Operation Barbarossa: Brutal Reality of Eastern Front Exposed by Lost German Diaries | Part One

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  • Опубліковано 20 кві 2023
  • 'Brutal Reality of Eastern Front Exposed by Lost German Diaries'
    On 22 June 1941, Hitler's Germany launched ‘Operation Barbarossa’, the attack of the Soviet Union, the largest invasion in military history. In June 2019, twelve dusty notebooks and a wealth of loose paperwork were discovered in Germany; the diaries of Oberleutnant Wilhelm Sander, a young officer in the 11th Panzer-Regiment who took part in the enormous campaign. On every single day Sander, in a brutally honest manner, elaborately recorded his experiences, impressions and the events he witnessed.
    Now transcribed and translated for the first time, they offer a brutally honest, intimate and fascinating view into the murderous and unforgiving nature of war on the Eastern Front from the summer of 1941 to the eventual German retreat in the terrible winter of 1941/1942, while offering a unique glimpse into the world of thought of a highly politicised officer of the German Wehrmacht and member of the NSDAP.
    Follow the path of Leutnant Friedrich Sander, a Panzer officer in the German Wehrmacht during Operation Barbarossa, the attack on the Soviet Union.
    In the first part of a two-part film, we follow Leutnant Sander on the strenuous, and costly race towards Leningrad and learn about the murderous and terrifying goals of the German campaign in the east.
    Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free exclusive podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Mary Beard and more. Watch, listen and read history wherever you are, whenever you want it. Available on all devices: Apple TV, Amazon Firestick, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Roku, Xbox, Chromecast, Xfinity, and iOs & Android.
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    #historyhit #barbarossa #worldwartwo

КОМЕНТАРІ • 6 тис.

  • @HistoryHit
    @HistoryHit  10 місяців тому +224

    The wait is over... PART TWO of Barbarossa: The Lost Diaries has just been made available 👉ua-cam.com/video/ia1sv3vJWYs/v-deo.html

    • @cpurssey982
      @cpurssey982 10 місяців тому +15

      Is there anywhere I can watch this without the censorship of the dead bodies? Morbid I know but I think to get the real feel of this horrid war one must see the true devastation.

    • @davev.4364
      @davev.4364 9 місяців тому +6

      Why are images blurred?

    • @jackblack-gn1cc
      @jackblack-gn1cc 8 місяців тому +2

      Germans should pay for this, how much money costs 1 livie?

    • @herbshore
      @herbshore 8 місяців тому

      ,0😊⁸😊😊

    • @TheMormonPower
      @TheMormonPower 8 місяців тому +4

      I just watched it, well worth the wait. There are endless documentaries on You tube about the war, but very few first hand narrative accounts like this that really bring it to life, Sander, the diarist, give his narration such a humanist tone, teaching us all what he'll war can be 🧐

  • @HistoryHit
    @HistoryHit  11 місяців тому +769

    Hey guys, due to popular demand we have reuploaded the first part of our Barbarossa: Lost Diaries series! Let us know in the comments if you enjoyed and would like to see more of these kinds of documentaries.

    • @SamSamSamSamSam
      @SamSamSamSamSam 11 місяців тому +66

      Bizarre that you deleted it in the first place! Whoever came up with that brainwave needs to have their decision making skills relegated to the coffee run.

    • @Rex1987
      @Rex1987 11 місяців тому +14

      How come you had to re-upload the video? Due to a rights issue or what is the deal?

    • @sentionaut6270
      @sentionaut6270 11 місяців тому +75

      So where is part two? I liked this video and I'd like to hear the rest.

    • @adamcrookedsmile
      @adamcrookedsmile 11 місяців тому +27

      Firstly, I think the documentary shines an appropriate light on the atrocities of Nazi Germany, is a bit vague on the repression, murders and deportations of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union did occupy the Baltic states and parts of Poland in 1940 plus attacked Finland, a tiny country on its northeastern border which managed to avoid complete defeat. The Soviets were no "heroic resistance fighters against nazism", they were a blood-soaked revoutoinary socialists who did not hesitate to mass murder, persecute and torture anyone who opposed them even if they opposed by peaceful and democratic means.
      Secondly, the Nazi intelligence service had done a very poor job at finding out just how industrialised and mobilised the Soviet Union was, nazi army commanders were surprised at encountering new restistance because their high command repeatedly kept telling them that the Red Army had been destroyed. The nazi fools had no idea what they were getting into.

    • @mattbriody7575
      @mattbriody7575 11 місяців тому +11

      @@Rex1987 presumably to get all the people who enjoyed it to subscribe to their service.

  • @billmichae
    @billmichae Місяць тому +15

    It is amazing how softened and cultured has the narrative been made. The original diary text was more than savage.

  • @neal.karn-jones
    @neal.karn-jones 6 місяців тому +83

    I've been an amateur WWII history fanatic since the 1980's and have been watching the same information over and over, and still enjoy those documentaries, but the diaries are new to me and fascinating. Showing the film and reading the diaries like this is a great idea and I hope to see many more.

    • @ortegaJfk
      @ortegaJfk 4 місяці тому +1

      Since 1980 dam u need to do better. Research

    • @rsmetz88
      @rsmetz88 4 місяці тому +5

      ​@@ortegaJfk So you would call yourself a professional even if you've never made a dime and have zero recognition outside of your preferred hobby?

    • @ortegaJfk
      @ortegaJfk 4 місяці тому +2

      @@rsmetz88 yes

    • @nyccoyax3831
      @nyccoyax3831 4 місяці тому

      This video is based on book Im sure of it, Ive listened to 3 books atleast that begin with invasion of russia, not sure the name tho

    • @davidobriend8560
      @davidobriend8560 4 місяці тому +2

      ​@@ortegaJfkit's tough to call yourself a professional at something if you don't do it as a profession.

  • @YouriCarma
    @YouriCarma 11 місяців тому +1096

    These personal diaries paint a far more detailed picture of what it was like to be in that war than some dry map movement accounts you often see in WWII documentaries. It also gives us an inside in what was going on in these soldier's minds in these campaigns.

    • @djharto4917
      @djharto4917 11 місяців тому +45

      The narrator always adds in his propaganda against the German soldiers though

    • @thomasneal9291
      @thomasneal9291 11 місяців тому +47

      @@djharto4917 where? because all of the german accented voiceover you hear is literally reading from german soldier diaries.

    • @djharto4917
      @djharto4917 11 місяців тому

      Plenty was said off script. Our masters are always mentioned aren’t they?? Something that supposedly happened them.

    • @TheBanjoShowOfficial
      @TheBanjoShowOfficial 11 місяців тому +14

      I think both are quite useful actually

    • @DawnOfTheDead991
      @DawnOfTheDead991 11 місяців тому +58

      @@djharto4917 Sure, the German soldiers were such sweet people who only wanted to help the poor Soviet people especially the JEws, right? /s

  • @jantjedevoorste-rm5tb
    @jantjedevoorste-rm5tb 8 місяців тому +595

    My granddad fought in Stalingrad with the 14th Panzer Division, he was captured and came home in 1953. Het died in 2015 at the age of 95. Before he died he told me that wanted to be cremated and not buried as he never wanted to feel the cold soil again.

    • @michaelmelamed9103
      @michaelmelamed9103 8 місяців тому +117

      My grandfather was captured by the Lithuanian collaborators, confined in a ghetto, had most of his family murdered, eventually, liberated by the American army from Dachau. He died at the age of 97 in the USA. Buried according to the Jewish tradition. Cremation is what he had avoided in Dachau.

    • @michellekrueger5122
      @michellekrueger5122 8 місяців тому +60

      My husband's father also fought, for Germany, do not ever let anyone, be disrespectful too your
      Granddad, war, changes all men...many would say your Granddad, and my father in law, were heartless monster's...much respects, to your Granddad, and to my Father in law..there is so much I would enjoy telling you, about how the war started.

    • @RoyalFizzbin
      @RoyalFizzbin 8 місяців тому +25

      @@michaelmelamed9103 Condolences to your granddad. I hope he lived a good life after the horrors of the war. My great uncle was an anti-aircraft gunner working a four-barrel .50cal. He had three confirmed kills on Luftwaffe aircraft, and one unconfirmed kill on a Nazi sniper on the ground. Despite fighting and killing Nazis, it still upset him to see dead ones, especially the one time they brought him out to one of the downed aircraft (to confirm). Though they were his enemy, he was disturbed by it.

