I’m so grateful for all the men who liberated my Polish Catholic Grandpa from Dachau. I would not exist if it wasn’t for them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. ♥️🇺🇸
I'm so happy your Grandfather was saved. They were truly our Greatest Generation. I am American Indian and my Father's older sister joined the Navy during WW ll and my Father had to get permission from his parents from his parents because of his young age and he joined the Navy too. Everyone wanted to help in whatever way possible. We were very lucky because both my Father and his older sister returned home safely.
my great grandfather helped liberate dachau. he was a photographer and we still have his photos. it baffles me that there are people who deny this tragedy
Because there is no hard evidence of any extermination plan except the one against the Germans. The effects of the collapsing supply lines and typhus were bad, but hardly anything they should feel guilty about when they were suffering the same thing. There's a reason they never show you camp guards, railways workers, etc from the same time. They looked exactly the same by that point.
My grandfather was an army physician who helped liberate Buchenwald. Like in the comments of so many others here, he would not talk about it except to say that “reports had not been exaggerated”and he struggled with alcohol for the rest of his life.
Very bright man - very articulate. Yes, he did start rocking while he was talking about Dachau. At age 19 my Dad was with troops that liberated Flossenberg concentration camp. He wouldn't discuss it. To think that these brave men came home and went to school, went to work, raised families, lived a pretty normal full lives is astounding to me. Greatest Generation indeed!
God bless your Dad for being part of liberating Flossenburg. I had a distant cousin that had been there. And survived due to men like your father. BTW, my rel
Yes I agree, a very articulate man. Saw the worst of human behaviour, Saw the results of that I noticed also, he started to rock back and forth, also the almost entirety of the video, He folded his arms across himself. Physiological damage is extremely debilitating. The damaged parts of your brain, your psyche, will Never Ever heal. This type of mental anguish follows you until your last breath. So horribly sad 😢
My dad was there. He was just a young kid, but what he saw as a young soldier stayed with him his entire life. I remember the terrible dreams he would have where he would wake up crying. He tried to find solace in the bottle, which ended up killing him young. I wish I’d had him a lot longer.
I'm so sorry for him, for your family and the exponential number of people who were victims of this barbarism! This is why we must ALL speak out about hate and violence.
Sorry for your loss, sounds like my dad's story about atrocities he saw in Korea. He never quite came back the same. He only rarely spoke about it!!! Our poor vets.🙏
My Dad never mentioned what Division he was in, nor which Concentration Camp they liberated. He never talked about it unless he was drunk, and then he would always tell the same thing. (I CANNOT Begin to imagine what all these men went through 😭).He would just sit at the kitchen table staring & drinking. When he had too much to drink, he would only say that they couldn't eat for a week after picking up all the bodies because they're skin would come off when moving the bodies & the smell had to wear off their hands. I have the utmost Respect for each & every man that fought. God bless each one of them ❤🙏
My Dad was in the Army and was there. He said that most of the bodies were moved and mass graves were dug by all German camp guards and colabilaters and that he witnessed American soldiers shooting guards at 1st sight of the Camps and the bodies and allowed prisoners beat some guards to death. The biggest war in modern history and most people couldn't tell you when WW2 was or basically any modern history. I think that how we got to where we are today and the leader we have
I was at Dachau in 2018. It was horrible to see then so can’t imagine what the prisoners went through for all those years. I still see the face of a handsome young man who was photographed right after he died after some experimental test. The allies coming upon that must have been a harrowing experience
@@WilliamHorsley1962my father was British SAS and stumbled on Bergen Belsen camp on reconnaissance ahead of troops. He told me about that they carefully peeped over a hill and saw in the distance a lot of smoke that stank like roasting flesh.. awful indescribable smell. He said " the bastards were burning as hards as they could to get rid of evidence" when I asked him evidence of what he clamped up and never spoke of the war again. I since requested further information from his regiment but they said they can confirm that this account is true and father was hunting SS and Gestapo but further information remains sealed. I honestly think nobody has learned from this horror. It's still happening today but not spoken of in msm...I believe it's worse now because people know about it and don't do anything or publish it. They allow monsters to keep doing it whereas in WW 2 it was discovered afterwards 😢
My father was in the 42nd division and was there. He was deeply affected by what he saw. He once told me, "I can't believe how human beings could treat other human beings that way."
That's the last great American generation. they were the beginning and the end of the American dream. after they saw JFK shot, right after that is when inflation and the wage gap started slowly turning the middle class into the lower class.
My father was there also. In General Patch’s army. He didn’t talk about it much and died in 1967. Wish I knew more. I remember him talking about one of his buddies killing the commandant. For years it was always in the back of my mind. Recent history and UA-cam showed there might be a grain of truth to it.
@@joemello7888There’s definitely some truth there with the Dachau guards being shot, so you really never know. I have 2 similar stories from my grandfather and I’ve been thinking lately that maybe it wasn’t all exaggerated. You can research and request your dads service records if you haven’t already but as you know you can’t get the stories back.
God bless you and thank you for your service. You liberated my grandfather, a POW of the 42nd division, captured in the battle of the Bulge and eventually sent to Dachau.
Once, in Germany I visited a small family farm. It was in the mid 2000's. We had lunch. The grandfather of the owner was there, too. He was in his 90's. He was behaving very strangely. Obviously, he was having dementia. I was wondering why he was so animated and excited, but when I saw how upset and ashamed the rest of the family was, I tried to exercise my bad German and understand his shouting. Then it downed on me. He was repeating over and over in his mind how he shot someone. He was acting out how that person was begging for his life while he was killing him. This old man lived through the war into his 90's, but his late years were pure hell. He was mentally stuck in it. There were generations of such damaged people. War is pure evil.
This was not a war this was a massacre of 6 million Jewish men women grandfather‘s grandmother‘s children babies toddlers no this wasn’t a war that was Hitler and his group of henchmen. They wanted them dead and so dead they would be ironically none of them had were made accountable pretty much all got away with it, a lot of them came here and they were set up with good jobs at Nassau and other parts in the government. Why do you think we’re having such trouble right now?
I noticed that also. Not a pacing as a wild animal in a cage needing to be free... But, a rocking as to self soothe through such horrendous memories. God Bless him.
I have so much respect for all these brave men who fought for all of our freedoms! The horror they had to endure escapes me! Im sorry they had to witness the horrible things the Nazi inflicted!
I'm sure that experience was something that Mr. Lukens never forgot, but to have to retell that terrible story really affected him, he rocks back and forth, trying to comfort his younger self as he remembers. Bless him, and all the men who had to endure the horrors of war.
You can see how difficult it was for him to relive the past, but he gave this interview because he didn't want what happened to ever be forgotten. What a brave and good man.
My mother's brother was an infantry scout with the 45th division and so found himself one of the first GI's to encounter Dachau. He would acknowledge that he was there but refused to speak any further of it.
