These crimes against the German people are but the dying scream of a demon. Our recent video covering the liberation of the Nazi camps exemplify the inhumane depths that the regime could truly sink to. If you wish to know more, you may view that video here ua-cam.com/video/yolqCuR7LaU/v-deo.html. And if you like what we do, please consider joining the TimeGhost Army at timeghost.tv/signup/ or www.patreon.com/TimeGhostHistory. Thank you for your support.
Angloid moustache man, Nutsi terror was at home in Germany since 1933, when they violenty opressed all legal opposition and killed thousands of Social democrats, communists, liberals and organized christians and ge nozided ten thousands of disabled people
Himmler, "No mercy to shirkers, cowards or weaklings!" Also Himmler, abandoned his post to try and sell a peace to the Allies, never went near a front line combat zone, was completely incapable of managing the front he was put in charge of briefly and caved in under pressure.
@@heitorm He had been sending out peace feelers since 1943. He got away with it, because he was in charge of the people tasked with investigating such cases, but how could they investigate their superior?
@@davidschaftenaar6530 Sometimes pseudonyms close to the real name are selected because they are easier to remember, but they are also a little transparent...
@@samuelkatz1124 It has been around but I guess the Pointy Haired Boss has been trying to ban it. At least real seagulls are mostly just in stealing your sandwhich. I heard it10 years ago and loved it ever since! Hope you liked the Vid
@@sidgarrett7247 I'm currently reading "The Innocents Abroad". Despite having been written in the 1860s, many of Twain's observations about Europe and the Middle East remain timely and humorous. I haven't read nearly as much by Will Rogers. Is there a particular book you recommend?
There was a little Typo in this episode, when discussing Josef Grohé. Instead of "Gauleiter" it said "Gaultier" which is kinda hilarious since its a very casual German term to describe a (rather stupid) horse. Even if not intentional, it was a nice dig at the criminal.
There was a cynical joke about how those in Berlin who gave that order were the first to flee the city when it became obvious the Red Army would attack.
To be fair, the Soviet order actually functioned differently than what was described here (Officers who allow retreat without permission from above are liable to be court martialed and shot, blocking detachments would function as rear line "police" to arrest anyone trying to leave the front)
@@chickenperson-ir3bnI have no god damn clue where they got the 150,000 executed number from because the actual number of men executed by Soviet blocking detachments is maybe a tenth of that number
I like how you mock the cowardly German officers and other Nazis who left their soldiers to be captured or killed by enemies while they themselves fled or committed suicide rather than face capture or justice for any war crimes. Thank you for this eye-opening video of WW2 history.
On the Nazi Racial Heirarchy - my grandmother was an 'Ostarbeiter' and during allied air raids her employers made room for their dog in the shelter, but didn't have room for her; she got to stay in the house.
@@clasdauskas My own grandmother was in a similar situation. She said during the raids she lay on her cot in the attic with the other war slaves and prayed a bomb would hit the house and kill her and destroy the families house.
During the Hamburg bombing of 1943, a female Polish worker later described how her factory supervisor, a woman Nazi Party member, locked her and others in after the air raid siren went. They banged on the door and finally a male German worker opened the door and they managed to make it to the air raid shelter in time. She was not sure whether the male worker realised they were Poles. I remember mentioning this incident on an Internet discussion site where there were more than a few Wehraboos, and they professed to disbelieve the story - "Allied propaganda". Uh-huh.
Of course, most of the Allied military executions were for sexual assault or murder. The Americans only executed one man for desertion, and no one for mutiny/dereliction/etc to my knowledge.
@@jayfrank1913 Sadly, yes. Many of those men were likely innocent, and some of them suffered as a result of botched executions by that fraud, John Wood. Incidents like that are the main reason why I oppose capital punishment in almost all cases (I make an exception for war crimes/crimes against humanity, in the most severe cases)
The Brits outlawed the death penalty for desertion in 1930. They executed no one for that. After letting the Brits execute some of our soldiers in World War I and the world was some to our fucking shame - NZ did not execute any soldiers in World War II. And those World War I soldiers were pardoned in 2000 - better late than never I suppose.
All of this is because of a huge projection. Those men were insecure and used this as a means to get their anger out by projecting those insecurities on innocents. They were fighting themselves the whole time, why they didn’t just end themselves instead of organizing an entire war on behalf of millions is beyond me.
@mcfahk Its weird that them and mice get this massive reputation for scurrying away as soon as a human surprises them or turns on a light. Is that not what almost every single non-domesticated animal does in the same situation? I imagine their negative stereotyping came from the plague and has just been a cultural remnant of that societal trauma.
@@extragoogleaccount6061 In part yes because of the plague but also because they live in sewers and filth that most other creatures don’t go near. Also they will attack humans in some situations eg the trenches in WW1 and they have been known for centuries to carry diseases other than plague. Personally I like domesticated mice and rats they can make great pets. But in the wild it’s best to stay clear of them
OK let’s clear some things up here: 1. I’m actually a fan of rats. They’re fascinating animals. Like pointed out elsewhere; social, caring, adaptable, resourceful, and relatively intelligent creatures. In my youth I had rats as pets and loved them very much. 2. That said, in human habitations they can become pests and a health hazard, hence their reputation. 3. The analogy here is not the same as the Nazi against the Jews (but yes I see the irony too). The analogy here is to how rats on a ship behave if the ship is going down, they skedaddle into the drink and try to swim away. The image of rats as vermin does add color to that analogy though.