    • @kenhart8771
      @kenhart8771 8 місяців тому

      ⁠@@michaelmelamed9103Try with Lithuanian freedoms fighters. We all know the families of Schiff and Rothschild financed the communist revolution and got the Tzar Nikolai II and his family murdered in cold blood 🩸 Who is keep pushing for a war in Ukraine and Russia?

    • @daveyork0
      @daveyork0 8 місяців тому +11

      That's 11 years as a POW, 8 of them after the end or hostilities

  • @Mutsky1953
    @Mutsky1953 3 місяці тому +10

    The diaries and footage paint an honest picture of the Eastern front. Sure there are extracts from the diaries which describe people and situations which in todays terms are unacceptable, but hey, this is a good thing as it is honest and a true historical reflection of that period in history. The last thing we should be doing is editing history to appease the sensitivities of today’s cultures. An excellent historical documentary - Bravo.

  • @derin111
    @derin111 7 місяців тому +75

    My Grandfather, born 1910 in Northern Germany near Hannover, was in the RAD too before volunteering for the Wehrmacht in 1938.
    He was eventually wounded out of the war in 1943 in Russia.
    It’s so apparent from these accounts and from what he told me how different and more difficult things were in the invasion of the Soviet Union. You can sense from this diary that even within a week things were going wrong and badly off schedule.

    • @funnyman8691
      @funnyman8691 7 місяців тому

      how many Poles or Russian granpa kill ?? Did he never mention it? Or, like every German, he was a "knight" and only the SS kills innocent poeple ?

    • @bpet6990
      @bpet6990 6 місяців тому

      Luckily it went very bad for those Coward germans…..are you looking for pity here?

    • @wbialy2695
      @wbialy2695 6 місяців тому +6

      Evil bloodline. Tfu

    • @spencer6094
      @spencer6094 6 місяців тому

      Must be good to have a nazi grandad? I'd love it

    • @MrNiceGuyHistory
      @MrNiceGuyHistory 6 місяців тому +19

      @@wbialy2695 Your comment shows that you are capable of the same evils as the national socialists..

  • @Captain-ln3vh
    @Captain-ln3vh 10 місяців тому +578

    It’s crazy to me how people read about the death and destruction of war, and watch the movies yet never realize how difficult the loss of life is. Not just seeing it but the sounds and smells. Having someone begging you to help them and you know nothing you do can save them. Telling them anything you think can comfort them and knowing they are already dead. What haunts me is the look on someone’s face. As a medic they believe that you are going to save them and they have that hope when you are there. Only those who don’t know death want war.

    • @trackrunner11
      @trackrunner11 10 місяців тому +3

      Only thoes who want war don't understand death? That might tell you a lot about politicians! I once looked at memorial in front of a High School in Mobile, Alabama. It was dedicated to 7 classmates who were drafted to serve in Vietnam. Think about it. Your 18 or 19 child who had his whole life in front of him , was suddenly sent across the world to fight in a jungle and asked to give his life for our country.

    • @aceclash
      @aceclash 10 місяців тому +29

      Scale of war in eastern front was insane. Both largest armies going at it 100%.

    • @ErickZ-mi3lb
      @ErickZ-mi3lb 10 місяців тому

      Pretty sure Hitler personally saw lots of death up front in the trenches and essentially masterminded this whole war.

    • @feloniousfloyd2203
      @feloniousfloyd2203 9 місяців тому +22

      Everyone knows death. It haunts everyone at every turn, and it will eventually conquer every living creature on this earth.

    • @Britton_Thompson
      @Britton_Thompson 9 місяців тому +52

      I don't think we can say that actually; I don't think "...only those who don't know death seek war" is a good qualifier. Look no further than the primary belligerents of WW2. Adolf Hitler himself survived 4 years of absolute carnage and human suffering during WW1. Same can be said for Herman Goering, an ace pilot war hero. Benito Mussolini also served as a sniper for Italy in WW1. Hideki Tojo in Japan also had previous combat experience. These leaders were the ones who were most aggressive at pursuing war in the 1930s. And we can't forget about French general Charles De Gaulle. Churchill and Roosevelt considered him a stubborn hawk determined to have his moment of glory, and he had extensive combat experience in the trenches in WW1.
      On the other hand, you have Neville Chamberlain, FDR, and Josef Stalin. They were trying to avoid war at all costs through appeasement policies, non-aggression pacts, and strict isolationism just to kick the can down the road long enough for someone else to eventually have to deal with it instead of them.
      We can also extrapolate this out to other wars. Many will argue that the Korean War was the most pointless and unnecessary war in US history. The president who gave the green light for that war was Harry S. Truman, an artillery commander in WW1. Vietnam festered under Eisenhower, and finally acted upon by Kennedy- a naval gunboat captain who fought in the Pacific theatre of WW2. So I don't agree with your statement that only the oblivious want war. The veterans seem pretty damn motivated to pursue conflict too.

  • @Jay-Niner
    @Jay-Niner 11 місяців тому +443

    Watched this when it first came out and am glad to see it back. One of the best history documentaries on UA-cam and I can’t wait for part 2!

    • @HistoryHit
      @HistoryHit  11 місяців тому +19

      Cheers Jan! Glad you enjoyed

    • @Mustang1984
      @Mustang1984 11 місяців тому +9

      @@HistoryHit Yeah, you guys do great work!

    • @magnusarpi204
      @magnusarpi204 11 місяців тому +10

      Part two is already avaliable, link in the video description.

    • @vishwajeetbhardwaz9576
      @vishwajeetbhardwaz9576 11 місяців тому +4

      Massive mistake- The Nazi Symbol was Haken Cross, A European catholic Christian symbol, not Swastika. Kindly apologize immediately and rectify.

    • @thomassch3952
      @thomassch3952 11 місяців тому +6

      @@vishwajeetbhardwaz9576 And what kind of "catholic christian symbol" should that be?

  • @benitoharrycollmann132
    @benitoharrycollmann132 6 місяців тому +15

    "Am I too much of a materialist if I claim that the upper levels of a population can bear their ideational loss better than the working class can bear the material loss? That's saying it carefully. I don't want to be classed as a Bolshevist..."
    What a crucial insight into the often ponderous mind of a front line soldier/officer.

  • @reinholdschrader4125
    @reinholdschrader4125 7 місяців тому +17

    You need to make more documentaries like this. I am tired of seeing productions that revolve around the presenters.
    Excellent work and thanks a lot for sharing it with us. ❤

  • @MRJBS117
    @MRJBS117 11 місяців тому +533

    I’m glad to see a German documentary about ww2 as you rarely see anyone talking about the axis or soviet sides of the war in-depth. Great video 👍🏻

    • @josephfiore9233
      @josephfiore9233 11 місяців тому

      great question its not what we are taught here in U S A WE ARE TAUGHT WHAT THE MEDIA WANTS YOU TO BELIEVE just like HITLER KILLED HIMSELF which he didnt

    • @t.j.payeur5331
      @t.j.payeur5331 11 місяців тому +29

      Axis and Soviet perspectives are all over the internet, all you have to do is look for them.

    • @heinzjoachim7907
      @heinzjoachim7907 11 місяців тому +31

      Leider sehr einseitig und Geschichtsverfälschend.

    • @MRJBS117
      @MRJBS117 11 місяців тому

      @@heinzjoachim7907 Was meinst du?

    • @MRJBS117
      @MRJBS117 11 місяців тому +6

      @@t.j.payeur5331 not to this extent tho.

  • @jakethetool698
    @jakethetool698 11 місяців тому +40

    Captivating.
    In my humble opinion, this Era is one of, if not the most monumental, of modern times.
    The insight these accounts allow, is priceless.

  • @kingshorts593
    @kingshorts593 8 місяців тому +8

    The logistics involved in Barbarossa were absolutely INSANE!!!!

  • @chetfrench1756
    @chetfrench1756 4 місяці тому +9

    Excellent documentary. I've been a lifelong student of WWII history and I was quite pleased and surprised with how much I learned. Well done!!

