BAND OF BROTHERS REACTION | PART 9 (Why We Fight)

[@markpekrul4393]

Quote from Eisenhower about the camps: “Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.”

[@DJLtravelvids]

Not quite - that one was made up for the Internet. The real quote was: "The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick. In one room, where they [there] were piled up twenty or thirty naked men, killed by starvation, George Patton would not even enter. He said that he would get sick if he did so. I made the visit [to Gotha] deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to propaganda."

[@luketimewalker]

Eisenhower was right - there's always one in the comments

[@dubfez_9256]

@@DJLtravelvids both quotes sound like something he would have said, although the 'internet' one sounds more like Patton.

[@VarvasNukka]

@@luketimewalker I'd say they stem from the same apparent need for skepticism that apparently drives so many conspiracy theories. Basically they see something that's not allowed to be challenged and do exactly that, regardless of the real events. It's also been around 80 years now so for a lot of people it's just history, they don't have any more of a personal connection to it than say the armenian genocide. I completely understand why certain laws are in place in countries like Germany in regards to the holocaust but I do feel that in the modern day they ultimately do more harm than good precisely because they help breed this kind of skepticism.

[@luketimewalker]

@@VarvasNukka Holocaust survivor Simone Veil agreed with you actually.

[@scottbaron121]

My grandfather was one of the first troops to liberate Bergen-Belsen. I asked him about it when I was 15 and was feeling myself a bit. He said about 3 words and broke down into tears. Tears that men don't cry. Sobbing, HORRID tears from someone who saw something that NOBODY should ever see. We never spoke about it again. As a 53 year old...now I know why. He saw things that a 20 year old kid should NEVER see...or anyone of ANY AGE.

[@josephpoole2826]

My uncle had the same response. He said the images would be burned into his brain until he died.

[@agarlicsorbet6482]

I saw the video of Bergen Belsen. I am not someone who is squeamish about things but it is traumatizing just from the footage itself. Can't imagine being there in person. Hope your grandfather is in peace now.

[@frankcastle9691]

Amen.

[@joelwillems4081]

A family friend of mine was in XX Corp's HQ. It was part of Patton's Army that did the lion's share of the fighting to drive the Germans out of France. They were near enough to one of these camps when Eisenhower put out the word that all the ally soldiers in the area had to go witness them. After the war, he wrote a book, "The Ghost in General Patton's Third Army". The final chapter is about the camp. All the photos in the book are his personal ones, including from the camp. It isn't easy to get through.

[@Nomad-vv1gk]

Your grandfather was British? Bergen-Belsen was liberated by the British 11th Armoured Division on 15 April 1945. The liberation and followed by medical teams were all British at that camp.

[@ianray8823]

The actor playing Liebgott was golden in this episode. The way he broke down on the truck was right in the feels

[@jerbs5346]

He wasn't actually jewish.

[@ricardogunnz2]

@@jerbs5346 But apparently he did genuinly broke in tears when doing that scene.

[@jerbs5346]

@@ricardogunnz2 I'm saying Liebgott wasn't Jewish.

[@jerbs5346]

@@ricardogunnz2 Thems just the facts.

[@DaveAlkema]

@@jerbs5346 His parents were formerly practicing Jews, they converted to Catholicism. Liebgott was raised as a catholic, but still had sympathy for his Jewish heritage.

[@bradk12fan]

My grandparents survived the concentration camps. My grandfather was in Auschwitz-Birkenau, my grandmother in Bergen-Belsen. 70 of my relatives entered the camps. Only 9 survived. This episode, in my eyes, is one of the best at capturing the nightmarish hell that my grandparents likely faced.

[@drakemcfee9138]

I hope I make no offense, for the 61 and the 9 who Iived and quite possibly hated themselves for surviving. We pray now for all those souls lost upon the tides May the light of God be with you in all the hollow places you must roam, when all others have gone out. May it be a beacon to you so that someday you find your way home.

[@sjuthberg]

Bergen-Belsen is the same camp that Anne Frank and her elder sister died in, after being transferred from Auschwitz -Birkenau in october 1944. I wonder if either of your grandparents ever met them? And if they even knew they had, if they did? I reckon the chances are slim though, seeing as there were so many thousands of people inprisoned there. It also makes me wonder if it was simply that people just couldn't believe the nazi's were capable of such cruelty, as the camps were common knowledge fairly early on. Anne and the others hiding in the Annex certainly knew about them already. I guess it was fairly easy for people to disregard it as overexagurated propaganda, as even now that kind of cruelty and evil is difficult to grasp...

[@bradk12fan]

@@sjuthberg honestly, I don’t know if my grandmother ever met Anne Frank. My grandmother passed before I was born so all of the stories I have of her came from my mom and my grandfather. I think if she had met Anne Frank that it would have been mentioned. My grandfather on the other hand was in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

[@alessandrogirardi3063]

Ciao Bradk12fan sarà stato veramente come hai scritto, un'inferno x noi solo immaginabile ciò che ha è hanno vissuto dentro quei campi di sterminio, li chiamano ancora adesso... di lavoro, ma che lavoro erano lì solamente per morire e basta purtroppo, mi dispiace veramente tanto per i tuoi cari nonni è vorrei pensare che adesso stiano insieme in serenità dovunque loro siano! 💜💜Ti saluto dall'italia precisamente da Torino 🇮🇹🇺🇸

[@ZalesakVID]

How the fuck does this comment only have 91 likes?

[@anthonyharmon4561]

The scene where the prisoner walks up, kisses the American soldier and won't let him go never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

[@SamGray]

I don't know if anyone else already said it, but the German officer in the picture wasn't SS. According to his cap badges and collar he was an Army officer. The black band on the corner of the picture also indicates that he was already dead.

[@mo45327]

Which also disproves Chad's theory about that officer being the camp commander, since he is not SS. I think those scenes were supposed to reflect Nixon and his situation with his family and the war.

[@RocketSurgn_]

@@mo45327 Disproves.. I mean yes that specific theory, and absolutely take a part of the wife/house being a parallel to Nixon’s divorce, but not sure I agree it really disproves the spirit of it. I’ll admit I never noticed the black band bit, but he was still a high ranking officer supporting the regime that did that. I really do think they were portraying the reversal of feeling exposed/guilty and forced to see a bit of something they have some kind of guilt about. I doubt that the wife of even a now dead high ranking officer would have been totally unaware of the nearby camp but even if so it’s a moment of realizing the pride for her husbands role and judgment she clearly expressed when Nix was in her house was fir something built on that camp and others like it.

[@mo45327]

@@RocketSurgn_ Sure, I only meant to say that the German officer couldn't have been a part of the camp. As an army officer he was most likely at the frontline far away from his hometown, just like Nixon. I completely agree with you on the point about the reversal of perspective.

[@templarwhiskey8167]

A lot of people lump the SS and the Wermarcht as the same. But there was a lot of hostility between the two groups. At the end of the war there was a battle fought against an SS regiment by both American Army and German Wermarcht joining together to fight the SS.

[@primary2630]

@Fer Morales for sure, esp considering majority of the men fighting were Wehrmacht your gonna have a load of them being the perpetrators.

[@joeberger3441]

My grandfather was part of the 17th airborne, the division that Nixon jumped with in this episode. He came in late in the war as a replacement officer just in time for "Operation Varsity" which was the 17th airborne's jump into Germany. It was the largest airborne operation in history to be conducted on a single day and in one location (by the 17th airborne and British 6th airborne). The 101st and 82nd got to sit that one out since they'd already had 2 massive airborne operations. In some sense, the Wermacht was already considered defeated going into Operation Varsity, but in a way that made them more dangerous, like cornering a wounded animal..at any rate, the allies suffered 2700 casualties and lost 72 aircraft. On the ground, they saw pretty much the last bit of combat of the European theater. My Grandfather was given a bronze star for helping secure a road in the town of Wesel. When he was alive, every time we ran into other ww2 vets he always acted as if they saw more than him. In truth, he saw more in that single operation than i saw for 7 months in Afghanistan. Truly the greatest generation.