These men who debased themselves in every way possible, their thirst for power, eventually shows they were never in it for "The Folk." It was vanity and their feelings of inadequacy that drove them mad.
Sigismund Best, the British spy kidnapped by the SS at Venlo in 199 and held at Dachau, who spoke German, asked the Austrian Wermacht officer who the columun of SS and prisoners being transported to the Tirol for execution had run into on the road, pointing to former Austrian nationalist leader Kurt Schuschnigg standing with his best friend from his imprisonment at Dachau, the former French leader Leon Blum, and asked, do you know who that is? Yes, replied the young Austrian officer. He then told the Austrian officer that all of Himmler's hostages, including Schuschnigg, Blum, and those implicated in the Hitler plot, like Schecht, and even Stauffenburg's brother, were all to be shot by the SS. Then he purportedly asked the young Austrian officer, "do you know your duty to Austria?"... The Wermacht officer offered the SS "help" to guard the prisoners, while they had lunch. After the SS had sat down to lunch, the Wermacht soldiers disarmed the SS, and freed the prisoners...
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak for me." - Martin Niemöller
This series has left an indelible impression on me and this one is no exception. Every time I watch an episode, at the end, I feel compelled to kneel down on my knees and thank God that I was born a free man in a free land with certain inailianble rights and the right to pursue happiness..... Thank you Mr. Olsen for exposing these cowards ( Nazis) for what they truly are and have been from the beginning......
I've watched this from day one, thank you for teaching me more than what I learnt at school. At school we only really covered the Holocaust and it was not all that in depth. I learnt more from this series than I ever learnt in a classroom. Keep up the good work Sparty and may you continue teaching from that pulpit.
it's so frustrating that people have to be reminded of the crimes that happened in the past and yet some still go on to commit the same crimes again and again supported by the manipulated masses. It's like watching a movie you've seen many times - you know what happens but no matter what you do (even if you stop watching or kill yourself) you can't change anything and the film still goes on to its' horrific conclusion. And then it starts all over again.
Spartacus, You are my hero! Your fight for humanity and decency is truly inspiring. We live in an age where the horrors of WW2 if not forgotten are disregarded or treated like some sort of video game. It’s so important nowadays to be reminded of the sources and perpetrators of evil. Thank you!
Great episode! It would be interesting to have a well documented episode dedicated to "fleeing nazi crime perpretators" in 1945: a closer look at the ratlines, at how the Operation Heydrich operators met their end in Slovenia, how some were never found, how some ended up flying across ennemy territory to Spain, including the fate of some of the Nazis' worst foreign collaborators
There is a movie "Der Hauptman" the English translation "The Captain". It's a drama based on a true story. The storyline parallels what had occurred in the final weeks of WWII. I recommend this movie, but know this is graphic and brutal.
@@TankJockey38 I do believe that the movie does depict the desperate and deprived actions in the closing days inside of Nazi Germany. That being said, I have watched a documentary where I had learned about the movie. Unfortunately, I can't remember who produced the documentary.
Astonishingly craven. Your ending, as always, is masterful. It feels especially relevant to our contemporary leaders who beckon their followers to fight, fight, fight for "our" country and at the same time troll them for funds to stay out of the courtrooms and face accountability. Thank you.
The wholesale feeling of Nazis when things got rough isn't surprising. To a person they were always about self-interest and self-enrichment. Goering probably illustrates this more than most, with his Carinhall estate stuffed full of stolen art.
At least Goering had some sort of class. Probably was rotten to the core like the others, and a junkie psycho, but he is more enjoyable to learn about than the little rats like Himmler or Schörner.
As always, a very moving conclusion, Spartacus! Thank you and the entire Time Ghost team. The excellent research done by your staff is incredibly detailed and precise. This episode makes me think of the actions of Nazi murderers and cowards at the end of the European war as that of rats deserting a sinking ship. NEVER FORGET!.
Surprise surprise, Schoerner deserted his troops in Bohemia and fled to surrender to the Americans.Partial justice was 15 years in Soviet, DDR and BRD prisons. He died in obscurity in Munich in 973
The fear of being captured by the Soviets was real, though it was a fate that millions of German service personnel could not escape. The Nazi elite often led the stampede west, and it is telling that of those put on trial at Nuremberg, only two (Erich Raeder and Hans Fritzsche) were captured in the Soviet zone. Raeder was initially treated well by the Soviets, who seemed interested in what he could tell them about the functioning of the Kriegsmarine in WW2. Then, perhaps following orders from Moscow, he was suddenly detained and then sent to Nuremberg under guard. Fritzsche was involved in surrender negotiations in Berlin and was detained by the Soviets there. He was imprisoned in Moscow under harsh conditions, according to his later account, and then sent to Nuremberg.
16:08 I remember how surprised I was when you mentioned on your weekly episodes that Franz Halder joined the resistance, since he was a certified Nazi and responsible for the Wehrmachts genocidal war in the east till mid 1942.