The rector of my church, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, was a chaplain during WW II. During a Catechism class in the very early 80s he told us about his experience walking through one of the Nazi concentration camps (I can't remember which camp, its been 40 plus years) and he had walked into one of the buildings where the ovens were (I'm using his word). He described it as horrifying because there were still cremains in the ovens and some were still on. He also described some had remains that still...well...you get it. He also described the bodies piled up either waiting for the ovens or waiting for mass burial. After that brief description you could see in his face that even after 40 some odd years the experience was still very fresh in his mind. Those service members who served overseas and saw such horrors during WW II carried so much with them from their horrifying experiences. My neighbor also served in WWII and he never spoke about his experiences on D-Day until I asked him a question in the 1970s, his daughter (who went to school with my bio parents) sat there stunned listening to his stories and she later told him that her Dad and NEVER spoken about his time on that beach. These men held in their wartime experiences for whatever reasons and its up to us to listen and share their stories so that it never happens again, just like the extermination of anyone should NEVER happen again.
You can see the stress of recalling these events in the way that Mr Lukens starts to rock a little as he tells the story. That was exactly the same as my grandfather did when he remembered his part in liberating Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Also there for the liberation of prisoners was someone whose friendship I would get many years later, who was a Canadian veteran. Both of them said they had heard of concentration camps before discovering Belsen and as my Canadian friend said, "If I knew about it, for sure the Generals knew about it".
Just a few musings but like a string of beads they are all connected in a way. Anyone being in in war has had experiences they couldn't forget and like my Dad had nightmares sometimes. I remember reading about a British actor who gained his American citizenship either the day before or after Dec. 7th. He and a film crew were among other places at Tarawa. His marriage didn't last long when his wife said he wasn't the same man that returned home. His name was Louis Hayward. My father had purchased a book titled the Eyes Of The War and when someone would ask about the War he'd pull out the book and let them see for themselves. He wouldn't talk about it. The closest he could come to it was reminisces about old buddies. He kept up correspondences with a few. As a child I happened upon that book. Decades later Life magazine ran a photo of a poor little Vietnamese girl running down a road stark naked because napalm had burnt her clothing. I was instantly reminded of the introductory photo in the book. A Chinese baby of about 2 or 3 sitting in a war torn train station whailing for probably Mom. Also in the book were sections on the concentration camps. My Father told me the dead were people unwanted because they were different. My view of people was charged then and there. To this day I'm in wonder and awe of those men who returned home, some who were shattered for life and some who were able to pull some inner strength and went on to lead progressive lives. PS. It's a shame one of us children of these brave men didn't begin collecting family stories and publish them as a book. When the S F Chronicle had a Sunday supplement that carried a story written by a daughter about her father and what she found in a carefully hidden box. When in college don't know what brought it up but the subject of Daddy returning home brought up memories of our Dad's. At 81 there aren't to many of us left with those rememberences.
The eye-witness accounts tell history so vividly! The men who saw this and experienced it are very special, and I wish they could publish their stories so people would not forget. Thank you, all WWII vets, for what did with such bravery, and also, thank you for the lives you lived when you came home. America must never forget!
I'm blessed and extremely proud of this elderly gentleman. He is so lucid and fluent. God bless his soul! Thank you for your contribution. He reminds me so much of my great granddad. He fought in WW2 and he was a gem of a man. I remember his stories of the war. Still amazed at this gentleman's sharpness and articulation.❤❤❤❤❤❤
I want to thank all the honorable men for their bravery for defending our country! Allowing me to grow up free! I thank you all! I have much respect for u all! Again thank you all for my freedom and for the countries freedom! Again thank you
My full respect for this man and all the soldiers involved in the liberation of Europe, it was an atrocious war, may it never be forgotten or repeated. All the best.
My grandfather was in the same division, 20th Armored, 414th field artillery, and had to have fought along side him. He never, ever talked about the war until very late in life. Even then, it wasn’t much. I just visited Dachau and saw the 20th Armored plaque - just hard to imagine what they saw.
I salute you for your unwavering courage in the face of such horror that you witness, I'm so proud of you for your service and congradulate you, SIR !!! God bless you !!!!
Thank you so much for your service sir. I live in the best country in the world today because of you and men like you. Freedom is not free, and this could happen again. Less we ever forget!
Claiming to live in the best country in the world because of people like him ? America only joined in the latter years of the war and only because they were bought into it due to pearl harbour .
I agree! I studied abroad in college on a Holocaust Studies trip. It was the greatest two months of my life between my junior and senior years of college. We visited Natzweiller-Struthoff and of course Dachau during our time there. I’ll never forget when I walked into the camp through those metal gates with the emblazoned words “Marcht Arbeit Frei”. To this day I swear the temperature dropped about ten degrees when I walked in. You could feel the haunted aura of the horrors that took place there and the clammy elements seep into your veins and every fiber of your being. One of the most surreal and eerie things to ever happen to me. #NeverForget
@@punishedgloyperstormtroope8098 Trying to equate the German concentration camps to the U.S. internment camps is being disingenuous. It was unfortunate that the Japanese were interned like that, but the conditions in the camps was good enough that more people came out than went in because of the birth rate. But you probably knew that already, you are trying to use a weak "whataboutism" to push your agenda.
I agree, I visited in 1982 . It was a grey cold day. I couldn’t help thinking of the prisoners with their very thin garments. It was only autumn at the time too.
I was stationed at the NATO HQ in Naples and during 1963 visited a friend stationed in Munich with the 24th Division. He told me I should visit Dachau and since, he said, directions were poor he'd draw a map. I said why don't you come along to which he replied that he'd been there once and wouldn't go back. After I visited I understood why.
My Father was also in the 20th, and the experience of taking Dacha was such that he could not bring himself to again see the sight in 1980 when we made a family trip to Southern Germany. It brought back painful memories just being close by. On a side note, Mr. Luckens appears to have gotten attached to the 20th after it had switched from being a training divison for other armored outfits/individuals, to a combat div. It was the last armored division to reach Europe, as well as the last one avaliable for combat use.
27 million Russians died . Operation Barbarossa was the most ferociously fought battle in history according to war HISTORIAN’S . Most camps in Europe liberated by the Russians . I say RIP on all sides including the enemies . Little Shultz the grandson of a top SS leader . Putin’s maternal uncles died in WW11 he had no family left . Thank god for the Russians. Hitler or Stalin what a choose.
Thank you for sharing. This gentleman is very sharp still about what happened so long ago. It is very eye opening to hear about how cruel the human race can be
What a gentleman, you really could listen to these guys all day. His story at the start regarding his schooling and university and ski club was brilliant. Rest in peace Mr Lukens and thank you for your service. You really are the greatest generation.
German - Swiss American here! My Great - Uncle died on a beach in Anzio, Italy February 1944! He was a Staff Sgt. in the US Army! Only e2 when he died! I visited Europe on an Educators Tour / Summer 1984! We were supposed to visit that Concentration Camp but I was very glad we didn't go! It had to be a HELLISH place ! As a sensitive, I am sure I wouldn't have been able to handle that EVIL place!HELL on earth!
@@InnocentPotato-pd7wi People like your great grand uncle are my heroes. I am a Kiwi and take a lot of interest in all these events. I am a Jewish descendant as well. In depth knowledge about the Holocaust has also changed me.