  • @malcolmledger176
    @malcolmledger176 11 місяців тому +65

    Excellent! The co-ordination between the diary extracts and the footage is outstanding.

  • @NoXeB1995
    @NoXeB1995 11 місяців тому +438

    My great grandmother that died just 3 years ago, was in Leningrad during the siege and starvation. Life has brought us apart so I could not ask her in detail during my adult years, how was this time in person, but I have been told by my dad and grandmother about her time there. She suffered immensely as did people in the city, some even went as far as cannibalism, as the hunger sometimes makes people insane with it. Seeing dead bodies on the streets was just another normal day, people collapsed. To the last day she died she never allowed anyone or herself to waste a crop of bread. She miraculously survived and was captured by Germans and sent to Berlin for forced labour. It's insane, literally every Russian and Soviet family was affected by this war, EVERY single one.

    • @nickhayley
      @nickhayley 11 місяців тому

      And yet, look at the horror the Russian people are now inflicting on Ukraine. They have learned ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the horrors of war or about compassion and respect of a sovereign nation. All the Russians involved are complicit in mass war crimes - if you're a Russian living in Russia, it is your obligation to NOT participate in this war and your duty to oppose Putin, a megalomaniacal, hateful war criminal.
      It saddens me to say this, but I never want to see Russia. Unless there is huge upheaval, but from most of what I've seen, all the people who disagree with the evil of the Kremlin have left. There is only evil, the spineless and the fearful left.

    • @sammler100
      @sammler100 11 місяців тому

      Was die Wehrmacht in Leningrad veranstaltet hat, ist ein Kriegsverbrechen und das sage ich als Deutscher.

    • @waynrbunyea7059
      @waynrbunyea7059 11 місяців тому +17

      So was everyone else's 😢

    • @chrislove1357
      @chrislove1357 11 місяців тому +29

      Imagine what will happen when the next war starts, we won't be needed for forced labor because robots can do that. What value will we have then? This history into human nature should frighten even the stoic person when contemplating the technological revolution of today's age and what that implies when it comes to the darker world were barreling into. I'm glad your grandma got out to make a good impression. Let her RIP, it's our time to see some crazy things, beyond her wildest dreams.

    • @charleslaing148
      @charleslaing148 11 місяців тому

      horrorfying the germans were not human

  • @Porkleaker
    @Porkleaker 7 місяців тому +5

    Good to hear Artur! Look after yourself first and foremost, and never feel guilty for taking a day off if you need it. Nowdays people are far more understanding, plus just watching all those gory videos day in and day out can have an impact. Stay happy and safe! 😊

  • @tonyjones1560
    @tonyjones1560 8 місяців тому +15

    A few years ago I watched a documentary about young Russians who had been exhuming German war dead and sending them back to be re-interred in Germany. In many cases, you could tell the guy was buried where he fell. Sometimes two or three men were buried together and they had to separate the bones. It was…somber.

    • @Heopful
      @Heopful 5 місяців тому

      theres heaps of russian youtube channels dedicated to metal detecting around the swamps of Russia. The amount of crap they find it seems the ground is fertilized by the dead . They'll find an 80 year old rifle in some mud and be disappointed because it's only a common mosin

  • @mitchsavini
    @mitchsavini 11 місяців тому +38

    This was one of the best documentaries I have every seen on UA-cam....the side from the German perspective was so revealing. Please do more of these!

    • @ursulaba1
      @ursulaba1 11 місяців тому +4

      Yes, I agree. I'm searching the faces of the soldiers to see if I can identify my father. He survived the war and died in 1973. My parents had divorced in 1943 and I had seen him only 3 times in my life. My mom who had gone to her parents home in East Prussia in 1943, fled from the Russians to Duesseldorf, the British Zone in 1945 and married an English soldier who took her to England. I, her daughter, was raised by foster parents and after searching for her for many years, found her through the German Red Cross living in England in 1975.

    • @TheKing-nu4fk
      @TheKing-nu4fk 10 місяців тому

      I don't know the circumstances but how did she leave you behind?

  • @Doug333
    @Doug333 10 місяців тому +163

    Such a brutal and heart aching experience from a single soldier in a war so incomprehensible in size. Lest we forget, I take gratitude in living a peaceful life. Listening to diaries like this can truly shift ones perspective.

    • @aponygirl
      @aponygirl 10 місяців тому +6

      War is brutal for all involved.

    • @dudebro3250
      @dudebro3250 10 місяців тому +5

      I learned about this in the Europa the last battle documentary.

    • @skepticalbadger
      @skepticalbadger 10 місяців тому

      Yeah, given the admissions of war crimes I don't feel too bad for this twat.

    • @sodlayer5288
      @sodlayer5288 10 місяців тому

      Qa

    • @tomdavis3038
      @tomdavis3038 9 місяців тому +1

      Not so peaceful if you’re in Ukraine
      Cheers

  • @kapitanmuahaha6240
    @kapitanmuahaha6240 5 місяців тому +3

    Great documentary! Wished you didn't have to blur the images at some points! Keep up the good work.

  • @jeddkeech259
    @jeddkeech259 4 дні тому

    Another awesome vid. Thanks for keeping the stories of these young men alive. May we learn from the mistakes of the past, Lest we forget, 🙏

  • @simonbanks3058
    @simonbanks3058 10 місяців тому +135

    I am obsessed with WW2 and this was an exceptional documentary, thank you.

    • @Rasarel
      @Rasarel 8 місяців тому

      The reason why you are obsessed with WW2 is simply because your mind can't wrap itself around it. You are missing the central point.
      🧬
      Around 1900 the Zionists movement declared that they want to create a Jewish country.
      All the world leaders refused them.
      Eventually after the years of despair, Nazis needed help to power and they made a pact with the Zionists in the early 1920'
      Zionists instructed Hitler on blood science and he agreed to help them to create Israel.
      They were deporting Jews from Hamburg and Bremerhaven to Palestine.
      All the info is in the newspapers 1932-1939

    • @dionpryor369
      @dionpryor369 7 місяців тому +5

      Perhaps some of us were there in person in another life if you believe in reincarnation.

    • @uldos3193
      @uldos3193 7 місяців тому +1

      I hope we don't make same mistakes again.those days there were no nukes.this time around it will affect everyone

    • @simonbanks3058
      @simonbanks3058 7 місяців тому

      @@uldos3193 Yes, those people were in a form of hell, and we should learn from what happened then never forget.

    • @uncledavys
      @uncledavys 7 місяців тому

      i am from India and obsessed too. This has been through all my teenage years. I loved Commando comics.

  • @logycaa
    @logycaa 11 місяців тому +118

    This is some of the best WW2 related content I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

    • @danfield6030
      @danfield6030 11 місяців тому

      Right on brother! I'm gonna check it out, right nowwwwwww

    • @johnlescault3737
      @johnlescault3737 11 місяців тому +3

      Agreed, Seems like we are rarely shown the German attitude and position, very humanizing, something that most documentaries fail to do, it’s usually just “the Germans where animals”.

    • @johnthomaso4208
      @johnthomaso4208 11 місяців тому +3

      With respect, I don't think the viewing of this documentary could be described as 'pleasurable''. Some bits were so harrowing I had to stop watching. The look of terror on those Lithuanian children's faces as they are herded, along with their mothers clutching pathetic bundles of ragged clothes, by those Nazi monsters, probably to some camp, will stay with me forever.

    • @somniumisdreaming
      @somniumisdreaming 11 місяців тому +1

      @@johnlescault3737 How can you humanize a Nazi when you see the terrified faces of the children and Jewish ppl being taken to slaughter.

    • @johnlescault3737
      @johnlescault3737 11 місяців тому

      @@somniumisdreaming it’s easy if you understand that human nature is basically evil if left unchecked, I’m not saying they are human in a good way, I’m saying we should all be able to see that we are capable of the same if left to our own rationalization. It’s the people that don’t realize their condition, that are likely to repeat the mistakes of the past.

  • @kriley9386
    @kriley9386 8 місяців тому +2

    Fabulous presentation of actual footage (and actual dialog) from the Eastern Front.

  • @dalj4362
    @dalj4362 Місяць тому +2

    Great documentary. It's interesting to hear the othersides' story and how they thought about things.