It's wild to think that people who should have known they could be dead at almost any time would then decide to spend their last days shooting civilians, and then trying to run at practically the worst possible time. I guess there's something to be said for making terrible decisions consistently and to the bitter end, though...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldj%C3%A4gerkorps Some executions were carried out by them - they were set up as a way of supplementing the work of the Feldgendarmerie or military police. After the surrender, many if not all were allowed to retain arms in POW camps, certainly in the US zone, to maintain order. It is interesting to me anyway that the military police of the current German Army are also called Feldjäger.
It's easy talk about fighting to the death when somebody else is doing the fighting. Sad that so many had to die for a lost cause. Thank you for making this excellent video. 😢
Every school in the world needs to watch both World War2 and Crimes against Humanity, but especially Crimes against Humanity because we are starting to head down this road again and its terrifying. Never Forget!!
Most people think (or hope), that they would have been an Oscar Schindler Type, or at least someone who resisted the nuts-ie regime actively, if they had lived in that era. The truth is that most people (60-80%) would watch scared as heck from the sidelines and try to keep their head down and sit everything out.
Even Schindler was an ambiguous figure in the early part of the war, hard to distinguish from all the other Germans seeking to make a fortune in an occupied country, the General Government or "Gangster Ground".
If any one of your truly excellent videos were to be shown to every schoolchild, every college student, every working adult and senior citizen on Earth, it should be this one. Future generations of humanity should always remember the depths to which we can sink, when we Forget.
Kreisleiter Richard Drauz is from my Hometown. He was truely a monster. my Grandfather once met him during the final stages of the Battle of Heilbronn. Until his dying days he shivered when he spoke about Drauz
I know the Holocaust has ended, but the plight of the Jewish Survivors was far from over. Many Jews who tried to return to the towns and cities where they had lived faced death. Many family friends endured this awful treatment. I was wondering if you will be covering the plight of these and other displaced persons, as well as the ethnic cleansing that the Soviets engaged in postwar Eastern Europe in this series?
I've been rereading Rommel's Infantry Attacks lately and, just last night, came across mention of a certain Lieutenant Schorner, with a footnote about his later career, so I immediately thought of his photo that you always have up whenever you talk about him. I've also been pairing Infantry Attacks with The Rommel Papers, but started it somewhat later so not nearly as far along. Anyways, I'm only in 1940 in that one, but remember remember reading mention of Hanke in places, along with the footnote, so he was recognized. It's rather strange to be reading about the astounding successes of blitzkrieg while watching the collapse of the same army on this channel. Also, the ending was awesome! It made me think that is exactly what has become of the US system too.
My grandpa was sentenced to death for appropriating an abandoned officers supply cart for himself and his unit. Luckily one of the officers on the tribunal was a friend of his father. 🤷♂️
It is worth pointing out that, in spite of Stalin's well publicised order, the reality for Soviet soldiers was something very different. Most soviet soldiers really did not face serious consequences for retreating, it was the junior comisars who were so regularly made example of. I don't have the figures at hand for the "Fall Blau" campaign and the subsequent Stalingrad operations, but I'm pretty sure that the vast majoity of those executed for desertion by Stalin's regime were actually the junior officers tasked with ensuring hat desertions didn't become rife.
I’m not sure that it being junior officers lessens the number… or are you saying that 158,000 executed junior officers is not so bad as 158,000 executed privates? How many Junior officers do you value a private at? Two? Three? Ten? I don’t have the going exchange rates myself…
@@spartacus-olsson Where are you getting those numbers from? That number is very suspiciously the exact same as the number of Soviet soldiers executed for desertion during the entire war! Order 227 was in force for 3 months (July 28, 1942 - October, 1942). Official effect of this order: - Detained solders who attempted to flee battles: 140,750 of these: - executed: 1,189 (0.8%) - sent to penal battalions: 2,961 (2.1%) - returned to duty 131,094 (93.2%)
@@alanywalany6460 yes that is the number for the entire war. The comment I replied to didn’t refer to the order itself, but to execution for desertion in general.
@@spartacus-olsson The comment you replied to is talking about consequences for retreating though, which is what Order 227 is about, and therefore I'd argue that the comment is too. Deserting and retreating are not, and were not considered, the same. Plus. as outlined in other comments the order was aimed at officers ordering unauthorised withdrawals. While I now get that your actual point is that executing someone for deserting is wrong, I didn't get that impression at all from the video and neither did many others.
@@alanywalany6460 i think mangos are poisonous and many people agree with me. OK… admittedly it is unclear how many many are, and my impression of both mangos and how many many is, might be colored by the fact that I don’t like mangos. I say; might… I wasn’t making any argument about the appropriate punishment for desertion, I’m just inquiring why it’s better to execute junior officers than regular soldiers… I might be stupid, but I’m confused by that idea.
I'll be happy for you when this war is over. I wonder what's harder, having to write and present WAH or thinking about where we'll be ten years from now. Best wishes and many thanks from North Carolina, US.