[@matthewdunham1689]

❤❤❤❤❤❤🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@Fettigkeit]

Ya, Afghanistan occupation was cake compared to the stories I’ve heard from my relatives that fought WW2 and Vietnam.

[@joeberger3441]

@@Fettigkeit right, across the board that is absolutely true. That isn't to say that some individuals and small units didn't experience some of the worst situations you can possibly be in, but overall a much higher percentage of ww2 and Vietnam vets were in those crazy situations.

[@michaelperussina2835]

were your air force in Afghanistan or just stuck at a major hub i am not shaming u i know what it's like stuck at a major fob

[@joeberger3441]

@@michaelperussina2835 I was an 0321 (Marine Recon). 1st Recon battalion, summer of 2010..we were helo based in Trek Nawa, shared a battlespace with 1/6 in Marjah, and was helo based again in Sangin (helo based meaning helicopters inserted us into the valley and we stayed there for weeks at a time. We fortified our own patroll bases and were resupplied via helo every week before eventually being picked up again). We suffered 70 casualties but no KIA. Got into several TICs..but none of that remotely compares to ww2.

[@jamesballance2254]

Many of the extras playing concentration camp inmates were actually cancer patients undergoing treatment at a nearby medical center. A few died while filming, but they all volunteered to be there. The "Easy Company" actors were kept away from the set until shooting began, many of the scenes was their first time seeing the set.

[@Ausl0vich]

Chad literally says this after the episode. I appreciate it but so many people repeat the same facts about the series even when they acknowledge it in the video haha. I swear to god if I see one more comment about Blythe surviving I’m gonna go crazy.

[@gavinmangum9438]

@@Ausl0vich hey I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet but Blythe survived actually

[@Ausl0vich]

@@gavinmangum9438 smh

[@dje6719]

one of the Actors the one that played Liebgott said that he was given the opportunity to go to one of the Camps and didn't go because he wanted his reaction to be real as real can be

[@kegs8788]

i heard a holocaust survivor say once that the doll that the prisoner ia carrying in the beginning qhwn Easy Company is first entering the camp was more true to how they actually were when they got liberated but you can't really starve people that much for a movie production.

[@aboxofbeans]

Love the moment where Nix stares down the officer's wife the second time in the camp and she looks away in shame. Like he's saying "you think you can judge me when THIS is the horrible shit your husband and his compatriots have been up to?"

[@Treffaut]

The bookends in the episode were fantastic. First, he intrudes on her home, the broken photo. It's war, but really he IS now an occupier. Is it right to be there? That first glare suggests he's not, not nearly fully. Then after the camp is discovered, well ... what is an invader in a den of horror but a liberator?

[@lordjohnwharfin5397]

The woman's husband was in the uniform of an army officer, not the SS. The black ribbon on the picture frame meant that he was killed in action. He was likely Prussian, meaning very conservative and traditional, and she enjoyed certain privileges as his wife and widow. In the first scene she's the proud widow of a man who died for his country. Nixon breaking the picture makes him, in her mind, a barbarian. In the second one she was finding out what her husband died for, and learning who the real barbarians are.

[@doraramos2930]

Thank you for the explanation

[@theax40]

The part that really sells the concentration camp scene, and what is sadly missed by most viewers, is Spier's reaction. One of the coldest, hardened men out of all of them is grimacing at the revelation. He's in visible pain as he realizes what's been going on in this camp.

[@mikekroft86]

chris in real life, these men were battled hardened, and stories coming out, told how these men were reduced to tears, at finding all this, and some hunted down the nazi's an shot them on site, no mercy, no pity

[@doraramos2930]

I saw his reacción ❤

[@piedmontish]

Good point! It reminds me of What it was said Patton did when he saw this (He went around the corner, threw up and Could not return for the rest of the tour!).

[@junglebill9823]

My father walked out his parents house as a 19 year old draftee in 1939 not to return until the summer 1945. He was part a of British unit that liberated such a camp, Bergen-Belsen.

[@MothproofKT]

Alex my grandfather also participated in the liberation of that camp. He never spoke of it, so I’m trying to find as much information as I can for my Mum’s sakes. I wonder if your Dad ever crossed paths with my grandfather. Have you found much information over the years on the liberation of that particular camp?

[@junglebill9823]

His unit was the S.A.S. He was one of the few Dutch in the regiment at the time. He never spoke a lot about the war, only some innocent anecdotes. But Belsen left a big mark. You could tell a times

[@junglebill9823]

I gather that those who experienced that wouldn’t speak about the unspeakable things they saw.

[@luketimewalker]

bless their immortal souls

[@likeorasgod]

@@junglebill9823 It wasn't until I got out of the military and stayed with my grandpa on the weekends while in college that he started to tell me a lot of the stories from him being in Africa and than Italy and Germany. Later to be shot down and lost in China. There was so many stories that my dad never heard about as when he got back from NAM they never talked about eithers war. I had served in the first Gulf War but didn't see nothing compared to those two men. It wasn't until after my mom passed that I got my dad to open up more about NAM. You can normally tell the guys that saw real hard core combat, cause they where the silent ones that didn't brag or anything and keep it to themselves.

[@spaulagain]

My grandfather entered the war late due to his age. He was like O'Keefe, new but encountered and cleaned up the camps. It wasn't until near the end of his life when he spoke of it. You can tell it took everything out of him to relive those memories.

[@luketimewalker]

I am so sorry - andf grateful - for him.

[@albinorhino6]

Webster came from an upper class background, and was attending university when the war broke out for the US. He could have finished his degree and became an officer, but he wanted to experience war from the POV of the lowest ranking private, in order to document it. A lot of the material from the show comes from Webster’s memories.

[@rithvikmuthyalapati9754]

*memoires

[@ctt544]

@@rithvikmuthyalapati9754 either really And it's memoir*...

[@primary2630]

That's cool, I guess he was able to get his degree after all?

[@HollywoodMarine0351]

@@primary2630 he did. Webster attended Harvard University in 1940 before volunteering for the U.S. Army in 1943. After the war he completed school at Harvard, and worked at the Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Daily News.

[@scottsland99]

@@HollywoodMarine0351 Harvard this Harvard that.

[@neuroticgothguy]

Here's a little fun fact about the making of this episode: Most of the "actors" that played the victims of the concentration camp were cancer patients, a lot of them were extremely willing to do those scenes and saw it as an honor. Also, in preparation for the scene at the camp, all the actors of Easy Company went in blind, they had no idea what they were gonna see so all the reactions from the actors were genuine. Also Easy Company didn't actually liberate this concentration camp, Kaufering, which was liberated by the 12th Armored, however Easy did liberate one of Kaufering's sub-complexes, Kaufering IV (of 11) in Landsberg, Germany.

[@ylfluoS]

That is clearly Kaufering IV though, with the earth huts that were set on fire just before the Americans arrived - but Easy company didn't liberate Kaufering IV either. It was discovered by the 12th Armor as well, with the 101st Airborne arriving the day after rather than Easy Company.

[@garymathena2125]

How in the HELL can you call this a FUN fact, there is NOTHING funny about this.

[@neuroticgothguy]

@@garymathena2125 meh, facts are fun regardless of the information there in

[@markharry172]

My father was there at one of six concentration camps they found near Landsberg. He was with the 102nd Infantry Division (409 Inf, Charlie Company). His unit was assigned to guard over German soldiers they had caught or ones that had surrendered and made sure they cleaned up the devastation along with the townspeople. My dad passed away one year before Band Of Brothers came out. I'm not sure he would have been able to watch this episode. He refused to see Schindler's List. He said it took years for him to try to forget what he saw.