  • @jameswells-green9476
    @jameswells-green9476 8 місяців тому +47

    This is a gem. The system of 2 narrators works very well - it maintains the vital distinction between the textual and the supra textual thus providing greater depth to the work. The context to the experiential coverage of events, is thoroughgoing and mutually supportive.

    • @HistoryHit
      @HistoryHit  8 місяців тому +8

      Much appreciated!

    • @huwhitecavebeast1972
      @huwhitecavebeast1972 8 місяців тому

      Yeah they needed the second narrator for propaganda purposes, otherwise the Germans would look too good and not the monsters they have been portrayed to be.

    • @UKCheeseFarmer
      @UKCheeseFarmer 7 місяців тому

      @@huwhitecavebeast1972 Don't get Nazis and the SS mixed up with the Wehrmacht!! It shows your complete ignorance.

    • @generaldilvry69
      @generaldilvry69 25 днів тому

      judging from the prose and reoccuring keywords these are the words of the same solider...if so, he merc'ed mad bodycount

  • @Love.life.ashigzoya
    @Love.life.ashigzoya 11 місяців тому +68

    This is a remarkable and gripping presentation of the diary bringing out not only battle effects but also the mental attitude that provided drive that led to clash between the two powers. The philoloshy and ideology that steeped the two opposing societies leaving no room for compromise. This made war in East most brutal. Very educative and valuable diary . Merits wide circulation. Mahj Gen IA

    • @seniordavidmanderson9232
      @seniordavidmanderson9232 11 місяців тому +6

      D. Anderson, USMC, Hotel Company, 2dBn, 9th Marines, 3d MarDiv, 2/9/3, 68-69 Operation Dewey Canyon. In memory of 58,281 men including 8 women, all nurses, 16 clergy members and 160 Medal of Honor recipients who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. We honor and remember their sacrifice.
      Many carry a sense of having been betrayed by civilian and military leaders and by society generally. Be-trayed by politicians who resorted to war under false pretenses and took advantage of their patriotism and youth (the average age of a soldier in Vietnam was 19) and who placed constraints on war strategy that set them up for failure.
      It's easy to forget that those who served in Vietnam grew up in a time when politicians were seen as statesmen focused on the common good. Most trusted their leaders when told that war was necessary to stop the spread of communism. Despite stereotypes to the contrary, most volunteered. They were part of a generation raised with stories about how their fathers and uncles had accepted the duties of citizenship and won the Great War.
      These soldiers realized quickly that their fathers war was very different than the one into which they had been led. Their fathers had typically fought as parts of large coordinated forces against a massed enemy, taking and holding territory and attaining measurable strategic objectives, each of which moved them closer to victory. This was not true in Vietnam. Due to geopolitical constraints there would be no invasion of North Vietnam. Rarely would they face a massed force fighting in conventional fashion. In Vietnam, the enemy was often invisible, attacking then slipping away. Though the Army of North Vietnam was a conventional guerilla force, the Viet Cong were often indistinguishable from civilians.
      A rotational system of deployment that constantly shuffled around the membership of units and which some believed undermined unit cohesion and morale, negative media stereotypes of American soldiers, exposure to conditions of intense privation, chronic feeling of being under threat with no safe place to go, and faulty equipment that broke down under fire. Others were stung by leadership claims that the war was necessary to liberate the people of South Vietnam only to find, as one veteran put it, "Those people just wanted us out and some wanted to cut my throat." I've known many who continued to resent what they saw as lies told by military and civilian leaders claiming progress was being made when the experience on the ground suggested they were stuck in a quagmire.
      Then there was the betrayal of the homecoming. Though the antiwar movement had broad roots composed of people who genuinely wanted to stop the war, there was a segment openly hostile not just to the war but to the troops who fought it. Returning veterans who had given everything they had and who simply wanted to return home were often met with hostility.
      Vets often say things such as, "We were spat on, called baby killers, treated like dirt when we arrived back home." Others remember subtle hostility: "I was afraid to wear my uniform in public because of the looks I'd get." Many contrast their experience with an earlier generation. "Those World War 2 guys got parades and ticker tape; we got stabbed in the back."
      D, Anderson USMC
      2/9/3 68-69

    • @lilblackduc7312
      @lilblackduc7312 11 місяців тому

      @@seniordavidmanderson9232 And now, OBiden wants Americans to fight some half-assed European Civil War that's been going on for over 100yrs?
      Or, is it going to be in the Pacific, again? Some rich S.O.B.'s silicon factory?
      How is the U.S. going to fight a war when politicians have sold-off, or, depleted Strategic Fuel Reserves & most of the weapons?

    • @libbyhobbs4637
      @libbyhobbs4637 11 місяців тому

      @Senior David M Anderson from my husband Vietnam Era Navy Corpsman.... Your words,ALL of them ring true,unfortunately our.youth don't give a flyin frog what happened THEN. See how many will show up on the next unavoidable DRAFT.!Better all have passports.... WTF was up with all the VETERAN TRAITORS ON J6?? KMA! THIS is what he fought for...Fascist republican morons in Megamall? NO!!

  • @kellywright540
    @kellywright540 2 місяці тому +30

    My Dad fought in Patton's Third Army, 4th Armored Division from the end of July, 1944 until the end of the war. He then stayed on as part of the American occupation forces until February of 1946. He saw it all, from the race across France to the Battle of the Bulge, into southern Germany with a quick stop to help liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp and then onto Czechoslovakia. We knew some of the horror that he had seen and been a part of. Buchenwald came back to haunt him in the early 1980's when some idiot was on a TV talk show and was telling the audience that the Holocaust never happened. I had been working nights and woke up to him yelling at the TV with tears in his eyes. He was yelling "No, NO! I WAS THERE!" When I came into the TV room to see what was going on, he looked at me and said, "Kelly, I was THERE! The bodies were stacked like logs Kelly! Kelly, THE OVENS WERE STILL WARM!!" That last sentence will stay with me until I die - "The ovens were still warm!" In the 25 years that I hung out with my Dad, I never saw him cry, and after that outburst, I never saw him cry again. War is a dirty, haunting business. Only the ones who never fought in one think it's somehow glorious...

    • @francisschweitzer8431
      @francisschweitzer8431 2 місяці тому +2

      DO YOU HAVE any roster of Patton’s Staff? MY UNCLE ARTHUR was on Patton’s personal Staff … went to Bastogne with Gen Patton

    • @cgee6867
      @cgee6867 Місяць тому

      Wow.....isn't it so sad that too many want to wipe the Holocaust away and pretend it never happened. This is why so many survivors have come forward to tell their stories of what they went thru...
      I went to college with a Jewish gal whose father was in a concentration camp. He somehow escaped and was able to walk across Europe until he found the Allies. He was barely alive and weighed 70 lbs. My college friend said she was woke up nightly by his screams in the night.
      Soon they will all be dead but their stories will live on....

