For The First Time I Realized How Vast America Was. We Never Stood A Chance

[@WW2Tales]

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Part 1 of Memoirs of a German POW who was a sergeant in Rommel's Famous Afrika Korps and was captured from (battle of Tunis )North African Theater of World War 2 and sent to pow camp in America, he escaped from Camp Deming, New Mexico, in 1945 and had been on the run for forty years, This is link of the playlist kzbin.info/aero/PLGjbe3ikd0XGvh2jAYm7oJwgnbXMQCPEh Please Subscribe to Our channel and Help Us Grow ,so that we may continue improving and upload more great content for World War 2 enthusiasts !

[@CorePathway]

26:00

[@paulzammataro7185]

40 years!!?? 😯 Richard Kimble was only on the run for 4 years.....

[@lukeywalsh]

'Hitler's Last Soldier in America' by Georg Gärtner. A good read.

[@purrington666]

Can you tell us his name and if his Memoirs are available for purchase; Title of Book?

[@lukeywalsh]

This is from 'Hitler's Last Soldier in America' by Georg Gärtner. @@purrington666

[@johnstuartsmith]

There were many less fortunate German POWs who got to realize how vast the Soviet Union was.

[@123456wasp]

Great point! 😎👍

[@zakkyummms]

Or how vast anger could be among a oppositional force. Many people surrendered and never saw mercy from any sides.

[@KolyaUrtz]

95% of them were near moscow, st petersburg and other cities near in europe...since pows were used as manual labor for rebuilding what was destroyed. The "cold cruel siberian gulags" are largely a myth

[@williamtell5365]

That comment was fire lol

[@Maighe1234]

@@123456waspYes, both of you have an uncanny grasp of the obvious.

[@marfadog2945]

This is great. My aunt told me about seeing German POWs in Sherman, Texas during her childhood. They had been tasked with dismantling a historical home there for relocation (due to a planned reservoir). They misunderstood the purpose of the disassembly and used the boards as firewood.

[@jflow5601]

My mom told me about German soldier/prisoners located at Ft Stanton NM in the 40s. She was able to interact with some who taught her some German phrases. She spoke of the novelty of so many young blond men in this NM fort. Being a young Latino from NM visiting Germany many years later, an elder German man on the streets approached me and brought up and spoke fondly of his time in a camp in Arizona. He even sang some songs he learned in the camp. Small world.

[@jflow5601]

@@lukeywalsh this video is a fascinating take on how young Germans viewed their internment in America.

[@lukeywalsh]

Yes. I'm pretty sure this is from Georg Gärtner's book. @@jflow5601

[@reronal4940]

we are all the same

[@bp-ob8ic]

My great grandmother(who came to America as a 9-year-old in the 1890s) read newspapers to POWs in St Leo, Florida, during the war. According to my dad, she had forbidden anyone to speak German in her house once WWI broke out, so he never learned to speak it.

[@silverstar4289]

@@bp-ob8icmy grandfather grew up in a German speaking household, but ended the practice when he had a family of his own in the 1930’s.

[@OliverClothesofff]

I really appreciate you uploading these. At work, I mow lawns all day so listening to these makes the day go by easier.

[@Perktube1]

How can you hear them over the loud mower??

[@WW2Tales]

@OliverClothesofff Glad you like them!

[@AlanMydland-fq2vs]

​@@Perktube1head set

[@billboyd03]

I can hear them fine while drilling wells.

[@dxb338]

@@billboyd03 lol you must not be doing air drilling

[@jchastain789]

I find myself listening to this and imagine every second so clearly.

[@JulieBirTV]

Prisoners of war, the young soldiers must be safely put in protective custody as they are only following orders like all other nations soldiers. They are young. Deserve a second chance. Especially the young teenagers.

[@vickilindberg6336]

They had no idea how lucky they were. Some Americans weren't living that well.

[@mauriceshanahan8758]

If the storyline is partly as enjoyable as the previous memoirs of Wolfgang Faust, then we will be again in for a treat, Thank-you for the wonderful memoirs.

[@WW2Tales]

@mauriceshanahan8758 So kind of you Sir

[@csonracsonra9962]

Too bad this probably won't live up to the made up "Wolfgang PANZER Faust" and the book wildly fictional book that you're referring to.... life's never as good as fantasy😢 From my research though, this is a real historical account this time though

[@mattkaustickomments]

@@csonracsonra9962Way too many people fall for the bogus Faust stories and it doesn’t help when the channels hosting the content don’t inform the reader or WORSE tell them it’s real.

[@thomasschmitt4672]

My mother tells me stories of the German prisoner of war wives coming over to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. The wives would bake cakes and other bakery for the locals in the area. Must have been a long trip for them to get to the US. Tells you a lot about the US at the time and how they treated the prisoners of war. I couldn't imagine many other countries allowing this.

[@jonmeek3879]

Wow ! What a great book , I had heard about this guy but wanted to know more Thanks !!!!!!

[@prae7068]

The narration quality has improved. I wish there was a clearer way to tell the sequence of these videos. The material is fascinating.

[@WW2Tales]

@prae7068 Sir this is the first part of this series , when ever you watch some video ,you will find a link of playlist of that series in video description ,go to that link and you will find all the parts in sequence ,secondly the easiest way is to go to comments section of the video you are watching ,see the first comment (it will be a pinned comment by channel WW2 Tales) ,In this comment you will find the links of all the parts of that series ,Kind Regards

[@Bob.W.]

