Baby Cages: The Forgotten Re-Education Program of the Nazi Youth | FULL DOCUMENTARY

[@motorwhisperer]

my father was one of the child soldiers. My grandfather was killed by the Reich around the time of the Roehm Putsch, thus my father was placed in an orphanage, then a foster home and conscripted when he was 14 or 15. He spent 4 yrs in combat until the end of the war on the eastern front. He was in the battle of budapest where 3/4 of all sides died from winter exposure. He had severe ptsd. He never saw these child cages. Instead he was a russian POW and forced to work in a military gulag digging uranium until he was expected to die. Occupants were generally worked to death, whereas the civilian gulag system was meant for "re education". He chose to attempt escape where being shot was a kinder fate, but managed to succeed. We applied for asylum in the USA in 1956. Even my mother knew nothing of his horrors until just before his death in 1983.

[@SharonPorter-d3h]

😢

[@BCSoHappy]

As a child in the US, I remember the refugees from Eastern Europe. They were much admired by us, who saw them brave and stalwart to have escaped and gotten to the US.

[@janewrighton9227]

I went to Germany with a travel group back in 1976 and one of the guys on it was a Hitler youth. He was in his 30's. He served in 1943 to 1945 and was proud of it. He didn't talk about it except to me as all the other men had served for the US. I think because I was only 18 at the time and he had his niece (13) with him. He was showing her his homeland. I heard about the American side for weeks until the night we were at the battle of the bulge site. After the group broke up He, his niece and I were walking back to our campsites and he opened up. Wow, the story from the other side was eye opening.

[@tamaramorton8812]

⁠​⁠@@janewrighton9227 I can imagine that it would be very eye-opening. Those poor children to have grown up having those experiences. 🙏🏼

[@Bezayne]

My father was also drafted into Hitler's army aged 17, in the last year of ww2. He ended up a prisoner of war in an english camp, where he also "celebrated" his 18th birthday. He recalled the hunger while in the camp, and on his 18th birthday he received a special gift of two slices of bread. He once told me that on every birthday since he thought of those two slices.

[@thecabanogfamily9479]

that interview with the 12 yo soldier child made my heart really ache.. my child is the same age and i just couldnt imagine him being apart from me and having that big back pack and being interviewed about the war. hugs to all these children.

[@Polit_Burro]

The British used children as young as 14 in the ranks of their "red coats" armies. A 14 year old regimental drummer-boy is known to have participated in the battle of Waterloo.

[@wbki-v7l]

My father in law was 13 in Hitler youth along with his older brother, age 15. It was never discussed when they came to Canada.

[@jasompinard4576]

The children in these units viewed the fürer as their father. There are many reports of kids such as these turning their parents into the SS for saying that Germany is losing the war.

[@Polit_Burro]

@@wbki-v7l "Canada welcomed the nazis. That's why there are more "ex" nazis in Canada than in Germany today." -- Yaroslav Hunka (Probably)

[@karingoerke7264]

I'm asking myself where this particular boy where from! He spoke less german than the US soldier, which pronounced very well! The boy had a very hard Eastern accent, probably polnish! We know what the Nazis thought about polnish people, so why is a polnish boy, with very less german knowledge dressed in a German uniform and arrested as an Soldier?? I really don't get it!

[@StephenBarnett-g3r]

I had not heard this story before. Thanks for a very well put together documentary.

[@carolynmichael2723]

Outstanding, finally a doc that’s not as old as the hills. Everyday we learn more about WW II soon all that lived through the war with be gone, most involved are gone.

[@cowboyanimal_1]

I have to disagree, according to Haaretz and other survivor publications - the survivors have gone from 200,000 to 400,000, to 850,000 in a matter of ten years. Amazing how they keep multiplying!

[@bholmes5490]

@@cowboyanimal_1 "As of September 30, 2023, more than 100,000 WWII Veterans are still living, including about 6,000 women. Their median age is 98 years old. Approximately 5,000 of surviving WWII Veterans also served in the Korean War and/or Vietnam Era."

[@cowboyanimal_1]

@@bholmes5490 I have read your response but am yet to be disproven according to records which clearly shows concentration camp survivors reproducing on a year-on-year basis. I'm not sure where all these so-called survivors are coming from, I am simply citing reliable sources from Israeli media. It seems like the "official numbers" are fluid when it comes to certain tribes. I await the tally of Christians from the Armenian campaign but that's a big no-no...we all know that we cannot criticise those who rule above us. I just commented because it seems I am being lied to in terms of events that are allegedly clearly and accurately recorded in human history.

[@cowboyanimal_1]

@@bholmes5490 Oh, you are mistaken sir... I was referencing the peoples with the tiny hats who got sent to camps with brothels, soccer teams and gas chambers. Their deaths had absolutely nothing to do with the allies bombing supply lines, nor their imprisonment due to the communist upheavels during the Weimar republic. I am referencing Israeli sources on the hall-of-cost and simply pointing out that the victims keep multiplying for some strange reason. How much longer will said cow be milked if it's all real in the mind of authors?

[@PrairyLilly]

But the after-war generation still remembers - I am a German, born in 1948 - and when I was old enough, I learned a lot about Hitler and the cruelty of the Nazis from my parents and teachers. My parents brought me to a private school - Waldorf - because this school was Nazi-free. All the public schools were not - Nazi widows Teachers were around, and and very bitter and still mad about Hitlers deafeat. I was always very grateful for the nations who saved us from the Nazis. It is a significant pain for me to watch the American Nation change into a fascist country

[@haukepowers-l3i]

I had a Onkel who was a Child soldier...he was part of an anti- aircraft crew...He said he always closed his eyes when shooting up into the sky hoping that he would NOT hit the American planes !! At the end of the war, his unit simply disbanded, and he came home with some of his friends in his unit...when the Americans came, the kids had gotten rid of all of their uniforms, so they looked like "regular " very young teenagers...My Onkel was one of the first to sign up for the New German Luftwaffe in 1956...He was so proud...the instructors wondered HOW he KNEW all of the military commands and movements...no one said a word....wink - wink....Our family was NOT brain - washed by the Nazi propaganda...my Opa was forced into the Army for his anti- Nazi views...he survived 3 years of the Russian Front...He lived to be 91....

