Band of Brothers - Beethoven scene from Ep. 9 - Why We Fight

The beginning and the ending scenes of Ep. 9 'Why We Fight' of the 2001 TV series Band of Brothers - edited into a single scene.
In the last weeks of WW2 in Europe, Germans are cleaning up the streets in a ruined town while musicians are playing the 6th movement of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 in C# minor (Op. 131). The episode focuses on the Allies finding a concentration camp near this town - realizing the brutal reality of the "final solution" of the "Jewish question" for the first time.
Copyright owner of the video: HBO. www.hbo.com/ba...
Uploaded for non-commercial purposes, meeting the criteria of Fair Use.
Original idea: CokeaholicGamer - / cokeaholicgamer
Factual errors:
At the beginning of this episode, the date is supposedly April 11, 1945, while Captain Nixon says that Hitler had killed himself. However, Hitler did not kill himself until April 30, 1945. This was later officially acknowledged as an error in the show.
Later during the episode (most of which supposedly happens one month before the beginning/ending scenes), Nixon says that the President has just died. However, Franklin Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945. This is another unintended factual error in the TV show.
In reality, the liberation of this concentration camp (Kaufering Lager IV) occured on April 27, 1945, and it was discovered by the 134th Ordnance Maintenance Battalion of the 12th Armored Division. The 101st Airborne actually arrived at the site a day later, April 28. This was changed intentionally for dramatic purposes (as the show mostly focuses on the story of the 101st).

[@bobbyricigliano2799]

I'm glad I read the notes that mention the big dating error in this scene. For history buffs it jumps right off the screen as soon as you see it.

[@Tofi_ytchannel]

I'm also glad you read it, thanks. :) This comment section is full of comments written by people who didn't. 😅

[@nicholasmuro1742]

As a history buff, the date jumped off the screen: April 11, 1945. Hitler killed himself on April 30th.

[@marcdrye8645]

For the history buffs...Hitler never killed himself, he fled to Argentina under the protection of peron. Where's hitlers body? Where's Eva's? No where near the bunker? Never found.

[@blondedghost7423]

@@marcdrye8645didn’t they burn him

[@purplefood1]

@@blondedghost7423 They did, this guy is full of shit.

[@thesmirkingwolf]

"Should have killed himself three years ago, saved us a lot of trouble." "Yeah, he should've. But he didn't."

[@111doomer]

It's a brilliant line, spoken perfectly.

[@tpsu129]

Yes, but they'd be sweltering in the South Pacific if not for Hitler. War sucks no matter where but I'd rather be stationed in a place that reminds me of home than fighting Japan and malaria.

[@thedavescloop]

Actually, I'm not sure that's true. Japan would've been far more reluctant to attack the US if they didn't feel they would have the Axis powers drawing Allied resources to Europe.

[@MO067]

Oh you saw that one too? Great. So did I.

[@alexjeffries5276]

Dorvid the US oil embargo was a major factor in their attack on Pearl Harbor, but that's just speculating what-ifs in history. who knows what would've happened

[@wazzo8527]

"Hitlers dead." one of the heaviest lines dropped in this series ironically changes nothing. Love it every time.

[@jipke]

Execpt that Hitler didn't kill himself on the 11th of April. Shoddy writing.

[@jeanpark4420]

Surprisingly a rookie mistake by the producers regarding the date of Hitler’s death........

[@carlpeng2580]

@@jeanpark4420 on the video posted by History Buff, the show's scriptwriter said that they got the date right. But it was the editor's mistake of putting the wrong date on the title slide.

[@mountaingalhomemaker4179]

Except Hitler died almost a month later on the last day of April

[@CertifiedForkLiftOperator69420]

@@jipke actually it was normal for the allies get reports Hitler was dead during the last few months.

[@moephillips4449]

I love the small details in this scene. Like the fact that only the eldery men and women are left to clear away the rubble, there are no young men left.

[@dodgeplow]

The only flaw I'd say is that they are too well-fed or even fat. The population was close to starving by the end of the war.

[@Kitiwake]

The older men

[@nottyler9824]

@@Kitiwake it’s grammatically correct bro dw

[@camy205]

Yet they got the date of hitlers death wrong haha

[@werewolfdude776]

@@dodgeplow and the date lol

[@SzucsBence1992]

The actor playing Nixon is phenomenal in this scene.

[@amaniacforgames]

I know this is a late reply but the actor playing Nixon was nominated for a golden globe for his performance. its a shame he didnt win, he was outstanding from ep1 to 10

[@termeownator]

I don't feel like going to war today, I think I'll just stay home...

[@MaskHysteria]

Ron Livingston. Great actor. Loved him in Office Space as well.

[@joemckim1183]

@@MaskHysteria Swingers too.

[@captainclaymoar8398]

I first saw him in Office Space but when I remember him I think of this series

[@sandrorrh6255]

The end , black violin case closing, representing a coffin and the connection to the song. plus one reason this show is that good, nice ending scene

[@MrB00mbang]

This show is good? This show is a masterpiece, despite bending the truth in some characters' cases.

[@sandrorrh6255]

+Dave L. Yes, i say to my friends to watch this show 2 times to get all the hidden messages. And a masterpiece indeed sir

[@carlost856]

@@sandrorrh6255 2 times? Maybe two times a year at the minimum for me lol.

[@collinwoodard5116]

This sounds like what an english teacher would say

[@boundr2107]

@@collinwoodard5116 And is there anything wrong with that?

[@chrispalo5122]

The conviction with which Nixon said, "Beethoven. That's not Mozart. THAT'S Beethoven" really hits home for me. The grief heard in this quartet (No. 14 in C# minor, Op. 131) could only have been written by Beethoven. The composer Franz Schubert once remarked, "After this, what is left to write?" The Germans clearing out the rubble were probably wondering what was left for them after six years of war.