An old friend now 91 was from Algona Iowa, which had a substantial pow camp. He said the camp barracks had steam heat, while most in town still used wood stoves. There were religious services in German well into the 1960s in southern Minnesota, probably in many other states as well.

[@skate103]

My Gramps was from Emmestburg, Iowa and worked in that camp! He had fascinating stories, sure do miss him .❤️

[@Bob.W.]

@skate103 neat. My old friend said if a Cafe didn't serve beer in that area they went out of business. I've gone to Emmetsburg for St. Patrick's Day. The whole town was drunk.

[@davidpoole8667]

Those were German immigrants from before and after WW2 not pows. German services were in many Lutheran Churches in the northern Midwest.

[@Bob.W.]

@davidpoole8667 I didn't say the church services involved POWs.

[@chetdeter5137]

@@davidpoole8667 Yes, my grandfather was a Lutheran minister in Dewitt, IA for 30+ years and conducted one service in German each week before and during the war.

[@Gottaculat]

I'm not surprised he didn't comprehend how big America is. I think a lot of Americans don't even comprehend how big it is. My dad took us on road trips all the time in my childhood. We lived in Chicago, and to get to New Jersey, it's a 2 day drive doing 60mph for more than 11 hours at a time. 3 days to drive to Ft. Walton Beach, FL (in the pan handle. I now live in the state of Washington, and it's something like 3,200 miles to drive from Southeastern WA to Miami, FL. That's about 4.5 days of driving if i drive 10 hours/day (not really safe to drive more than that due to increased probability of road hypnosis). Google Maps claims you could make the walk in 48 days, but I think that's assuming walking 24/7, not stopping or sleeping. My friend from Belgium came to America for a visit, to see Holywood, and he was all, "Oh, I'll just take a taxi to come visit you in WA." I had a really good laugh, and told him good luck with that, that's a 1,000 mile drive, about 18 hours of driving. He was all, "Wait, what?!" I then sent him a to-scale super-imposed map of Belgium over Washington, and his entire country is something like 1/4th the size of my state (Belgium is about the size of the Puget Sound region in the NW part of the state). I told him California is about the same length as Italy, but wider. The US is friggin' huge; why do you think we felt so compelled to invent railroads and airplanes? From Chicago to St. Louis, it's like 300-some miles. Where I live now, a similar drive is to Seattle or Portland, both being about 250 miles from me. The Midwest, South West, West, and North West states are expansive, to say the least. You can drive 1,000 miles, seeing nothing but corn and soy beans out to the horizon in dang near all directions. When you see the odd Christmas tree farm, or an apple orchard, you get excited, because you finally saw something different than what you saw the past 6 hours. They call them "fly over states" for a reason.

[@jimrunsfar]

My favorite anecdote El Paso is closer to San Diego than Houston The US is massive!

[@mastpg]

Had a professional training session outside Chicago with some European colleagues in the late aughts. We were there for 3 week around the Labor Day holiday. The Friday before, a systems arch guy from Nice drives up to the lunch patio in a rented convertible. We ask his what his weekend plans were. He says, "Vegas, baby!". All the Americans and most of the Brits were confused. One lady said, "Oh, well....what's the convertible for?". He looks at her, confused, and says, "I'm driving to Las Vegas....the gambling town"...I guess thinking he might have said something wrong. Indian guy from Northwestern pulls out a BlackBerry Perl with early Google maps on it, maps Chicago to Vegas and hands the phone to the guy. I can still remember the look on his face...it's something like 20hrs of non-stop 80mph driving.

[@JuusoAlasuutari]

Small correction: USA didn't invent railroads. A good comment regardless, thank you!

[@R_Euphrates]

My favorite thing about road trips in the West is the warning signs. "Last gas station for 180 miles"

[@cblair1353]

I moved to the Seattle area from north central Arkansas and have done the road trip back to see family twice now. Both times we did it, it took 4 days with 8 to 9 hours of driving a day, just going one way. A solid week of driving and we didn't even make it past the Mississippi 😂.

[@janibeg3247]

We were in a small restaurant in France eating a a large common table. One of the ladies (i think she was Austrian) was saying that most Europeans do not realize the size of the USA.

[@boydcochran4692]

And we don’t realize how small most European countries are compared to the USA going ocean to ocean

[@markvoelker6620]

@@boydcochran4692 America: A country whose inhabitants think 100 years is a long time. Britain: A country whose inhabitants think 100 miles is a long way.

[@timperry6948]

I believe New York to Los Angeles is about the same distance as Paris to Moscow. Canada is even greater in distance coast to coast.

[@kpadalldotablet1009]

Really nicely done and extremely interesting. Thank you!

[@WW2Tales]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@aprilnewsome1932]

I look forward to these uploads every day❤ for some reason they go so fast. Im always dissapointed when it ends. Even if they would last 3hrs it would still feel like an hour😂😂

[@Theearthtraveler]

Great story!!!!

[@WW2Tales]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Native_love]

That was awesome! Can't wait for part 2!