[@eadecamp]

A lot of the extras did die during the filming, but they knew they would die doing something useful.

[@VikingGruntpa]

I was in the 101st ABN while I was in the Army, went to Desert Shield and Desert Storm with the 101st. I do not consider myself a peer of these amazing men but I am proud to have served wearing the same insignia. When I was in Germany I saw a memorial at Hohenfels Germany erected by camp survivors thanking the allied soldiers that liberated them. Yes, this is why we fight. Thank you for watching this.

[@morganpirate9127]

Be proud, you are part of the heritage.

[@jeffeyres2297]

Thank you for your service, Chris.

[@joeyreidelbach5509]

but yet USA and British played into Stalin hands by giving him half of Europe despite Stalin being for worse then Hitler, So much of liberating of Americans saving Europe from the evil fascist's.

[@williamfleckles]

Thank you for your service, brother.

[@popuptarget7386]

I wore the 3rd armored patch in Germany and as an IRR it was still on my uniform as I supported the 101st in DS. My service was worthwhile, but these dudes lived through hell and I will always defer to them.

[@nathaniellindsey706]

The part that always gets me is when that one man salutes to the soldier. Always tugs the heart strings.

[@josephhyland8904]

That never fails to kick up the dust.

[@asdfasdf5695]

I love Nixon's arc in this episode and how he regains his passion for soldiering: A mission he's in charge of goes bad and many soldiers are killed, for which he blames himself. Then he finds out his wife is divorcing him and taking his children, his dog, and all his possessions. All of these terrible events have happened almost at once. He's in a very dark place right off the bat and trying to drown his sorrows in booze. Then the camp is discovered and he witnesses all the death and suffering these people have been through while at the same time taking note of this wealthy German widow living with every comfort and convenience imaginable only miles away. What are his problems in comparison with this? Yes, he's been through a lot in Europe and his family life has essentially disappeared, but there's a bigger picture that he's only a small part of. I also really like the final shot of the violinist putting his instrument in the case and shutting the lid, almost like closing the lid of a coffin and laying the victims of the Holocaust to rest.

[@christopherqueen3194]

Yes, I saw the coffin in the violin case, also.

[@derekweiland1857]

Nixon was one of only a few soldiers to survive 3 combat jumps in WWII. He won a purple heart and numerous other prestigious awards. Despite this he never once fired a weapon outside of training. Currahee

[@ariochiv]

I don't think Nixon blamed himself; I think he was suffering from a bit of survivor's guilt, but more to the point, he was feeling the pointless of more people dying in a war that was all but over, and asking "why we fight." But yes... I think the wordless exchange of looks between Nixon and the German officer's widow is one of the most powerful moments in the series.

[@rodritchison1995]

Nixon=surviver's guilt=massive emotional fatigue=personal problems. They are all burned out. This was the most wrenching episode; no noise, no action, no bang-bang; just overwhelming horror.

[@Dark_Lord_Mr_B]

We call that type of case a coffin as well.

[@Schnappschuss256]

It shows the liberation of the Kaufering IV concentration camp near Landsberg am Lech, my own hometown. And cause on the daily way to work I am crossing every day the street to the place this camp was located. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg made an amazing and important job to hold the remembering alive.... Same as movies like Schindlers list and Warsaw uprising and so on. Greetings from Bavaria.

[@luketimewalker]

bless you

[@stevens.5349]

My brother was born in the Landsberg DP camp.

[@EthanDarke]

As a Vet myself, I can really see from both Perconte and O'Keefe's perspectives, and I feel like the episode did a good job showing both their mindsets without saying one was good or bad. Perconte's been there since D-Day, he's seen the horrors of war for well over half a year at minimum, he knows what kind of hell that entails and to him, someone outright asking to see that probably is naive at best and offensive at worst. However I see where O'Keefe is coming from too. He's a soldier like the rest of them, in a war that literally the entire world has its eyes on. He feels that if he doesn't see his share of action, battle, life an death, whatever you want to say, then he didn't do what was expected of him. I know 'cause I felt the exact same thing when I deployed. It's not so much he *wants* to see battle, it's he wants to fulfill his oath, to do his duty, what his country has asked of him. And in a way, to not feel like he didn't do his share or carry his weight of the war so to speak.

[@franklin5194]

In WWII Brazil sent about 25,000 soldiers to fight in Italy alongside the North Americans, more than 400 men lost their lives in the bloody battle of Monte Castelo. My grandfather was one of those 400 men who unfortunately died to save Italy and the world in Nazism. R.I.P Soldado Raul Lino Souza - 4º BE Cmb

[@tomgrant29]

20 years later and this is still the most powerful piece of television I've ever seen

[@MandoWookie]

At 5:45 , I always loved that transition. A Toccoa man cursing out a replacement, to a guy who was also a replacement, but who is now considered a veteran of the unit. And he has only been with them a few months more than O'Keefe. And by the end of the episode, O'Keefe won't be a 'replacement' anymore.

[@perniciousreaper4393]

O'Keefe saw more at that camp in one day than any human should have to see in their lifetime.

[@kylewright7882]

“- Boyd 'Bible' Swan: Wait until you see it. - Norman Ellison: See what? - Boyd 'Bible' Swan: What a man can do to another man.” - from the movie Fury.

[@justinmoody6721]

that movie was crap

[@dubfez_9256]

@@justinmoody6721 No it really wasn't crap, don't be so biased and just be grateful that some people out there are still making WW2 movies, how about you go and film a better one so we can all tear it to shreds in the comments after.

[@dubfez_9256]

Shia's acting in that movie was so good!

[@skaterpulse6746]

@@justinmoody6721 in terms of accuracy to combat during ww2? Yep it was crap but in terms of being a ww2 film in general? It was amazing

[@bbvollmer]

@@justinmoody6721 well.... Im waiting.. why was it crap? What is your reasoning behind this statement

[@lschantz64]

I re-watch this series once a year and this episode always gets me

[@davidschleifer9015]

Chad and Arriana are hitting these reviews out of the park. You two are genuine with the reactions. Arriana shows the empathy side and Chad does a great job explaining the military concepts. I just binged your reactions. This next episode is going to be tough. Stay the course.

[@matthines4748]

When Eisenhower toured a concentration camp, he ordered film crews and reporters to tour it, so the world would know what had happened.

[@dastemplar9681]

He famously quoted along the lines of “Record all of it. Record everything. Because further down the road, some jackass will say “it never happened.””

[@DJLtravelvids]

@@dastemplar9681 the actual quote is: "The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick. In one room, where they [there] were piled up twenty or thirty naked men, killed by starvation, George Patton would not even enter. He said that he would get sick if he did so. I made the visit [to Gotha] deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to propaganda"

[@johnr797]

@@DJLtravelvids imagine if the concentration camps in North America were subject to bombing and typhus

[@dean1039]

Poland tried to tell the world what was happening years before, but no one listened.

[@DJLtravelvids]

@@dean1039 I'm not sure what you are referring to here. The Nazi policy of persecution of the Jews was known around the world prior to WW2 starting - there were even worldwide boycotts of German goods in the 1930's. The actual internment and killing of the Jewish people did not start until after Poland had been occupied. Before this concentration camps, such as Dachau, held political prisoners, such as academics and communists

[@ungenerationed9022]

Winters said it best: wounded or not, they were all damaged.

[@Curraghmore]

Liebgott being Jewish was another inaccuracy that slipped into the series. He was actually Catholic, but most of the other Easy Company guys assumed because of his name and his deep hatred of Germans and Nazis that he was Jewish, and he didn't bother correcting them.

[@RocketSurgn_]

Never came across that fact, fascinating to know! Thanks for mentioning it.