Some prominent politicians/individuals that were marched to tyrol and narrowly avoided being shot include: - Kurt Schuschnigg, the pre-anschluss chancellor of austria - President Leon Blum of France (truly a miracle he survived given he was both jewish and a socialis) - the Duke of Parma, also known as the pretender of the Carlist dynasty for the spanish throne - fritz Thyssen, senior industrialist who initially supported hitler but objected to war and Kristallnacht - hjalmar schacht, former head of DDP and brains behind hitler's economic "miracle" - martin niemoller - Alexandros Papagos, future PM of Greece - Georg Thomas ( man who came up with the "hunger plan") - miklos horthy's son, as well as the "moderate" PM installed to try and gain some independence from berlin
Well, I may as well finish my stories of pythonesque idiocy here . My grandfather fought in the Battle of East Prussia in the Volksturm (aged 40) delivering uniforms to the front. He eventually literally got hit in the ass by a Russian shell fragment (they referred to the Soviets as Russians; it''s what they did). I remember he walked with a cane when he had the operation to remove the final fragment around 1970. He was evacuated by medical boat from Danzig/Gdansk. I always pictured a converted cargo hold full of stretchers, but I may be wrong. The boat came under attack; I picture strafing fire from a Soviet fighter, but again I could be wrong. One fanatic Nazis admonished the injured soldiers for being cowards and not fighting the attack. He picked up a rifle climbed up the ladder to the porthole and plopped back to the ground dead before he could climb to the deck. The whole boat just looked at his body silently lying there, and my Grandfather thought to himself "Yes, you wished that on yourself".
I don't know why it's taken me so long, I finally figured out why Sparty ends these the way he does. It's so that I can hit the Like button with a clear conscience. Who wants to like all this death and destruction, the war against humanity? Not me! But after that rousing speech at the end, I hit the button immediately.
"In every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the People." Eugene V. Debs
Great episode. Can someone clarify the spelling of the place on March 29th where the women tore down tank barriers and were arrested? The transcript says Oxenfort in vburg but I’m not sure that’s correct. I found Oxenfurt, but no luck finding more info about this. Is there a further source for this incident?
These crimes against the German people are but the dying scream of a demon. Our recent video covering the liberation of the Nazi camps exemplify the inhumane depths that the regime could truly sink to. If you wish to know more, you may view that video here ua-cam.com/video/yolqCuR7LaU/v-deo.html. And if you like what we do, please consider joining the TimeGhost Army at timeghost.tv/signup/ or www.patreon.com/TimeGhostHistory.
Thank you for your support.
Angloid moustache man, Nutsi terror was at home in Germany since 1933, when they violenty opressed all legal opposition and killed thousands of Social democrats, communists, liberals and organized christians and ge nozided ten thousands of disabled people
Franz Halder was not executed. He lived until 1972.
Good riddance to the Third Reich
You basically demonize all germans and justify atrocities against them... with this statement.
"dying scream of a demon" = german people? How cruel.
Himmler, "No mercy to shirkers, cowards or weaklings!"
Also Himmler, abandoned his post to try and sell a peace to the Allies, never went near a front line combat zone, was completely incapable of managing the front he was put in charge of briefly and caved in under pressure.
Himmler thinking that he was a main figure to make a separate peace with the allies was one of the most ironic things i read today.
@@heitorm He had been sending out peace feelers since 1943. He got away with it, because he was in charge of the people tasked with investigating such cases, but how could they investigate their superior?
true
He was also captured this week, trying to pass a British checkpoint using the absolutely foolproof pseudonym of 'Heinrich Hitzinger'. 😅
@@davidschaftenaar6530 Sometimes pseudonyms close to the real name are selected because they are easier to remember, but they are also a little transparent...
Schörner sounds like the original seagull manager -- flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps all over everything, then flies away.
literally tried to fly away 🙂
Also he ate 6 pervitin tablets a day and drank coffee I dont know how he survived till The 60's 😄
I've never heard the phrase "seagull manager" before but I am in love with it
@@samuelkatz1124 It has been around but I guess the Pointy Haired Boss has been trying to ban it. At least real seagulls are mostly just in stealing your sandwhich. I heard it10 years ago and loved it ever since! Hope you liked the Vid
@@marcston His name should have been Schnorrer.
"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare."
Mark Twain
Mark Twain's quotes apply so well to today's politicians and many of the leaders of the WW2 era.
@@jerryw6699 Sadly, yes.
Him and Will Rodgers are two of the best American philosophers. Both are very good reading.
@@sidgarrett7247 I'm currently reading "The Innocents Abroad". Despite having been written in the 1860s, many of Twain's observations about Europe and the Middle East remain timely and humorous. I haven't read nearly as much by Will Rogers. Is there a particular book you recommend?
@@sidgarrett7247I like both of them, because they are able to make fun of mankind, while teaching us very serious flaws of the human's nature.
There was a little Typo in this episode, when discussing Josef Grohé. Instead of "Gauleiter" it said "Gaultier" which is kinda hilarious since its a very casual German term to describe a (rather stupid) horse. Even if not intentional, it was a nice dig at the criminal.
It's not a bug, it's a feature
@@284JBr 😆Nice
Same thing lol
German really does have a word for everything
"Not one step back", is a pretty easy order to give when you're not on the battlefield.
Ferdinand Schörner doesnt get it.
There was a cynical joke about how those in Berlin who gave that order were the first to flee the city when it became obvious the Red Army would attack.
To be fair, the Soviet order actually functioned differently than what was described here (Officers who allow retreat without permission from above are liable to be court martialed and shot, blocking detachments would function as rear line "police" to arrest anyone trying to leave the front)
@@chickenperson-ir3bnI have no god damn clue where they got the 150,000 executed number from because the actual number of men executed by Soviet blocking detachments is maybe a tenth of that number
When smearing the USSR facts are not important @@About37Hobos
I like how you mock the cowardly German officers and other Nazis who left their soldiers to be captured or killed by enemies while they themselves fled or committed suicide rather than face capture or justice for any war crimes. Thank you for this eye-opening video of WW2 history.