[@FallacyBites]

We have a friend we call Nate the German whose grandfather was a german POW during wwii. 1) (to the best of my memory) during that war, when being captured, you hoped the americans were the ones to get you. Russians would kill you, the french would fuck you up, and the brits would put the boot in. The americans, most of the time, would just send you straight off to a camp without smacking you around. 2) he got sent to pick cotton somewhere in the deep south. They were on a train and some US soldier soldiers were assigned to bring the POWs iced water. He knew then that germany was not going to win the war, because there had been no ice for anybody in germany for years, and here even lowly enemy soldiers were getting ice. 3) when picking cotton, they had to get a certain amount of weight. They'd spit into the bags to make them heavier. _________ Jewish buddy's dad was from germany, and he joimed the army in wwii. His job was driving german POWs around. He'd aim for every pothole. The germans started complaini g to each other, "Where did this guy learn to drive?" So grandad says, in german: "Deutschland!" *ka-THUNK!* as he hits another pothole

[@ConnorDKimball]

Thank you for taking the time to share this in the comments. Love fact 2.

[@kevinquist]

gentleman in my church was talking just this last sunday morn about being a 'young man' and going to the pow camp near his house. talking to him. "they were just honest, innocent people thrown into a meat grinder. yes there were bad ones, just like in my town. but most were just born at the wrong time."

[@billolsen4360]

Ain't it the truth?! Just like those French teenagers who were just trying to start an apprenticeship or maybe attend college after the mess and broken families from the Revolution and then found themselves in Napoleon's army marching to & from Moscow at 16 years old with frostbitten feet and lifelong disabilities.

[@ea42455]

I'm sick to the gills with the comments about the narration. Sounds pretty damn classy to my ears. You understand the narrator, so don't be a prick and complain.

[@billkramer2994]

BS! It was a Ger POW! Needs Ger accent! Whats nxt a Frenchy doing a "Jack the Ripper" story!

[@Skibbityboo0580]

@@billkramer2994 I don't need that. I just need to understand what he is saying, and I quite easily can.

[@veramae4098]

I've read that Germans often visit our deserts, fascinated / unbelieving that a country could have so much desert, so much nothing.

[@rich1051414]

There is something peaceful about seeing so little life and so little civilization as far as the eyes can see.

[@jordanhicks5131]

​@rich1051414 they are full.of life if you know what you are looking at. I know, I live in the desert and have my whole life.

[@EKA201-j7f]

​@@jordanhicks5131 Yeah, but unfortunaty, in California they are destroying the desert and building houses no one can afford. The Mojave Desert, for one.

[@richardthornhill4630]

A good writer and excellent usage of the English language to tell his story of escape.

[@edquier40]

Not bad for computer generated audio, it almost sounds hardly fake!

[@billolsen4360]

@@edquier40 I couldn't wait for the next "produce-edd" or "sal-lyn-us" to pop up.

[@edquier40]

@@billolsen4360 They brag about AI and all that crap, but the fake audio drives me up a wall,

[@phrayzar]

This was fascinating

[@WW2Tales]

@phrayzar thank you so much

[@Nochancet.v]

Love these

[@WW2Tales]

@scottfoster3445 Sir your kind words really matter a lot :)

[@rogirek3362]

"Chipped beef on toast, SOS familiar to any military man." That's "sh!t on a shingle" to any who aren't.

[@raginroadrunner]

If prepared correctly. its pretty dammed good.

[@billolsen4360]

@@raginroadrunner Mom used to make add lemon juice and oregano to the sauce & serve it on Baggett. Really tasty.

[@cyirvine6300]

We had that for dinner in the 50s! It was one of my favorites as a child.

[@HorsesArePeople2]

My grandma's best friend was a fighter pilot who was shot down and captured by the Germans. When he was taken in for interrogation he said that the Germans already knew more about him than he did. They made him a cook, and was treated pretty decently. He recalled a lot of the German soldiers standing around just to hear stories about what America was like. The officers would nag him constantly about joining the German war effort, as he had an unmistakably German last name. He was a great man with a lot of interesting stories, and although he was treated quite well by the Germans, it always baffled me that he continued to hate them up until his death.

[@robertgillis2345]

This would make a good movie

[@markmacintyre3422]

A “Bizarro World” version of Hogan’s Heroes……

[@cageordie]

In the end this is a very sad story. Because in the end he was a citizen of a friendly country, a NATO ally, and he was still hiding from the FBI for whom he was a historical curiosity. Others who were caught and sent back to Germany year later turned round a couple of years after and returned to their lives in the US. One escaped to Mexico and when he was found the feds interviewed him, then closed the case and went home. In the 50s or 60s he could have walked into the West German consular offices in San Francisco and just told them who he was. They'd have issued him a West German passport. If he had talked to an immigration lawyer he could have been returning to the US as a regular immigrant instead of skulking round.

[@ahwell9984]

The difference being of course that says he was a Nazi and an enemy combatant in a war that very nearly destroyed Western civilization.

[@bradl2448]

As I recall, only one of the others actually turned himself in. The rest had the same mentality of laying low. George also was aware of his picture eventually hanging in every Post Office of the country for years. Paranoia, once ingrained, is tough to root out.

[@caracunningham9210]

Sad…they murdered millions of innocent men, women & children. Even if he didn’t do it himself he supported those who did. Had he been made to work in the fields for 18 hrs a day, he had it better than the people they led to “showers” that were cyanide, or the furnaces in which they burned them to death, or the ones used for medical experiments. No, he had it good. If he had to look over his shoulder until the day he died, he was at least alive.

[@youtubeshadowbannedmylasta2629]

@@caracunningham9210 yep that's how war works. same thing happens in every single war this one was no different.