[@danarzechula3769]

Bless you and your Opa

[@Polit_Burro]

LOL Yeah, even Richard Cheney has been "rehabilitated" and is no longer a war criminal, according to the rest of the war criminals. And himself, of course. LOL

[@nativechique7589]

❤😢

[@chrissyakers]

A wonderful story! Thank you.😊

[@HorriFied-s4n]

Nice fictional story bro

[@caitlyngraham8480]

This is an extremely interesting documentary. I've watched many documentaries and have read countless books about all of this but never about these boys in the baby cages. Very informative!

[@kennethbolton951]

It is interesting that my landlord, in some cottage apts, in Tucson was one of these German soldiers in these baby cage camps at 16 and spent four years in France doing reconstruction labor for the French before being released and immigrated to Chicago in the fifties where he had distant relatives and worked in hair salons and then moved to Az as a mason and he and his American wife bought and rented aptmts so a son of a B-25 bomber gunner in N. Africa that fought against his countrymen and a Hitler youth exile told stories to each other about their experiences in WW2 and the Vietnam War. My Aikido Sensei was a Lieutenant in Manchuria for the Japanese army also. I lived in both Japan and Germany as my Dad was stationed there as an Officer in the Air Force. I got to know the Children of both countries very well and have great memories of both countries, just goes to show.

[@Alaska-Bush-Mom]

What a great story!

[@Polit_Burro]

NATO has a long and loving relationship with European fascists and Japanese militarists. We are seeing this since 2014.

[@heidimisfeldt5685]

At the end of the day,, all humans are God's own children, created in God's own image and likeness, all have the need to be loved and to belong. All need to be comforted when sick or sad, all need to be loved, all need to eat nourishing food every day. All of us bleed red when we get hurt in an accident. We all are more the same, then we are different. We all are commanded by God Almighty to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Reality as it is.

[@g.christelbecker6349]

@@heidimisfeldt5685 Amen and thank you for your comment.

[@gandalfgreyhame3425]

​@@Polit_Burro NATO was created during the Cold War to keep together the Western Alliance that had fought the Nazis to stand against the very real threat of the Soviet Union after WW2. Germany and Italy, were incorporated into NATO later. When the Soviet Union fell apart, almost all the Eastern European countries enslaved by the USSR joined the protective umbrella of NATO. Of the many formerly independent states that had been incorporated into the USSR, the Baltic States made it into NATO. Putin and Russia then made it their policy to try to recapture as many of these ex-Soviet states as possible through a combination of installating puppet dictators and military invasion. So, here we are now, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as the latest installment in this story

[@TotemCrow]

My dad was one of these. He lived on a farm in Germany and the soldiers came to take him. His mother hid him and they told her that they knew she had a son and they would be back to get him. They did. He was eventually captured and taken to Belgium and then Chesapeake Bay in America before being sent to the UK where he worked on a farm. He became lifelong friends with the family. He met my mum here in the UK and never went home. The wall was built and he never saw his family again but did often write and send gifts as they did to us but all packages and letters were opened by the Stasi. He had been a radio operator and we have a photo of him there. He looks so very young. I think he was about 16. He said the black Americans treated them the best as they had suffered themselves. His friend was shot by a sniper after his nerve went while hiding together, his friend stood up before my dad could stop him. Neither my dads side or my mothers side of the family lost anyone in the war, though one was gassed.

[@lisaharmon5619]

Thank you. This is the first time that I have ever heard of "baby cages". Again, thank you.

[@IcelanderUSer]

Didn’t the last US administration use them at the border?

[@lisaharmon5619]

@@IcelanderUSer The baby cages after WWII was the name of a POW camp for the Hitler Youth (12-17 years) that fought in the war. Entirely different from Trump's cages.

[@Cedawood]

​@@IcelanderUSer Yeah, the dem party, but over three hundred thousand kids unaccounted for

[@mamabenzing5872]

​@@IcelanderUSer Obama used cages. Try researching better and not watching CNN for your news.

[@SharonPorter-d3h]

These are the untold stories. We need to hear. Many sides of a conflict. Gives us better understanding !!!!!! Thank You for bringing this to light.

[@RobinSpeer]

The husband and I have watched so many documentaries on WWII, Nazis, Hitler and the goings on at that time and knew about the Hitler Youth but there never seemed to be anything on what happened to these young people after the war. This was a great documentary; thank you!

[@TerryKeever]

I have often wondered what happened to the Hitler Youth forced to fight especially in defense of Berlin in those last days of WWII. I searched online a frw times but found very little. Nothing like this. Thank you to all involved.

[@echoplex8494]

Another person has posted that some were sent to Isle of Wight in Britain

[@beatrixturrentine8517]

Most were starved to death at the Rheinwiesenlager by the Americans, Brits, French and Russians.

[@desireeespinosa3954]

Wow.... this was amazing Thank you so much for making this. We must always offer a bright future for our children... as all children are ours.

[@zxy78267]

I had never heard of this! I've read and watched so much about WWII history, but I'm astounded that this wasn't something I'd ever come across. Thanks so much for posting this history. This man's first account has been preserved.

[@stellamariayates3776]

It is wonderful to hear the testimony of those who experienced WW2 and this is a neglected aspect of it. Friends of my mother's in Denmark have told how these German child soldiers were hidden in farms by the Danes. They were being recalled to more dangerous operations elsewhere to make up numbers. The Danes realised their chances of survival were minimal in these battles so near the German defeat, and felt sorry for them.