@barbsmart7373 Thank you for your reply! I was raised Catholic! "RECOVERING CATHOLIC " now! I respect all religions! It is so sad that people continue to fight over religion! All 3 religions Christian / Jewish and Muslim believe in St. Michael the Archangel . There us a huge statue of St. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL in Kiev/ Ukraine! Too bad they cannot learn to "Give Peace a Chance"!New Zealand is a beautiful country! 🤗🥰🤗
My Grandfather never,ever recovered. My great uncle returned in his little metal box in the late 1950s when roadwork was being done near the French border. He and a number of other American servicemen were identified by their dog tags and finally came home. Nothing about what happened to the Jewish people in World War 2 had ANYTHING to do with battle, with fighting, with the rigors of war. What was done to the Jewish people was an attempt at annihilation. Nothing else but evil drove the torture, degradation and murder of the MILLIONS of innocent Jews. We're seeing anti-Semitism raise it's head again in the United States... Many of us feel concerned but not afraid. I say "Hello" to the Police Officers on my way into the Synagogue and carry on.
I'm a boomer, so grew up listening to some of my uncle's war stories- but not all- some were too awful to tell aloud. I am utterly shocked watching hatred for the Jewish people rise again. I believed we would never see it on a scale like this. To this day there are many who deny the Holocaust happened. I knew some who survived- the tatoos on their arms with the # assigned to them was sickening, horrible. I pray for the eyes of the ignorant to be opened.
Until Moshiach comes my brother, we will be persecuted. It is deeply disturbing but a reminder of the truth of the spiritual battle we are in. Theres no other explanation but that out G-d is true, and our enemies are really against Him and not us. I am a Yid and a Police Officer so I like how you said you greet the Police officers on the way to Shul. You must be in Brooklyn. I’m from Crown Heights but moved to Texas four years ago and am a cop just outside of Dallas. Always a Police presence outside of 770 I remember. I think that rubbed off on me a little bit.
I’ve watched docs and read books about the holocaust for years and thought how horrible to starve, torture and murder innocent people. I’ve lost sympathy for the people of Israel for doing the exact same thing to the Palestinians. It’s equally disgusting!
My mother was born in Hungary. She lived through those times. Her little brother was killed from air fire that collapsed her home. They fled in the middle of the night. 😢
Not to the same degree, but I have been involved in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. And I have seen the very worst and the very best of humanity, II could not believe what man could do do man, and this wasn’t in the heat of battle for survival, this…..this was just depravity and cruelty for the sake off I.
My dad served in the army in the 103rd. He was there when Lansberg concentration camp had been liberated. He never talked about the war until he was in his mid 60s. I'm glad he finally did because I'd always wanted to know about his time in the service. He did talk about the liberated prisoners and how horrible there physical condition was. He said they looked like skeletons with skin. At Landsberg, the prisoners were basically starved to death, as they weren't subject to the gas chamber. The arm
What an incredibly sharp mind! As difficult as it was to recount his experiences, this is so important to have history preserved. I tried to get my dad on tape for his experiences but I think he thought it was macabre like we thought he was going to die. As a naval officer he had wonderful information about ships etc. too. Now his story is lost.
My uncle Vinnie was with the Army and went in to Dachau. Never forgot his description of the freed prisoners, one of whom died in the arms of an allied soldier.
Thank you for the service of these incredible men, most of whom have passed on, but they will never be forgotten. Thank you for all our men and women who have served and to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this great country.
My father John Golec served with the CIC and produced an official report on Dachau for Eisenhower and his staff. Also have a 9 page letter to my mother describing what he saw and experienced. He spoke several languages so he interviewed those interned at the camp. He never really spoke about his experience there.
Omg to hear my home town university UNL get called a lark is hilarious i would think that too especially coming from the mountains. This guy is amazing and the liberation of the camps will never be forgotten the names of everyone will at some point but what they did will be know for the rest of history
My father had bad flashback for years after what he saw in theses camps,...." there is absolutely no limit to human stupidity he said"... he lost many many good friends that lay forever over there in fields.
God bless you and your father. I'm so sorry he had to deal with the horrors that he experienced while over there. But your father was part of the greatest generation of our time. They didn't just save this country but the entire world. They didn't only give back so many their countries that were occupied by evil but saved many lives. Unfortunately war leaves scars that aren't so obvious to the naked eye. I've served in US Special Operations for 22yrs now. I too have experienced the horrors of war, but not to the magnitude of WW2. God bless your father and you and yours and God bless America. 🇺🇲
@@pmc6925 Thank you for your kind words,.. l was myself in the army as medic attach to a airbourne regiment for 30 years,....l can tell you that my father was right,.. after many deployments over sea in war theater and regardless was Ex-Yugosslavia, Rwanda, Cyprus, Afghanistan, West Timor,. just to name few ".. there is no limit to humain stupidity,".. .. people have not learn from the past,.. so they were doom to repeat the same mistake,...nothing has change,.. except the size and power of destruction..... take good care my brother in arms.
My Uncle was in a regiment that help liberate Dachau. Right up to the day that he died, he did not like talk about what he saw there. He would get very annoyed if anybody brought it up or talked about it.
That is absolutely heartbreaking.We should make every American child.Listen to this and watch the hamas video of October.The seventh the enemy's face becomes so much clearer when you see that!
A child in Palestine 🇵🇸 is just as important as one in Israel. Over 70% of the victims in the Gaza women & children. 37.000 & counting now a deliberate famine . Ireland 🇮🇪. Now we have Spain 🇪🇸 & Norway 🇳🇴 on board .
We have no idea how many “women and children” have been killed, as all these numbers come from Hamas (a brutal terrorist organization). If they didn’t use them as human shields, whatever the actual number is would be gar less than the actual value. As it has been said, Hamas uses people to protect themselves while Israel uses the military to protect the people.
Forever enjoy hearing the old Military Veterans relating their experiences. Especially 2nd World War Vets. Across the 'Pond', in Europe, they are much Honoured and held in high esteem, at War Remembrance Ceremonies. Thank You Pt.Lukens Sir. May You Rest in Peace 🙏🏽🤲👏🏻 ❤🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
My Uncle was in wave 2 on Omaha Beach, June 6th, 1944. In a very private conversation he shared some of the things he experienced. Fast forward to 1957, and he was reporting to the key Nazi (Wernher Von Braun) scientist who developed the V1 and V2 Rockets. Uncle Frank was a Technical Engineer developing the fuel control valves for the five engines on the Atlas Booster. My Brother, Sister, and I toured the NASA Facility in Huntsville, AL three separate times and actually met Von Braun in one of the plants. I've heard stories of irony before but this one is the most dramatic. Von Braun was part of Operation Paperclip where the Americans "volunteered" Nazi personnel to come to America. Thing is ... the American rocket program could not have made progress without Von Braun. He was utterly and completely fixated on space travel.
Wow I cant even imagine what they went through the stench had to horrible and smelled for miles away . He never said how they did away with the sniper rotten bastards put up the white flag and pick off soldiers ! They truly are the greatest generation
I just visited Dachau in October of 2024. It was my second time there as I was stationed with an artillery unit for 6 years in Germany. Listening to his first hand account here combined with my visit a few weeks ago and walking the very ground this occurred, the hair on my arms and back of my neck is rising up. Pretty amazing what the Germans did to their own people and population to exterminate those who disagreed with the Nazi’s.
I expected something like a Hogans Hero’s type set up. It wasn’t. It was built to last 100 years. The huge poured concrete fence posts were perfectly and skillfully crafted. The edges were sharp and crisp. They intended that place to operate for decades. That realization shook me up.