[@AlvinHDavernport]

It’s so doleful and beautiful. The whole Op 131 is just incredible, and it’s no wonder so many other composers and musicians have called it the greatest piece of music ever. Another beautifully sad one of his is the Cavatina from the Op 130 quartet. That one is so incredibly sad, he himself was moved to tears by it. The man who had lost the capacity to hear his own music poured so much grief into this particular piece, he couldn’t think about it without tearing up.

[@Vikingr4Jesus5919]

7 years. (From 1938) And that's not included the years previously where the Nazi party was in charge. Roughly 10-12 years of Nazi tyranny in Germany.

[@tommyt1971]

Rubble, destruction, death. They had to rebuild what had been shattered and trampled on. I went to Prague about 8 yrs ago and we were walking thru the Old Town section where the streets are lined with brick. One of the students I was travelling with remarked that the bricks we were walking on were the remnants of the old architecture that had been destroyed during the war.

[@andrewkitchenuk]

@@Vikingr4Jesus5919 With overwhelming support from the majority of Germans, at least for the first years of the National Socialist being in power. Let's never forget that. It was only when the war was lost that they all started saying that they didn't.

[@David-ix9jz]

@@andrewkitchenuk In the last German election in 1933 before Hitler seized power the Nazis only managed 44% of the vote, despite widespread violence and intimidation at the polling booths. So how do you figure that the overwhelming majority of Germans supported them?

[@acquiesce01]

The most difficult episode of the whole series of difficult episodes.

[@ariochiv]

And one of the best.

[@verynearlypure]

RonnyDonny13 source?

[@Tom.Ireland]

@@verynearlypure at the start of the episode it says it's April 11, 1945. Hitler killed himself on April 30, 1945.

[@reneskyggebjerg2092]

@@verynearlypure The guy who did the title cards also confirmed it. The scene was not supposed to have included the "hitler is dead" line, but apparently the title card slipped through editing after the changes. They talked about it on one of the reunion things, I think.

[@predatorjunglehunter7332]

wait until you see The Pacific

[@joshuawells835]

My father calls this the best scene of the series and an excellent filming shot. Beethoven is a German composer and while the musicians are playing Beethoven, they initially think it's Mozart. Mozart, like Hitler, was Austrian. In playing this piece, written later in Beethoven's life after he had become deaf, the Germans are reclaiming their heritage and country from Hitler.

[@ToDDHeaDD]

Technically Mozart was born in Salzburg, which independent up until 1803, 12 years after Mozart's death. Both him and Beethoven spent most of their lives in Vienna, Austria. I think this dialogue was Spielberg's hommage to a similar scene in Schindler's list, where the SS soldiers mix up Mozart with Bach.

[@basilikum20]

Nostalgic heart you are...

[@sipioc]

Damn. That’s deep

[@F_Tim1961]

why has nobody commented that shutting the violin case.. and so carefully was like shutting a coffin ? ONly problem there were about another 27 days of shooting war to go and plenty of US soldiers died after that in truck and car accidents, Luger accidents, air transport accidents and all the rest.

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

@@F_Tim1961 Uh huh. That was sinister.

[@johnjones_1501]

What I learned from this scene is that wooden bar chairs are surprisingly good at surviving artillery bombardments that destroy the rest of the house.

[@Gablesman888]

Well, John, that is because most folks know how to protect the valuable things. Note all of the booze that survived air bombardment at Goering's home. The world must go on. War or no war.

[@nicholasmuro1742]

I learned that Stevie and Tommy didn't fact-check to well on Hitler's death

[@davidmcneill6239]

The ones sitting atop the rubble, yes.

[@codygreene9067]

@@Gablesman888 probably because the blast blew them away rather than ripping them apart.

[@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists]

yup....wait until they bomb your house and destroy all you hood !

[@RubenBru]

The most naturalized , truthful, innocent and saddest scene of Band Of Brothers

[@militaruandrei8086]

This and the one with the old german military policeman that was checking the road along with Liebgott i think at the end of the war/series. That man fought 2 times the americans (ww1+ww2) but still after the war they were talking just like 2 normal people understanding just their human nature and the fact that they ve maybe been trapped beyond the fate of living in a world of peace. That scene in which the germans and the american soldiers salute themselves is so filled up with messages. This is trully the best series ever

[@flower_sunset8067]

What about the part where they found the concentration camp. That was scary and heartbreaking when they had to tell them they had to keep them there

[@hhds113]

@@militaruandrei8086 For your information America was involved in WWI and we had men who also fought in both wars.

[@carlost856]

@@hhds113 yeah he knows, he said that he fought them two times.

[@roguelead72]

@@militaruandrei8086 That was the finale Points.

[@itsahurricane]

The start of this scene. Shivers. Absolute shivers.

[@Dtuba15]

I think using this piece in this part is brilliant by the writers because when beethoven wrote this he was in deep dispair and sadness because he was going Def and equally the people are in despair and sadness because they lost everything

[@carlevans7416]

Also Beethoven had a HUGE hatred for Napoleon, Fidelio was inspired as a fuck you to Napoleonic oppression/brutality in the German states.

[@orb3796]

Beethoven long accepted his deafness when he wrote this. He was deaf for about a decade while writing this string quartett

[@PincheGringo420]

@@orb3796I’m late but I was going to say the same thing. This is actually one of the last pieces he wrote before he passed if my memory serves me right

[@oo-mu1cu]

thank you for this piece of education 🤝

[@shuarma0]

this is one of my favorite scenes in the whole series. "yeah, he should have .... but he didn't.." such a perfect line. so much is said with such little words.

[@throwback19841]

Funnily enough I was reminded of this in the pub last night. Someone was whinging about how much money is being sent to Ukraine and someone else commented that it would be an awful lot easier if Putin just shot himself and I replied "yeah, but he hasn't."

[@misslittledove]

“Yea he should’ve, but he didn’t.” What a line to end on and so horrifically true.

[@kharilane1340]

My favorite line in the whole series.