[@manofchaitea6904]

@@ahwell9984 it wasnt even close to destroying western civilization and given how our civilization has turned out, I dont think we got the better of the stick. Communist ideas have spread, our politicians are corrupt to no end, we are owned by the banking, media system of the very same that Germany was trying to kick out. We were tools used to stop the few who understood the threat. Our own forefathers warned us about them.

[@Subcritical96]

These narratives are a blessing. I can now fully comprehend how an eternally cursed mad man and his criminal gangs took over the German government.I now understand that these German soldiers were shown the truth of the genocidal atrocities and were appalled. God bless this man.

[@ron4255]

When i was in the Marines they caught this old man who had gone ua during the Vietnam war. He had been on the run for 30 years. They had a court marital for him and made him stand gate guard duty for a year. It was strange to see this 70 year old man in Marine digi’s

[@daviswhite3591]

I am a Marine Veteran. I was a Chaser. I need more details to believe your story.

[@ron4255]

@@daviswhite3591 I too was a chaser on the side TAD, but only had to do chaser duty for our own guys so only did it once, dude did gate guard duty around 2003 in Quantico

[@daviswhite3591]

@@ron4255 Rules of The Chaser state that you only chase your own. This is The Way. I've watched good Marines with recommendations out the sweet B get tossed in the brig and dirtbags given second chances. I can't imagine a military court giving an old deserter the responsibility of Gate Guard as punishment. That makes no sense.

[@ron4255]

@@daviswhite3591 the military does many things that make no sense lol.

[@daviswhite3591]

At Quantico no less? That's officer held territory. They'd lose their minds on a 70 year old Private at the gate.

[@MegaRiffraff]

Glad he made it 👍🏻

[@johncarpenter2783]

At the 32min. mark, there is a bit of realism that could pertain to our modern American life. He speaks of the bureaucracy that was imbedded in German society. It allowed the full capitulation of the Germanic society by the Nazis. We fool ourselves that freedom is just as imbedded in our own society. There will always be those who wish to rule over others. And monied people do in fact have this mindset. This unbelievable amount of wealth has a lot of power in a capitalist society. As I type this, it was announced on the news that the 5 riches people in this country just doubled their wealth in the last 5 years. They should be thanking middle class Americans for this windfall. Because in retrospect, this is the case. How can this be going on with all this news media buzzing around? We all can figure this one out. They are bought and paid for.

[@rfreitas1949]

I sold many German products starting in the 1980s .Since I was in San Francisco I was visited often by upper level 3:43 Management. After a few drinks they all told similar sad stories

[@brunopadovani7347]

Is there a Part 2. It would be interesting to learn about his 40+ year life as an "American".

[@johnroerich4531]

Sorry, Georg Gartner

[@jeanrichardson3002]

Yes, where is part 2?

[@sergek2]

The OP pinned a comment with a playlist of the rest of the videos

[@jirikurto3859]

I am especially curious if he had any experiences with American outhouses and whether or not he enjoyed them. Outhouses are fascinating subjects. I like to spend time in them and just be me.

[@donnamoss9650]

I wonder IF this man ever learned of the importance of that railroad in American history. Deming, NM is the placement of the Silver Spike - connection of the 2nd Transcontinental Railroad across the USA. The US Army Air Force bombardier training facility trained over 12,000 bombardiers from 1942 to B29s. Remnants of practice bombs can still be found today in the wide open spaces.

[@paulhindenberg6364]

Actually it was the first transcontinental railroad. UP started at Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Rock Island started at Chicago to meet the A&P in New Mexico which went on to California..

[@j.griffin]

@@paulhindenberg6364 It was the 2nd- That was why it was called The Silver Spike. The Golden Spike was the ceremonial 17.6-karat gold final spike driven by Leland Stanford to join the rails of The First Transcontinental Railroad across the United States connecting The Central Pacific Railroad from Sacramento and The Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha on May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory.

[@wednesdayschild3627]

Too bad current Americans do jog understand the rail road. We need to fix and rehabilitate our rail system.

[@donnamoss9650]

@@wednesdayschild3627 There are toooo many things a lot of Americans have NO idea about like the Georgia Congressman who was afraid IF the military built new facilities on the Eastern side of Guam that the island would tip over from the added weight. True in the Congressional record.

[@helveticaification]

Useful, unfamiliar information and perspectives. Such soldiers were spared the the necessity to choose between 'patriotism'-with- cruelty, and human-dignity-with-humiliation.

[@samuelmoon3051]

My favorite professor at Texas A&M dr Arnold Krammer wrote a great book on this subject

[@WW2Tales]

@samuelmoon3051 That's wonderful! It's always enriching to learn from experts in the field, and Dr. Arnold Krammer's contribution with a book on this subject must provide valuable insights.

[@tomumholtzsr2529]

Thanks for making this available. But the reader is a real distraction. It must be an AI voice since it mispronounces so many place names, breaks sentences and phrases at the wrong place, makes one syllable words into two syllables - place-ed, save-ed, etc. AND it uses electronics to do work that could be giving employment to capable and experienced real people.

[@dlr441]

AI sucks!

[@R281]

Agreed.

[@billolsen4360]

And you never know when you're going to hear "Ber-kell-ee" or Berkeley, lol.

[@dlr441]

Your last sentence is "spot on". Being somewhat familiar with a second language it is almost impossible to speak said language as would a native. IMHO trying to teach a computer to speak perfectly will require computers much faster than anything we now have. I would much rather listen to a human with an accent than to wait for the machine to find the pronunciation.