I read a book written by a Catholic priest who was there with a bunch of other Catholic priests as well. It was a really chilling read about the punishments the priests received (the nazi's hated Catholics with a passion). One of the punishments was having to kiss broken glass and every time you kissed it the SS would hold the priest down until his face was pouring blood. One priest died from this. What really amazed me was towards the end of the book when the Americans arrived the priest described some order finally arriving and everyone seemed to be at peace. Then suddenly the Russian POWs who had been imprisoned there as well started flipping out and decided they were going to get revenge on the SS who were still there (many had fled) and that's actually what got the American soldiers riled up and then they started helping with killing the SS.
@@SteveSmith-eb6ze Birkenau would really give you the creeps. Read up before going. Just looking at the place is only half of it. The real horror comes when you know what happened in each area.
@@InglésconRobert2025 Visiting one concentration camp was enough for me. I don’t like the feeling you get when walking through the gate. I am not bs’ing,I could feel the hatred,suffering and misery,it felt like thousands of eyes were watching me,can’t explain it. I took our German Shepherd with us and she was very tense and hyper. She tried to dig where they threw the ashes of the dead.
These soldiers who fought against fascism are truly the Greatest Generation! I continue to learn about the evils and hell the Nazis inflicted on people through channels like this. Thank you.
Genocide is always a great evil. Why do people want to destroy the lives of others? Hate is a powerful force. Those who harbor hate in their hearts are truly sick. Sick to their souls.
My dad was with the Canadian army. He told us about liberating a women's camp. The Cdn. army was to keep control of the whole area afterwards. The women from the camp actually went around the countryside afterwards, slitting the throats of all the farmers who the German army had allowed into the camp to constantly rape all the women. My dad said that he, & I guess the rest of the Canadian army personnel based there then, just looked the other way. Very proud of that.
I am Jewish, and was never told anything about the massacre of the Jews in Europe during world war 2. By my mom or my grandparents. It wasn't until I graduated high school, after attending Hebrew school during my grade school years, that i started watching everything i could on TV about WW2 and the annihilation of my people. I used to just sit and cry as i watched these newsreels, i was gobsmacked! I could not wrap my mind around what my eyes beheld. 12:27
No cellphones, no security cameras on every corner, not many tvs yet. Radio & newspapers mostly. So easier to hide things. My friend’s dad did not even see her till she was 18 months old. No zoom calls or video either.
The smell must have been horrendous, the Germans knew, but fear can change people's attitudes. Germans were watching each other and reporting each other, they feared being reported, as it meant going into a camp, or if in the military, the Eastern front. I've visited Bergan Belson 3 times, Buckenwald and Dachau, makes you think, how did the Germans think up some of the atrocities they committed. As an aside we visited Colditz castle, which was a pow camp, very interesting, we had a former pow with us Kenneth lockwood, who was interned there during ww2.
The German public knew of the camps but had no idea what went on inside them. There were of course rumors but one did not ask questions in Nazi Germany.
People knew they knew...... Germans knew and when trains went past they closed their ears and eyes.. they knew but preferred to be deaf and blind just like today....it will happen again
Dachau is still open to tourism. I visited and it showed how brutal it was. There were pictures of piles of golden teeth they extracted from prisoners. There were cells that were tighter than shoulder width where one would be forced to stand and then eventually sink as far as the body could contort between the 4 walls. It was a huge facility. Several football fields could fit in there
My grandpa a medic in the army helped liberate Dachua. He would tear up when people spoke of the war. I don’t remember him talking about it much at all.
At around timestamp 13:14, he states that German criminals had been drafted to run Dachau, and that they were commanded (on pain of death) to be harsh toward the camp's prisoners.
Dad went there with the 191st Service Company a tank battalion. Two miles of bodies made into fences, heading into camp. Not just Jews, they didn't discriminate. They had room for gypsies and foreigners too.
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What a terrible you make at the end of the video. Please delete that.
I’m so grateful for all the men who liberated my Polish Catholic Grandpa from Dachau. I would not exist if it wasn’t for them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. ♥️🇺🇸
Bee there,that place will give you the creeps.
Yea I love the polish people. Let’s not forget 27 million Russians died .
@@Carolinel673 The entire video is about the liberation of Dachau. Your comment is irrelevant. 🙄
I'm so happy your Grandfather was saved. They were truly our Greatest Generation. I am American Indian and my Father's older sister joined the Navy during WW ll and my Father had to get permission from his parents from his parents because of his young age and he joined the Navy too. Everyone wanted to help in whatever way possible. We were very lucky because both my Father and his older sister returned home safely.
@@LucysMom1 It was the Russians that liberated MOST of the camps & killed 80% of ALL NAZIS .
my great grandfather helped liberate dachau. he was a photographer and we still have his photos. it baffles me that there are people who deny this tragedy
Because there is no hard evidence of any extermination plan except the one against the Germans.
The effects of the collapsing supply lines and typhus were bad, but hardly anything they should feel guilty about when they were suffering the same thing.
There's a reason they never show you camp guards, railways workers, etc from the same time. They looked exactly the same by that point.
My grandfather was an army physician who helped liberate Buchenwald. Like in the comments of so many others here, he would not talk about it except to say that “reports had not been exaggerated”and he struggled with alcohol for the rest of his life.
Very bright man - very articulate. Yes, he did start rocking while he was talking about Dachau. At age 19 my Dad was with troops that liberated Flossenberg concentration camp. He wouldn't discuss it. To think that these brave men came home and went to school, went to work, raised families, lived a pretty normal full lives is astounding to me. Greatest Generation indeed!
God bless your Dad for being part of liberating Flossenburg. I had a distant cousin that had been there. And survived due to men like your father. BTW, my rel
BTW my relative made it back home and became a police officer. Please tell your father that.
Yes I agree, a very articulate man. Saw the worst of human behaviour, Saw the results of that
I noticed also, he started to rock back and forth, also the almost entirety of the video, He folded his arms across himself. Physiological damage is extremely debilitating. The damaged parts of your brain, your psyche, will Never Ever heal. This type of mental anguish follows you until your last breath. So horribly sad 😢
@@LindaLee-vt9lr Thanks Linda! So good to know.
@@janinebell4888:50 9:00
My dad was there. He was just a young kid, but what he saw as a young soldier stayed with him his entire life. I remember the terrible dreams he would have where he would wake up crying. He tried to find solace in the bottle, which ended up killing him young. I wish I’d had him a lot longer.
Sorry for your loss 😢
I'm so sorry.Absolutely heartbreaking.
God bless you
I'm so sorry for him, for your family and the exponential number of people who were victims of this barbarism! This is why we must ALL speak out about hate and violence.
Sorry for your loss, sounds like my dad's story about atrocities he saw in Korea. He never quite came back the same. He only rarely spoke about it!!! Our poor vets.🙏
My Dad never mentioned what Division he was in, nor which Concentration Camp they liberated. He never talked about it unless he was drunk, and then he would always tell the same thing. (I CANNOT Begin to imagine what all these men went through 😭).He would just sit at the kitchen table staring & drinking. When he had too much to drink, he would only say that they couldn't eat for a week after picking up all the bodies because they're skin would come off when moving the bodies & the smell had to wear off their hands.