[@joefriedman9843]

I don't even know how to describe why it's so impactful for me. Yea he should've done that but because he didn't millions and millions of people have died. Devastating.

[@ffjsb]

@@joefriedman9843 Hitler almost cost the world the band Rush. Both of Geddy Lee's parents were concentration camp survivors. Had either one of them died in the camps, no Geddy Lee, no Rush.

[@marcschneider4845]

@@ffjsb Yes, that's the worst thing that Hitler could have done.

[@ffjsb]

@@marcschneider4845 Clearly you missed the point. There's literally MILLIONS of effects Hitler had on the world because of his actions. SMH

[@zodiacbluesbaby]

Beautiful music, brilliant scene.

[@davedalton1273]

The closing of the violin case, I think, represents the death of German High Culture. It died in the camps, in the gas chambers, in the ovens and in the fields and the forests and the Steppes in the East: Poland, the Ukraine, Belorussia.

[@nunbiz7328]

Lol Punitive bullshit

[@bigwezz]

@@nunbiz7328 Wtf??

[@321Lopper]

When the viola player nods at the others he has a „let’s put this away“ look on his face.

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

I do love the subtext of the violin case. The Violin and the music show the old Germany. One that prided itself on good craftsmanship and the arts. Now that era is over and is being locked away for good while a new Germany is rebuilt from the ruins of the old and one that will forever be tainted by its past, something it once held in such great regard.

[@sophiecameron1480]

The music and philosophy of the old Germany - pre-20th century - is as strong as ever. No part of the world has left behind Beethoven, Mozart, Schiller, Goethe and others - and the new Germany is now the leading Western Nation - socially, economically and environmentally.

[@stevenguild2707]

Sophie Cameron And Muslim wise...😁

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

@@sophiecameron1480 When you talk to a person about Germany, the first thing that comes to their mind is WW2 and Hitler, not their classical musicians. As I said, the post-war Germany is forever tainted by its past. As for leading, leading European nation yes but not overall Western nation. That's still the US. Why? If we weren't, we wouldn't be practically funding NATO single handily and being the force behind the UN. This does not discount Germany. If the Western world wanted to stop relying on Uncle Sam, Germany could take over as its leader but that time has not come and more than likely won't for a while longer.

[@steveguild871]

@@sophiecameron1480 Germany is overseeing a crumbling EU.

[@anthonylegore1517]

Has anyone noticed that the end shot of the violin case resembles a closed European style coffin?

[@johnpeschke7723]

this is just one of many, many stunning scenes in Band of Brothers. whoever thought to include this music, in this way...deserves an Emmy.

[@romanroque9559]

Yeah they should've have, but they didn't...😊

[@ffjsb]

@@romanroque9559 Well played Sir...

[@Eddieo9999]

This episode is amazing. We see at the beginning an unhingded Captain Nix. Who looking for his his favourite whiskey turns to vandalism. We get to the point where a German noble proud of her husbands/sons service on Nix's embarrassment over there quick history. To his embarrassment, then leads to the death camps, and her pride shatters over the death camps a beautiful episode showing the shame

[@nizloc4118]

Nail on head. The sad camp scene aside (which was sad as hell), the nixon arc in this episode was perfect. Glad he got his own hour. He was one of the best 'characters'

[@carlosbashuertas]

Kudos to all in Band of Brothers who had to do with this scene. It has so much meaning. Yes, indeed, the seeds of evil are ever-present regardless of how "civilized" a country might be. This is the lesson from Germany, the motherland of Bach, Beethoven, Luther, Goethe, Kant, Schiller. Land of poets and thinkers!

[@MrB00mbang]

Nietzsche? Clausewitz? Bismarck??? (Mozart-Austria but after Anschluss it was the same, Germania.) Interestingly, the unification of Germany was predicated on ideas of liberalism, similar to that of the American Revolution. Then, under Junker-ruled Prussia's guidance, the fledging German nation turned more and more to ultraconservative politics (Realpolitik and then Wilhelmism) first under Bismark in the late 19th century and then into the 20th century under Wilhelm II. Finally after the horrible gamble for power in WWI, in a war they did not begin nor see to its end, they turned to fascistic ideology centred around a populist leader. It's fascinating stuff. Why did Germany create such chaos, perpetrate genocide against the Jewish population of Europe when other nations were just as anti-Semitic if not more (France and Russia and numerous others,) march to war so fervently and why did they descend into hatred so enthusiastically? I think the answer lies in a study of the social contract and of the manipulation of the masses using fear, but more importantly in the study of the uniquely German dimension this evil took in the 1920s and 1930s. This is something history gives us a critical window into. We must look upon our mistakes to create a better tommorow. Look to the past to mould the future.

[@sophiecameron1480]

@@MrB00mbang And now they've come through that to become the leading Western nation - socially, politically and environmentally. Anyone who thinks it's the USA is living in the past - especially since Trump.

[@FreddyFrndzn]

How this could happen in a state as civilized as Germany was is a question, which motivated philosophers during the following decades. I got the chance to hear philosopher Vittorio Hösle at university in Freiburg, who answered the question by claiming, that in German thinking the mentality of resistance was never as present as it was in British thinking e.G. (which you can see if you watch the country history of philosophy for example). Pretty interesting. We have to learn and resist against the fascistic tendencies still current. And btw I dont know what the authority's names in the comment section are supposed to mean, but Nietzsche actually was intentionally read like it fits the Nazi ideology, but actually didn't. He was struggling with his sister, who manipulated a lot of his writings after his death, because of her ideology (later she has been visited by Hitler personally several times) and anti-Semitism just like Wagner. But if read closely you find several positions against and proclaimed phrases like “war“ (Krieg) are meant metaphorically or as a metaphysical war (also there is a huge relation the the philosophy of Heraclitus, in which the term “war“ is used for the rule of opposing forces). Have a nice day. Lest we forget.