[@jeremyholland7654]

It sounds like it's narrated by a stroke victim

[@Oberon4278]

The German POW says that it's been 40 years and he can still remember the moment he escaped. Well, I was incarcerated as a child, I was 15, and I'm 45 now, so it's only been thirty years, but while I was in lockup, I escaped, too. I absolutely remember the moment, and I'm sure I always will.

[@pascoett]

Imagine the poor parents waiting for just a life sign of their son.

[@davewang202]

We can blame Hitler on the Austrians. LoL. That unexpected dark humor got me.

[@johnschuh8616]

Since he was actually Bavarian.

[@billolsen4360]

@@johnschuh8616 His family may have been from Bavaria, but Adolph Hitler was born in Austria.

[@Dennis4995]

Spielberg should make this into a movie. Focus on the interesting parts: life in American, Russian, and German POW camps; life in a small German town; how the people thought of Hitler, the Nazis, the Jews, the war; the FBI search paralleling Georg's life on the run; life as a migrant agricultural worker; the great train rescue; final confession to his wife and how she made all the difference; the tearful reunion with his sister after 50(?) some years.

[@jirikurto3859]

Ryan Gosling should star as him and definitely tons of nude scenes.

[@jayr178]

This guy was a survivor. He had to do what he had to do!

[@WW2Tales]

@jayr178! Absolutely, this soldier's resilience truly shines through. Survivors like him inspire us all with their determination. Thanks for being part of our community and appreciating these remarkable tales of strength!

[@markcollins2666]

That's like saying a convicted murderer did what he had to do. I'm sorry. He believed in what he was doing as a Nazi, just dismayed at the outcome of failure. Spotted the American weaknesses, and took advantage. Well fed, but bored?? Does that sound like a change of character?? And make no mistake, he had NO BUSINESS being here, after the war. A CRIMINAL illegal alien. And you say, hooray for him?!?

[@billolsen4360]

He was lucky that he could remain in condition and be a jock most of his life. Vegetable harvests and professional-level skiing are demanding pursuits.

[@dalemettee1147]

Has this concept ever explored for a movie? It should be called the great escape (also).

[@WW2Tales]

@dalemettee1147 Not yet Sir, The stories shared here have such cinematic potential. If it becomes a movie, it would be a wonderful way to reach an even broader audience and bring these historical narratives to life.

[@Rexkramer68]

There is a film 'The one that got away" true story I believe. Its about the only German pow who escaped from the British. Hardie kruger played the lead role.

[@billolsen4360]

or, The Long Escape

[@kevinbarry71]

escaping in the middle of a foreign country after the war is over. And then staying on the run for decades? That's crazy. He could've surrendered and simply been sent home

[@howellwong11]

I remember an Italian POW coming over to my house during WWII in Honolulu. How he got there, I don't know. I was just a kid.

[@robertsansone1680]

Georg Gaertner. I wish he had looked for his parents.

[@shirleybalinski4535]

Mybrother was stationed in Germany. The Germans couldn't understand why the US didn't have an extensive RR system like Germany. My brother explained that Germany was app. the size of Montana. Montana had an app.population equal to only the city of Munich. He said for the most part it wasn't practical in most of the country. The Germans were put back on their heels.

[@bangochupchup]

One of the worst episodes was the massacre of Germans at a camp in Salina, Utah in the summer of 1945. Nine killed, twenty wounded.

[@matismf]

Note than none dare mention the horror of the Holodomr nor the Soviet gulags. I wonder why?

[@MooneyOvation2]

I really enjoy the first person commentary. The narration is also pleasing to listen to, although this appears to be computer generated judging by the occasional weird pronunciation - especially of some words ending in “ed” for example “united”.

[@ianmackie8959]

I thought the same thing to, then it dawned on me that this is being narrated by someone who English is a second language..kind of fitting

[@VonAggelby]

@@ianmackie8959 It's gotta be a synth voice. That RP accent is not from someone who speaks English as second language.. if your language is otherwise so perfect, why would you make such strange mistakes..

[@billkramer2994]

"Sir" then keep it out of Amer and German market. You'll never convince any # of Amer or Ger that prefer a brit/aussie narrator espec on such a delicate subj. Yr "survey" is poorly designed and is an example of the exception (if true) does not make the rule! Men involved in these wars wld not tolerate it! I never was but closed it after 1 sentence!!

[@bradl2448]

The last episode was incomplete regarding his whole story. Are you going to add additional episodes to complete the story? Especially fascinating, was his account of reading Herb Caen of the SF Chronicle speculating about whether Georg was living at that moment in San Francisco, while Georg actually was living 30 miles to the south in Palo Alto. THEN, years later, playing a county-club tennis tournament, with Georg and Herb as doubles tennis partners. Amazing! I used to read Herb Caen all the time as a youth growing up in the Bay Area..

[@WW2Tales]

@bradl2448 Sir i am sharing links of all parts in sequence, incase you have missed any parts This is Part 1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX_caXaAoNubZ5I This is Part 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGTEpn-BeKuFa7M This is Part 3 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZmvlWSnn86Dg6c This is Part 4 kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGqsYWtufcyMbck This is Part 5 kzbin.info/www/bejne/enTSnHh6mb6MpJY This is Part 6 kzbin.info/www/bejne/pn6pdaWVq9xmoZI This is Part 7 kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGfNpnxji9Ocfac This is Part 8 kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4qsap-smKl-qJI This is Part 9 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZXUZoV6qbN7arM This is Part 10 kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4jPhpp_bLGmnaM

[@billolsen4360]

This is directly from the man's memoirs, so it ends abruptly. Look up Georg Gaertner in wikipedia. The article wraps up his life.