On the Nazi Racial Heirarchy - my grandmother was an 'Ostarbeiter' and during allied air raids her employers made room for their dog in the shelter, but didn't have room for her; she got to stay in the house.
How much you wanna bet at the end of the war they claimed there weren't nazis
Glad she made it. That's a horrific story.
-TimeGhost Ambassador
@@WorldWarTwo Yes. And it's not even the worst.
@@clasdauskas My own grandmother was in a similar situation. She said during the raids she lay on her cot in the attic with the other war slaves and prayed a bomb would hit the house and kill her and destroy the families house.
During the Hamburg bombing of 1943, a female Polish worker later described how her factory supervisor, a woman Nazi Party member, locked her and others in after the air raid siren went. They banged on the door and finally a male German worker opened the door and they managed to make it to the air raid shelter in time. She was not sure whether the male worker realised they were Poles. I remember mentioning this incident on an Internet discussion site where there were more than a few Wehraboos, and they professed to disbelieve the story - "Allied propaganda". Uh-huh.
Of course, most of the Allied military executions were for sexual assault or murder. The Americans only executed one man for desertion, and no one for mutiny/dereliction/etc to my knowledge.
Those Americans executed for SA were statistically over-represented by Black soldiers and often picked at random. Never forget.
@@jayfrank1913 Sadly, yes. Many of those men were likely innocent, and some of them suffered as a result of botched executions by that fraud, John Wood.
Incidents like that are the main reason why I oppose capital punishment in almost all cases (I make an exception for war crimes/crimes against humanity, in the most severe cases)
Private Eddie Slovak ? As depicted by a very young Martin Sheen…
The Brits outlawed the death penalty for desertion in 1930. They executed no one for that. After letting the Brits execute some of our soldiers in World War I and the world was some to our fucking shame - NZ did not execute any soldiers in World War II. And those World War I soldiers were pardoned in 2000 - better late than never I suppose.
Imagine you and some buddies are trying to figure out what to do, cuz nobody told you anything and then you're executed for standing around
Those who prey on the fears of people by stoking prejudices will always out themselves as the cowards they are.
Still holds true today.
Que former president Trump
All countries, everywhere, at all times. We're seeing that in the UK during election time.
basically Islamist militants to a T
how stupid someone must feel after carrying out an order to execute someone for cowardess, meanwhile the guy who gave you the order just fled.
'cowardice'
Schoerner, the ultimate "Do as I say, not as I do" commander.
The analogy between the Gauleiter and rats is especially ironic given how Nazi propaganda often portrayed Jews.
All of this is because of a huge projection. Those men were insecure and used this as a means to get their anger out by projecting those insecurities on innocents. They were fighting themselves the whole time, why they didn’t just end themselves instead of organizing an entire war on behalf of millions is beyond me.
@mcfahk Its weird that them and mice get this massive reputation for scurrying away as soon as a human surprises them or turns on a light. Is that not what almost every single non-domesticated animal does in the same situation?
I imagine their negative stereotyping came from the plague and has just been a cultural remnant of that societal trauma.
@@extragoogleaccount6061
In part yes because of the plague but also because they live in sewers and filth that most other creatures don’t go near.
Also they will attack humans in some situations eg the trenches in WW1 and they have been known for centuries to carry diseases other than plague.
Personally I like domesticated mice and rats they can make great pets. But in the wild it’s best to stay clear of them
OK let’s clear some things up here:
1. I’m actually a fan of rats. They’re fascinating animals. Like pointed out elsewhere; social, caring, adaptable, resourceful, and relatively intelligent creatures. In my youth I had rats as pets and loved them very much.
2. That said, in human habitations they can become pests and a health hazard, hence their reputation.
3. The analogy here is not the same as the Nazi against the Jews (but yes I see the irony too). The analogy here is to how rats on a ship behave if the ship is going down, they skedaddle into the drink and try to swim away. The image of rats as vermin does add color to that analogy though.
@@spartacus-olsson well said, as usual Spartacus 👍.
These men who debased themselves in every way possible, their thirst for power, eventually shows they were never in it for "The Folk." It was vanity and their feelings of inadequacy that drove them mad.
Sigismund Best, the British spy kidnapped by the SS at Venlo in 199 and held at Dachau, who spoke German, asked the Austrian Wermacht officer who the columun of SS and prisoners being transported to the Tirol for execution had run into on the road, pointing to former Austrian nationalist leader Kurt Schuschnigg standing with his best friend from his imprisonment at Dachau, the former French leader Leon Blum, and asked, do you know who that is? Yes, replied the young Austrian officer. He then told the Austrian officer that all of Himmler's hostages, including Schuschnigg, Blum, and those implicated in the Hitler plot, like Schecht, and even Stauffenburg's brother, were all to be shot by the SS. Then he purportedly asked the young Austrian officer, "do you know your duty to Austria?"... The Wermacht officer offered the SS "help" to guard the prisoners, while they had lunch. After the SS had sat down to lunch, the Wermacht soldiers disarmed the SS, and freed the prisoners...
Kurt Schuschnigg and Leon Blum becoming besties is something I didn't know. That's absolutely fascinating.