I have the utmost Respect for each & every man that fought.
God bless each one of them ❤🙏
I am ready to cry.
My uncle would never speak of it either.
My Dad was in the Army and was there. He said that most of the bodies were moved and mass graves were dug by all German camp guards and colabilaters and that he witnessed American soldiers shooting guards at 1st sight of the Camps and the bodies and allowed prisoners beat some guards to death. The biggest war in modern history and most people couldn't tell you when WW2 was or basically any modern history. I think that how we got to where we are today and the leader we have
I was at Dachau in 2018. It was horrible to see then so can’t imagine what the prisoners went through for all those years. I still see the face of a handsome young man who was photographed right after he died after some experimental test. The allies coming upon that must have been a harrowing experience
@@WilliamHorsley1962my father was British SAS and stumbled on Bergen Belsen camp on reconnaissance ahead of troops. He told me about that they carefully peeped over a hill and saw in the distance a lot of smoke that stank like roasting flesh.. awful indescribable smell. He said " the bastards were burning as hards as they could to get rid of evidence" when I asked him evidence of what he clamped up and never spoke of the war again. I since requested further information from his regiment but they said they can confirm that this account is true and father was hunting SS and Gestapo but further information remains sealed. I honestly think nobody has learned from this horror. It's still happening today but not spoken of in msm...I believe it's worse now because people know about it and don't do anything or publish it. They allow monsters to keep doing it whereas in WW 2 it was discovered afterwards 😢
My father was in the 42nd division and was there. He was deeply affected by what he saw. He once told me, "I can't believe how human beings could treat other human beings that way."
That's the last great American generation.
they were the beginning and the end of the American dream.
after they saw JFK shot, right after that is when inflation and the wage gap started slowly turning the middle class into the lower class.
My father was there also. In General Patch’s army. He didn’t talk about it much and died in 1967. Wish I knew more. I remember him talking about one of his buddies killing the commandant. For years it was always in the back of my mind. Recent history and UA-cam showed there might be a grain of truth to it.
They were de-humanised! That's how the Nazis could treat them in such horrible ways
@@joemello7888There’s definitely some truth there with the Dachau guards being shot, so you really never know. I have 2 similar stories from my grandfather and I’ve been thinking lately that maybe it wasn’t all exaggerated. You can research and request your dads service records if you haven’t already but as you know you can’t get the stories back.
And it's still happening today in 2024!
God bless you and thank you for your service. You liberated my grandfather, a POW of the 42nd division, captured in the battle of the Bulge and eventually sent to Dachau.
Thank you, sir, for your service. My stepfather was POW in Germany and liberated by US soldiers.
Once, in Germany I visited a small family farm. It was in the mid 2000's. We had lunch. The grandfather of the owner was there, too. He was in his 90's. He was behaving very strangely. Obviously, he was having dementia. I was wondering why he was so animated and excited, but when I saw how upset and ashamed the rest of the family was, I tried to exercise my bad German and understand his shouting. Then it downed on me. He was repeating over and over in his mind how he shot someone. He was acting out how that person was begging for his life while he was killing him.
This old man lived through the war into his 90's, but his late years were pure hell. He was mentally stuck in it. There were generations of such damaged people. War is pure evil.
I find it disturbing how a family could be ashamed of someone with such a lived experience.
This was not a war this was a massacre of 6 million Jewish men women grandfather‘s grandmother‘s children babies toddlers no this wasn’t a war that was Hitler and his group of henchmen. They wanted them dead and so dead they would be ironically none of them had were made accountable pretty much all got away with it, a lot of them came here and they were set up with good jobs at Nassau and other parts in the government. Why do you think we’re having such trouble right now?
@@shirleyashanti3031depends what else he had done
Bless every veteran. Deepest, thanks for your service, we wouldn't be here without you.
❤❤❤
He's sharp as a tack. Thanks for your honesty.
Definitely has Biden beat!
Why the hell bring Biden into this? Let's see how you are when you get this gentleman's age. Good grief!
@@oliveoil7642he doesn’t wear diapers like Trump.
@@oliveoil7642 Popeye said to shut it.
The way this gentleman moves his body back and forth when he's telling about the horrors he saw at Dachau... you know that never left him.
I noticed that also. Not a pacing as a wild animal in a cage needing to be free... But, a rocking as to self soothe through such horrendous memories. God Bless him.
I have so much respect for all these brave men who fought for all of our freedoms! The horror they had to endure escapes me! Im sorry they had to witness the horrible things the Nazi inflicted!
He wraps his arms around himself in a protective way too.
I noticed that, too.❤
That sounds like something that will never leave you, witnessing the Pinnacle of human depravity
I'm sure that experience was something that Mr. Lukens never forgot, but to have to retell that terrible story really affected him, he rocks back and forth, trying to comfort his younger self as he remembers. Bless him, and all the men who had to endure the horrors of war.
You can see how difficult it was for him to relive the past, but he gave this interview because he didn't want what happened to ever be forgotten. What a brave and good man.
Thank you for sharing. I had an uncle who liberated a death camp, but would never talk about it. He passed in 1974.
My mother's brother was an infantry scout with the 45th division and so found himself one of the first GI's to encounter Dachau. He would acknowledge that he was there but refused to speak any further of it.
I can only imagine what he saw.
Your uncle? Is a mother's brother something different?
@@jlo7770 Yes, his uncle. He's differentiating between his mother's brother or his father's brother to be specific.
@@neveralone1498 "my uncle on my mother's side" is a whole lot less convoluted and sounds way less..... banging your cousin
@@neveralone1498 : (you had to explain it)
The rector of my church, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, was a chaplain during WW II. During a Catechism class in the very early 80s he told us about his experience walking through one of the Nazi concentration camps (I can't remember which camp, its been 40 plus years) and he had walked into one of the buildings where the ovens were (I'm using his word). He described it as horrifying because there were still cremains in the ovens and some were still on. He also described some had remains that still...well...you get it. He also described the bodies piled up either waiting for the ovens or waiting for mass burial. After that brief description you could see in his face that even after 40 some odd years the experience was still very fresh in his mind. Those service members who served overseas and saw such horrors during WW II carried so much with them from their horrifying experiences. My neighbor also served in WWII and he never spoke about his experiences on D-Day until I asked him a question in the 1970s, his daughter (who went to school with my bio parents) sat there stunned listening to his stories and she later told him that her Dad and NEVER spoken about his time on that beach. These men held in their wartime experiences for whatever reasons and its up to us to listen and share their stories so that it never happens again, just like the extermination of anyone should NEVER happen again.
You can see the stress of recalling these events in the way that Mr Lukens starts to rock a little as he tells the story. That was exactly the same as my grandfather did when he remembered his part in liberating Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Also there for the liberation of prisoners was someone whose friendship I would get many years later, who was a Canadian veteran. Both of them said they had heard of concentration camps before discovering Belsen and as my Canadian friend said, "If I knew about it, for sure the Generals knew about it".
My God! How could anyone look upon that and not feel changed forever. I can't even imagine .