[@dxb338]

god why is microsoft sam from 20 years ago better at pronouncing everyday words than modern computer text to speech

[@yootoober2009]

@ 43:52 it's strange a German soldier pow, wouldn't know that 1000 "PM" was 10AM in the morning, and that escaping at "0900 " was 9am in the morning, not 2100 Hrs at night. "at the stroke of 0900 PM, (2100 hrs), while all the other men jeering at a "B" Western movie, I slipped out of the barracks into the night"....

[@WW2Tales]

You are absolutely right

[@billolsen4360]

As he explains later, he'd forgotten most of the language and customs he'd learned as a kid in Germany by the time he wrote this memoir in his sixties. He didn't start writing this in a diary as it happened.

[@yambi6013]

I read a book some time ago called Hitlers Last Soldier in America. I'm curious if this is the same fellow.

[@bigtimelsu]

Yes. Same guy.

[@johnstevenson9956]

Riveting. I'm glad he made it.

[@jasonthewatchmansson8873]

Fascinating story, but why is the author's name treated as if it is a big secret? I had to learn it from the comments.

[@bobroberts2581]

Almost like the United States amounts to 50 different country sized political regions roughly the size of countries on other continents. Oh wait; precisely that.

[@The-Dom]

"uncensored press" ah the good ol days

[@Matty06001]

Oh baloney, things were far more censored back then. I hate it when people think there were any good old days. There’s no such thing as good old days, people were just naïve.

[@wahine7556]

It's not about censorship in the sense of what gets printed but what is allowed to stay in circulation. All media has always had a slant, this is obviously true. However it was much, much harder to remove information in the era where literacy was common but before modern publishing and distro. A newpaper publishes something that is retroactively redacted and it stays out there. The physical copy lingers. A website publishes it and someone has to make sure it's archived. But even then, DMCA will have it scrubbed easily enough. ​@@Matty06001

[@wmbchristie]

Where can I obtain the book this series is based upon?

[@WW2Tales]

@wmbchristie please check the memoirs of Georg Gaertner

[@lr882027]

Amazon

[@KenInFTL2024]

So many times we hear about the evils of the SS and Nazis. Not much is said or told about the soldiers(that weren't nazis)fighting who really had no idea of what was going on behind the front lines. It's always good to learn what the other side was actually thinking during their time on and off the battlefields.

[@maryvalentine9090]

I don't believe for one single solitary minute that regular troops in the Wehrmacht had "no idea" of what was going on behind the front lines. They may not have been directly involved in the atrocities going on, but they would have had to have been complete morons to not have noticed the Nazi agenda their country had embraced. What? They didn't see ANY social propaganda? They didn't notice Kristallnacht? They didn't wonder about vast numbers of people suddenly disappearing en masse? They didn't question why Germany started invading and overrunning country after country after country? UNPROVOKED invasions???? I have yet to hear one account here where a German troop in the Wehrmacht EVER demonstrate any shame or regret, or truly accept any personal responsibility. Just the same old same old, "Oh, I wasn't a bad Nazi like those other crazy guys. I was just a nice German lad forced along against my will." or, "It was the severity of the Treaty of Versailles which forced Germany to do what it did." Blah, blah, blah.

[@Ira88881]

@@maryvalentine9090 Exactly. It was also physically impossible for the Germans to have executed so many innocents without substantial support from The Wehrmacht.

[@l.plantagenet]

​@@Ira88881I agree 💯! I'm not saying the Wehrmacht soldiers who fought mostly out of Germany like some of these men did knew, but I know the Wehrmacht helped in the genocide especially in Russia. I also believed that the average citizens knew it too. In Berlin alone there were 3,000 slave-labour, transit, and extermination camps. People knew and if they didn't live near one nor ever saw one then if they listened to Hitler or Goebbles's speeches they would have heard words like "extermination" over and over in relation to Jews. But of course, after the war none of these good Germans knew anything about it. But, yes, the Wehrmacht helped a LOT with the genocide.

[@andreasdavid2404]

But it is like with the treatment of Black people in the south states in the sixties, people in New York heard about all of these Black and White rules, but never minded about. But you must remember, to be one of the "Widerstandskämpfer", was something different to beeing a member of an antiracial demo in Boston, LA or New York in the sixties. And, a lot of germans cant understand and accept what was done in their german name and were of course ashamed. It took a lot of years until all germans, also the not involved germans accepted the guilt of germany and the german people.

[@l.plantagenet]

@@andreasdavid2404 I agree with what you're saying, but the Germans knew. Did you know that there were over 42,000 concentration camps, slave labour campsin, extermination camps, Ghettos, and Brothels that had forced sex slave with about 3,000 around Berlin? I'm sure there were some who didn't know, but I think most of the people knew. They could smell them. Like I wrote, I agree with your analogy, but I don't think you could drive far until you ran into one. Just my opinion. Take care ✌️

[@OublietteTight]

Really deeply enjoying this channel. Frustrated with following each person's story in correct timeline? Am I missing an index or clue to keep the videos in the right order?