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out- Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak for me." - Martin Niemöller
Except Hitler was a socialist and supported the creation of the DAF (trade union in nazi germany)
This series has left an indelible impression on me and this one is no exception. Every time I watch an episode, at the end, I feel compelled to kneel down on my knees and thank God that I was born a free man in a free land with certain inailianble rights and the right to pursue happiness..... Thank you Mr. Olsen for exposing these cowards ( Nazis) for what they truly are and have been from the beginning......
❤
I've watched this from day one, thank you for teaching me more than what I learnt at school.
At school we only really covered the Holocaust and it was not all that in depth. I learnt more from this series than I ever learnt in a classroom.
Keep up the good work Sparty and may you continue teaching from that pulpit.
when German Homefront become so brutal that it took Sparty instead of Astrid to explain it
How quickly die hard fanaticism on an individual level is extinguished when faced with unavoidable retribution….
it's so frustrating that people have to be reminded of the crimes that happened in the past and yet some still go on to commit the same crimes again and again supported by the manipulated masses. It's like watching a movie you've seen many times - you know what happens but no matter what you do (even if you stop watching or kill yourself) you can't change anything and the film still goes on to its' horrific conclusion. And then it starts all over again.
Right history repeats itself
Well these crimes were never committed again to such an extent, and a world war hasn’t happened yet
Spartacus, You are my hero! Your fight for humanity and decency is truly inspiring. We live in an age where the horrors of WW2 if not forgotten are disregarded or treated like some sort of video game. It’s so important nowadays to be reminded of the sources and perpetrators of evil. Thank you!
Brilliantly written & well documented. Thanks.
Thank you for watching!
Thank you for the commentary.
Himmler giving an order to execute deserters is bit ironic.
The Allies kicked in the door and the whole rotten thing came tumbling down.
LMAO
Great episode! It would be interesting to have a well documented episode dedicated to "fleeing nazi crime perpretators" in 1945: a closer look at the ratlines, at how the Operation Heydrich operators met their end in Slovenia, how some were never found, how some ended up flying across ennemy territory to Spain, including the fate of some of the Nazis' worst foreign collaborators
All of that coming soon on a WW2 in Real Time channel near you…
There is a movie "Der Hauptman" the English translation "The Captain". It's a drama based on a true story. The storyline parallels what had occurred in the final weeks of WWII. I recommend this movie, but know this is graphic and brutal.
Thank you for sharing !
The film is worth a watch. It is definitely dark, though. It gives a good portrayal of the insanity of the Nazi party.
Very good one, I concurr. Great recommandation.
I've heard both that Willi Herald was and was not real. The real camp has a photo of supposedly the real guy. Not sure what to believe.
@@TankJockey38 I do believe that the movie does depict the desperate and deprived actions in the closing days inside of Nazi Germany. That being said, I have watched a documentary where I had learned about the movie. Unfortunately, I can't remember who produced the documentary.
His closing statements are VERY applicable to current events!
Astonishingly craven. Your ending, as always, is masterful.
It feels especially relevant to our contemporary leaders who beckon their followers to fight, fight, fight for "our" country and at the same time troll them for funds to stay out of the courtrooms and face accountability.
Thank you.
The ending of this episode was so lit. Well done sparty
The wholesale feeling of Nazis when things got rough isn't surprising. To a person they were always about self-interest and self-enrichment. Goering probably illustrates this more than most, with his Carinhall estate stuffed full of stolen art.
At least Goering had some sort of class. Probably was rotten to the core like the others, and a junkie psycho, but he is more enjoyable to learn about than the little rats like Himmler or Schörner.
Or Himmler trying to desperately cut a deal with the Western Allies to save his own skin.
Sounds much like the British Empire!
As always, a very moving conclusion, Spartacus! Thank you and the entire Time Ghost team. The excellent research done by your staff is incredibly detailed and precise. This episode makes me think of the actions of Nazi murderers and cowards at the end of the European war as that of rats deserting a sinking ship. NEVER FORGET!.
Thank you for such a warm comment, and thank you for watching. Never forget.
Spartacus' presentation style is impeccable.
The movie Herr Hauptmann (The Captain) brutally presents this period and the brutal decay of morality almost beyond any recovery.
I remember when I studied the Endphaseverbrechen when I was in High school back in 2015. Horrific but yet interesting.
Surprise surprise, Schoerner deserted his troops in Bohemia and fled to surrender to the Americans.Partial justice was 15 years in Soviet, DDR and BRD prisons. He died in obscurity in Munich in 973
The fear of being captured by the Soviets was real, though it was a fate that millions of German service personnel could not escape. The Nazi elite often led the stampede west, and it is telling that of those put on trial at Nuremberg, only two (Erich Raeder and Hans Fritzsche) were captured in the Soviet zone. Raeder was initially treated well by the Soviets, who seemed interested in what he could tell them about the functioning of the Kriegsmarine in WW2. Then, perhaps following orders from Moscow, he was suddenly detained and then sent to Nuremberg under guard. Fritzsche was involved in surrender negotiations in Berlin and was detained by the Soviets there. He was imprisoned in Moscow under harsh conditions, according to his later account, and then sent to Nuremberg.
16:08 I remember how surprised I was when you mentioned on your weekly episodes that Franz Halder joined the resistance, since he was a certified Nazi and responsible for the Wehrmachts genocidal war in the east till mid 1942.