[@jclar7210]

Very interesting doc. I never saw a WW2 vid showing child german soldiers captured. What a huge job for the American soldiers and allies monitoring all those regular soldier prisoners and civilians

[@almaconnor9171]

Yep, towards the end of the war they were dragging kids and the elderly into getting killed. Despicable. The horrors of that war is incalculable.

[@davewestly307]

They killed over a million German POWS

[@maryolmstead3183]

It was nice of the prison guards to separate the boys from the perps.

[@jclar7210]

@maryolmstead3183 Yes it was, the youth need to be protected at all times. Especially in a situation like that, because they're innocent

[@donnarogers7732]

Every time Donald Trump says "Concentration Camps" remember what the Natzis did! Every time you see a boy child between the ages of 6-17 years old ,put them into the places of these German youngsters who knew nothing of why they were taken from their Mothers and Fathers If they Still lived. How can Any American whose certainly has had Father's Grandfather's who fought in WWII Follow A MAGA Regime? How? It is so wrong ,UN American. 😥🙏🇺🇲💙🇺🇲

[@jasonflay8818]

I knew a gentleman who was a Hitler youth. He was an anthropology professor at my college (University of Kansas). After the war he and his family emmigrated to the US. He joined the military snd recieved a degree in cultural Anthropology. During the Vietnam war he was part of a CIA program called Project Camelot. The project would send (probably MACV-SOG) Soldiers to Cambodia and Loas to enlist local tribes to fight against the North Vietnamese Army. After the war (probably because of his work with these tribes during the war) he got his PhD and went into teaching. He was adamant (and I always wondered how much his upbringing contributed to his belief) that scientists have a duty to use their studies for the purposes of betterment to their country. Though I was out of country and missed the discussion I helped set up a discussion between him and another professor who believed science should supercede national boundaries to keep science unblemished, because, if nationalism bleeds into science it can taint the data and the science can be used unethically. From what I heard it was a great talk and and I am sorry to have missed it.

[@kathrynmast916]

The US. drafted by my Uncle when he turned 18 in 1943. Because he was an only son, he supposed to be assigned to non-combat unit. Six months later in was on the Burma Road assigned to the famous Merrill’s Maunders. The Maunders were the for-runners of the Special Forces and one of the units with the highest casualties. They were guerrilla fighters who snipers and fought several hundred miles behind enemy lines. My uncle was wounded three times and escaped from Japanese captivity .

[@Peter-sl6mf]

Yes. drafted against his wishes. To fight a war forced onto Japan because of American embargoes to protect private industry's markets

[@little.tricks]

Sit down before you hurt yourself. ​@@Peter-sl6mf

[@peterrobinson1041]

​if u refer to korea or virtnam or later i have a hard time defending-- but ww2 was a just and required war . my dad was airforce ww2

[@6actual911]

Oh YAWN... Do you think no one on You Tube reads history?? I've spent 40 years studying WWII, pacific theater. Japan was the most BRUTAL army the world had ever seen at that time and then up to when ISIS started their death chants. Japans be-headings of innocent people, eating human organs, medical experiments were so barbaric that even the Nazi's were sickened... The last fact you should know "Peter".. the USA alone is still missing over 38,000 service personnel fighting the bastards! So go take your "forced into war" and thank GOD you never had to stand up for anything in your LIFE!

[@Polit_Burro]

​@@Peter-sl6mf Do you commonly respond to a merchant's refusal to do business with you with violence? Because that's what the Japanese did. Nobody forced Imperialist Japan to do a Pearl Harbor. The fact that you use this as an excuse to excuse the Japanese imperialists is interesting: Would you feel the same way about a common criminal who attacked a shopkeeper who, invoking their rights to "refuse service to anyone," did so?

[@DougMacGregor-d4e]

Exceptional, Thank You. so much better formatting and approach then a lot of the sound bite crap you see.

[@lifeisdeath99]

It’s amazing the endless well of human depravity the nazis created. So often I find out about a new terror I had never heard of before

[@steelydanlover1972]

Have you ever heard of the Dirlewanger Brigade?

[@clintoncyrilvoss4287]

Apparently according to survivors of those times , it's way worse now than it ever was then.

[@almaconnor9171]

That is exactly why I get so infuriated when people call other people Nazi’s. They could not POSSIBLY know what the Nazis actually did. They murdered millions, performed evil “medical” procedures, intentionally starved people to death, beat them to death, worked them to death, killed their entire families, even their babies right in front of their eyes. Obviously people who call other Americans Nazis only say it to shut down the issue because they cannot defend themselves. It should be crime to call someone a Nazi, it is hate speech of the worst kind.

[@almaconnor9171]

@@clintoncyrilvoss4287yes, it was. We really only see the same snippets of WW2. I’ve been watching lots of live footage from that war and have listened to so many victims of the holocaust, who are mostly gone now. This is what schools should be teaching young people. THIS is reality. Just look at what had to be done to end that evil war. 200million Russians starved to death by Stalin. What I’m learning is so very frightening. There are MANY things happening under the radar in this country. Just like Germany. If we do not learn from the past, it WILL be repeated. Not in the exact same way, but the results, the same.

[@michaelguy5151]

And they LEARNED IT ALL FROM AMERICA. THE EUGENICS PROGRAM START IN THE U.S.GERMANY PUT IT ON STEROIDS THEN AFTER THE WAR THE US GOT ALL THE DATA FROM ALL THE NAZIS AND JAPANESE DOCTORS AND SCIENTISTS. ASK YOURSELF WHY HAVENT YOU HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT UNIT 731 IN THE JAPANESE ARMY?BECAUSE MCARTHUR WANTED THE DATA SO ALL THE "SCIENTISTS " NEVER SAW TRIAL

[@shemmakanga8390]

We are lucky to be able to hear the words & testimony of a man who lived in the baby cages. Quite emotional. Peace be with him!

[@getreal2977]

A very good documentary. The German/French mix let this feel very much like a production from the TV channel ARTE. An decade old channel which had always amazing good documentaries. Unfortunately not all of them are available in English. So I wonder if you added this English translation. If you did I thank you as their documentaries should reach a wider audience.