[@yoncornellybayondha8892]

Ya, and Firiedrich Nietzsche as well

[@RDRussell2]

I'm responding more to the other comments here, perhaps. What about Hegel? What would he have made of WWII and Hitler? Leaping forward: Adorno, who escaped Nazi Germany but espoused some racially provocative thoughts about jazz (i.e. "black" music). And then there's Heidegger, who was an actual Nazi party member.

[@michaelpark5439]

The design of this episode makes for some of the greatest television to ever have graced us.

[@donaldelfreth553]

Darn right!

[@tungstenkid2271]

In a TV documentary about WW2, the interviewer asked an old German civilian-"When Allied bombers were destroying your cities one by one, why didn't the German people rise up against the nazis?" "Because we were more afraid of the nazis than of the bombers" was the reply.

[@Vikingr4Jesus5919]

Tells you something about tyranny...

[@dougbrowne9890]

@@Vikingr4Jesus5919 Tells you how much the people were controlled by the Nazis. Even those still loyal to the party would never speak about it, even in jest.

[@burnbobquist8999]

@@Vikingr4Jesus5919 Yeah that is something a lot of movies and shows and mostly people forget, the first victim of the Nazis was in fact germany itself, because there were a lot of parts that did not choose to be a part of this shitshow. :(

[@onator210]

They were victims of their own decisions and ambitions. Hitler was what the wanted, they got it. Thats the strongest thing for me in this video. These folks were probably cheering with the nazis after they took over France. How must they feel now? It is paradox, take for example bohemian Germans from Sudetenland. They voted for Nazi party, they were rioting and killing in order to get what they wanted (annexation of Sudetenland by Germany). Little did these free Czechoslovak citizens (altough Germans by ethnicity) know, that they were about to become a hostages of the nazi tyranny.

[@klatie256]

Today I grieve for my homeland, Ukraine. The old Cossack songs are deep in my heart. When Beethoven wrote this piece he was deaf and grieving the loss of several of his children. There is a song of grief and longing that plays in every human’s heart when they experience tragedy; Beethoven was able to share his through his genius. There are no winners in war.

[@richhagenchicago]

Came here after I just watched a video of a man playing the Cello in the center of bombed out Kharkiv. It reminded me a bit of this scene. The World would be a lot better off if Putin ended himself or even just the war right here and now, but he won't. . . . . .

[@jawed4106]

"Putin's dead..." "Holy Shit." "Shot himself in Moscow."

[@steveguild871]

@@jawed4106 More like Zelensky in Kiev.

[@josephtroiani5011]

Thank you for your insight and the expression of pain on what is happening to Ukraine.

[@Caroni100]

@@jawed4106 "When rich people make war, it's poor people who die" Jean Paul Sartre "In peace time, children bury thier parents. In war time, parents bury thier children" Herodotus of Halicarnassus "A man who preaches war is an apostle of the devil" John Rae "The fastest way to end a war is to lose it" George Orwell "Wars are declared by governments and suffered by peoples" Cristina Almeida Greetings from Venezuela.

[@davidcooke8005]

The cinematography in this is masterful. What a scene.

[@JacquelineJamroz]

Also known as a "oner." One continuous shot for 2:15 minutes.

[@sesfilmsllc]

Despite the minor historical inaccuracy of Hitler killing himself a week after this scene takes place. This is still a very powerful scene.

[@paulcochran1721]

19 days. They should not have even put a date at the beginning. It didn't need it. Still an awesome scene.

[@99bulldog]

@@paulcochran1721 One of the writers said that they actually knew the correct date but the script for the show got screwed up and nobody thought to double checked it before it aired. Iirc he said they were all pretty embarrassed about but by then the damage was done.

[@paulcochran1721]

@@99bulldog I'm surprised the newer DVDs never corrected that, and the Blythe epilog. Would be very easy.

[@killbot86]

It's 2023 and I am waiting for someone to utter the line "Putin's dead" and that that war in Ukraine might finally come to an end...At least we can hope....

[@jeffreyschueler2223]

It's just now occuring to me how insanely difficult it was to clean up Europe after the war

[@JK_Clark]

Meh, same shit's been going on for centuries in Europe.

[@tomzadvydas1758]

@@JK_Clarkyep

[@tomzadvydas1758]

A lot of US money went into Europe (The Marshall Plan)

[@wonderlandgirlable]

Word to Putin ...save us all the Trouble ..

[@captainclaymoar8398]

" ill tell ya one thing about the Krauts.. they sure do clean up good" "Yeah, all they need is a little Mozart" "Beethoven..." "Sorry sir?" "That's not Mozart.... That's Beethoven" Still gives me a shiver to this day Edit: I spelled Krauts with a "C" and a couple of people were nice enough not to insult me and just correct me.

[@shuhratkessikbayev8886]

Krauts* but yeah it's a good emotional scene

[@captainclaymoar8398]

@subcomandante marcos right my bad I've only heard it. I've never spelled it before thank you for the info. (Not sarcasm lol)

[@dagruddicker22]

woot positive reinforcement of correct spelling of a racial slur that came up during wwII but that was the times. humans are not perfect we must admit our faults as we learn and progress.

[@c.9900]

@@dagruddicker22 it's not really a racial slur. No worse than calling Russians "Ruskies" or Brits "Limeys" - which Americans still like to do today.

[@coltonwhite2518]

Kraut is no more a racial slur than Yank or Canuck. It's a nickname derived from "SauerKraut", which is a food condiment from Germany. No need for all the dramatic apologist sentiment.

[@Courage2bwell]

Thank you Mike Rowe for sending me here. Thank you for sharing about this in your book, "The Way I Heard It"

[@RapunzelTangledUp]

Ditto.

[@charlessingleman3725]

Same reason I'm here. I've got to purchase this series.

[@allencook6574]

Same literally just finished that chapters and shot over here to watch it

[@tommyrobinson8868]

Can you explain what you mean please?