Yep. Same with Erich Hoepner and Von Stulpnagel too...
I think many nazis joined resistance
It's wild to think that people who should have known they could be dead at almost any time would then decide to spend their last days shooting civilians, and then trying to run at practically the worst possible time.
I guess there's something to be said for making terrible decisions consistently and to the bitter end, though...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldj%C3%A4gerkorps
Some executions were carried out by them - they were set up as a way of supplementing the work of the Feldgendarmerie or military police. After the surrender, many if not all were allowed to retain arms in POW camps, certainly in the US zone, to maintain order. It is interesting to me anyway that the military police of the current German Army are also called Feldjäger.
Fantastic - best yet and so well researched, many thanks.
The Depth Of Human Madness.
Far beyond the reach of sunlight.
A realm where only the most ancient and depraved creatures of shadow dwell in hell’s crawl-space.
@@SHAd0Eheart And this inhumane monstrosity was spawned in "civilized society of Goethe and Beethoven" nonetheless, ironic.
And now it is finally over. At least in Europe.
ua-cam.com/video/Whqws6PSgY0/v-deo.htmlsi=jB30Pa9ltkpqTGSz&t=52
@@thanos_6.0putin is trying to do the same now
Thank you again for a powerful video, Sparty. Incredibly powerful.
It's easy talk about fighting to the death when somebody else is doing the fighting. Sad that so many had to die for a lost cause. Thank you for making this excellent video. 😢
I'm beginning to believe that Sparty isn't fond of the Nazis.
My friends uncle was murdered by the Nazis for declining to fight at wars end
Brilliant as always, thank you Spartacus and the team.
Your summary at the end was well said and point on.... there are a lot of folks today who need to heed the warning...
Your speeches at the end of these episodes really hit home. You and the team do a great job writing them and you do a perfect job delivering them.
❤ thank you
Every school in the world needs to watch both World War2 and Crimes against Humanity, but especially Crimes against Humanity because we are starting to head down this road again and its terrifying. Never Forget!!
Outstanding conclusion to this video, well done!
A brilliant summing-up by Sparty, as ever!
Excellent episode, sparty! Your closing words hit me hard, very much on point.
Most people think (or hope), that they would have been an Oscar Schindler Type, or at least someone who resisted the nuts-ie regime actively, if they had lived in that era. The truth is that most people (60-80%) would watch scared as heck from the sidelines and try to keep their head down and sit everything out.
Even Schindler was an ambiguous figure in the early part of the war, hard to distinguish from all the other Germans seeking to make a fortune in an occupied country, the General Government or "Gangster Ground".
If any one of your truly excellent videos were to be shown to every schoolchild, every college student, every working adult and senior citizen on Earth, it should be this one. Future generations of humanity should always remember the depths to which we can sink, when we Forget.
that thumbnail is an absolute meme
Kreisleiter Richard Drauz is from my Hometown. He was truely a monster. my Grandfather once met him during the final stages of the Battle of Heilbronn. Until his dying days he shivered when he spoke about Drauz
Your closing statements are always so powerful
I know the Holocaust has ended, but the plight of the Jewish Survivors was far from over. Many Jews who tried to return to the towns and cities where they had lived faced death. Many family friends endured this awful treatment. I was wondering if you will be covering the plight of these and other displaced persons, as well as the ethnic cleansing that the Soviets engaged in postwar Eastern Europe in this series?
Spartacus' final words in this video gave me the shivers.
I've been rereading Rommel's Infantry Attacks lately and, just last night, came across mention of a certain Lieutenant Schorner, with a footnote about his later career, so I immediately thought of his photo that you always have up whenever you talk about him. I've also been pairing Infantry Attacks with The Rommel Papers, but started it somewhat later so not nearly as far along. Anyways, I'm only in 1940 in that one, but remember remember reading mention of Hanke in places, along with the footnote, so he was recognized. It's rather strange to be reading about the astounding successes of blitzkrieg while watching the collapse of the same army on this channel.
Also, the ending was awesome! It made me think that is exactly what has become of the US system too.
Well Said. "Never Forget" Bravo Sir.
Just plain fantastic! I have to re-watch this.
The true heroes ….
Remember the title of one of Roger Water’s songs: THE BRAVERY OF BEING OUT OF RANGE.
Thank you for this great series. Might I suggest that you do a series about the aftermath of the war to include the Nuremberg Trials
Yes, wonderful monologue at the end!
Thank you for this excellent presentation. Do take care all.
The last 2 minutes of that was... very specific.
My grandpa was sentenced to death for appropriating an abandoned officers supply cart for himself and his unit. Luckily one of the officers on the tribunal was a friend of his father. 🤷♂️
Another excellent summation.
Thank you.
Thanks for watching.
Great video, tons of information unknown to me previously. Have subscribed. Keep up the awesome work 👏 👍 👌
"It's not that we have a bad organization that's rotten to the core - it's that you aren't willing to sacrifice enough to save it."
YOUR BEST EPISODE EVER- PASSION AND TRUTH.
Franz Halder died in 1972
Brilliant script writing and presentation!
Yes!! That ending! Brilliantly put! ❤
Excellent monologue at the end.
I love this channel. Thank you, so much.
Thank you. Never forget.