Just a few musings but like a string of beads they are all connected in a way. Anyone being in in war has had experiences they couldn't forget and like my Dad had nightmares sometimes. I remember reading about a British actor who gained his American citizenship either the day before or after Dec. 7th. He and a film crew were among other places at Tarawa. His marriage didn't last long when his wife said he wasn't the same man that returned home. His name was Louis Hayward. My father had purchased a book titled the Eyes Of The War and when someone would ask about the War he'd pull out the book and let them see for themselves. He wouldn't talk about it. The closest he could come to it was reminisces about old buddies. He kept up correspondences with a few. As a child I happened upon that book. Decades later Life magazine ran a photo of a poor little Vietnamese girl running down a road stark naked because napalm had burnt her clothing. I was instantly reminded of the introductory photo in the book. A Chinese baby of about 2 or 3 sitting in a war torn train station whailing for probably Mom. Also in the book were sections on the concentration camps. My Father told me the dead were people unwanted because they were different. My view of people was charged then and there. To this day I'm in wonder and awe of those men who returned home, some who were shattered for life and some who were able to pull some inner strength and went on to lead progressive lives. PS. It's a shame one of us children of these brave men didn't begin collecting family stories and publish them as a book. When the S F Chronicle had a Sunday supplement that carried a story written by a daughter about her father and what she found in a carefully hidden box. When in college don't know what brought it up but the subject of Daddy returning home brought up memories of our Dad's. At 81 there aren't to many of us left with those rememberences.
Thank you for your service Mr.Lukens!🇺🇸
The eye-witness accounts tell history so vividly! The men who saw this and experienced it are very special, and I wish they could publish their stories so people would not forget. Thank you, all WWII vets, for what did with such bravery, and also, thank you for the lives you lived when you came home. America must never forget!
I'm blessed and extremely proud of this elderly gentleman. He is so lucid and fluent. God bless his soul! Thank you for your contribution. He reminds me so much of my great granddad. He fought in WW2 and he was a gem of a man. I remember his stories of the war. Still amazed at this gentleman's sharpness and articulation.❤❤❤❤❤❤
I want to thank all the honorable men for their bravery for defending our country! Allowing me to grow up free! I thank you all! I have much respect for u all! Again thank you all for my freedom and for the countries freedom! Again thank you
My full respect for this man and all the soldiers involved in the liberation of Europe, it was an atrocious war, may it never be forgotten or repeated. All the best.
Sadly, its not only been forgotten, its being derided and the Holocaust celebrated !!!
He starts rocking when he talked about the horror
He folds his arms and closes off his posture too, it’s very telling.
My grandfather was in the same division, 20th Armored, 414th field artillery, and had to have fought along side him. He never, ever talked about the war until very late in life. Even then, it wasn’t much. I just visited Dachau and saw the 20th Armored plaque - just hard to imagine what they saw.
I salute you for your unwavering courage in the face of such horror that you witness, I'm so proud of you for your service and congradulate you, SIR !!! God bless you !!!!
What a lovely,caring,unassuming,brave man,thankyou for the video.
Thank you so much for your service sir. I live in the best country in the world today because of you and men like you. Freedom is not free, and this could happen again. Less we ever forget!
Claiming to live in the best country in the world because of people like him ? America only joined in the latter years of the war and only because they were bought into it due to pearl harbour .
I visited Dachau when I was in the Army...Vietnam Era. It was very "Erie" as though you could "feel" the evil that had transpired there.
I agree! I studied abroad in college on a Holocaust Studies trip.
It was the greatest two months of my life between my junior and senior years of college. We visited Natzweiller-Struthoff and of course Dachau during our time there. I’ll never forget when I walked into the camp through those metal gates with the emblazoned words “Marcht Arbeit Frei”. To this day I swear the temperature dropped about ten degrees when I walked in. You could feel the haunted aura of the horrors that took place there and the clammy elements seep into your veins and every fiber of your being.
One of the most surreal and eerie things to ever happen to me. #NeverForget
America had Japanese internment camps also
@@punishedgloyperstormtroope8098 Trying to equate the German concentration camps to the U.S. internment camps is being disingenuous. It was unfortunate that the Japanese were interned like that, but the conditions in the camps was good enough that more people came out than went in because of the birth rate. But you probably knew that already, you are trying to use a weak "whataboutism" to push your agenda.
I agree, I visited in 1982 . It was a grey cold day. I couldn’t help thinking of the prisoners with their very thin garments. It was only autumn at the time too.
I was stationed at the NATO HQ in Naples and during 1963 visited a friend stationed in Munich with the 24th Division. He told me I should visit Dachau and since, he said, directions were poor he'd draw a map. I said why don't you come along to which he replied that he'd been there once and wouldn't go back. After I visited I understood why.
My Father was also in the 20th, and the experience of taking Dacha was such that he could not bring himself to again see the sight in 1980 when we made a family trip to Southern Germany. It brought back painful memories just being close by.
On a side note, Mr. Luckens appears to have gotten attached to the 20th after it had switched from being a training divison for other armored outfits/individuals, to a combat div. It was the last armored division to reach Europe, as well as the last one avaliable for combat use.
Thank you, Mr. Lukens, for your service and for sharing history that we should never forget. 😢
The stories they tell of first hand experience. Love to hear them. My Dad & Mum would not tell thier children.
What a remarkable account, recounted with dignity and fortitude.
Incredibly humble man. He went to Princeton, he was part of the American elite, but he was a private. That wouldn't happen today, no way!
So true!
If he completed his education and received a degree, he would have been a NCO.
@@stanleybroniszewsky8538What would you know of it!!! This was WWII, so I do not believe your old or wise enough by your comment.
A lot of the British aristocracy’s kids fought in both world wars. When the country is on the line or u need more people. Everyone has to fight
27 million Russians died . Operation Barbarossa was the most ferociously fought battle in history according to war HISTORIAN’S . Most camps in Europe liberated by the Russians . I say RIP on all sides including the enemies . Little Shultz the grandson of a top SS leader . Putin’s maternal uncles died in WW11 he had no family left . Thank god for the Russians. Hitler or Stalin what a choose.
Wonderful man, amazing life. Thank you for your service and sharing this piece of history with us.
Thank you sir, for your service.
Thank you for sharing. This gentleman is very sharp still about what happened so long ago. It is very eye opening to hear about how cruel the human race can be
What a gentleman, you really could listen to these guys all day. His story at the start regarding his schooling and university and ski club was brilliant. Rest in peace Mr Lukens and thank you for your service. You really are the greatest generation.
Well said ... Amen
Thank you for your service Mr Lukens. You related your grim experiences superbly.
German - Swiss American here! My Great - Uncle died on a beach in Anzio, Italy February 1944! He was a Staff Sgt. in the US Army! Only e2 when he died! I visited Europe on an Educators Tour / Summer 1984! We were supposed to visit that Concentration Camp but I was very glad we didn't go! It had to be a HELLISH place ! As a sensitive, I am sure I wouldn't have been able to handle that EVIL place!HELL on earth!
32 years old when he died...
@@InnocentPotato-pd7wi
People like your great grand uncle are my heroes. I am a Kiwi and take a lot of interest in all these events. I am a Jewish descendant as well. In depth knowledge about the Holocaust has also changed me.