[@shellymaynard783]

Just listened to his podcast and here I am!

[@shmeagol]

Have a good Memorial Day 2019.

[@vampov]

I feel bad for these young guys they fought to protect freedom and a country they loved that no longer exists. We have a corrupt mess no one seems to care about freedom or the constitution anymore.

[@markhash8556]

The real Captain Lewis Nixon died in 1995 and at the top of his tombstone is a pair of US Army parachutist wings over the words "Captain Lewis Nixon." Of all of his achievements in life, he was most proud of his 3 years with the 101st ABN.

[@davidsumner7604]

"(Hitler) should've killed himself 3 years ago. Saved us all a lot of trouble." "Yeah he should've...but he didn't." This is one of my favorite lines ever. It's pure fatalism and sums up the total resignation that the soldiers had by this point. WWII was in many ways the most necessary war and the most unnecessary war ever fought. It was a total waste for the Axis powers.

[@imfpredicts]

In fact he didn't kill himself for another 2 weeks after the given date.

[@NotAfraid280]

The biggest error in this series is that hitler died on April 30th 1945. This scene opens saying it’s April 11th 1945 and at the end of the episode, it flashes back to this scene and Nixon says hitlers dead

[@treatb09]

Germany giving us the greatest of good and worst of evil.

[@cmourat1]

Exactly. The epitomy of human kind. Best of the best and worst of the worst. The highest peak and the lowest bottom. Only them,

[@stevej71393]

"Should've killed himself three years ago and saved us the trouble" One of my favorite lines from the whole series.

[@RoyalDog214]

Beef oven scene.

[@TheMrDapperdanman]

Had to come rewatch this scene. Mike Rowes the way I heard it brought me here.

[@gerrypeet4861]

Those German wooden chairs were really built to last. So many of them in tact when the brick houses around them were destroyed.

[@vide0gameCaster]

in times of war, I always look at musicians as kindred souls who seek to alleviate the misery with art. Whatever movies, series, documentaries, every time I see a scene with random musicians playing in a desolate place, it always gives a sense of mystical serenity.

[@PincheGringo420]

Case and point, the end of titanic when they play Nearer My God to Thee

[@nizloc4118]

This episode is overshadowed by the camp part (which was very well done, and sad as hell). But Nixon was a great character. This episode focusing on him was great. One of (IMO) one of the most interesting characters in the whole story. You almost have to split the camp scene from his parts, and treat it as 2 separate episodes. All that aside, the opening and closing of this episode are perfect. Sets the mood up front, ends it depressing as any movie/show can at the end.

[@michaelw8262]

Those two story lines intertwine so well, though. Nixon's falling apart, drinking too much, gets demoted, wife leaves him. And then they find the concentration camp, and suddenly Nixon's Dear John letter is put in perspective.

[@nizloc4118]

@@michaelw8262 good point

[@tommyt1971]

About 8 yrs ago I visited Dachau. The way I always look back on that tour is that you know you're visiting a Holocaust site and you know it's going to humble and sadden you. You have expectations of how you'll take it all in, etc. Then you walk thru the gates and the tour guide starts telling you details about the place and your expectations are shattered.

[@MatthewPoplawsk]

@tommyt1971 Since youve been there, you should check out the old Twilight Zone episode titled DEATHS-HEAD'S REVISITED. This episode tells of the former SS officer reliving his glory days (???) while revisiting Dachau after WW II. If you've never seen this, I won't divulge anymore.😮😮😮

[@nizloc4118]

@user-er2ys7jh7e I'll add here as the original comment... I've been to Auschwitz....reading about it doesn't come close to seeing it in person. Hard to explain. But when you're there you can "feel" it

[@Demospammer9987]

They must've been waiting such a long time to play again...

[@BlaneNostalgia]

You blew my mind, those poor basterds

[@mongoose388]

My wife's grandmother survived the siege of Leningrad. She walked through the rubble to hear Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7, Leningrad, in the summer of 1942. She said she did it because it made her feel human. Imagine what those musicians felt.

[@Tofi_ytchannel]

@@mongoose388 OMG I love this! :) That's exactly what this is about

[@peterlonergan]

No they were able to play during the war. Music wasn't banned.

[@carlost856]

@@peterlonergan but not during the shelling. They experience peace once more.

[@gaijinsstuff2776]

“Yea he should’ve. But he didn’t” Nixon’s utter disgust in this scene is fantastic

[@physicalgrafitti4684]

Just finished watching this with my dad every 11 year old such as my self should watch this series

[@TonyMontana-lu3yb]

👍

[@matthewwilliams4785]

Nixon was communicating two things. One, while Mozart was a one of a kind composer only Beethoven was capable of manifesting tragedy like that into music. The Germans played Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131: VI because words could not describe their despair. Only Beethoven. Two, Nixon represents the highly educated American. Whatever crimes Hitler committed would not wipe the best of German culture from the earth. German high society perhaps, but some things would live on.

[@bobhayes1333]

Poignant. Mozart is perceived as a frilly-sleeved man-child producing voluminous amounts of fluffy crowd-pleasing melody. Beethoven is perceived as the brooding genius, constructing somber intricate fugues from the depths of a soundless world, abandoned by his Immortal Beloved, and tortured into his old age (for the early 1800's). Choosing Beethoven indicates the German peoples descent into a world of torment and desperation. You can read that in Livingston's delivery.

[@stevehochwind9772]

A war worth so much more than we could have ever known. I served in Iraq and Afghanistan our resolve was strong, but not like this. For this kind of reason is godless immoral and unforgiving

[@jbratt]

The young enlisted kid wants to show his knowledge but gets schooled by the more educated captain. The captain does it with class.

[@RicktheCrofter]

Probably a made up scenario. But, in real life, Liebgott was older than Nixon.

[@toAdmiller]

​@@RicktheCrofter It's not the age, it's the education/experience...

[@RicdelCampo1]

@@toAdmiller Regarding age: I was referring to the original poster who referred to Liebgott as "The young enlisted kid . . ."