[@rithvikmuthyalapati9754]

His mother was an ethnic Jew. Although he wasn't practicing Judaism, he was half Jewish ethnicwise. He is upset because relatives from his mother's side were probably victims of the Shoah and so he grew resentment against the SS.

[@MrAdamloring1985]

Was that ever confirmed? I thought that was something no one was actually sure about.

[@spaulagain]

Difference between ethnic Jew and Orthodox Jew.

[@HollywoodMarine0351]

Liebgott's parents moved from Austria to Lansing, Michigan, where he and his five siblings were raised Roman Catholic and attended Catholic school. Liebgott's fellow soldiers often assumed he was Jewish based on his name, his appearance, and his general hatred of Germans and Nazis in particular. He also spoke an Austrian dialect of German, which was confused with Yiddish. Liebgott generally didn't bother to refute this assumption, finding it amusing and occasionally to his advantage.

[@greenwidow]

It's heartbreaking. My FIL & my parents' friends served in WWII & none of them would talk about it. What's also heartbreaking is that similar camps exist in the world even now. I cannot imagine the hatred some have to have to enable them to treat another human like this.

[@ladycplum]

I hate when Liebgott had to tell them they couldn't feed them anymore. And is it me, or at around the 16:45 mark, is Speirs actually crying too?

[@ReeseMacalma]

It astounds me to this day how beautifully haunting the final scene is, with the closing of the violin case resembling closing a coffin. This show is definitely a masterpiece.

[@mikekroft86]

this did they episode with as much taste and class as they could, but there is no such thing as class an taste in real warfare

[@panzerwolf494]

The German woman's husband was Heer, regular army, not Waffen SS. The uniform insignia on the collar doesn't match SS insignia. SS officers had the "double lightning bolt" on the right collar and their rank on the left designated by "pips" or oak leaves.

[@geoffersvoiceofreason2534]

The black ribbon across the corner of the frame also indicates he had been killed.

[@martinrandall5836]

Hi from the UK. At the time of writing I am just shy of my 63rd birthday. My family saw this from two different sides. First from my cousin, Lt John Randall serving in the SAS, who in April of 1945 was on a reconnaissance mission driving through some woods in northern Germany when he saw a pair of large metal gates. They drove through them thinking they would lead to a large mansion. What he and Corporal Brown found was the Bergen Belsen concentration camp, there was just a couple of guards who didn’t even fire any shots at them, and the camp commandant Josef Kramer and a nurse Irma Grese. There were some 50,000 to 60,000 inmates and around 13,500 bodies. John would write a book published in 2005. My dad was a POW, captured by the Japanese when Singapore fell in February of 1942. He worked on the death railway in Burma (Myanmar) and ended up in Thailand with Australian and American POWs. Dad passed away in 2006, and John 2016.

[@Mbarnstein62891]

My grandfather who was Staff Sergent under General George S Patton discovered not only discovered Buchenwald, also later discovered Dachau.

[@0Riddle]

World War II was not just a war. It was a struggle for a moral condition we have today. God bless those brave man who stood up and fought against true evil. Best wishes from Poland.

[@TheEvertw]

Sadly, that struggle is still ongoing in Poland. All the best to you and your nation. May you soon get rulers who truly work for the good of the people.

[@0Riddle]

@@TheEvertw thats too political man. Im from Poland and im saying that taking ww2 problems into modern problems is meh for me

[@FourEyedFrenchman]

The 101st stayed very composed upon discovering the concentration camps. The 45th Infantry Division found Dachau, the first concentration camp. After getting over the initial shock and horror, soldiers of the 45th started lining up and executing the Germans who were still guarding the camp when they arrived. Some accounts say American soldiers mowed down groups of prisoners with machine guns, and others say they turned the prisoners over to the freed Jews to be lynched. All the soldiers involved in the revenge killings were court martialed, but General Patton dismissed their charges.

[@HollywoodMarine0351]

Professor Mark Felton has a KZbin channel that gives a lot of details on that event. What surprised me were tempers flaring up between Army officers that almost led up to fist fights.

[@simontide6780]

I mean they deserved it.

[@nickmitsialis]

@@HollywoodMarine0351 Polish Soldiers somehow got their hands on Oskar Dirlwanger, at war's end. He didn't have a good end, as you might imagine.

[@dubfez_9256]

@@nickmitsialis is there any more good info on this I can read somewhere?

[@nickmitsialis]

@@dubfez_9256 about Dirlwanger? Only on the Wiki...looking at him, all I can think is he was a man who seemed withered by 'evil'.

[@ginjamutha]

According to the writer of this episode, the incident between Nix and the wife of the Nazi officer happened to Winters. Winters entered her house and smashed the picture of her husband on the floor before noticing she was in the room. Winters had little empathy for the Germans having seen the consequences of their occupation in countries like France and Holland, as they made their way through the continent. This is why he had no problem with looting and taking over the houses of families whenever they occupied any German towns.

[@luketimewalker]

oooh

[@howl_with_the_wolves2861]

You make excuses for shitty behavior of the allies,yet expect Germans to know wtf their government at the time was doing. Do Americans know or care what its shitty government is doing right now? I'm an American myself and its obvious the good old USA is a deteriorating society of lazy ignorant slobs with a sense of entitlement. + Hollywood produces mostly shit, band of brothers actually was an exception,so don't fall into the trap of demonizing the German folk.

[@BipoIarbear]

It wasn't looting back then , was the spoils of war

[@Egilhelmson]

@@BipoIarbear It was looting, but as long as it didn’t affect your combat effectiveness, no one cared. Try to ship a boat, like the LT in Kelly’s Heroes, and you might have problems.

[@ripsaa2693]

Great reaction..in 76 our family moved to West L.A...as little kids me and my brother became friends with the 2 Jewish ladies who owned a little donut shop...they both had numbers tattooed on their arms..when I asked about it .she said it's nothing a little boy should have to understand...40 plus yrs later I still think about them..this scene moves me to tears everytime

[@wrenlinwhitelight3007]

The "actors" in the concentration camp scene weren't acting for the most part - they were real cancer victims. Many of their emotion reactions weren't staged. This show 20 years later still shakes me to the core. Thank you for sharing your reaction with us

[@tonyhaynes9080]

And people now don't understand why the Israelis hit back as hard and as ruthlessly as they do. The whole world is criticising and protesting about their actions against Hamas and Hezbollah, but this is why. They are fighting for their survival.

[@mikeserot1410]

​@@tonyhaynes9080 and Israel and her people will never back down from a fight if their survival is at stake

[@bkduran24]

I served as a squad leader with the 3rd battalion 187th "RAKKASANS" 101st Airborne Division during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. I also served with the 1st battallion 508th parachute infantry regiment during "Operation Just Cause". War is hell, killing the enemy never bothered me but seeing innocent civillians tortured and killed still haunts me to this day. I can only imagine what the WW2 vets went through following the war. I will say this. The 101st Airborne vets from WW2 set the bar high and all of us who came after them and went to war had a responsibility to honor those who came before us. When your a Screaming Eagle there is a sense of pride that follows you the rest of your life. Your good and you know it. The absolute best Air Assault troopers on the planet, bar none.

[@MothproofKT]

Thank you for treating this show and the millions of lives lost with the utmost respect. Are you both ok? This show should be shown in history classes worldwide. My grandfather took part in the liberation of the Belsen concentration camp. We must never forget this is part of our recent history. That’s the only way we stop from repeating it. 80 years ago is nothing in terms of history. There are people still alive who were there. In terms of the concentration camps and the worst of it being shown, this wasn’t as bad as it got. As horrific as the visuals were in this episode, women, children, and disabled people experienced far worse than what was shown here. Lest we forget.

[@vanmisthoven4906]

At my school they showed us the original footage in history classes. I'll never forget the images of the movie "Nacht und Nebel" (original title "Nuit Et Brouillard"). You can find it on KZbin. Becareful if you decide to watch it, it is extremly disturbing.