    • @MikeWilliamson-dp6cp
      @MikeWilliamson-dp6cp Місяць тому +2

      Yeah, the issue with this comment and a well-meaning one, at that...
      His outbursts after seeing the man on TV saying it never happened appears to be coming from a place of guilt. For something that is "true", one wouldn't have such outbursts at those who say it never happened but ignore the people who claim to have been a survivor (of which, many have been exposed for lying) and get caught lying about their victim status while benefiting financially from their lies in their books, documentaries, or speeches at schools. If it is illegal to question this event or deny it.. Should it not be equally illegal to lie about it? Should you return the money made from the lies?
      Not only do I make this observation based on that, I also make this observation because:
      1) By the time FDR recognized the Soviet Union government in 1933, Stalin had nearly 20 million Russians and Ukrainians executed, sent to slave labor camps (millions died in the slave labor camps) and death camps (even more millions killed in these camps) scattered throughout Soviet Union Russia. Once FDR recognized and established relations with Stalin, he worked in overdrive to cover up their genocide in the Soviet Union and Ukraine purging any and all mentions of it. He appointed Stalin-linked agents as his advisors in the WH and appointed more to positions of influence in the US government.
      2) You are told that before WWII, Hitler was rounding up Hebrews in Germany and having them killed. This is quite a bold lie meant to be smoke and mirror to divert attention away from Stalin's genocide in the Soviet Union and Ukraine and even his mass executions numbering 700,000 Of Russians in government, the military (the soldiers family were also executed if their child gets falsely accused of treason), and many civilians based on "lists of names" and quotas for the NKVD to meet in regards to the executions of Russians, prior to WWII in the '30s. In Germany, Hitler did NOT use violent means to force Hebrews out of Germany nor mass arrests and executions. He made it illegal for them to hold positions of power, education, media, financing, and such. 1933-39, 2/3s of German Hebrews left Germany with their wealth and possessions. This is known as the Transfer Agreement of which Hitler and Hebrew Germans negotiated and signed. The worldwide Hebrews screeched and yelled about this agreement and did everything to prevent this agreement from carrying out, calling for even more boycotts against Germany. The infamous "Crystal night" was a reaction by the Germans after news of the German diplomat in Paris being assassinated by a Hebrew communist.
      3) "Tonight, you have the opportunity to go to the big city (Berlin) and to light a fire in the belly of the enemy and burn his black heart." - orders from Churchill on RAF terror bombings.
      "We owe the Germans no sympathy, no understanding, we owe them nothing. You ask what is our policy? I will say to you: We have nothing to offer the Germans, but blood, sweat, toil, and tears. It is to wage war by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us."
      From the launch of the RAF's night time terror bombings and shortly the American day time terror bombings of German civilians, the Allied powers dropped nearly two million tons of incendiaries and bombs on German civilians who had NOTHING to do with the war.
      Your father, under the impression he was “liberating” Buchenwald, absolutely did NOT liberate the camp. The allied powers bombed that camp and killed many.
      The UK dropped phosphorus bombs along with incendiary bombs with heavy bombs onto many Germans in cities throughout Germany. Many cities contained UK POWs and refugees that were fleeing from the Soviet Union.
      This did not stop the RAF from bombing these cities. Many of the refugee camps and POWs were connected to hospitals. The Uk bombed the hospitals and strafed the refugee camps. Killing many civilians and refugees.
      The Germans trapped in basements were literally in a “oven” because of the flames from the phosphorus bombs and incendiary bombs that burned them to ashes with human fat being turned into liquid. Bodies were stacked and still hot to the touch. The bodies belonged to the victims who were sucked into the mile(s) wide infernos.
      4) Your father believed he was fighting evil but in reality, his nation allied with the very evil nation (soviet union) that was responsible for millions of Europeans being butchered and burned alive before WWII, before the Allied powers invaded Europe to “liberate” the Europeans from Hitler and Germany, they knew of the mass arrests and executions of Poles in Poland and the 1941 NKVD massacre that killed 10,000 to 40,000 (or more) Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Hebrews, and other nationalities.
      He knows that he was lied to and he feels guilt for his role (unbeknownst to him) in the millions killed by the Soviet Union that his leaders covered up and blamed Germans and Hitler.
      They were busy arming and sending 11.3 Billion (130 billion today) in funds and military equipment and supplies for the Red Army.
      Italy, Finland, Romania, Spain, Czech, Cossacks, tartars, French, British, Lithuanians, Ethiopians, Dutch, Ukrainians and Russians fought along side Germany for Europe and to defeat Bolshevism that sought their destruction.
      If I was your father, I wouldn’t want my children to know the truth and have them curse me as I lay in my grave. After finding out how the Allied powers helped evil and aided this evil in their mass murders and mass r**e of European women and girls. The mutilation of European men and boys.
      That your nation had policies in the war that ordered AF pilots to bomb and strafe any moving target, whether civilian or military, in the country side. Killing many children and women in trains fleeing from the Soviet Union as they began their advance towards Germany. The trains which carried wounded refugees and POWs to Germany because had they stayed behind, the Soviet NKVD would kill them.
      How America and the West turned over 5 million Russians, military and civilian, to the Soviet’s to appease Stalin. Which he promptly had them murdered along with their families.
      And turned a blind eye as Stalin’s NkVD that forcibly deported Germans citizens and soldiers to via death marches or cattle trains to Serbia where 5.8 million Germans were killed.

    • @kellywright540
      @kellywright540 Місяць тому

      @@MikeWilliamson-dp6cp yeah, then there is that... WTF dude! 🤦‍♀️

    • @Alwisgm
      @Alwisgm Місяць тому

      ​@@MikeWilliamson-dp6cpDanke ua-cam.com/video/clf4e-xG8zQ/v-deo.html

  • @TomSwiftAustinActor
    @TomSwiftAustinActor 3 місяці тому

    Three days ago, I visited the WWII Museum in New Orleans. Like this post, their emphasis is not just on the battles, strategy, tactics, politics, thought there is a useful and appropriate amount of these. However, the aspect that resonated with me is their emphasis on the individual service personnel -- photos, uniforms, individual stories, where and how they paid the ultimate sacrifice. Incredibly moving. The perfect pairing of experiences -- this film and that museum. This was my parents generation -- Dad was a sailor and and mother was a nurse. It changed everything about our country.

  • @fifthbusiness1678
    @fifthbusiness1678 11 місяців тому +129

    “Of the 5.5 million Soviet prisoners in captivity, 3.3 million did not survive the war.” That is stunning ...

    • @fukuswii4370
      @fukuswii4370 11 місяців тому

      .. and you still have Germans talking as if they were the victims when the Red Army stepped in Berlin..

    • @sandwichninja
      @sandwichninja 11 місяців тому

      ​@@fukuswii4370 People who starved in German camps died because of the aggressive use of siege tactics by the Allied forces in the final 2 years of the war. What's the Soviet excuse for the over 2 million accounts of rape of German Women?
      By all means though, keep parroting that mainstream kosher dogma like broken record...

    • @JohnDoe-fj2vz
      @JohnDoe-fj2vz 11 місяців тому

      Yeah, but it will be always Stalin bad, not the germans who exterminated 14 million Soviet civilians

    • @sextempiric7137
      @sextempiric7137 11 місяців тому +47

      And narrator still thinks tah Soviet propaganda painted Germans too bad.

    • @rodafowa1279
      @rodafowa1279 11 місяців тому +2

      He said 5.7, not 5.5.

  • @wikiwikiwik4898
    @wikiwikiwik4898 10 місяців тому +24

    This is amazing, never heard this detailed of a German perspective during Barbarossa. Absolutely brutal.

  • @EBRoyJr
    @EBRoyJr 7 місяців тому +1

    "I need to stop thinking about ifs and whens. There's no use in that." Some powerful words right there.

  • @John-mf6ky
    @John-mf6ky 27 днів тому

    This whole documentary is phenomenal! This really helps bring the reality of the Eastern front to life theough Wilhelm's excellent writing.

  • @peterwilson5528
    @peterwilson5528 11 місяців тому +24

    This is a historical gem. Very well-kept diary.

  • @pedrovision6987
    @pedrovision6987 7 місяців тому +5

    Is there a version of this documentary that doesn't have half of it "fuzzed" out??? Very annoying to have someone deciding what I can and cannot see. (Don't get all up in my face telling me it's for my own good...just point me in the direction of an uncensored version of this excellent documentary. Thank you.)

  • @paulsp2k
    @paulsp2k 7 місяців тому +8

    I can't imagine ever having this kind of pride and bravado in invading another country, killing those who dare defend that country and doing so with such righteous arrogance

    • @user-rb2rm7lc3w
      @user-rb2rm7lc3w 13 днів тому

      There were no right or wrong sides. Very small minded

    • @matthewosburn
      @matthewosburn 12 днів тому

      eh? where were you when the us invaded iraq? same exact circumstance.

  • @Mildain2000
    @Mildain2000 10 місяців тому +121

    It's insane to think that a soldier was upset that a population he was invading was upset he was there

    • @markr.devereux3385
      @markr.devereux3385 9 місяців тому +11

      There is a point when occupation necessitates the population be civil if they know what's good for them. It's that simple.

    • @pomodorostudyclub
      @pomodorostudyclub 9 місяців тому +22

      My grandma lived in occupied Norway. She said that it became part of normal life. German Soldiers would share their rations with locals and play with kids in the snow in the winter. She said she threw snowballs at them and even spat on a soldier from a tree once, but they were never punished

    • @markr.devereux3385
      @markr.devereux3385 9 місяців тому +4

      @@pomodorostudyclub great illustration of an occupied country. No need to escalate things every second.