[@Gallboynarossan]

So sad that a Country that produced so much beauty, could commit something so evil

[@dagruddicker22]

it ia called propaganda that brainwashes people to follow the crowd to do something they really do not want to do or feel uncomfortable but do not want to go against the crowd so they do it.

[@Inaf1987]

You can thank the idiots who imposed the harsh terms of the treaty of Versailles.

[@ragnarlothbrok8355]

@@Inaf1987 therefore German economy f**** up, their some properties and lands were occupied and germans needed a savior to get rid of everything. Action-reaction principle. Moron US and UK politicans created Hitler. That's fact.

[@cccspwn]

This happens to when a country and its people are seduced by a misguided dream that they could make their country great again through violence and ignorance. In the words of the great American writer, Mark Twain: "History doesn't repeat, but it often rhymes". I hope we do learn from history for my country's sake.

[@danielkneebone4412]

It’s call sin my friend, and it was and is everywhere, not just Germany. It is from within and no outward beauty can hide it.

[@WRPUS471]

This confirms to me that the Germans at the time were more civilized than the Americans who beat them. Winters remarks upon this in his book.

[@nmarbletoe8210]

LOL more organized maybe

[@WRPUS471]

@@nmarbletoe8210 No, simply good, creative, civilized people. They opposed people within their own society who degraded and detracted from it. I could never have fought against them.

[@elimelechgottlieb8891]

The theme of this movement is taken from a hundereds year old Jewish liturgical melody used in "Kol Nidrei: the prayer that begins Yom Kippur the holiest day for Jews. Musical scholars theorize Beethoven heard it in Vienna. Another brilliant irony for the BOB team

[@nmarbletoe8210]

wow thanks for the info! very cool

[@mgrudt5024]

Germans made strong chairs!

[@davidf0984]

Amazing scene from the greatest TV series ever made.

[@gordonhodgson4617]

As an ole screaming eagle from the nam, I loved this series and episode 9 is my favorite...so emotional to see.

[@tSp289]

You would have thought this would have been a lesson to us, but we still se war as something exciting and virtuous. Imagine someone blew up your house, killing half your friends and family. That's more what war feels like for those on the ground.

[@tSp289]

***** You might have hoped that we'd listen to the people coming back more than we listened to the ones sending people out. War is rarely justified, and the cost is always too high.. Sometimes it's inevitable, sure, but as nations, we practically orgasm over the thought of blowing stuff up in someone else's country.

[@Briselance]

***** "war is never justified" That's what the appeasers said in september 1938, at the Munich Conference. The least we could say is that they failed. To think they could bring peace, now, THAT was a true fucked-up mentality.

[@tSp289]

Briseur De Lance And I still say war is *rarely* justified. What gets me is how much people fantasise about it as if it's a good thing. It is not a good thing.

[@Briselance]

***** Aye. Being necessary is one thing. But being good, that's an entire new ball game. As general Robert Edward Lee once said, "It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it."

[@tSp289]

Briseur De Lance That's just it though: we have grown too fond of it. I mean, I like guns, and military tech and I play violent games al the time, but I get it. War is not glorious at all. It is (besides one-sided slaughter or slavery) the worst expression of humanity, yet we practically worship those who fight, and half our media is about people killing each other in cool and entertaining ways. Unlike our grandparents' generation (in Europe, anyway), we haven't seen war face to face, in our own homes. We've seen it on TV accompanied by flags and stories of valour, heavy metal music. The result of that immaturity is that most of us get a little excited at the idea of war - even me - and then hundreds of thousands of people die as a result.

[@xpictos777]

It also shows that Nixon was educated and the enlisted men were common and wouldn’t know the difference.

[@theveldtrekker2550]

These guys (men who fought in world war 2) were so flipping brave, they went in to pitched battle with nothing between the enemies bullets and their hearts but some cotten jackets and their ribs. Nowadays we sit in our armored amtracks and body armour... Makes me appreciate their bravery even more so.

[@JounLord1]

Don't think our people today wouldn't do the same thing. Just because they have better protection doesn't even mean they are invincible, they still are in danger when they fight.

[@thedonofbgfmakoflatty172]

+Nick Martin thermo imagining; another thing we can thank the Germans for that technology after their surrender in 1945... My buddy was hit in pull start land. He said it hurts like heck but, you're still alive..

[@davidwadsworth8982]

TheveldTrekker, just read your post. SOOOOO WRONG!!! You are so wrong> First they had Armored Vehicles, Tanks, Steel Pots, more squad level autpmatic weapons, and units were larger from Division to Platoon.You have never seen combat,why is that? You to special? Vietnam?where were you?Korea,in the weather,where were you?How can yu make such an idiotic statement?Not every German oldier had an automatic weapon, N.V.A. and Viet Cong DID!!! Combat 100 times closer in Nam and now.105 degreeheat,in the jungle 100% humidity, an enemy yu could not see, they saw us though.!!) degree in the desert.Hey why havent you joined up,my sons did ,I did,my dad and grand fathers did,great and great great one 's also joined up,so WHY NOT YOU ?????????

[@davidwadsworth8982]

If it so dam easy,why haven't you signed up to be part of this easy lifestyle? I ca tell by the way you speak,you have never seen combat,have you?You do not know what you are talking about.

[@davidwadsworth8982]

@subcomandante marcos career civilians have zero right to speak about the facts of combat.By the way lots of grunts have seen 10 years of combat.

[@MaxyBoy-x9u]

I view this moment as the moment Germany turned from right wing fascism to something very different. What brilliant filmmaking.

[@seventhflatfive]

I cried so hard when this episode started, I still remember it.

[@jorgebarranco4200]

I always said to myself what if Germans never when to war??? Today they will be the strongest economy's in the world and there military one of the best.