[@joannahimes-murphy6897]

I had always wondered what happened to the German child soldiers I had heard about. I'm glad they were gently treated and not horribly abused. Such strange circumstances. Thank you for this documentary. God Bless

[@Polit_Burro]

*Fun Fact: The United Kingdom remains, as of 2024, the only European nation to have an enlistment age of 16 for its' armed forces. In earlier periods, it was not uncommon for children as young as 14 years of age to serve in the ranks of British ("redcoats") units, such as at Waterloo.*

[@thetruthwillout3347]

Correct...I was 16 and 11 months when I joined 35 years ago. However you cannot be deployed on operational tours until you turn 18.

[@thetruthwillout3347]

Correct. I was 16 and 11 months when I joined 35 years ago. However you cannot be deployed on operational tours until you turn 18.

[@sivsathiya3150]

Not surprised...

[@mrgaryg44]

Bravo ,thank you for making this documentary it was most Informative and enjoyable viewing.

[@revalesq]

I know a lot about the second world war but some of this is new to me. Thanks 👍🏿

[@revalesq]

Oh and I actually live in the town where the final solution of WWII began.

[@AllIsWellaus]

Wow. Not said as a put down but I guess it, ww2, may not being taught as much. The majority of them now will be gone. Youngest being mentioned, say 8 years at the end of the war would be 86-88 now.

[@charangosurf]

Very moving insightful and excellent documentary kudos to Marie Borsch and her father Winfried

[@kryssie1866]

Thank you for this amazing docu ❤

[@SLICE_Full_Doc]

Thank you for watching ❤ !

[@shaftomite007]

​@@SLICE_Full_Dochow did you make this doc??

[@robetheridge6999]

Wow, such a moving documentary. I'm an American who lived near Stuttgart until I was almost 7 years old. My dad was in the US Army and stationed there.We left in 1977. My dad taught us so much of the history of the war and took us to key sites such as Hitler's Tea House and the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. I have such a love for the German people as it was my first home. Seeing those young faces brings forth such strong emotions (the kid with tears running down his cheeks really did me in). Thank you for a great story.

[@MrDellasc]

My dad was an 18 year old when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and he signed up in January of 1942, and eventually became a Lt Commander carrier pilot flying F4-Corsairs in the pacific. He never talked much about the war, which seemed the norm for his generation, but I do remember when I was in Europe in 1989 when the Berlin Wall started to come down in late 89 and we were excited about how Germany would be one country again, and he said to me “You won’t be so happy when they start marching around in their Boy Scout uniforms”. His attitude had to do with we had fought the Germans twice in less than 25 years, and he never fully trusted them. Luckily, the re-indoctrination worked in west Germany.

[@joelmonkley6177]

My grandfather and many of his friends went to to fight WW2 in 1939 / 40 alot were overseas for 5 years Zealand ww 2 vets were in it from day 1

[@serpentines6356]

The problem now is...all these M's demanding, and rioting for Sharia... Do you realize what a mess it is?

[@karenshadle365]

@MrDellasc. I married a man very much older than me. And we had a great marriage until he passed away at age 79. He had enlisted with the Marines when he was 18. He would have joined when he was 17 right after Pearl harbor, but he'd been in a terrible car accident and needed to recover. With his injury, I don't think he would have been accepted for service these days . He NEVER spoke of the war nor his service until we'd been married over 10 years. It was so painful for him. I learned bit by bit that he'd served in the South Pacific. And I learned the names of certain islands and groups of islands I'd never even heard of before. And he would never give graphic details. I now know that he carried the pain for the rest of his life. On his deathbed,he still felt so bad that he told me that he didn't believe he'd get into heaven. Knowing he was a devout Christian, I asked him WHY? And he said" Oh honey, all those people I killed so long ago." It had weighed on him for so many years!! I just think that people so young shouldn't be sent to war. I believe he died in peace finally. I prayed with him and the pastor came to his room and ministered to him before he died . But still, to have carried that pain so long...

[@TaxTheChurches.]

@@karenshadle365 Thank you. Your husband's story should be heard by every high school student.

[@karenshadle365]

@@TaxTheChurches. Thank you for your kind response.

[@normbal]

I had a patient years ago who told me he went into the US Marines when he was TWELVE. Crying in his bunk after a week of boot camp, he was sent home. He left Parris Island and went right into an Army recruiting office where he enlisted, a little small for his age “18.” He wound up getting into aviation, went into OCS, made a career in the Army Air Corps, then US Air Force, retired a Lieutenant Colonel. He wasn’t the only WW2 soldier I met with a story like that. My dad was forced by his parents to wait until he finished high school, graduating in January 1945, then basic training, advanced training (medic) and off the the PTO right after the war was over. He did have really cool photos from Hiroshima though, all fogged from residual radiation in Sept., 1945.

[@davidtalkovic9369]

My grandfather joined usmc in 1920 at 15 lied about his age plus Canadian

[@tequilamonster3940]

Thank you so much for this work!! I learned something new today. Additionally, I had a personal connection that made the program strong. Thank you.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage documentary about baby cage camps of German POWs

[@robertmiller2173]

My father came home from WW2 after fighting in Greece, Crete, North Africa, and Italy. I remember starting Primary School in Oamaru, New Zealand in 1961, I was wearing my Dominican School Uniform that looked fantastic. I was taught to be proud, and it was my job as the boy to clean all the shoes in the household. I was shocked that people would hate me enough to throw stones. Roman Catholics made up about 33% of the Population. My father was a Protestant Anglican! He was a decorated war hero. Well known in the town. On my first day I was stoned, and called a Catholic Dog, this went on and on! Burt the stoning stopped! And the battle became the rugby Field

[@justincavinder5504]

I’m sorry, what faction was throwing stones at you?

[@brianjones7660]

@@justincavinder5504this is an AI bot, nothing but gibberish.

[@danarzechula3769]

​@@brianjones7660hmmm why?