[@ralphwiggum3d]

You guys hit the nail on the head with your analysis. No matter how many time I watch this episode I still tear up at the same moments, every American should see this episode to know what their forefathers fought against.

[@ExUSSailor]

Frank Perconte was an original member of the unit, who trained at Toccoa. He wasn't a replacement. He passed away in 2013.

[@johnmiller7682]

I think they were talking about the soldier that Perconte was taking over for. The one who gave him the book.

[@praetorxian]

@@johnmiller7682 That was Hashey, + Garcia (Miller got killed Ep. 4 "Replacements"). They would have been veterans at this point.

[@johnmiller7682]

@@praetorxian My point is, they weren't talking about Perconte

[@kmjavenger]

They were talking about O Keefe who was brand new asking dumb questions and Garcia who was a replacement introduced in the "Replacements" episode and how he had been through a lot since then. Literally nothing to do with Perconte

[@robert84_]

I love watching reactions to Band of Brothers because it's my favorite mini series ever, and I have to say this is easily the most genuine reaction I've ever seen to this. This episode is always hard to watch and it's crazy to me to see some people denying it ever happened at all. I visited Dachau, Germany back in 2018 because I wanted/needed to educate myself more on this and being there in person is a whole other experience. Dachau is where the first ever concentration camp was. Even though that part of Germany's history was horrible, the rest of the country and culture is actually very beautiful and my favorite in all of Europe.

[@jamieross3563]

I love the comparison between Nixon and the Generals wife....when she catches him breaking into her home, and he looks ashamed, to when he sees her in the camp, and she looks ashamed (assuming she knew it existed)....the shift between who has the moral high ground

[@StephenHooper-p1i]

The scenes that always get to me are when the inmates grab the sleeves of their liberators, the long embrace, and the salute exchange. The editing of the way they discover the camp with the camera pulled back to the soldiers stepping into the clearing looking at what the camera doesn't reveal, and an immediate cut to Perconti running is just stunning.

[@PaulMclauchlin]

Every time I see the scene with the numbers tattooed on the wrists I remember a little Polish lady who worked in the kitchen at my old school. She had the exact same thing and I asked my mother about it and was told she'd been in a concentration camp during the war.

[@rafapopawski2559]

Which country was that, if you dont mind me asking?

[@PaulMclauchlin]

@@rafapopawski2559 Scotland.

[@rafapopawski2559]

@@PaulMclauchlin Thanks

[@fmfdocbotl4358]

@@PaulMclauchlin in high school we had 2 survivors come speak at our school in the US

[@michaelgoulding6609]

god love her, i bet it broke her heart, when working in the kitchens to see kids leaving food, when year,s previous she,ll have managed to survive on next to nothing & her year,s working ,prob having to throw leftover food away, i remember living with elderly relative,s during the 1970s/ 80s, that lived through the war, & right up until they died, they never wasted anything, leftover,s would make a meal for the next day, etc, they grew veg, went in fields for mushroons & brambles & apple,s etc, kept hens for eggs, & its all had a knock-on effect on me, where i only spend around 60 per month on food, & can,t belive why people need to spend maybe over 100 quid per week on food, i never eat takeaways & make everything myself, just like people had to ,when they had nothing

[@ingothitrust5248]

“Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history, some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower Fast forward to 2022......smdh.

[@Spaztar]

Eisenhower had fantastic foresight to document the existence of the Holocaust so thoroughly. Even still, it won't stop people (or NATIONS, if you consider the Armenian Genocide as one example) from denying it, but having a large body of evidence is immensely helpful. If you can bear it, watch the film reels and look at the photographs documenting this. It's immensely more graphic and soul crushing than it is portrayed in Band of Brothers. Haunting images of half cremated bodies on a pyre, or in cremation ovens, horrifically sick and dying prisoners, the utter filth these people were forced to live in. It's horrifying, and that was just in the concentration camps. The accounts and images of the medical barbarism that was happening in prison hospitals is equally sickening. It's simultaneously terrifying and important to witness.

[@Reblwitoutacause]

Never let the bastards bring us down.

[@DJLtravelvids]

That's not what he said. People retrofitted something he said at the time to make it fit holocaust denial, when in fact he simply wanted to visit first hand in case the Nazis tried to minimise what they did. Here's the real quote: "The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick. In one room, where they [there] were piled up twenty or thirty naked men, killed by starvation, George Patton would not even enter. He said that he would get sick if he did so. I made the visit [to Gotha] deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to propaganda" "The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick. In one room, where they [there] were piled up twenty or thirty naked men, killed by starvation, George Patton would not even enter. He said that he would get sick if he did so. I made the visit [to Gotha] deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to propaganda."

[@tonymendez1181]

You guys are AWESOME!!! Love all your intelligent, understanding commentaries and respect you show while watching the episodes. You guys are exceptional together! Keep stroking! You'll definitely like the final chapter.

[@allghilliedup21]

I rewatch this series every so often. This episode still hits hard everytime.

[@mikeserot1410]

Nothing ever prepared you for this episode

[@justlayout3912]

My grandfather was tortured by the Germans from the age of 15. First, as a prisoner of Pawiak (prison in Warsaw), he was tortured in Aleja Szucha (Gestapo torture chamber). Later he was a prisoner of the camps in Gross Rosen and Dachau. One day Americans came to this last and, as it seemed, final place of exile. Just like that, they suddenly appeared at the gate. It was a shock. He told me that those who had the strength to stand looked at the soldiers with disbelief. And those who had the strength were taken to jeeps and driven to nearby farms. Of course, the Germans living there "knew nothing, were aware of nothing"... The Americans ordered them to feed these walking skeletons. Some of them died, they hadn't eaten like this for months, even years... My grandfather went through hell. Only to be reminded of him by the NKVD a few years later when he returned to Poland.

[@isabadacoo]

It's such an interesting parallel, for Nixon to see the enemy's wife and dog back home, something we just learn he's lost.

[@MikeJones-qn1gz]

That’s kind of the point of this episode, these guys had been away from home for years, wounded, living in terrible conditions. Yet back home life continued so it wasn’t hard for them to question why? What was the point?

[@marcjansson1039]

Again sorta connecting to the "why we fight" because in another universe, the tables could have been flipped where another Officer walks into Nixons wifes house, see's the picture of him in despise and his dog barking at the man. Really interesting perspective giving scene

[@TheEvertw]

That was well spotted by these reviewers, I have seen the episode a number of times and completely missed that.

[@gregcowen930]

I remember meeting survivors, with numbers tattooed on their arms, when I worked at the museum of tolerance, in Los Angeles. Some of the most fearless, strongest ppl I’ve ever encountered. Didn’t suffer fools, lightly……….hard to sit and listen when they’d give lectures

[@Serenity113]

I went on a field trip to that place in high school(I live in San Diego) when we were learning about WW2 and the Holocaust. At the beginning of the tour, we got cards of little kids. Mine was of a 4-5 year old little girl and you learn about them through a computer throughout the tour(I think??) and then at the end you find out whether they lived or die. My card of the little girl didn't. She died in the gas chambers.

[@gregcowen930]

@@Serenity113 yea, at the end of that tour they had the actual mock up of a gas chamber, so you remember that? One door said able bodied males the other door said woman and children

[@nickmitsialis]

MANY moons ago (1976, to be exact, because it was in time for the Lake Placid Winter Olympics) my wife visited her sister in Montreal. My wife, sister and brother in law drove down the northeast in the fall, to visit the brother in laws relatives in NY=--who happened to have a camp serial number on his arm. My wife caught herself staring and got a bit embarrassed, but he told her to not be ashamed and never look away.