[@Dr_Tripper]

AFter about 10 minutes of this excellent story your AI gets tired and can no longer pronounce some words. Give your little AI prisoner a break once in a while.

[@alexwhite7756]

Whose autobiography is this?

[@WW2Tales]

@alexwhite7756 Sir these are the memoirs of Georg Gaertner

[@jimbo92107]

What a tragic waste, to live your adult life in fear of people that, after perhaps ten years, no longer cared that you were once a German POW. Germans (and Japanese) are a polite and civilized people. When not at war, most Americans find them all to be quite enjoyable friends.

[@moorek1967]

So he was well-treated, well-fed, and wasn't tortured or suffered any other unfortunate circumstance, he escapes to live a blessed life in the country he was at war with......and no sense of remorse? Sgt. Ralph Edward Moore 201st Coast Artillery Corp Flint Company, captured at Corrigedor, Philippines and forced in the Bataan Death March along with 70,000 American and Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen, watched women beaten and killed with bayonets and people too weak to walk or dead were run over by tanks. Sgt Ralph Edward Moore released from Bilibid Prisoner of War Camp after three years of starvation, torture, Beri Beri, mental and physical abuse, has to go through all of that and one little German boy thinks his life was so terrible in an American prisoner of War camp that didn't do any of those things, but like a "brave" man, wants to escape from what is the best place to be in a POW camp? I have no sympathy for this man who claims to live in fear of being arrested while he just agreed to the slaughters of millions of people and very few of them escaped. They were too dead, too dying, too weak, too hungry to fight back, too young, too old. They were women, mothers, wives, fathers, husbands, grandmothers and grandfathers, slaughtered while this man wants to escape because they made in him work on a farm and fed him and didn't beat him. Nope, no sympathy whatsoever for this "German soldier". Sgt Ralph Edward Moore 1908-1962. My grandfather.

[@Native_love]

Many Navajos were on the Bataan Death March as well. Many horrible stories. One elderly Navajo said he survived by keeping a few small pebbles in his mouth so that it wasn't so dry during the march. Those were the Japanese and this is a German. They treated American POWs better than the Japs did.

[@RVPilot-d7g]

Gob bless your Grandpa. My wife is from Panpanga Philippines and we have drove from Bataan to Panpanga on the whole death march route. We stopped along the way several times. We owe everything we have and get to do because of their sacrifices. It disgusts me to see what is happening to the USA. I hear WW 2 history isn’t being taught anymore in some schools. No wonder

[@johnohanasian9344]

I think EVERY American citizen should HAVE to watch this so they can see just how LUCKY they are to live in such a great country, and so they can see the deterioration of this great country by the INSANE far left and the WOKE anti- American values they stand for. GOD BLESS AMERICA.

[@JimmieHiggins]

Fellow countryman, (assuming), you blame the “left” for holding anti-American values when facts show the right banning, even burning books, these people are on the right. Burning and banning books is anti-American. It’s more like the NAZI behavior doing the same thing. So, are you saying we should have been on the NAZI side? The same side American solders of the “greatest generation” fought and died protecting American values from NAZI values of hate? The right are the supporters of torturing prisoners in the endless wars against terrorism, another NAZI like behavior. Our problem is the oligarchy’s greed stealing the wealth for military-industrial-complex wars all over the world for their wealth and power, just like the Fascist. Only propaganda and lies about the left being anti-American. The left isn’t calling for civil war either. And yet America, in war, kicked the asses of NAZIs and the Confederate Rebels of the Civil War and we will do it again if enemies of America values try to make the US Fascist.

[@SandfordSmythe]

"Woke" will tell me not to waste my time any further

[@billolsen4360]

You're right about that, friend.

[@RVPilot-d7g]

Yes exactly If Potato head gets back in our country is done. Thats not an exaggeration

[@bookaufman9643]

Why in the hell would you escape from a POW camp after the war was over?

[@Bob.W.]

To not end up in Siberia, as he explains.

[@kristheobserver]

This POW was named Georg Gärtner. He was afraid of being returned to Russian held territory.

[@Nochancet.v]

Because the Ruski will have his guts for garters His home town was east germany

[@bookaufman9643]

@@Nochancet.v I understand your answer but that answer has already been given. Like I said in the other comment I've seen this video before but I hadn't remembered the reasoning behind everything. I've only watched the first 10 minutes before I had to do something else. My reply to a comment like yours is already in this commentary section.

[@lukeywalsh]

POWs were being sent to the region of a Germany their families came from. If your family was from the Soviet zone, you were in big danger of being handed over to the Russians by American authorities. This audio is from Georg Gärtner's book who wrote 'Hitler's Last Soldier in America'

[@susankerr9521]

For what it's worth, the word "corps" is pronounced like "core," not "corpse."

[@tommendiola1950]

Is the author of this memoir still alive?

[@WW2Tales]

Sir sadly he passed away in 2013

[@billolsen4360]

@@WW2Tales Made it to age 92

[@midnightchannel111]

"Fritz Ritz", while the Germans practically starved our POWs. Certainly no beer or wine, or correspondence courses etc. We also built special accomoda5jon fir Germans officers, anx high ranking officers got tiny Bavarian "villas", complete with flowers and benches in front. Because the Geneva Convention required it be done. We acted in an honorable manner. The Germanas did not.

[@StevenHausser]

What a dope. He would have been let loose. Could have even moved here.