[@echoplex8494]

Rock throwing was common back then unfortunately. In 60s I went to govt school in Australia. the Catholic school kids called us "proddie dogs" & threw rocks. A lot of us "proddie dogs" were actually Catholics who went to the govt school. My mum had the same happen in the 1930s.

[@nativechique7589]

I want to understand what youre saying but dont know any of the New Zealand history. Like whats a Dominican uniform? Why were Catholics so cruel to you?

[@karenshadle365]

An amazing story.Thank you so much.

[@CharlieEarlybird]

You heard it here first. Thanks Otis! Great interview!

[@johannesnicolaas]

Proud of the humanity of the black soldiers!!

[@chrissyakers]

Many U.S. black service members married Germany women over the years. I wonder how many boys from the Baby Cages influenced their families in accepting these minority men?

[@danarzechula3769]

What a wonderful gift from you to your father and all of us❤

[@michelepascoe6068]

Good documentary. I think that, though the Americans who tried to help and educate the Nazi baby prisoners, felt that they’d failed, history shows that they succeeded. Germans on the whole, have shown repentance for the Nazi crimes and children and grandchildren of the Nazis have mostly lived with different values to those relatives. Sometimes we feel that we have failed in our efforts, but in time, good comes of it. Let’s not give up trying to do good in our troubled world.

[@pattismithurs9023]

Just about everything in this is news to me. Wonderful film, and I'll be looking for more of your work.

[@SLICE_Full_Doc]

Thank you ☺

[@CONNELL19511216]

Many British and American soldiers were quite shocked to find they were fighting boys.

[@mikekenney1947]

While traveling in Schleswig Holstein, I encountered an immensely articulate world traveler who had grown up in the Hitler Youth. He was interred in France and sent to England for education after the War. He lived for awhile in the Canol camps in Northern Canada. He was surprised to learn that my father had been the project director on Canol and had actually built those camps. We travelled together for a couple of days and pledged to get back together in a few weeks in Holland. As is the nature of the road we never met up. Still, his description of his time in the Hitler Jugend was deeply moving and horrific.

[@kristinmaguireDeadhead65]

I was a teacher for almost thirty years, and we had an elderly German American couple speak to our small private school. They were both in the Hitler youth from a very young age, and the gentleman was pressed into military service shortly before his 15th birthday. He was put into an auxiliary infantry unit after 2 weeks of training and was taken prisoner. He had long turned his back on any Nazi beliefs but had NO CHOICE. HORRIBLE. He saw his classmates gunned down and blown up. He only shared his experiences in the Hitler Youth with the students...the kids didn't need to know the rest.

[@brianjones7660]

In Buffalo NY I had a friend across the street, Gunther Lutz , whose father was a member of such an organization in 1945. At the age of 16 (?) Walter Lutz was forced into the army and given a rifle and told to fight for Berlin. He was caught in a crossfire and wounded. After he recovered he emigrated to America and as a carpenter found a good career raising his family. All he said was that if the US troops found their rifles with ammunition remaining they accepted their surrender but if they’d fired all their ammo, they were often shot.

[@CristinaDaniel-e2i]

Heart breaking! How can you use children in this way? I suppose they had nowhere to go to anymore anyway.

[@spannaspinna]

Watering the next crop of aryan supermen

[@StacyThornhill]

But that's still no excuse

[@teemarie5478]

@@StacyThornhill they certainly had 16 and 17 year old boys that fought from America as well but it was because the young men lied on their paper work in order to go to war with the “men”. It’s all tragic.

[@bl123-w8l]

Same reason we had child soldiers in ww1

[@Porkypies6m]

because they knew what was going to happen at the end..something u obviously dont

[@YNomadicDusk]

Everytime I watch WW2 film I bawl like a baby. So much happended we do not know such as that documentary Savage Peace. Children in war, how heartbreaking. My great grandfather died in WW1. His son also had to go to war. I had two grandfather's in WW2 one in each side. My gf on the Ally side came home & made my dad. We don't know who my german gf was, he disappeared after making my mother. My German oma was in a basement when the building she was in while heavily pregnant was bombed. She & my mother survived. I was born November 11. I try to put myself in their shoes by watching these documentaries, & it never does not effect me, as I feel intrinsically connected, & I always scan the faces for one like mine in the German lines (my oma gave my mother a picture of someone she said was her father, which I happened to see once, and we looked identical).

[@shazza160]

Boomers know this stuff.

[@YNomadicDusk]

@@shazza160 except the Boomers I know never share their stories sadly. Actually they never shared anything thus why GenX's mostly raised ourselves.

[@shazza160]

@ no they cried, got issues and estranged their parents but went back wanting house deposits and free babysitters

[@YNomadicDusk]

@@shazza160 maybe, but definitely not my experience, 😂.

[@echoplex8494]

German child soldier prisoners were forced to clear landmines in Denmark after the war. Many died or injured. Danish movie "Land of Mine"

[@leonhue722]

Tragically, politicians never learn from history

[@RaysLaughsAndLyrics]

Many allied soldiers lied about their age in order to enlist. When asked about proof of age, excuses like documents were lost in church fires, etc. were given and accepted. All sides were looking for soldiers and found shortcuts.

[@Breasail]

These children were as young as eight years old and they were recruited, not volunteers. There is a difference.

[@malcolmyoung7866]

Quite. In Germany ALL children had to join the Hitler Youth (from aged 8 IIRC) There was no choice.

[@alanaadams7440]

My Uncle enlisted at 17 he was in the Pacific in the navy. He was a lifer in the navy and stayed in for 30 years

[@EndTheWokeMindVirus]

@@Breasail Their cities were being bombed to rubble... it was a desperate situation that literally required all hands on deck. America has never endured bombardments.. let alone the kind visited on Germany.. were even today bombs go off... and where, some cities were pulverized so completely the air itself caught fire and created firestorms.