[@forcedtosignup2]

Was just there. We got to speak with a survivor via zoom. I would have loved to have spoke to her in person, but she's in her late 90s, so I get the precaution. So impactful.

[@raymarshall6721]

I had the honor of meeting a wonderful lady in SoCal in the early 90s with her number tattooed on her arm. I never said anything and had wondered why someone would tattoo a number like that. I was about 9 or so. A few years later when I started to nose dive into history and especially world war two it hit me like a freight train.

[@kriswelanetz9537]

When Nixon points it out, you remember he's a came from a wealthy family and was a Yale graduate and would be considered very cultured, a stark contrast to his behavior later in the episode.

[@horuslupercal9936]

One of the most moving and important television episodes in entertainment history. Nice to see your honest reactions.

[@edwardrmayer9807]

Hey Guys, enjoyed your reaction to this series and I appreciate how you're stitching together the details of history. My dad was with Gen. Patton's 3rd Army during the "Battle of the Bulge", he was a Sgt. Major with Quarter Masters, (U.S. military was segregated at that time) he earned 4-Bronze Stars and Purple Heart. I was born in 1944, second of six. I'm former U.S. Marine, (1963-1967) Viet Nam 66-67, my other 4-brothers were Marines as well, 2 others are Viet Nam vets. Had an uncle who served with my Dad, another that served in the Navy. During the Korean war another of my uncles served with the 82nd Air Born and yet another in the U.S. Air Force in the 50's. Our Mother filled us in on a lot of the details of WW ll, Dad wouldn't talk about it much, better understood why once I had the experience of war. At 77 y.o. I speak a little more about war, not to glorify but the tragedy of it all as well as those who were not given their rightful place in history, (African Americans) I thank you and appreciate your intellect, Ed.

[@Alice-ic5fy]

The Pacific doesn't have as much action in it because the Pacific theater was so large. It's more of a series on personal stories but it's pretty good.

[@MikeB12800]

I think that’s why I couldn’t get into it. It doesn’t have the brotherhood and comradery between the soldiers.

[@alphahale7668]

@@MikeB12800 Personally I like it's different like that from BoB. It's much more raw about the war and about the fucked up stuff the soldiers did and how much it affected them. BoB shows the soldiers as heroes and brothers pushing through together, but in the Pacific they are just desperate men fighting to survive.

[@MikeB12800]

@@alphahale7668 yeah, good points. I just felt detached from them moving between the different characters and locations.

[@brownsey1]

@@MikeB12800 Thought that the first time I watched it years ago, but upon a rewatch I found it was excellent too. It's different, no doubt, but equally as good imo. It's very, very gritty.

[@brownsey1]

When the action does hit though, it's very intense!

[@nickdonaldson7848]

The woman Nix saw her husband was Army not ss and he had been killed in action because of the black ribbon

[@ronweber1402]

You beat me to it. The woman's husband was Wehrmacht not SS. He was a career army man.

[@derekweiland1857]

Yes, and the concentration camps were run by the SS (the paramilitary branch of the NAZIS party), not the Wermacht- the Army of Germany.

[@gustavskarlismikelsons4295]

Wehrmacht still weren’t innocent, they still perpetrated horrible crimes against humanity, quit sanitizing these scum.

[@derekweiland1857]

@@gustavskarlismikelsons4295 I'm not saying the Wermacht were innocent of war crimes. I'm saying the man in that picture wasn't SS, hence he didn't have anything to do with what happened in that camp as the 2 reviewers postulated.

[@pangkaji]

There is a misconception or mistranslation of Wermacht = the German army. The Wermacht roughly translates to Armed Forces. The Wermacht consisted of 3 components: 1. Heer, the German army 2. Luftwaffe, the German Air Force 3. Kriegsmarine, the German Navy The photo Nixon tossed was a picture of a German army general (Not SS, Nazi) The SS was a uniformed armed security apparatus of the Nazi party. They reported directly to and responsible for the safety of Hitler. At first their job was to provide security at party rallies and enforce party loyalty. Because of their loyalty, they then were tasked with guarding the concentration camps. The SS command structure bypassed the Wermacht General Staff. This was done on purpose to prevent the Wermacht from overthrowing Hitler. Think about today's parallel to the Oath Keepers swearing allegiance to Donald Trump bypassing the DoD and JCOS and then provided arms and uniform. Keepers are already armed

[@2410jrod]

To summarize the end of the episode I am reminded what Major Winters wrote in his journal. "Now I know why I am here.” As for the part of making the locals clean the camp that’s true General Taylor did do that.

[@citizengaines5414]

I’m in the DAV. Cold War vet. 20 years ago spent time talking to a guy who was 17 when he went to Italy in 1942. He came home at 21. Shot 3 times on Anzio, recovered, pushed up through Italy to southern Germany. Was in a unit that liberated Dachau. He described seeing bodies stacked and the smell…he had anger towards Holocaust deniers. “Don’t ever let them say it didn’t happen. I was there. I saw it. I saw them”. I will never forget it. Btw, he came home to his wife. She was 15 when they married before he left. They had been married 50+ years.

[@audionmusic2787]

“It’s almost like the heart of the Real Germany, breaking thru the BS” Exactly. Exactly. ☮️

[@Tallgeese556]

Conspiracy with Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci is a good movie to give you a good picture on how they went on about it.

[@Philbert-s2c]

That movie is low key horrifying. IMHO it's Kenneth Brannaugh's greatest performance.

[@jamesmayes4351]

Conspiracy is an amazing movie and really drives home the banality of evil. In a single room over the course of an afternoon a group of mid-level academics and functionaries establish how to kill millions. The while thing is based off the only surviving transcript of Eichmans meeting minutes.

[@brianherr2699]

It’s a very underrated movie probably because there is no “action” in it, but it is great movie in an absorbingly horrific way.

[@BjrnOttoVasbottenbjovas]

Thats a fantastic film also at HBO. So many great performances

[@JakobSeidl]

80th anniversary of the conference was two days ago

[@victorpena9824]

Jan and Andriana, good job. The tears are well deserved for what happened during the holocaust. The NAZIs believed Jews and undesirables were sub-human as pestilence and vermin. Very interesting on how history came to past and allowed this horror happen. Remember, Love Always..

[@adamcavalier2062]

I've been refreshing my page for the last couple days. Waiting on this reaction.. It's hard to watch. But people (especially Americans and Europeans) NEED to watch scenes like these. It's so important to remember our history.

[@MitraKesava]

I’ve been doing the same :)

[@lmfao5411]

Agreed 100%. George Santayana was and is still absolutely right.

[@danielhier4744]

same with the slauther of 2,9 million nativ americans. we need to remember and dont make the same mistakes again

[@JoelSquire85]

Can't help but weep when I watch this episode. God Bless the Greatest Generation 🙏

[@frankcastle9691]

Amen

[@williamthomas7509]

My father was part of the supply and evacuation effort after the camps were found, not sure which exact one because he just couldn't talk about it. The thing that gets me is we all have learned about the horrors of these camps yet the Japanese were even worse and yet most know nothing about that I only share this because people really do need to know. Your reaction here was so genuine and filled with real horror ... you knew and still it haunted you. As you mentioned what it was like for those who didn't know is beyond anything I can comprehend.

[@joshuawatkins4487]

This series was recommended to me by my neighbor Tom Rice who served in the 101st Airborne as being very accurate. He was with the 501st PIR not 506th, but he was in virtually every battle this series shows. He was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge but refused to be sent home. That generation really is the greatest we have ever had (or will have).

[@lawrencewestby9229]

The officer in the photograph in the house where Nixon meets the German woman is wearing the insignia of a Deutsches Heer (German Army) colonel, thus not Waffen-SS. The black band would indicate that he was deceased, one would assume killed in combat, and that the woman was his widow. Just as a point of information, the term Wehrmacht refers to the combined military of Nazi Germany. It consisted of the army (Heer), navy (Kriegsmarine), and air force (Luftwaffe).