    • @Mildain2000
      @Mildain2000 9 місяців тому +59

      ​@@pomodorostudyclub Right, I'd imagine life wasn't so bad in Nazi-occupied Norway considering the country is quintessentially Aryan (if not more so than Germany) and had the lowest Jewish population of the territories invaded. Still, 1/3 of its Jews were deported to the camps. I don't think Norway is the best example of the reality of Nazi-occupied territories.

    • @pomodorostudyclub
      @pomodorostudyclub 9 місяців тому +7

      @@Mildain2000 you’re right, I probably should have added that context myself. Just wanted to share a personal memory that came to mind when I saw this video and comment.

  • @Maxrodon
    @Maxrodon 11 місяців тому +154

    I have German relatives who fought in Stalingrad and one often recited the disgust in how decent Germans due to hunger and desperation, during the winter, if a comrade died from freezing/fatigue, everyone would quickly rush his body for any food/items they can salvage in a sort of every man for himself style. And how 1 minute that’s a friend and next minute he’s just a “body” and how impersonal it gets.
    Another relative developed severe PTSD from the Katyshas (Stalins Organs) and would wake up at high shouting take cover in full panic and on his deathbed relived that moment before passing.

    • @20chocsaday
      @20chocsaday 11 місяців тому +27

      Sudden death can be like that. You don't need to be freezing and starving or even cold or hungry.
      One evening we were planning what we would do in the coming months.
      Then within half an hour my lively outgoing wife turned from being in my plans to being a body in my arms.

    • @admiralbenbow5083
      @admiralbenbow5083 11 місяців тому +60

      Sh-t like that doesnt tend to happen if you avoid invading other peoples countries.

    • @prunepoo
      @prunepoo 11 місяців тому +10

      Glad our country hasn’t done that.

    • @AwesomeDude272
      @AwesomeDude272 11 місяців тому +6

      ​@@20chocsaday I'm sorry for that. Terrible

    • @20chocsaday
      @20chocsaday 11 місяців тому +6

      @@AwesomeDude272 Thanks. It was a cold feeling, realising how much the world had lost in one person.
      The intentions, the care for others as well as part of my life left and I was left holding a husk that was once a person.
      Sorry if I have saddened you but this happened to many more people later on. A young woman later sent me the last photo of her mother alive as they tried to let her sip cold water.

  • @golic7123
    @golic7123 7 місяців тому +3

    if anyone's interested, that amazing emotive music at 9:40 is "The Last march of Heroes" by Grant Newman

  • @TheMan-ud2wq
    @TheMan-ud2wq 7 місяців тому +5

    I remember my Great Great grandfather talking about german soldiers he would get quite, grit his teeth, and say german soldiers are tough people. He survived d day but was shot in the hip sometime later he told me they would have to stay in foxholes freezing while artillery was going off he said they didnt know where it was coming from. He said a lot of the people that didnt have family or anything to go home to couldnt take it and they would run out of the fox hole and get killed. He talked about praying when he had to run out and get supplies. He had a good life after the war, he bought 100 acres of land and died at 85 we still have the land.

  • @sirchromiumdowns2015
    @sirchromiumdowns2015 11 місяців тому +129

    This documentary is fascinating. I've read many firsthand accounts of war on the Eastern front, and this man's story brings out the true horror of war as well as any of them.

  • @mikesummers6880
    @mikesummers6880 11 місяців тому +15

    Max Hastings interviewed a old German soldier once who said that when he was moved from the Eastern front to the western front he thought he was a holiday compared to what he had experience.

  • @antonchristian873
    @antonchristian873 8 місяців тому +9

    A fantastic insight into the human experience of a brutal campaign sensitively and well thought through. remarkable, and a rare treat to watch. well done !

  • @StefanVerheij
    @StefanVerheij 7 місяців тому

    Just watched the whole vid, what an ammount of info ! Nicely done

    • @HistoryHit
      @HistoryHit  7 місяців тому

      Glad you enjoyed it!

  • @scottteams3361
    @scottteams3361 11 місяців тому +105

    Absolutely love to hear the German and Soviet perspective that has mostly been lost to history. Understanding though the causes they were fighting for were vastly different, the horrors and trauma of war were the same. Cannot wait to see the second episode!

    • @Ailasher
      @Ailasher 11 місяців тому +16

      Sorry. No Soviet perspective. Because Soviet/Russian archives, and Stalin and the Communists are baddies. And, you know: Mongols... Enjoy the magnificent and truthful historical narrative, carefully selected by Halder and his group, after being captured by the Allies, and footage from Die Deutsche Wochenschau, where there practically are no horses and wagons at all.

    • @agirlisnoone5953
      @agirlisnoone5953 11 місяців тому +11

      ​@@Ailasher English must not be your first language. Your comment is so choppy and vague.

    • @DmitryTihomirow
      @DmitryTihomirow 11 місяців тому

      ​​​@@Ailasher, ​what are you writing? Are you crazy? Stalin and the Communists saved the world from destruction. Millions of communists died so that you could be born and live. They volunteered to go to the front and died for you. Their children were orphaned or were not born at all, but you were born and live happily. You are just an ungrateful stupid illiterate person, a victim of anti-communist propaganda or a scoundrel.
      You are spreading vile lies here.
      Communism is justice, humanity and freedom. Read the authentic works of Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and not false interpretations about them.
      Что вы пишите? Вы сумасшедший? Сталин и коммунисты спасли мир от гибели. Миллионы коммунистов погибли ради того, чтоб вы смогли родиться и жить. Они добровольцами шли на фронт и погибали ради вас. Их дети остались сиротами или вообще не родились, а вы родились и живёте счастливо. Вы просто неблагодарный тупой неграмотный человек, жертва антикоммунистическтй пропаганды или негодяй.
      Вы распространяете здесь гнусную ложь.
      Коммунизм - это справедливость, человеколюбие и свобода. Читайте подлинные труды Маркса, Ленина, Сталина, а не лживые интерпретации о них.

    • @flexltu
      @flexltu 11 місяців тому +17

      @@Ailasher both nazis and soviets are baddies. Both started ww2, slaughtered millions and caused suffering. Except one of them were tried and made some changes in their society, while the other's results can be seen even today.

    • @Ailasher
      @Ailasher 11 місяців тому +7

      @@agirlisnoone5953 I'm trying to master the language of the Higher Race, thank you.

  • @xjr13john
    @xjr13john 11 місяців тому +137

    I would like to see more of these kind of documentaries but without the blurred images, its all part of history!

    • @JoeDonuts1212
      @JoeDonuts1212 11 місяців тому +17

      I’d like to see a real well done high budget series covering the entirety of WW2 from all perspectives. With good actors and cinematography and CGI. Like Game of Thrones format but WW2

    • @taglor
      @taglor 11 місяців тому +12

      I agree, surely people should be cautioned about the truth of war. The real horror. However, the powers that be will always need cannon fodder and can't let the lie of a 'boy's own adventure' die.

    • @timothybarker3589
      @timothybarker3589 11 місяців тому +9

      UA-cam guidelines won't allow.

    • @jasonpip5417
      @jasonpip5417 11 місяців тому +5

      No need to see dead people...

    • @thalesofmiletus2966
      @thalesofmiletus2966 11 місяців тому +39

      @@jasonpip5417 I disagree. The brutality of war kills, maims and destroys people. It shouldn’t be akin to a computer game that is sanitised. Real war isn’t like that.

  • @southerncross86
    @southerncross86 12 днів тому

    Great video, thanks for it again!

  • @zulubeatz1
    @zulubeatz1 8 місяців тому +1

    What an incredible film. One of the best personal experience Eastern Front features I have ever seen, The way the German army reacted to the population and culture in Russia was very interesting.

    • @Kommunist_1991
      @Kommunist_1991 4 місяці тому

      Надеюсь ты понимаешь, что немецко-фашистские гады планировала просто уничтожить и эксплуатировать твой народ?

  • @ToddiusMaximus
    @ToddiusMaximus 11 місяців тому +14

    You guys need to do more of this! Eastern Front is so interesting!

  • @jeffcool9769
    @jeffcool9769 11 місяців тому +6

    Fascinating study, and wonderful narration. Thanks for the rare moments of film and still photos.