[@DeadThrallOfficial]

Someone lying about their age to enlist, while the army lets it happen, and Mass conscription of children as young as 9 years old are vastly different things. But hey cool story.

[@renskeconnell8038]

That's the problem: they were radicalized. Their rehabilitation was not very effective and successful. They carried on the Nazi doctrine after release and perpetually denied the atrocities. Only the next generation starred to accept responsibility. Though many never did....

[@lolakauffmann]

Not necessarily true, nor a problem of specifically child soldiers. There were older soldiers who were radicalized, like hardcore SS guys, but there were all sorts of people denying stuff or not believing the "Führer" had actually known about or ordered crimes. Humans are complex.

[@ulyssees30y]

Over the years the Germans from that next generation that I'd met hadn't learned a thing. The children of the WWII generation seem rather sympathetic to the NAZIS. That's my experience. The Millennials are different from their parents.

[@lolakauffmann]

@@ulyssees30y Not my experience growing up. Today though, I get defos worried about the right wingers and the nazi types using AfD as a vehicle & realized, the ideology was never quite gone in some nooks & minds.

[@finaloption...]

​@@lolakauffmannNot only paranoid but confused about this whole left and right thing. There was NOTHING conservative about the nazis regardless of their "right wing" label.

[@lolakauffmann]

@@finaloption... Good night, comrade!

[@erbiumfiber]

I met a US citizen who had fought for Germany during WWII (emigrated to the US after the War). I did the math, he was about 16 when the war ended, I figure he was one of these.

[@MrBeck47]

Excellent never heard of this

[@charlayned]

This is fantastic. I knew of the Hitler Youth, we covered that in several of my history classes (I'm a historian) and I've done some reading since. But this is very new, what happened after the war. I'm amazed at the efforts made to try to help these boys who had never had a real chance at childhood. The director's father was the same age in the documentary as my father is now, he is a veteran of the Korean War, Navy, as was my mom. They were 16/17 when they joined up (my dad had his mom sign for hm and mom graduated high school and went in direct from there.). Looking at these kids and trying to see my parents at that age, or my kids, or my grandkids, it breaks my heart to see what happened to their childhood.

[@JanetElson]

Very informative. The use of child German soldiers in WW1 is also interesting

[@paulpfeifer2612]

I heard that Dresden was a beautiful city. My father told me that the allies bombed it out of spite.

[@stellamariayates3776]

I believe it was partially restored after the war. It was not a strategic target and was a controversial attack even at the time.

[@bennettd1275]

You sympathize with Nazi Germany during WWII? Ok cool. I think there are better lessons to learn from that time in history. Though I do ultimately agree that even during war time you shouldn't bomb civilians just for the hell of it, but maybe we can focus on the more dangerous lessons that can be learned from history. Also, I guess you being worried so much about innocent civilian populations means that you are currently against the actions of the government of Israel, correct?

[@jacquesmertens3369]

@@bennettd1275 Don't put words in his mouth. It's not what he said.

[@suekennedy883]

It may have been partly out of spite - it was bombed just three weeks after the discovery of the atrocities of Auschwitz and about a month or so after the Battle of the Bulge where about 30000 US troops were killed. Mainly I think it was a desperation measure to break up Nazi communications - Dresden was a major rail centre and the aim was to stop the distribution of personnel and supplies. I think in 2012 a study suggested that about 23000 people died during the bombing. So many people were killed in the bombing of British cities by the Nazis that it is quite difficult for me to feel too much remorse. Mainly I feel incredibly sad for generations of people all over the world that Hitler didn't meet with a fatal accident when he was a young child.

[@jacquesmertens3369]

20:16 For the map enthousiasts: the roads around the camp haven't changed. The top left corner has coordinates 49°22'54" N 3°02'25" E This place is absolutely not between Reims and Soissons (as wrongly mentioned 2:41). It's between Compiègne and Soissons. Just follow the D85 between Croutoy and Martimont or D16 between Croutoy and Hautefontaine.

[@CarolFremel-my4hs]

My lovely German uncle was in the Hitler youth - when I asked him why he said - you joined or you died

[@grosvenorclub]

I worked with an ex "hitler youth" back in the late 1960's in Canada. He was a chief estimator with a construction company by then . I often sensed there were still some old emotions that came to the surface occasionally .

[@lindaabraham7421]

Thank uou. Very interesting documentary

[@mnicholl93]

Thank you for sharing your father's story, & of the baby cages

[@thirdactwarrior317]

When I was a Navy officer, I was in a command where the Chief of Staff, a Navy Captain, had been Hitler Youth as a kid. He was born in Florida to German parents who had emigrated to the US. But his father moved the family back to Germany to support the "fatherland" when the war broke out. His father joined the German Army and was killed on the Eastern Front. After the war, his mom proved his US citizenship and got him sent back to the US to live with relatives. He grew up like any normal teenager and eventually went to the Naval Academy. He said that pretty much every boy was in the Hitler Youth and it was like the Boy Scouts, only with a lot of propaganda. He said he never gave the ideology much credence. Fortunately, he was never sent into combat.

[@jwhiskey242]

The article in "Yank" was written by Howard Leroy Katzander. He was from Philadelphia and was employed by the Philadelphia Inquirer (newspaper).

[@patryot5668]

ironic as I read this queens song "Who wants to live forever" is playing..just so sad and yet fascinating

[@greaternysailing8088]

I feel bad for these children. I feel worse for the 6 million innocent that never made it to 1945.

[@denisdooley1540]

"Children have never before been used this way for military purposes." I thought Sparta pretty much did, at the very least beginning military training at an insanely young age.

[@Seamonkey555]

Children have been used throughout human history in war as soldiers.

[@MsMounen]

There's also Rwanda in the nineties.

[@GoldenGateNum9]

♥️ 🇧🇪 This is an amazing yet very Melancholic documentary... I hope these brave young souls discovered Carl Jung, Søren Kierkegaard, Arthur Shopenhauer, Immanuel Kant, and Friedrich Nietzsche while they were here together. With Love Edda 🌹🌹

[@judepower4425]

They may have already discovered Nietzsche under the Hitler regime.