[@j.peaceo1031]

Spielberg and Hanks gave the Germans tremendous respect in BOB. Do they deserve all of this respectful portrayal? I am not certain, but I sure won't quarrel with Spielberg, who would technically have a bigger axe to grind than I ever would, his roots being Jewish. America and Spielberg: Magnanimous in victory. (Contrast that with the Soviets.)

[@whazup609]

Or the Confederacy...

[@caras2004]

My Dad turned 6 years old April 11, 1945 in Bakersfield, California He celebrated his 82nd birthday this year.

[@felixsuwarno8938]

Your dad share the same birthday's date with my first born daughter, April 11th 2006

[@paulpfannenstiel6409]

I thought Hitler didn't commit suicide until April 30th.

[@tomzadvydas1758]

@@paulpfannenstiel6409that’s correct, the date is wrong here This is a great episode but that stings for me

[@donaldelfreth553]

Leaving the scene's factual errors aside, this was the finest acting Ron Livingston ever did.

[@steveguild871]

This whole episode with Nixon was acted well especially his non-verbal interaction with the German woman.

[@JoRdAn941000]

Go and listen to the new Band of Brothers podcast on Spotify. There’s an entire episode with Ron Livingstone. Worth a listen

[@thewolf5459]

Initially you think they're playing it because of the sadness of the death and destruction. Then you watch the rest of the episode and it takes on a whole new meaning at the end of it.

[@tommyt1971]

Yup, good point, esp since so many Jews and other concentration/death camp victims were musicians and artists.

[@joelglanton6531]

@@tommyt1971 Yeah they even had orchestras in the camps

[@tommyt1971]

@@joelglanton6531 Yup. Ostensibly to calm the victims. There's a great movie about the Oct 1944 uprising in Auschwitz called The Grey Zone where they show the band playing for the prisoners being led into the undressing room.

[@Benjamin_based]

among the greatest of scenes of the greatest of moments captured on film. Brilliant just doesn't capture the sentiment.

[@challenger2031]

Poignant piece of television. A moment that can never be rewritten or forgotten. The silence after the musicians stop playing. Never fails to make me feel struck at the heartstrings by that scene of acting

[@stevespencer8904]

The common thought to any war, is that it only affects the combatants. This is a depiction of reality. War touches every aspect of life through death and destruction.

[@roberthaworth8991]

Just days after the surrender a senior US general, in his staff car, was touring a string of bomb-ruined cities on the Rhine. After a couple of hours his aide observed that it would take 100 years or more for Germany to recover from all the destruction they had seen. "No, no", said the general; "They'll be back in only 10 or 20 years." How could he be sure of that, the aide asked. "Did you see the apartment building we just passed? The whole front had fallen down; you could see into the apartments right from the street, like you can into a dollhouse. In one of those apartments a German family was having dinner -- Red Cross rations, it looked like. Well, they were all nicely-dressed, hair combed, and there were flowers on the table in a vase. Flowers. We defeated these people, but we didn't break them. They have spirit, they're civilized. They'll be back, faster than anybody thinks."

[@dondavis7687]

The Marshall Plan helped expedite that 100 year rebuild as well.

[@dude55ist]

It's amazing how one person who is good at public speaking could change the world.

[@yusataslim3666]

dude55ist who? Adolf Hitler?

[@kachungchan4077]

@@yusataslim3666 yes

[@dagruddicker22]

wish we had that in our current leaderahip

[@dagruddicker22]

@@yusataslim3666 anybody evil or good that is good at public speaking can change the world!!!

[@AsianShadowrunner]

And with one bullet to his own head, he changed it again. For the better. Good riddance.

[@Briselance]

I just noticed the younger violonist with googles is missing his right leg from right under the knee.

[@jd55niels34]

Beethoven can yank the heart out of your chest.

[@nizloc4118]

Yeah he should've.... but he didn't.

[@SRZ418]

One of the best damn scenes in the entire series. A masterful work of art.

[@victorsaenz9452]

Notice how it’s only old men cleaning up? That’s because all their sons were either fighting, dead, or captured.

[@alexmontenegro9991]

I think the significance of correcting Leibgott here is the fact that Mozart is Austrian whereas Beethoven is German. Hitler was also Austrian, which made Mozart celebrated more during the third Reich. (See the scene in Schindler's List when the SS officer plays Mozart during the sweeping of the ghetto.) The villagers are cleaning up the wreck left behind by an Austrian while rebuilding to the music of a German.

[@Tofi_ytchannel]

I never thought about it this way, but it's a good point!

[@scrbjsbro]

The piece played during the ghetto liquidation scene in Schindler’s List really is Bach, more specifically it is the “prelude to Bach's English Suite #2 in A Minor.” I know the scene makes a bit of joke out of the two SS guys stopping and debating over who it is and the one says “Nein, Mozart!”, but that song actually is Bach, who was also German, and not the Austrian, Mozart.

[@alexmontenegro9991]

@@scrbjsbro That's true. Maybe that scene was a commentary on the indiscriminate, senseless nature of the Nazis that celebrates a man for work he didn't do just because he's Austrian like their Führer. There is a book about how Mozart experienced something of a revival during the Third Reich, and was cast as a nationalistic figure. It's called "Mozart and the Nazis: How the Third Reich Abused a Cultural Icon". I think both the BoB scene and Schindler's list are a reference to this phenomena. Either way, I stand by my hypothesis.

[@scrbjsbro]

@@alexmontenegro9991 I never knew about that part😨I will have to look for that! Either way, your point is still great. I’ve always found the distinction being how a culture that was otherwise so civilized, sophisticated, educated, intellectually grounded, and well mannered and cultured could be capable of committing the unfathomable atrocities that the Nazis did. That is the truly terrifying part of it all.

[@joncheskin]

If the show is implying that the quartet is making an anti-Austrian statement by playing Beethoven instead of Mozart, I think it would be rather ahistorical. I don't think this distinction was important. What's really happening is that Beethoven's piece, the 6th movement of the Op 131, is simply more tragic, desperate and emotionally direct than any piece Mozart wrote for that ensemble. The American soldier just happens to know this and is reflecting on that fact.