[@dbled34]

He had an uncanny resemblance to Rommel.

[@vorbis4860]

I like how everyone is burned out by NEEDING an answer to that question of why they are there, then they are totally sobered by the answer when it comes.

[@Gabebigdog]

No matter how many times I watch this miniseries, I tear up (tears falling down my eyes, snot running down my nose) every time I watch this episode.

[@davedeja]

I love watching your reactions to this episode. So raw and real. Band of Brothers has been my favorite movie since I first saw it when it came out. I am currently re-watching for... I don't know how many times, after just watching all the videos from the 20th anniversary. The men of Easy Company are passing on, one by one and The Greatest Generation will soon be a memory for most of us. And films like this will be a reminder of what was accomplished through the heroic actions of ordinary men.

[@Chris1LFC]

Such a crazy episode, this haunted me for weeks after originally watching it.. Very humbling and honest reactions. Great work you two..

[@SithLordmatthew]

It's likely the guy in the picture didn't know about the camps. It's likely he was already dead or a captive in Russia. That cross around his neck is the knights cross. You get that for being awarded the iron cross 3 times. He didn't manage that on the western front and he sure wasn't getting that for running camps. That guy saw a lot of combat.

[@brownsey1]

A number of the labour camps were in operation since the 30s. Including Sachsenhausen, just outside Berlin, which even had its own crematoria. Senior Wehrmacht members would also have undoubtedly known of the treatment of Jews and other so called undesirables in these camps long before the 'final solution' was fully enacted. The Wehrmacht was not a clean outfit. Its members actively participated in the Holocaust. From the invasion of Poland in 1939 onwards, the Wehrmacht would have helped the Einsatzgruppen round up Jews and others, cordon off towns and villages to allow searches, or actively participate in mass executions.

[@dubfez_9256]

@@brownsey1 You are right, but the Wehrmacht didn't exactly have much choice, or take great pride in the matter when it came to working alongside the psycho Einsatzgruppen. You see it being portrayed in 'Generation War'

[@brownsey1]

@@dubfez_9256 Senior officer's 100% had a choice. The army did not have to swear allegiance to Hitler, neither did they have to continue Hitler's policies. They let it happen because the senior leaders were happy to go along with it until things started to turn bad from 1941 onwards. Even von Stauffenberg only really opted to turn against Hitler because of Germany's failings at the front, not Hitler's policies in relation to Jews and others. Of course, there were membes of the Wehrmacht who were appalled by what happened but the reality is that the army was just as culpable as the SS. The book, Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing and Dying, gives as good insight into how much senior Wehrmacht (predominantly Heer) officers knew. It's a book detailing secret recordings of captured German officers when they were held in England during the war.

[@matthewcharles5867]

He may also of been a soldier who served in ww1 and ww2 , my uncle was he was a Australian who joined ww1 as a 15 year old kid in 1914, then fought in the pacific theatre in ww2. His son was killed by the Japanese who were still fighting in the islands after both atomic bombs had been dropped.

[@felixjohnsens3201]

@@brownsey1 But it was only a small part of the Wehrmacht. The Wehrmacht had Millions of men under arms and most were either fighting or in support roles. But is important to say, that the Wehrmacht didn´t commit more war crimes than the other armies, but they also didn´t commit less.

[@osirispluto8782]

That's awesome that you noticed the similarities in that line with Schindler's List. Never noticed that. There's another line almost exactly like it in Shutter Island spoken by Leonardo DiCaprio (although I believe instead of Mozart and Beethoven, it's someone else and Mahler.)

[@nickdonaldson7848]

BTW the woman's husband was a general officer and the black ribbon shows he was dead and the uniform was not SS

[@kevinwheesysouthward9295]

I’ve watched a lot of Band of Brothers reaction videos. Like, a lot. I absolutely loved the series. I think you guys had the most insightful, nuanced take that I’ve seen. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness

[@huemungy3212]

One thing I really wish the show also expressed was the 5 million other people who were murdered in similar fashion. There is a brief mention of it in this episode, but it escapes the common knowledge far too often.

[@TheEvertw]

This didn't happen in the areas the 101 visited, so it is outside the scope of this series. Sadly, because the modern Americans are so obsessed with themselves, we get mostly their point-of-view from the war. For the European nations that were hardest hit, the period after WW2 was in some ways even worse.

[@huemungy3212]

Romania: "Thank you, thank you, the USSR has freed us!" USSR: "Oh I wouldn't say freed, more like, under new management"

[@hrotha]

The Jewish prisoner who speaks with Liebgott and Winters also mentions "Poles and Gypsies" in the camp, but the show didn't translate that part, which is a shame because the persecution of the Roma people by Nazi Germany is still not as widely known and as commonly discussed in pop culture as it should edit: I have since rewatched the whole episode rather than half-remembering it from out of context clips and Liebgott does indeed translate "Poles and Gypsies". My bad

[@danielh6015]

@@TheEvertw its an american tv show

[@udishomer5852]

The soldier translating says in the episode: Jews, Poles and gypsies. Also the Germans systematically killed cripples, mentally ill people and some others.

[@ImitationBrand]

It was so perfect to watch the soldiers joke about "The Germans are bad" before actually finding the camp.

[@keinervondaoben720]

what do you think happened: a) the germans took every day a bath with champain and grill-party b) England+US attacked (against international-law) >700 german towns (destroyed ca. 45 big towns >95%)....and destroyed all railroad, street and highway, so all logistic was broken down.......so, the camps could not be supplied....and guess what....the german government saw this coming and asked the International-Red-Cross for help (help to supply the camps), but the allies DENIED that..... You need help?

[@richardwinstanley8219]

@@keinervondaoben720 you are either horrifically misinformed or deliberately covering for the atrocities of Nazi Germany. The Red Cross has admitted knowing about the camps and the treatment of Jews, and has admitted that it didn't tell any governments or try helping the Jews for fear of losing access to German PoW camps. Germany didnt ask the Red Cross for assistance in supplying the concentration camps. You are also ignoring Theresienstadt, the camp used by the Germans as a tool to trick the Red Cross and anyone who questioned the relocation of Jews into believing that the Jews and minorities were simply being relocated to work camps; and not being exterminated.

[@richardstephens5570]

@@keinervondaoben720 Trying to shift blame to the Allies. Typical neo-Nazi revisionism. Pathetic.

[@TheAes86]

The camp easy found was like 10 miles from the town, so it's possible ,especially during war they didn't know, and wouldn't have smelled a stench.

[@gutpunch6724]

You two are sweet people who brought hearts filled with compassion for this, most solemn and heart breaking, episode. This is my first time ever seeing you two together on your channel and I believe I can say with confidence that your horrified and broken reaction towards the inhumanity and overt evil of the Nazis reveal you two to be people of faith. Your revulsion at wickedness and genuine sorrow for what was done to so many people telegraphs lives who are close to the heart of God. Thank you for taking the time to bring your understanding, insights, and decency here on KZbin.

[@letthewookieew1n]

I remember reading somewhere that they kept all the actors in the dark on this scene to get their genuine reactions. All of these reactions is 100% their real reactions. It's honestly one of the hardest hitting scenes I've ever seen.

[@alexandrelanssade2187]

after you watch the episode 10 , watch the documentary " we stad alone together" it's a documentary with the men of easy compagnie

[@tibal3710]

I love the ending on the violin put to rest in it's boxe after playing Beethoven. Fitting image for what was before that the most advanced country in the world.

[@BjrnOttoVasbottenbjovas]

Compared to britain and france positively modern. Crazy to think of.