[@danarzechula3769]

I find it triumphant. Humans are amazingly resilient and adaptable.

[@tigertiger1699]

You’re a brave young woman taking on / seeking the truth.. must have be torturous 🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@achord9204]

All I could think about was how they lived vs Jews and other the same age who were in concentration camps, in hiding, who witnessed unimaginable crimes and what they had-absolutely nothing. No parents I’d lucky maybe 1 survivor of your immediate family with maybe a cousin or 2. Sorry, my pity ran out

[@NickParmelee-c9h]

The children were brainwashed. And they wouldn't have known about the camps

[@ulyssees30y]

​@@NickParmelee-c9hEvery German knew about the camps.

[@Porkypies6m]

better than fighting at stalingrad...or living in Hiroshima or danzig like the rest on here u have no idea of theT

[@danarzechula3769]

Children are particularly vulnerable. When they are caught up in the atrocities of men these children should always have our pity.

[@MarkSullivan_xyz]

The atrocities of the Holocaust can’t be paid for by mistreating children. The USA’s “greatest generation” treated these children with dignity and respect. Compare that to the USA’s “current generation” and their treatment of refugees on the Mexican border. The USA had a heart, when did they lose it?

[@nassermj7671]

An 11 year old was sent to the front!

[@MichaelNadilski-it9ts]

At least these kids got to survive . Some were not so lucky

[@williesnyder2899]

That was rather a good documentary!

[@RasheedGazzi]

Black American soldiers always seeing humanity even in the enemy.

[@davewestly307]

@@RasheedGazzi oh please clown

[@RasheedGazzi]

@@davewestly307 For what reason do you call me this?

[@philiprufus4427]

@@RasheedGazzi Not alllways the other way around,especiallly with dye'd in the wool Nazi's.

[@MikeJones-hc1gw]

​@@RasheedGazziBecause you're generalizing about an entire ethnic group, portraying all black folks as virtuous: of course some are virtuous and some aren't.

[@RasheedGazzi]

@@philiprufus4427 Yet no reports of black soldiers commiting war crimes even against the enemy.

[@gailjoyce2297]

I never knew that Germany enlisted children. Thank you for your documentary. I was expecting to hear of the abuse of these children.....

[@billd2635]

News to me. Thanx so much.

[@brigidine37]

I was told, by another survivor of the Hitler Jungen that he and his fellow troupes were very, very grateful to be able to surrender to the Americans. He still feels today, that he was very lucky to escape the Russians, from whom he and the other survivors from his unit, were running, as the war was ending and they tried to make their way from the Eastern Front, back to Berlin. He still says the Americans treated them very decently and he ended up moving to the U.S. when he was allowed.

[@brookesanders1621]

They were just kids .. how can grown men make them go to war? I can't imagine the psychological trauma it would cause. May all kids in the world held as prisoners be freed. Children need to be protected - not locked away !!

[@cesar_145]

My grandfather and his four brothers were volunteers in the Spanish Blue Divivision. They had to go back from Mexico to Spain to enlist. Of the four okly three came back. Hi used so say that they weren't thebonly volunteers from the American Continent.

[@malcolmyoung7866]

Mexico to The Eastern Front. That’s a huge difference in average climate conditions.. The Blue Division suffered 47% casualties. 10% of that number killed.

[@Everythingallthetime666]

1:54 absolutely untrue, for centuries children have been used in a military role, look at the Spartans for example or the turks or Persians of ancient times, even the Roman's used children in war, and all indoctrinated and trained them from extremely young ages.

[@stellamariayates3776]

In Nelson's time youths were recruited for the Royal Navy and trained up from an early age.

[@JustinGadue58]

Training kids for war is one thing using them in the war is totally different thing..

[@ike1660]

​@@JustinGadue58 Naval ships probably didn't drop the kids off at daycare before they went into battle.. They needed the Powder Boys to be able to shoot their guns, for example. 12-14 was a normal age to start working on a naval ship..

[@edwi3719]

So are you pro child military ? What’s the point

[@ike1660]

@@edwi3719 Have you seen the video? They claim WW2 was the first time children were active fighting participants in a war. The point this thread is making is that it definitely was not the first time child soldiers were used.

[@christinemartin4276]

My 17 year old mum had to work the search lights in Munich, she was petrified and she told me quite often they pointed the lights in the wrong direction so not to be hit😢

[@brandiwebb930]

Sure, this is a different type of documentary I would not have heard of this otherwise, but why is it that every country blames America for everything?? They made it seem like Americans were the bad people for putting them in these places when it was their own government! even though it was Nazis (which we know were not upstanding citizens in any way. If anything almost inhuman, but they used their own people their minors, just kids. I don't think there was enough emphasis on the fact that their own people put them in this position instead the focus was only on the fact that there was prisoners of war camps.. what did they expect would happen???! Trust me it would have been far better for us as Americans to have helped them rather than the Soviet Union / Russia getting to them first they would have never survived!!! I mean their own people didn't care whether they survived during war or not!!!

[@Swellington_]

idk,seems like blaming the US is in style nowadays,even if someone does something to us first,particularly if you ask some jackass on the internet its so stupid

[@Gloocar]

I think accountability is an important point of freedom. We are the beacon of liberty (or at least some of us try) and transparency leads to seeing some of the ugly bits. Now imagine the reeducation camps in Soviet Russia... I don't think the people shipped out to Siberia ever made it home. All things considered yes prison camps are horrible, but are they necessary also yes. I don't think these camps were horrible, matter of fact I think they were extremely helpful in bringing these kids and adults back to real life after something so inhumane.

[@almaconnor9171]

Jealousy, in a word. If not for the allies, including America, we would all be speaking German or Japanese. A German soldier was quoted “We could not believe the sheer power of the Americans”. We were shocked.