  • @user-vr3pf6fi6t
    @user-vr3pf6fi6t 7 місяців тому

    Exceptional. Best WW2 documentary I have seen in years

  • @txbulldogboxing1462
    @txbulldogboxing1462 7 місяців тому

    Just found this channel,great work on this story.

  • @markcurrie9072
    @markcurrie9072 11 місяців тому +6

    Fantastic documentary, the narrative of the German tankers' diaries was superb. Can't wait for part 2.

  • @granatnyk
    @granatnyk 10 місяців тому +5

    I ve never seen such a great documentary in my life. Congratulations!

  • @jamesharris184
    @jamesharris184 8 місяців тому

    Exceptionally well done thank you

  • @WTEIncognito
    @WTEIncognito 2 місяці тому +1

    This is edited extremely well . Thank you for this.

  • @calebshuler1789
    @calebshuler1789 11 місяців тому +3

    Thanks fellas for these documentaries. Keep it up and doing a great job

  • @davidhine6775
    @davidhine6775 11 місяців тому +10

    Cannot wait for part 2, great documentary

  • @acaciablossom558
    @acaciablossom558 5 місяців тому +3

    40:10 poor guy. He’s hoping for a lack of mosquitos and horse flies, but has no idea the horror of the Arctic winter he is going to have to endure.

  • @ianhoyle8459
    @ianhoyle8459 Місяць тому

    This is a fascinating account, are these records all the diaries of one individual?
    Thank you

  • @fr.michaelknipe4839
    @fr.michaelknipe4839 11 місяців тому +45

    This was very well done in every way. The diary contrasted with the obvious crimes against humanity. Then, the footage so well matched to the text. Effective history in the best sense

    • @happydeathtv150
      @happydeathtv150 11 місяців тому +7

      war is a real face of humanity - even tho we love to pretend innocent

    • @MrReymoclif714
      @MrReymoclif714 11 місяців тому

      Admittedly they are not very confidence inspiring? Well, I never? Viewpoint is noticeable!!

    • @happydeathtv150
      @happydeathtv150 11 місяців тому

      @@MrReymoclif714 Why do we even look widely when it's so hard to notice even our surrounding? A crime is always happening under our noses

    • @user-bi4he4ck6v
      @user-bi4he4ck6v 8 місяців тому

      What is a "crime against humanity", and Who is the one that decides that exactly? The American "war courts", "judges" from the side who won and hastily setup kangaroo courts? How convenient.

  • @frankgordon8829
    @frankgordon8829 11 місяців тому +86

    As a 2-war combat vet who was disabled in my tour of service, I can definitely relate to the miserable rain, mosquitoes, filth of not bathing & mud almost up to your knees!

    • @asimian8500
      @asimian8500 11 місяців тому +1

      ​@@stanleybroniszewsky8538 The part you forgot is that the Neocons who started all of these wars never sent their kids or if they did they made sure they had cushy jobs and got medals. They also made plenty of money and are laughing. There is nothing honorable in fighting for a country which starts wars and can't win them. The US hasn't won a war since Korea. The Neocons are pushing for your children to be drafted to fight Russia and China. The worst part of all this is the OP who was disabled in his tour of service and if it was a recent war he was a victim of an IED. Good luck with the VA Hospital. They have the worst and most incompetent doctors who graduated from third world medical schools. You're better off with a Witch Doctor than a VA doctor.

    • @fukuswii4370
      @fukuswii4370 11 місяців тому +14

      Fighting goat headers is not being at war. Go to Bakhmut and maybe you can say that you have faught a real war

    • @justlucky8254
      @justlucky8254 11 місяців тому +22

      @@fukuswii4370 cool. Where did you survive combat?

    • @entropy5431
      @entropy5431 11 місяців тому +31

      ​@@justlucky8254 In his parents basement, Call of Duty.

    • @frankgordon8829
      @frankgordon8829 11 місяців тому +15

      @@fukuswii4370 I was done with my fighting by the time those wars came around. Yea, just curious. Where DID you serve?

  • @guybo07
    @guybo07 8 місяців тому

    What film footage, excellent. One of the best ever!!

  • @zaknoten7854
    @zaknoten7854 7 місяців тому

    beautiful video, well put in effort

  • @michaeldean1289
    @michaeldean1289 11 місяців тому +18

    Great piece of work guys, nice footage which really does give it justice in supporting the storyline ❤😊

  • @captainhurricane5705
    @captainhurricane5705 11 місяців тому +39

    I've watched some diary videos recently that were completely bogus, but this one seems legit. Well read and nicely tied to film footage from the war.

    • @MrReymoclif714
      @MrReymoclif714 11 місяців тому

      Did you see those mosquitoes??? Alaskan mosquitoes!

  • @chris.asi_romeo
    @chris.asi_romeo 6 місяців тому +1

    Excellent documentary 👏👏💯💯

  • @RealCasperMan
    @RealCasperMan 6 місяців тому +2

    Really well done, immersive

  • @ossi4766
    @ossi4766 11 місяців тому +7

    Well done one off the best eastern documentary i have ever watched.

  • @ButeSound
    @ButeSound 11 місяців тому +76

    I often note my grandfather being shot whilst up a tree deep in Russia somewhere seeing where the Russians were (and surviving) as a moment of how close we are to not being here in the first place. Got sent back east when recovered and almost blown up. Survived and we played golf.
    My grandmother's brother, 20 yr old kid, got a one way trip to Stalingrad. No winners eh.

    • @westho7314
      @westho7314 9 місяців тому

      Golfing Nazis. who knew?. we have a few of those Nazi's still playing golf and wanting to play president again..Pretty pathetic.

  • @billd2635
    @billd2635 8 місяців тому

    At 19:47 what is this vehicle? It looks to be for artillery spotting. But I dont recognize the model.

  • @user-bk4jx9jd1w
    @user-bk4jx9jd1w Місяць тому

    blur part is in the video or by youtube ? on many places i see blur in whole video except logo.

  • @etiennenobel5028
    @etiennenobel5028 11 місяців тому +481

    If it wasn't history; one can hardly comprehend the stupidity of war that causes so much suffering for no gain at all but a descent into barbarism.

    • @misteryummyearth1055
      @misteryummyearth1055 11 місяців тому

      Stupidity ? Evolution of man from monkey to human? Laughable. They're currently in Ukraine snorting yabba yabba doo

    • @whysoserious7553
      @whysoserious7553 11 місяців тому

      World war 2 caused the end of colonies

    • @JeanmarieRod
      @JeanmarieRod 11 місяців тому +30

      Makes more sense than this Ukrainian conflict

    • @HonorableBeniah-A
      @HonorableBeniah-A 11 місяців тому +33

      Pray that Ukraine will stop sending untrained men into the grinder.

    • @beargillium2369
      @beargillium2369 11 місяців тому +61

      ​@@HonorableBeniah-A prayer is the lazy man's way of not actually doing anything.

  • @Trevor-ps2oe
    @Trevor-ps2oe 11 місяців тому +7

    This history is very important to remember and to understand. Thank you.

    • @youme1414
      @youme1414 11 місяців тому +1

      The problem is that we can remember history and never learnt from it. We keep repeating it all the time. Of what use is history to man in that regard?

  • @kingshorts593
    @kingshorts593 8 місяців тому +2

    PURE MADNESS!!!!!!
    When will we learn!!
    History does not repeat itself, Men do!

    • @ahmedpasic4916
      @ahmedpasic4916 Місяць тому

      We will never learn. Human race considers itself as the most intelligent creature on Earth and at the same time keeps proving again and again it is the most stupid as well.

  • @lulamadlakwe7233
    @lulamadlakwe7233 8 місяців тому

    This is a beautiful piece, surprisingly the soldier sounds so poetic

  • @nassermj7671
    @nassermj7671 11 місяців тому +4

    What a discovery - well worth a sub. Great work this one. How could it get any less personal, moment by moment brimming with human emotions.