[@billolsen4360]

No. He would have had to move back to the exact place in Germany where he lived before the war once the American Army took them back to their country of origin after the war. Where this guy was from is an area known a Silesia, which was under Russian occupation post-war and the Russians were grabbing former German soldiers and taking them to Siberia to do forced labor for 5 to 10 years at a time, if the man lived that long, which many didn't. The Allies, French, British, Russian and American kept a tight lid on the German public during the post-World War II occupation period so it wasn't easy for those people just to move around when they felt like it.

[@nedludd7622]

"corps" is pronounced "cor" like "core", not "corpse". In plural it is "corz". Imagine if you pronounced it "corpses".

[@l.plantagenet]

It's AI maybe, but it's NOT a human speaking.

[@billolsen4360]

@@l.plantagenet Definitely either AI or text-reading software.

[@zakkyummms]

Who's memoir is this?

[@WW2Tales]

Sir please check memoirs of George Gaertner Regards

[@davebeing7402]

Great series; but the AI text-to-voice reader needs better training! The constant mispronunciations are annoying.

[@MikeOfKorea]

The AI really needs to learn acronyms and the names of nationalities and countries.

[@galenhaugh3158]

Adolf never knew what he was getting himself into!

[@dda40x1]

Must be some of the Germans that worked my grandfather's farm.

[@bookaufman9643]

You guys have to try harder on the AI narrator. This one probably has the most mispronunciations of any of these episodes and it's a little bit insulting. Thousands of people are watching these and it seems as if you could put in that little bit of extra effort to get the narration on track.

[@malcolmburgh3122]

It's Qeens english. Not American.

[@arthurhouston3]

At this time there are 133 million in US.

[@williamhervey6409]

I love the content but the autovoice mispronunciations are almost intolerable

[@billolsen4360]

The story is so good that eventually, you'll hardly notice it.

[@lindatshappat4973]

My father -in-law , whom I never met, worked at one of these camps and was given an elephant hand carved from wood from one of the prisoners. I've long wondered about it and wonder if it has any value. My kids aren't interested in it and I considered selling it.

[@johnm7249]

If you know where the POW camp was a nearby museum would very likely accept it as a donation. The history museum in Opelika, AL has several items from the POW camp that was south of town on display.

[@billkramer2994]

Shld have been a Ger accent! It was their pows!

[@stevelukoski7152]

With no water in the desert ?

[@Richard-g4u1r]

Outspent and defeated by the yank(ee)s. Now you know how Red Sox fans felt. Fun Fact: Yankee is what it sounded like when the local indi(ans)genous people tried to say English.

[@75west]

what is the native language of the speaker?

[@WW2Tales]

English

[@ramblerdave1339]

​@@WW2TalesHow can artificial intelligence have a native language?

[@billolsen4360]

Native language is Digital

[@kevinquist]

love the stories. hate the robo voice.

[@rickyball5165]

There lucky we let them live to make it to the camp.

[@gruweldaad]

Corps is pronounced like core, not like corpse.

[@johntelesca1440]

How ironic, successful but sad

[@steverascon132]

AI still has trouble pronouncing certain words. Work on it.

[@billkramer2994]

Why do we have to listen to a brit/aussie to narrate a German pow story!!!???

[@WW2Tales]

Sir because the Majority of audience likes this particular voice and accent,we tried switching over to others ( Americam and British accents/ voices) It was highly discouraged by the subscribers

[@jimsmith9819]

0900 is AM not PM PM is 2100

[@katmandudawn8417]

I have loved all of the stories and am catching some parts of this one that I missed the first time. My only issue is the bizarre pronunciation that this reading is littered with. It is very off putting and distracting. I lose the thread of tale while I try to figure what was just said because of the butchering of the English words. It wasn’t even consistent. It might have been better I the reader mispronounced the same word the same way each time but he didn’t. If this is a computerized voice it’s a shame. You have fabulous stories are diminished by such poor presentation. Do better. Not being able to properly pronounce a word in the past tense is just ignorant.

[@RT-far-T]

Why is there are swastika on the top right of the thumbnail? You seem to have dropped all pretence at balance now, and it's just one ex-Heer after another.

[@timshort9585]

Where does it hurt?

[@WW2Tales]

@RT-far-T Sir its the channel mascot just trying to give thumbnail a uniqueness,, anyways its not included in today's thumbnail you know why we upload more content related to Germany specifically German prisoners of war , because people hardly take interest in other memoirs ,for example we have uploaded memoirs of a Japanese kamikaze pilot ,memoirs of a Luftwaffe pilot , memoirs of An American company commander , infact we just uploaded part 2 of memoirs of An American Marine from Pacific Theater of War, just go to video ,watch the views, likes and watch time ,you will get the answer .We would definitely like to upload content which is liked and loved by majority of Audience .If you ask about Personal Choices ,since long we so badly want to share the memoirs of A U boat Ace of Aces( covering the war in Atlantic) ,but have not shared yet considering it would not get appreciation from majority of our audience , hope it was a justified reply to your query ,kind regards

[@tannerdenny5430]

Why would you run from the hand that gets ya drunk?-1940s logic.

[@thecianinator]

11:16 Cigarette-ehs? Rang-ehd? This sounds AI generated

[@lescobrandon3047]

A military with no idea of how to read maps? Very strange. Or lies. How did they look at a classroom world globe and not see the size of Germany vs Soviet Union and United States?