@barbsmart7373 Thank you for your reply! I was raised Catholic! "RECOVERING CATHOLIC " now! I respect all religions! It is so sad that people continue to fight over religion! All 3 religions Christian / Jewish and Muslim believe in St. Michael the Archangel . There us a huge statue of St. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL in Kiev/ Ukraine! Too bad they cannot learn to "Give Peace a Chance"!New Zealand is a beautiful country! 🤗🥰🤗
I'm confused. You say he was a SSG but then you say he was e2. Did you mean to say he was 22? I'm guessing that's what you meant
My Grandfather never,ever recovered.
My great uncle returned in his little metal box in the late 1950s when roadwork was being done near the French border.
He and a number of other American servicemen were identified by their dog tags and finally came home.
Nothing about what happened to the Jewish people in World War 2 had ANYTHING to do with battle, with fighting, with the rigors of war.
What was done to the Jewish people was an attempt at annihilation.
Nothing else but evil drove the torture, degradation and murder of the MILLIONS of innocent Jews.
We're seeing anti-Semitism raise it's head again in the United States...
Many of us feel concerned but not afraid.
I say "Hello" to the Police Officers on my way into the Synagogue and carry on.
I'm a boomer, so grew up listening to some of my uncle's war stories- but not all- some were too awful to tell aloud.
I am utterly shocked watching hatred for the Jewish people rise again. I believed we would never see it on a scale like this. To this day there are many who deny the Holocaust happened. I knew some who survived- the tatoos on their arms with the # assigned to them was sickening, horrible.
I pray for the eyes of the ignorant to be opened.
It’s called ANTI ZIONOST don’t get them confused. 🇮🇪.
I agree. It's shocking to see this on the rise with all the information about the horrors of the Holocaust so available.
Until Moshiach comes my brother, we will be persecuted. It is deeply disturbing but a reminder of the truth of the spiritual battle we are in. Theres no other explanation but that out G-d is true, and our enemies are really against Him and not us. I am a Yid and a Police Officer so I like how you said you greet the Police officers on the way to Shul. You must be in Brooklyn. I’m from Crown Heights but moved to Texas four years ago and am a cop just outside of Dallas. Always a Police presence outside of 770 I remember. I think that rubbed off on me a little bit.
I’ve watched docs and read books about the holocaust for years and thought how horrible to starve, torture and murder innocent people.
I’ve lost sympathy for the people of Israel for doing the exact same thing to the Palestinians. It’s equally disgusting!
My mother was born in Hungary. She lived through those times. Her little brother was killed from air fire that collapsed her home. They fled in the middle of the night. 😢
Thank you for your service!
I can't imagine what these went through all I can say is thank you.
Not to the same degree, but I have been involved in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. And I have seen the very worst and the very best of humanity, II could not believe what man could do do man, and this wasn’t in the heat of battle for survival, this…..this was just depravity and cruelty for the sake off I.
Thank you for your service. All conflicts have their own horror stories, and all who witness them are forever impacted.
Thank you is so inadequate but thank you. ❤
My great uncle died in the battle for france, and rests there to this day
My dad served in the army in the 103rd. He was there when Lansberg concentration camp had been liberated. He never talked about the war until he was in his mid 60s. I'm glad he finally did because I'd always wanted to know about his time in the service. He did talk about the liberated prisoners and how horrible there physical condition was. He said they looked like skeletons with skin. At Landsberg, the prisoners were basically starved to death, as they weren't subject to the gas chamber. The arm
What an incredibly sharp mind! As difficult as it was to recount his experiences, this is so important to have history preserved. I tried to get my dad on tape for his experiences but I think he thought it was macabre like we thought he was going to die. As a naval officer he had wonderful information about ships etc. too. Now his story is lost.
My uncle Vinnie was with the Army and went in to Dachau. Never forgot his description of the freed prisoners, one of whom died in the arms of an allied soldier.
Thank you for the service of these incredible men, most of whom have passed on, but they will never be forgotten. Thank you for all our men and women who have served and to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this great country.
Thank you Sir for your service. Never again.
My father John Golec served with the CIC and produced an official report on Dachau for Eisenhower and his staff. Also have a 9 page letter to my mother describing what he saw and experienced. He spoke several languages so he interviewed those interned at the camp. He never really spoke about his experience there.
Omg to hear my home town university UNL get called a lark is hilarious i would think that too especially coming from the mountains. This guy is amazing and the liberation of the camps will never be forgotten the names of everyone will at some point but what they did will be know for the rest of history
It's one thing watching the movies and reading the stories but to hear and see the real thing always feels surreal. I love youtube for this reason
Excellent interview. Thanks, Mr. Lukens for your service.
When i watch the veterans recall their experiences, i'm always amazed at all the details in their reflections. Thank you guys for your services.
Thank you Sir for sharing your experience. We must never forget!
Thank you so much for preserving these stories!
My father had bad flashback for years after what he saw in theses camps,...." there is absolutely no limit to human stupidity he said"... he lost many many good friends that lay forever over there in fields.
God bless you and your father. I'm so sorry he had to deal with the horrors that he experienced while over there. But your father was part of the greatest generation of our time. They didn't just save this country but the entire world. They didn't only give back so many their countries that were occupied by evil but saved many lives. Unfortunately war leaves scars that aren't so obvious to the naked eye. I've served in US Special Operations for 22yrs now. I too have experienced the horrors of war, but not to the magnitude of WW2. God bless your father and you and yours and God bless America. 🇺🇲
@@pmc6925 Thank you for your kind words,.. l was myself in the army as medic attach to a airbourne regiment for 30 years,....l can tell you that my father was right,.. after many deployments over sea in war theater and regardless was Ex-Yugosslavia, Rwanda, Cyprus, Afghanistan, West Timor,. just to name few ".. there is no limit to humain stupidity,".. .. people have not learn from the past,.. so they were doom to repeat the same mistake,...nothing has change,.. except the size and power of destruction..... take good care my brother in arms.
My Uncle was in a regiment that help liberate Dachau. Right up to the day that he died, he did not like talk about what he saw there. He would get very annoyed if anybody brought it up or talked about it.
That is absolutely heartbreaking.We should make every American child.Listen to this and watch the hamas video of October.The seventh the enemy's face becomes so much clearer when you see that!
Those kids are already seeing piles of dead kids in Gaza everyday on social media. In fact, for years, they have seen images of them being brutalised.
A child in Palestine 🇵🇸 is just as important as one in Israel. Over 70% of the victims in the Gaza women & children. 37.000 & counting now a deliberate famine . Ireland 🇮🇪. Now we have Spain 🇪🇸 & Norway 🇳🇴 on board .
We have no idea how many “women and children” have been killed, as all these numbers come from Hamas (a brutal terrorist organization). If they didn’t use them as human shields, whatever the actual number is would be gar less than the actual value. As it has been said, Hamas uses people to protect themselves while Israel uses the military to protect the people.
I love hearing these stories from ww2! Thank you. ❤
Thank you for your service and the memories you can’t forget. God bless
Thank you for your service 🏥❤️❤️❤️
Forever enjoy hearing the old Military Veterans relating their experiences.
Especially 2nd World War Vets.
Across the 'Pond', in Europe, they are much Honoured and held in high esteem, at War Remembrance Ceremonies.
Thank You Pt.Lukens Sir.