  • @dolphingirl12885
    @dolphingirl12885 9 місяців тому +17

    It amazes me how this soldier is doing such obvious evil deeds yet talks about it as if good, this is human kind

    • @brandonhemphill5638
      @brandonhemphill5638 5 місяців тому

      This is war

    • @terrieormonde2340
      @terrieormonde2340 2 місяці тому

      ​@@brandonhemphill5638NO excuse

    • @dougrobbins5367
      @dougrobbins5367 27 днів тому

      No, it's perversion and sickness. The allies never spoke about doing evil as righteous, and they did very little evil.@@brandonhemphill5638

  • @user-ws5su4ez4y
    @user-ws5su4ez4y 7 місяців тому +4

    Absolutely love to hear the German and Soviet perspective that has mostly been lost to history. Understanding though the causes they were fighting for were vastly different, the horrors and trauma of war were the same.

  • @spencer6094
    @spencer6094 6 місяців тому

    Good work. Keep it up. Fascinating documentary. I wonder what he would think of today's men?

  • @mattmansell4238
    @mattmansell4238 10 місяців тому +41

    When I was growing up WWII vets were everywhere. I see them so rarely now its terrible. My 4yo son and I ran into a Army Ranger in a wheelchair last week in the store with a WWII hat. I knew we had to talk! I even took a pic of him with my boy. It's so sad my son will grow up without these heros in his life like I did. My sons will never really know how hard these guys were/are. Different Era. I cherish what little time I can create to listen to these old boys now.

    • @mynamedoesntmatter8652
      @mynamedoesntmatter8652 10 місяців тому +3

      I grew up with them, and my father and uncles were some of those great men. I’m glad you got that photo of the man and your little boy, and I hope that he cherishes it.

    • @alanaadams7440
      @alanaadams7440 9 місяців тому

      The great generation

    • @mynamedoesntmatter8652
      @mynamedoesntmatter8652 9 місяців тому +2

      @@alanaadams7440
      *The Greatest Generation.
      Yes indeed, they certainly were.

    • @user-bi4he4ck6v
      @user-bi4he4ck6v 8 місяців тому

      Thank God for the Greatest Generation! Without them, America would not have become what it now is today! If not for them, we would have to live in some racist xenophobic white supremacist country snd speak German.

    • @huwhitecavebeast1972
      @huwhitecavebeast1972 8 місяців тому +4

      My Godfather fought with Patton. Patton said we fought on the wrong side after having observed the situation in Europe, and I agree. We were duped into helping the enemy. Patton wanted to take out the Soviets but traitors Truman and Eisenhower wouldn't let him. We could have been spared the whole cold war and massive nuclear proliferation. I still respect the valor and sacrifice of those vets, even if we did fight on the wrong side and hurt ourselves in the long run. I had lunch with my godfather every 2 weeks until he passed, and heard many war stories. He had severe PTSD.

  • @source1zero
    @source1zero 11 місяців тому +3

    Came across this entirely by accident and my goodness.. I was absolutely riveted the entire time. Subscribed..

  • @petercavens1879
    @petercavens1879 Місяць тому

    A wonderful exposition of Sander's diary. So much so, I wished to know more about the person Lt Sanders himself.

  • @leytonsmith-8981
    @leytonsmith-8981 5 місяців тому

    Great presentation - thanks!

  • @aretallick1
    @aretallick1 11 місяців тому +25

    This is really good content to explore the history of WW2 from a completely different angle. I used to discuss WW2 at length with a D Day veteran that went on to cross Europe and went right to Berlin. He was a despatch rider attached to a tank regiment. As they crossed France, they had no idea if the next village was occupied by the Germans. So they sent him to scout on his motorbike. If he was met by gunfire, the CO deduced that the village was Nazi occupied. They'd then call in air recon, followed by air strikes if necessary, and the tanks would roll forward into decimated forces. You don't get this picture without first hand accounts.

    • @MNAHN-T.GOF-NN
      @MNAHN-T.GOF-NN 11 місяців тому

      How does this veteran feel about the state of 'his' country now during a time where, say, trans kids and the like are not only being tolerated, but encouraged? ua-cam.com/users/shorts70v0wwgB5vo
      ua-cam.com/video/wcnQJd_XRQQ/v-deo.html

  • @RickWilliams-uj9nr
    @RickWilliams-uj9nr 11 місяців тому +9

    Please do more of these, it’s so good hearing a first hand account.

  • @kdr121279
    @kdr121279 7 місяців тому +36

    It's interesting to hear that Russian soldiers regarded German soldiers as "beasts" and murderers. Considering the Wehrmacht was complicit with actions conducted by the Einsatzgruppen and similar SS formations, as well as the fate which awaited almost three million Russian POWs, they were right to think this way.

    • @confusedbadger6275
      @confusedbadger6275 5 місяців тому +10

      The Germans were told the Soviets were subhuman, yhe Sovieta were told ghe Germans were beasts etc. It was done so that neither wwould want to surrender

    • @ToMbA_La_BoMbA
      @ToMbA_La_BoMbA 5 місяців тому

      ​@@confusedbadger6275Soviets raped 2 millions German women.
      From 6 to 97 yo.

    • @TheArrowedKnee
      @TheArrowedKnee 4 місяці тому +7

      To be fair, while it was still propaganda, it wasn't entirely wrong considering how few Soviet PoWs actually survived.

    • @BillSikes.
      @BillSikes. 4 місяці тому +1

      My name is David Umbongo-Olyufemwe-Olyufemwe I am from Nigeria and I stand with Israel 🇮🇱

    • @user-sp4pc8cs7u
      @user-sp4pc8cs7u 3 місяці тому +3

      @@confusedbadger6275 The NKVD murdered 20,000 Poles, deported and murdered some thousand Baltic people and about 100,000 "political enemies" during the first 2 weeks of the German soviet war. Take this and all those mutilated German POW in the first days of German-Soviet war and you know why German soldiers did not NEED any propaganda to believe this war is going to be cruel. But its intersting to see how these inconvenient facts disappeared from history book (or never made it in there)....

  • @Ealdorman_of_Mercia
    @Ealdorman_of_Mercia 8 місяців тому

    0:46 What is the name of the soundtrack in the very beginning? It's very beautiful..

  • @tripltred65
    @tripltred65 11 місяців тому +23

    This was amazing. Felt like I was in the vehicles with them. Just amazing, and would love to see more.

    • @ahmedpasic4916
      @ahmedpasic4916 Місяць тому

      Luckily you were not in the vehicles with them.

  • @allangilchrist5938
    @allangilchrist5938 11 місяців тому +48

    Thank you for this fascinating insight into the life of an 'ordinary' German soldier.

  • @brendandoll5667
    @brendandoll5667 7 днів тому

    This was really well done
    Wish they didnt blur some footing/pictures though

  • @hangin-in-thereawesome4245
    @hangin-in-thereawesome4245 7 місяців тому

    Can't wait for part two!

  • @survivehistory
    @survivehistory 11 місяців тому +21

    I've never seen this footage before! Incredible.

  • @samrodian919
    @samrodian919 10 місяців тому +42

    This documentary was both fascinating and horrifying. Personally I am old enough to not have bad scenes blurred out. If I'm going to watch warfare in its entirety, that must include the horrifying parts of it as well. I am looking forward to the second part of this documentary. This diary series is explosive in its "on the ground, in your face" truth from a German tank officers perspective during the actual time of his involvement in operation Barbarossa.

    • @Ryan-kw6ps
      @Ryan-kw6ps 7 місяців тому

      Yes , now youtube is censoring videos,and the audio. I can only imagine what else they are censoring.

    • @holeef...v2994
      @holeef...v2994 7 місяців тому

      U cant see everything cos u have to think war is cool adventure

  • @shawnastephens1536
    @shawnastephens1536 5 місяців тому

    I watched the 2 video of this I really liked both of them. It's shows you how we all have feelings hopes and dreams. We're all human beings.

  • @YOURMOMCALLSME
    @YOURMOMCALLSME 7 місяців тому +3

    Thanks for this video. Such amazing stories from these and the journals of the survivors of Stalingrad . We could have gone the rest of time without knowing what we know had they not taken the time out (during battle) to document.

  • @chrisjohnson3590
    @chrisjohnson3590 11 місяців тому +11

    Oh that was immense, hard to imagine what it was like being there but this is a pretty good depiction. I went to St Petersburg in 1986, stunning place.

    • @jerryrichards8172
      @jerryrichards8172 11 місяців тому +1

      Think about the winter there sleeping in a fox hole with only summer cloths at 50 degrees bellow 0.