[@dylanmv93]

I didn’t notice this until this watch through with you two but you can see Spiers crying behind Winters while Liebgott is translating

[@tdamtoft]

Powerful reaction. Proud of my fathers parents for being part of the Danish resistance, proud of my mothers father for volunteering to the German army, encouraged by the Danish Government in 1940 (collaboration was the word) - an impoverished 17 year old who ended up on the Eastern front and never talked about the war but would wake up from nightmares for the rest of his life. He went to prison in 1946 - the politicians sat their asses back down on the seats in parliament.

[@ComeonmenID10T]

those picture of and in the camp, as well as the Prisoners are truly disturbing, BUT it is nothing compared to what those People had to go through ! as a Teenager, my entire School Class ( in Eastern Germany back then ) had to visit a Concentration Camp, which was made into a Memorial, i personally have seen the Oven's, the "Shower Room", the Barracks, Pictures on the Walls of those Prisoners "Living Conditions" and how they been treated and so on, it left a lasting Impression to say the least Lesson to be learned........ when Police and Military are the ONLY one's who have Firearms........ you can and will end up like those People in the Concentration Camp's

[@briangrissman8947]

Spiers had a son in England. Even though the marriage didn't work out. Crazy story. Spiers met a woman in English widow whose husband was kia. But a couple of years later it was found the first hubby was just in a pow camp. So spiers marriage was desolved. But spiers continued to take care of his son. That's where he was mailing that stuff.

[@desertfennec2382]

When the soldier ran up to Major Winters, I remembered what happened next and it got me all over again.

[@rithvikmuthyalapati9754]

That paratrooper is Frank Perconte

[@phj223]

If you're sticking with the war movies, check out "Charlotte Gray" starring Cate Blanchett. She plays a Scottish woman who joins the British Intelligence during WWII, and she goes to Nazi occupied France to be a spy for the French resistance. It is a fictional story afaik, but set in very real historical circumstances.

[@garymathena2125]

My driver's Ed teacher was in the 101st and they liberated a camp, not sure which one. I have never seen a person cry the way he did. It literally came from the depth's of his soul.

[@lwdissonance21]

I don't know the name of the actor that played the camp prisoner that spoke about the situation, and what happened, but we will always remember his performance. Beyond powerful.

[@shrunkentakeselo7896]

Hi there guys! I was just wondering if maybe yall were thinking of reviewing the pacific after this one? Its by the same creators, in my mind, not nearly as good, yet, still extremely well done and very important. It shows the whole other side of the war most dont know about. Thanks very much for the entertainment, hope yall have a great Sunday

[@Diegesis]

hope you have a great sunday too, and no we're not doing the pacific

[@richardespanto8459]

@@Diegesis Lame... Looks like you don't have any respect for our marine veterans who fought the people who brought us into ww2 in the first place.

[@ballsmahoney1767]

@@richardespanto8459 What a retarded thing to say

[@Befuddled_Ostrich]

@@richardespanto8459 Woah, how do you get 'lack of respect' from them not watching a show?

[@myapocalypse420]

@@richardespanto8459 .....for not immediately goin to the Pacific after watching this one? You're a fool guy. You can't watch this stuff back to back like that unless you're dead inside. Everything you see and feel, you have to recover from it because it was real. And it has nothing to do with respecting the 1st marine's push in WW2. Grow up guy.

[@BogeyDopeYT]

I hope ya’ll do The Pacific. Similar to BoB, but …more intense. Tom Hanks and crew were working on Masters of the Air, about the Eighth Air Force I think, but covid screwed up the schedule. Can’t wait to see it. You’ll def want to watch We Stand Alone Together to see all the interviews for BoB too. Great reactions ya’ll.

[@alphahale7668]

Agreed! The Pacific is just as good, but much more visceral about the horrors of the war. BoB focuses more on the whole unit and the brotherhood they had and they are portrayed as heroes to an extent, but in the Pacific there's none of that, it focuses more on the individual soldiers and how much they struggle and how much the war fucks them up.

[@cyberdan42]

The arc of this episode is superb. It starts in a German town devastated by the War, where several German civilians are playing a beautiful composition by the German composer Beethoven, demonstrating the cost of the War to Germany (the town) and the culture and art that Germany can produce. Then the flashback occurs to the events leading to the horrifying concentration camp, demonstrating the reason Germany HAD to be defeated, to prevent such atrocities continuing, and the horror that the German people (and others) inflicted upon Europe and other nations. The dichotomy of the art and culture of the German people beside the barbarism and atrocity the Germans, through the Nazi's, perpetrated and threading through the whole episode the why?? the reason the fighting was necessary, but also why, why did the Germany do this. Finalised with the information that Hitler is dead, effectively ending the Nazi Party, probably the Way (obviously it did) and finishing in ignominy the driving force behind the Holocaust, Hitler and the Nazi Party. The episode ends with the players packing away there instruments, as the news arrives that the atrocity is ending so does the music. Superb.

[@michaelabendschein9504]

I usually bypass these types of videos but I'm glad I watched it. Your true emotions are the same as I experienced when watching this episode for the first time. Really glad I watched your video.

[@chairmanofthebored6860]

As an old paratrooper, many of these battles and DZs have a special place in our hearts. Hell, all of our drop zones at Bragg are named after the combat jumps that the 82nd participated in during WWII

[@donotevenbegintocare]

About the "who knew what" part, the gist of it from German civilians speaking years after the war is that by 1945 the rumour that this had been happening since 1942 had gone around enough that most germans had heard it. It wasn't on any official channels, but people talk. Even more so back then without the communication devices we have now. Only a small percentage hadn't heard. But a much bigger percentage claimed to not have heard. They also point out that, as with any shocking event that humans talk about, whether it's global warming, the moon landing or even covid, there was a percentage who had heard but were genuinely convinced it was not true, while the majority knew it was happening. Some supported it, most didn't, but even those who were against it, their attitude was the same that we have today towards the genocide of the Uighurs currently happening in China: It's horrible, but what can I do about it? This is not a defence of these citizens, I'm merely relaying what their views tended to be.

[@ronweber1402]

Not only that but by the time it was common knowledge speaking out about it would have gained you a one way ticket on one of those trains yourself.

[@LukasJampen]

@@ronweber1402 and not even just you but maybe even parts of your family. Children, spouses and parents.

[@RocketSurgn_]

Well put. It’s just so much easier to avoid anything that could confirm it to yourself and so avoid the guilt for the benefits that they had from the theft of wealth and displacement from any roles of power/artisans etc leaving room for others to “succeed”. When things feel comfortable, it’s a big big hill to climb to do anything that might upset that comfort because of something that maybe harms other people. Unfortunately, much easier to just not ask questions and disbelieve rumors until it’s forced on you.

[@TheKsalad]

After ww2 every German who cheered for Hitler's speeches are suddenly all partisans and good Samaritans. They were lying for years and knew for years what they were doing to those people, it was literally written in Hitler's book and was in all his speeches what his plans were

[@christopherqueen3194]

I appreciated them producing this episode. Not an easy task. But when I compare the dramatization of these events to contemporary newsreel footage, the portrayal falls short of the actual horror that was perpetrated.

[@justintreadway100]

You don’t say…

[@justaperson3641]

Webster: what the f*ck are we doing here?! Said every active duty soldier

[@thynysan]

Found out earlier this year, the commanding officer for E Company, Colonel Robert Sink, was from my small hometown of Lexington, NC. They're about to erect a memorial for him in the town square.

[@thorzylla]

I am very sorry for what my homeland has done to the world. This episode in particular should be a compulsory program in every school to show everyone what people are capable of. As a German, I can only be grateful that the world gave us a second chance to show that we are not all monsters. Please believe me that we are still ashamed of what happened in the past. It's not possible to make up for it!

[@Diegesis]

i mean the people who were responsible for this are long dead. it'd be insane for me to be mad at your countrymen for the sins of your fathers. plus i'd be throwing stones in a mighty glass house being an American :/