[@lukes1800]

Nod to schindlers list? The liquidation scene with the German soldier playing piano and the others ask “this Bach?” “No that’s Mozart”

[@altonbunnjr]

The historical inaccuracies ruin it for me. The date at the beginning should have been May 2nd or later not April11th. Hitler killed himself on April 30th and while the Germans announced his death, they didn’t mention suicide. So Nixon wouldn’t have known that.

[@tomsampson8084]

I have watched this series twice. It is very difficult to watch. Saw Schindler's List once - want to watch it again but I just can't bring myself to do it.

[@glhsracing9616]

One of the most powerful scenes in the whole series, capped off by the closing of the case that represents a coffin lid

[@1133saginaw]

Too bad Hitler died on the 30th, not the 11th.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

It wasn't over - because they still might have die hard Nazi's to deal with - and even then - there was Japan. Most people did not know that the Atom Bombs existed much less that dropping them on Japan would cause Hirohito to ask the Japanese to "endure the unendurable" and stand down. So - most people thought that they still had over a year to go and how much after that was uncertain. The Japanese had usually preferred to die rather than surrender on all those Pacific Islands - so they thought that all of Japan would do that. They were in fact training School Girls to fight with Bamboo Spears. We won't ever know what would have happened if we hadn't dropped the bombs - but there was some belief that we might have to kill most of the Japanese. .

[@AlexKS1992]

I love Beethoven, you know the Germans they make good music, good art, they have amazing artists, composers, philosophers, scientists, doctors, good beer, most of the people are good but my God how can a society known for progress can start two horrible wars that engulf the World.

[@Jack51971]

The first World War never ended for soldiers like Hitler. Germany was never destroyed in the first war so German veterans went home bitter. Veterans, at least many, like Hitler, were numb to death. So in many ways for many reasons the first World War never really ended. Then we got a Cold one after the 2nd. Good grief!

[@andrewg.carvill4596]

The First World War was set up by plenty other than Germany. By 1914 belligerent posturing by a number of countries had made Europe into a tinderbox. All the Germans had to do was strike a match by pushing Austria into threatening Serbia. They actually all thought it would be 'over by Christmas' with maybe a few thousand dead. But they still hadn't learned in 1919. Pope Benedict XV called the Versailles Treaty "A consecration of hatred and a continuation of war". America's finest hour came in 1945, when they refused to let Versailles happen again, at least in Japan and Western Europe. That's why "Band of Brothers" stands a bit above just being American self-praise.

[@noura9303]

I have heard it said that the First World War began and ended after the issuance of the Balfour Declaration. If you do not know what to search for on Google, the Second World War began and ended with the establishment of the State of Israel within less than two years of the end of the Second World War. I feel that the Zionist Jewish families had A major role in the occurrence of world wars, and I know a family named Rothschild that also played a major role in financing Hitler and Nazi Germany and in financing the Allied countries and other families as well, not just the Rothschilds.

[@jackprescott9652]

What did Lewis Nixon accomplished during all this time, outside of being drunk, sleeping, and feeling miserably?

[@nelvaldo.4850]

Incredible scene one of the best scenes on Band of Brothers.

[@thecustomerisneverright2515]

That’s not Mozart, that’s Beethoven… Lewis Nixon.

[@SkiniNinja]

Man just imagin being Germany at this point in time where they lost the first world war and started because of the death of the archduke and lost a good of there young men and then went into the worst economical depression then they had hope again then smashed again thinking the same exact thing will happen :(.

[@themasterflo98]

They lost 2 world wars you know. The first and second. They didn't really "lose" the first because they ended with a truce but otherwise they lost it anyway

[@SkiniNinja]

+FTM98 I kind of said that up above or I didn't make it clear enough hehe.

[@robertbrounstein9070]

no, they lost the first war as well.....part of the treaty of Versailles was Germany had to pay extreme reparations to England and France.....not exactly an "Even Steven" truce. But in all fairness, the Germans were assholes in the 1930's and 1940's.

[@reidparker1848]

SkinyNinja I still think of WW1 as morally gray...but everyone was raring for an excuse to go to war back then.

[@davidedwards8033]

Beethoven String Quartet #14 in C-sharp minor. Op 131: VI

[@agpc0529]

This episode, especially the beginning and end, still makes me cry everytime I watch it.

[@gtownboi3877]

11 april.. hitler was alive.

[@assassin10ism]

Out of the entire mini series, all the emotional moments, for me this is the most powerful, so little dialogue but the most hard hitting

[@davidallbaugh6858]

Just about all the German men in this clip are middle aged to elderly. All the younger men including 16 & 17 yr. olds were in the military.

[@kocaelwe88]

why april 11?

[@Tofi_ytchannel]

it was a mistake by the writers, later acknowledged as an error in the film

[@BradyKaynee]

The writers had it right, but the editors are the ones that screwed it up.

[@paulcochran1721]

A mistake. Blythe didn't die the way they showed either. (earlier episode.)

[@abeyroad0487]

Hitler didn't died on April 11th, he died on April 30th 1945

[@joestove5257]

Best all around scene in the whole series

[@arthurdirindinjr1792]

My father God rest him who I think of and miss every day fought the Germans in both France and Germany and he MUCH preferred and respected much more the German civilians than he ever did the French

[@Alue14]

This scene is for me a better statement for peace than Adiago For Strings ever could be!

[@adammelnyk5631]

Love that they made this one, long, uninterrupted take. It's Beethoven..... not Mozart.

[@cropcatomintl5937]

Nixon showing off his Ivey League education. Amazing scene really.

[@oliverberendes2383]

The german mystery. Something so beautiful like this piece of music came from the same culture and history as the concentration camps. Or perhaps a human condition.

[@Gofaw]

Pathetic comment