May You Rest in Peace 🙏🏽🤲👏🏻 ❤🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
When i was stationed in Germany we saw Dachow that was in 1989 and it was an experience in horror
"The area was liberated by the Canadians." Yaay Canada! This is an excellent interview.
Thank you for your service and God bless you and ease your mind after witnessing that.
There are a series of early 1990s interviews with the Liberators of the death camps and they are well worth watching. Each one could be a movie.
Must have been very awful 😞 to see Thanks to Everyone who served ❤
My Uncle was in wave 2 on Omaha Beach, June 6th, 1944. In a very private conversation he shared some of the things he experienced. Fast forward to 1957, and he was reporting to the key Nazi (Wernher Von Braun) scientist who developed the V1 and V2 Rockets. Uncle Frank was a Technical Engineer developing the fuel control valves for the five engines on the Atlas Booster. My Brother, Sister, and I toured the NASA Facility in Huntsville, AL three separate times and actually met Von Braun in one of the plants. I've heard stories of irony before but this one is the most dramatic. Von Braun was part of Operation Paperclip where the Americans "volunteered" Nazi personnel to come to America. Thing is ... the American rocket program could not have made progress without Von Braun. He was utterly and completely fixated on space travel.
I cannot imagine and don't want to. God bless and keep you safe & well. Thank you for all youve done for US. 🙏🇺🇸❤️🙏🇺🇸❤️🙏🇺🇸❤️
Wow I cant even imagine what they went through the stench had to horrible and smelled for miles away . He never said how they did away with the sniper rotten bastards put up the white flag and pick off soldiers ! They truly are the greatest generation
Thank you, sir for your service. May God bless you always😇
I could listen to this gentleman all day.
I just visited Dachau in October of 2024. It was my second time there as I was stationed with an artillery unit for 6 years in Germany. Listening to his first hand account here combined with my visit a few weeks ago and walking the very ground this occurred, the hair on my arms and back of my neck is rising up. Pretty amazing what the Germans did to their own people and population to exterminate those who disagreed with the Nazi’s.
Thank you Sir for doing this video. God Bless you.. God Bless All our Veterans past present and future ❤
My uncle help liberate some of those camps ,after everything he has seen he said that affected him most.
Dachau. A Must see if you visit Munich. A short public Transportation Ride to camp.
I visited Dachau while stationed in Schweinfurt. It gives one the creeps.
I expected something like a Hogans Hero’s type set up. It wasn’t. It was built to last 100 years. The huge poured concrete fence posts were perfectly and skillfully crafted. The edges were sharp and crisp. They intended that place to operate for decades. That realization shook me up.
I read a book written by a Catholic priest who was there with a bunch of other Catholic priests as well. It was a really chilling read about the punishments the priests received (the nazi's hated Catholics with a passion). One of the punishments was having to kiss broken glass and every time you kissed it the SS would hold the priest down until his face was pouring blood. One priest died from this. What really amazed me was towards the end of the book when the Americans arrived the priest described some order finally arriving and everyone seemed to be at peace. Then suddenly the Russian POWs who had been imprisoned there as well started flipping out and decided they were going to get revenge on the SS who were still there (many had fled) and that's actually what got the American soldiers riled up and then they started helping with killing the SS.
@@SteveSmith-eb6ze Birkenau would really give you the creeps. Read up before going. Just looking at the place is only half of it. The real horror comes when you know what happened in each area.
@@InglésconRobert2025 Visiting one concentration camp was enough for me. I don’t like the feeling you get when walking through the gate. I am not bs’ing,I could feel the hatred,suffering and misery,it felt like thousands of eyes were watching me,can’t explain it. I took our German Shepherd with us and she was very tense and hyper. She tried to dig where they threw the ashes of the dead.
16:05
Of course Hitler refused to surrender!
He knew that he would be executed for his war crimes.
I really listening too veterens , what happened should never be forgot
God bless you Sir. Thank you for your service. 🇬🇧
These soldiers who fought against fascism are truly the Greatest Generation! I continue to learn about the evils and hell the Nazis inflicted on people through channels like this. Thank you.
I love the comments! So much care and respect for this man, so much patriotism ❤
40 & 8’s! I just recently self-taught myself on this along with Chowder Societies, Chef de Guarre, S.O.S. etc……
Genocide is always a great evil. Why do people want to destroy the lives of others? Hate is a powerful force. Those who harbor hate in their hearts are truly sick. Sick to their souls.
My dad was with the Canadian army. He told us about liberating a women's camp. The Cdn. army was to keep control of the whole area afterwards. The women from the camp actually went around the countryside afterwards, slitting the throats of all the farmers who the German army had allowed into the camp to constantly rape all the women. My dad said that he, & I guess the rest of the Canadian army personnel based there then, just looked the other way. Very proud of that.
I am Jewish, and was never told anything about the massacre of the Jews in Europe during world war 2. By my mom or my grandparents. It wasn't until I graduated high school, after attending Hebrew school during my grade school years, that i started watching everything i could on TV about WW2 and the annihilation of my people. I used to just sit and cry as i watched these newsreels, i was gobsmacked! I could not
wrap my mind around what my eyes beheld. 12:27
The bravest women served in so many areas of the war also.some never came home and are buried in other lands, never forget them, 😢
Thank you for your service. 🙏❤️
How did they not know about the camps? That's what gets me. How did no one know? Doesn't seem possible but guess it was. 🤔🤔
No cellphones, no security cameras on every corner, not many tvs yet. Radio & newspapers mostly. So easier to hide things. My friend’s dad did not even see her till she was 18 months old. No zoom calls or video either.
The smell must have been horrendous, the Germans knew, but fear can change people's attitudes.
Germans were watching each other and reporting each other, they feared being reported, as it meant going into a camp, or if in the military, the Eastern front.
I've visited Bergan Belson 3 times, Buckenwald and Dachau, makes you think, how did the Germans think up some of the atrocities they committed.
As an aside we visited Colditz castle, which was a pow camp, very interesting, we had a former pow with us Kenneth lockwood, who was interned there during ww2.
@@reneeb.2702: Of course they knew.
The German public knew of the camps but had no idea what went on inside them. There were of course rumors but one did not ask questions in Nazi Germany.
People knew they knew...... Germans knew and when trains went past they closed their ears and eyes.. they knew but preferred to be deaf and blind just like today....it will happen again
Mustve been a horric sight.
Just seeing photos of the dead is horrible.I can't begin to imagine how much worse it had to be to see it first hand.
Dachau is still open to tourism. I visited and it showed how brutal it was. There were pictures of piles of golden teeth they extracted from prisoners. There were cells that were tighter than shoulder width where one would be forced to stand and then eventually sink as far as the body could contort between the 4 walls. It was a huge facility. Several football fields could fit in there
My grandpa a medic in the army helped liberate Dachua. He would tear up when people spoke of the war. I don’t remember him talking about it much at all.
At around timestamp 13:14, he states that German criminals had been drafted to run Dachau, and that they were commanded (on pain of death) to be harsh toward the camp's prisoners.
It really pisses me that there are still deniers out there who are more or less calling these heroes liars. 🤬
Dad went there with the 191st Service Company a tank battalion. Two miles of bodies made into fences, heading into camp. Not just Jews, they didn't discriminate. They had room for gypsies and foreigners too.