[@davewestly307]

Why does America act like they don’t do the same things they are accusing others of?

[@davewestly307]

@@almaconnor9171bullshit try again dufus. Wow you had basically the whole world fighting little Germany and an Island. And let’s face it Russia did most of the work for you anyways . The way things are in America today think is rather speak German and have German culture than the cesspool we got now .

[@neilbrooks5099]

Very insightful video

[@billvandenbosch3017]

Sadly, children used in war is still very common. Look what is happening in the African nations with boy soldiers. Look at Cambodia's past. Youth are recipients of doctrine instilled by their societies and cultures. Look at the mess that is occurring all over the world.

[@lolakauffmann]

@@LandonDawson-w2z Huh!?

[@PabeGeet]

The IDF doesn’t use child soldiers.

[@lolakauffmann]

@@PabeGeet They kill, kidnap & torture children, though. They also use eighteen year olds to do the above & they indoctrinate kids into believing they have no choice but to do the above. As a german, I kind of feel in part responsible for the tragedy happening in Israel & Palestine, too.

[@adonvonilesere5642]

This makes me proud to be an American and very glad my German family immigrated long before the war

[@BenMcCloskey-t5m]

in 1950 perhaps 52, my dad had to do his deferred national service. It was for two years. At the end of his time in the UK Army he was stationed at a POW Prison Camp in Isle of Wight. He didnt say much but spoke of guarding the kids sent to fight in Berlin in 1945. He was told by his commanding officer if any trouble broke out he was to hit first and ask questions later. So if the bulk of the POW kids were in France, were the hard cases sent to Isle of Wight?

[@danarzechula3769]

Hmmm

[@MsMounen]

I could imagine radicalised children taught soldiering skills might be a bit dangerous.

[@BenMcCloskey-t5m]

@@MsMounen And, if they were still considered a risk to society 5 to 7 years after 1945, they must have been super indoctrinated age 12 to 15 in 1945. There is a documentary to be made with this information.@SLICE_Full_Doc Someone could research the POW camp on Isle of Wight, find out. My Dad definitely said he guarded "the kids sent to fight in Berlin in 1945"

[@engine2truck6]

I know a former Jungvolk (now deceased). After the war, immigrated to Syracuse NY. Interesting, full of amazing stories…. I can tell you that the “re-education” very often ….simply did not work.

[@mmiller7965]

It was a fantastic video we knew about the child soldiers but we hadn't seen anything like this. Thank God the SS didn't find thr children it was the American troops. America, UK, n France who held these children. My father was one of the first group of volunteers to enter the war. It was 1939. My father was British but had moved to Canada at 16. Canadians were in Europe as well n liberated Holland. They were on the beaches of Normandy. My father lost a lot of friends my mother said. He was an RSM who trained troops n saw battle. My father would not speak of the war but my mother would tell me what she knew.

[@changingpeopleslivesmoon2993]

Worst part is child soldiers are still a thing in other country in the middle east and some parts o Africa.

[@Porkypies6m]

he would be turning in his grave if he saw what Canada has become today

[@mefford67]

Amazing to comprehend how America is now fully embracing fascism in 2024.

[@mroberts2738]

Good news. We rejected Harris.

[@jenniferclark9170]

Come and See is a horrific movie. It is from 1985 and I only watched it recently. It is a movie that will stay with you always. The fact that these events happened in recent history is horrifying.

[@illybias9674]

There’s a book for young adults on this called someone named Eva it was one of my favorites growing up

[@SandraHunter-c6u]

This should be shown in American high schools.

[@candimcirish]

I'm 62 years old and I never heard of the baby cages b4 today.

[@johnmc8785]

The young cadet being interviewed at 15:30 is actually Hungarian, which is why he has trouble understanding the American interpreter speaking German.

[@nathbaker]

Right he spoke German with an accent. Was a bit funny to see the American refer to him in höflichkeitsform (“sie”)

[@danarzechula3769]

Many peoples just killed the ones they conquered. War disrupts food supply everyone was hungry ans suffering loss because of what Nazis began. It is very encouraging that scarce resources were allocated to the enemy and so much effort was expended to help the young ones

[@christineperez7562]

Some of these children had the same fate as the Jewish children. Those young girls he paraded around with died when Hitler did.

[@tonycavanagh1929]

Wehen those two american soldiers were interogatting the 12 year old, the back to front relaxed chair sit. I wonder if that 12 year old ever sat like that as a man, when being relaxed.

[@krmccarrell]

I'm curious as to what your point is?

[@tonycavanagh1929]

@@krmccarrell My comment did not have a point.

[@mil3k]

By looking at their boots it looks like these two are paratroopers.

[@GoBlueGirl78]

My Oma was in the girl’s branch of Hitler youth (all kids had to be, it wasn’t optional)… I have her Jugend Amnesty card.

[@Porkypies6m]

german version of the girl guides teaching love of country...morals ..loyalty ..self reliance . camping ..singing songs etc todays GGui and Bscouts are full of woke ideology and most kids and parents have abandoned it

[@tree_sparrow1623]

Yeah the girlguides still teaches camping, singing, resilience, morality etc. Also I’m pretty sure the Hitler youth taught girls an awful lot more than just loyalty and camping….

[@sinan2.71]

I wonder how many of these kids had no home or family to go back to. Or the ones who returned to "east" Germany and had to be re-educated again when the iron curtain went up. Right now there are child soldiers in Africa. Is anyone going to try to educate/rehabilitate them?

[@RenateDeBruyn]

My grandparents hid a very young French soldier in their attic during the war. He was just a boy. This was in northern Germany.

[@ibeetellingya5683]

My father grew up in Weimar Germany. After the murder of his anti-nazi parents when he was 15, he successfully fled to England, and was accepted into the British Army at 17, fought in Italy. He had a choice of dying for the Nazis or against them, and chose the later.

[@ecamp6360]

One of those kinder soldiers became Chancellor (Helmut Kohl) and another became Pope (Ratzinger).