It is worth pointing out that, in spite of Stalin's well publicised order, the reality for Soviet soldiers was something very different. Most soviet soldiers really did not face serious consequences for retreating, it was the junior comisars who were so regularly made example of.
I don't have the figures at hand for the "Fall Blau" campaign and the subsequent Stalingrad operations, but I'm pretty sure that the vast majoity of those executed for desertion by Stalin's regime were actually the junior officers tasked with ensuring hat desertions didn't become rife.
I’m not sure that it being junior officers lessens the number… or are you saying that 158,000 executed junior officers is not so bad as 158,000 executed privates? How many Junior officers do you value a private at? Two? Three? Ten? I don’t have the going exchange rates myself…
@@spartacus-olsson Where are you getting those numbers from? That number is very suspiciously the exact same as the number of Soviet soldiers executed for desertion during the entire war! Order 227 was in force for 3 months (July 28, 1942 - October, 1942).
Official effect of this order:
- Detained solders who attempted to flee battles: 140,750
of these:
- executed: 1,189 (0.8%)
- sent to penal battalions: 2,961 (2.1%)
- returned to duty 131,094 (93.2%)
@@alanywalany6460 yes that is the number for the entire war. The comment I replied to didn’t refer to the order itself, but to execution for desertion in general.
@@spartacus-olsson The comment you replied to is talking about consequences for retreating though, which is what Order 227 is about, and therefore I'd argue that the comment is too. Deserting and retreating are not, and were not considered, the same. Plus. as outlined in other comments the order was aimed at officers ordering unauthorised withdrawals.
While I now get that your actual point is that executing someone for deserting is wrong, I didn't get that impression at all from the video and neither did many others.
@@alanywalany6460 i think mangos are poisonous and many people agree with me.
OK… admittedly it is unclear how many many are, and my impression of both mangos and how many many is, might be colored by the fact that I don’t like mangos. I say; might…
I wasn’t making any argument about the appropriate punishment for desertion, I’m just inquiring why it’s better to execute junior officers than regular soldiers… I might be stupid, but I’m confused by that idea.
Wow, needing too reward this again right away, power packed, intense and unapologetically clear on morals.
I'll be happy for you when this war is over. I wonder what's harder, having to write and present WAH or thinking about where we'll be ten years from now.
Best wishes and many thanks from North Carolina, US.
Ahh, the famous crime of standing around without orders... can relate.
I had a history professor that had been a slave at Keil.
Great Info, Thanks!!
Imagine being condemned to death for cowardness by people who later committed suicide or fled the country
friendly reminder the german people never rose up against nazi rule, not even in the end
make of that what you will
Outstanding video👍👍
Thank you very much for the comment and thanks for watching..
Well said Sparty. never forget.
Some prominent politicians/individuals that were marched to tyrol and narrowly avoided being shot include:
- Kurt Schuschnigg, the pre-anschluss chancellor of austria
- President Leon Blum of France (truly a miracle he survived given he was both jewish and a socialis)
- the Duke of Parma, also known as the pretender of the Carlist dynasty for the spanish throne
- fritz Thyssen, senior industrialist who initially supported hitler but objected to war and Kristallnacht
- hjalmar schacht, former head of DDP and brains behind hitler's economic "miracle"
- martin niemoller
- Alexandros Papagos, future PM of Greece
- Georg Thomas ( man who came up with the "hunger plan")
- miklos horthy's son, as well as the "moderate" PM installed to try and gain some independence from berlin
Shirking is actually regular practice in the military
Spartakus articulates amazingly.
Thank you Spartacus. Your warning is a prediction of the future of our leadership today.
So what Placard should have Joseph Goebbles worn as he couldn't protect his 6 children from his wife.
Well, I may as well finish my stories of pythonesque idiocy here . My grandfather fought in the Battle of East Prussia in the Volksturm (aged 40) delivering uniforms to the front. He eventually literally got hit in the ass by a Russian shell fragment (they referred to the Soviets as Russians; it''s what they did). I remember he walked with a cane when he had the operation to remove the final fragment around 1970. He was evacuated by medical boat from Danzig/Gdansk. I always pictured a converted cargo hold full of stretchers, but I may be wrong. The boat came under attack; I picture strafing fire from a Soviet fighter, but again I could be wrong. One fanatic Nazis admonished the injured soldiers for being cowards and not fighting the attack. He picked up a rifle climbed up the ladder to the porthole and plopped back to the ground dead before he could climb to the deck. The whole boat just looked at his body silently lying there, and my Grandfather thought to himself "Yes, you wished that on yourself".
I don't know why it's taken me so long, I finally figured out why Sparty ends these the way he does. It's so that I can hit the Like button with a clear conscience. Who wants to like all this death and destruction, the war against humanity? Not me! But after that rousing speech at the end, I hit the button immediately.
Thanks!
Thank you so much for the superchat!
Thanks TGA.
Spartacus, magnificent as always.!
"In every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the People." Eugene V. Debs
Great episode. Can someone clarify the spelling of the place on March 29th where the women tore down tank barriers and were arrested? The transcript says Oxenfort in vburg but I’m not sure that’s correct. I found Oxenfurt, but no luck finding more info about this. Is there a further source for this incident?
Evil exists and it walks the face of the Earth.
7:53
It really caught me off guard to hear a story from my neighboring city.