Fi3OMA/v-deo.htmlsi=It98rMVXQk3NEGmv
Cheers looks like another of your great recommendations.
Hey can anyone tell me the name of the song at the start?
ära mine lapsekene ua-cam.com/video/XLc1t-Nxh38/v-deo.html
Excellent overview. Sad sick tragic history. commies and nazis = BAD & BAD. Very correct historical summary. Very sad. Great movie - very well done & sad. Be Safe out there. Peace & Health to Us All.
The fire power of that plane is just crazy
Could you review the movie "a hidden life". Thanks.
I'll check it out
I’m gonna go watch this now
Enjoy!
Me as a Estonian i can approve that this is great movie.
Maybe you could do a review of the Danish WW2 film, April 9th.
What about the Greek war movies?
Absolutely needs a list
@@JohnnyJohnsonHistory If you need help Im gonna help you
@@captainmolotovxl7852 Well what are a couple of your favorite recommendations?
@@JohnnyJohnsonHistory So I have 2 movies to tell you.The first one is (With heart and soul)and the second one is(The last note)
Small country between two or three large countries. You are just a battleground.
But somehow we are still here :D we actually kicked both of their(russians and germans) asses during independence war
Throughout Estonian history, Estonia has always been the battlefield of devastating wars that weren't even about them. (Livonian War, Great Northern War, WWI, WWII)
It's honestly a surprise Estonians still exist, many of these wars had the population drop immensely (Livonian War 50% and some will say 70% for the Great Northern war.)
Estonia is a survivor of centuries of being the battlefield.
@@FoundInEstonian its the hostiry of all countries in europe mate
not just estonia
@@tavish4699 Am I not allowed to talk about Estonia's experience with being the battlefield? I doubt the French were brought to near extinction.
@@FoundInEstonian you being nearly brought to "extinction " might have been because you are a small amount of people
id also love to know how exactly you were nearly brought to extintion
i find it highly dramaticed
if this is the only one should watch some other ones
"Names in Marbles"
"Tangerines"
This was a great film
Hi Johnny, I watched it during COVID, and yes, it's a pretty decent 🎥
How did you see it please?
This same story applies to Latvian SS divisions who fought until the bitter end, with the 19th Latvian SS division being trapped in the Courland pocket.
Estonians are a Finnic, not a Baltic nation.
These definitions are not mutually exclusive, particularly as they can refer to geography and/ or ethnicity.
@@JohnnyJohnsonHistory then Finland and Sweden are also Baltic nations.
@@eksiarvamus Finland used to be considered a Baltic nation before WW2.
@@JohnHenryEden2277 still a dumb concept as neither is ethnically Baltic.
@@eksiarvamus Well, they both are Baltic Finnic peoples.
The Estonian SS are notable for being one of the few units within Nazi Germany to not have commit many, if any atrocities. The extermination of Jews and other groups the Germans deemed "undesirable" within Estonia and surroundings lands were conducted by foreign units, largely Germans themselves.
For these reasons, many in Estonia hold our SS members in high regard, seen as tragic heroes, fighting for our right to exist. The tragedy's the fact that the promise of our freedom was a lie fed to us by the Germans, there's no denying were the Germans to be victorious the only thing different in Estonia would be that 1/4 of our nation would be German instead of Russian, like it is today.
Russians and their sympathizers would have you believe otherwise, mind you, with essentially everything I just mentioned. It's part of the narrative they've been building since the end of WWII, of them being the saviors of Europe who could do no wrong. The simple fact of the matter is that 315 thousand Russians didn't simply rise from the mud and spawn in Estonia, nor did they *just* immigrate, they were brought in while Estonians were either shot on the spot or railroaded into the deepest hells of Siberia.
There is nothing under the sun that can justify or even excuse such actions that took place all across Eastern Europe, especially not since many of the perpetrators and supporters of these actions are alive to this very day. Worse yet, the fact that these practices are once again being put in place in Ukraine. For their entire history, Russians have been and will likely continue to be little more than sadistic executioners and slayers of other people and cultures. And if not that, then themselves.
Yesss beautiful movie. I forgot it existed but it really is a good watch
👍
Im from Estonia
Wow...shades of the Eastern Front in Ukranian today...
Ott Sepps version is better
🇩🇪👍🇪🇪🤛🇷🇺
Germany was not "an agressor", but the liberator of the baltic states.
After becoming independent of the former Soviet Union Estonia gave medals to all of these men they could locate for "fighting communism." My favorite scene in this film is when they shoot the Commissar. The Ukraine in 2023 still honors its men in German service who fought the Soviets.
It's is the least religious
Quit sucking up to Russians, Estonia fought an honorable cause.
What the hell are you talking about? I would have fought the Russians too.
It didn't. The USSR had to take the Baltics or Germany would have. Had that happened then the USSR would have fallen in Barbarossa and the entire population of Leningrad and Moscow killed. That was Hitler's plan and he would have achieved it, had he been able to start in the Baltics and west Ukraine / east Poland.
@@crhu319 molotov-ribbentrop pact pal, ring a bell?
What, nothing about how the Estonians helped the Nazis with the Holocaust?
There are a few references to the Holocaust. Now a question for you: how many Russian WW2 movies mention the crimes of the Soviet Union?
because they didnt. the select few (like 5 estonians total did any genocide) individuals do not convict the entire nation, especially if the rest of the nations was against it. if that was the case then russia was a much bigger nazi state during ww2 than you would bear
All Estonians were and are Nazis, hated Jews and were organizers of Holocaust. The same with Latvians, Lithuanians, Finns, Polish, Ukrainians and other Russia's neighbors! Only Russia is peaceful, glorious, benevolent Empire under its Great Rulers!
👍