History Professor Breaks Down Band of Brothers Ep. 9 "Why We Fight" / Reel History

[@johnorloff3738]

Excellent break down. FYI, the script had the following as a superimposed title over the "Hitler's dead" location: "Thalem, Germany, May1, 1945." I will never know why it's wrong in the episode. Sigh-- that's what happens when you have 700 people work on something. Stuff falls through the cracks! Cheers!!

[@ReelHistory]

Thanks John! Appreciate your work!

[@gettysburgguy]

Thanks for that input, John. You are indeed right. Can't catch everything!

[@iammanofnature235]

@@ReelHistory Colonel Edward Seiller, of the 12th Armored Division, who was the one who ordered civilians from Landsberg am Lech to bury the dead also ordered it to be filmed. Though it's not the best quality, that film can be viewed here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hISTY3anaLGcnMU

[@ginjamutha]

John - the episodes you wrote are two of my favourites in what I consider to be the best tv series ever made. A small error that was not in your control means little in the grand scheme of things. I listened to a podcast you were in recently and the fact you had so little to work with for this episode makes what you achieved all the more amazing. The way you passionately spoke about your work was truly moving. Thank you for representing the experiences of Easy Company so brilliantly. I can’t wait for Masters of the Air 😊

[@danballe]

@@iammanofnature235 Jezz with NO Audio I dont know if it makes it less bad or worst! Thanks for sharing that.

[@Red-km1cc]

The US soldiers knew they were fighting a tyrant, but they didn't knew the magnitude of the evil they were about to put a stop to it, yet they fought through all kinds of hell all the same. Excellent episode, amazing video, keep up the good work.

[@veramae4098]

The war time series "Why we fight" directed by Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak are available on the 'Net. These were produced and distributed to the public at the time of the war. I've never understood why the U.S. was so surprised at the concentration camps. There were plenty of people who came to U.S. from Germany telling us what was happening. There's a movie, called I think ... darn now I can't remember. Anyhow it's about a passenger ship full of refugees before the U.S. entered the war, and they could not get permission from any place in the New World to dock and unload. Ended up going back to Germany ... My mother talks about a teacher she had in this small village high school who would talk about what the Nazis were doing (she was a refugee). The kids all thought she was just crazy.

[@aaronseet2738]

I cried when the prisoner hugged and kissed one of the troopers knowing they've been liberated.

[@IcedEarth426]

Any time I see a scene where a definitely not Nazi says that they didn't know about what was going on I think about the scene with Spencer Tracy in Judgement at Nuremberg. "As far as I can make out nobody in this country knew." Even if they didn't know the full extent, many of them didn't want to know. Obviously their neighbors weren't disappearing to be sent on a luxury vacation.

[@gabepoling3536]

not saying it was right but think of it from your average German citizen. All the benefits after hitler taking power. unemployment drops to almost nothing, paid vk, and best economy in decades. so of course these people over looked the decimation of the Jewish populous. the towns surrounding the camps were forced to clean up what they enabled. but should have they been further punished? i dont think so but some did

[@JohnBrownsArmory]

It was easier for the people to just accept being told "They're being sent east to work." While they may not have known the full extent, they knew.

[@IcedEarth426]

@Ms Bliss What gets me is that once Germany lost the war, suddenly everyone who had been a fervent supporter of the regime now conveniently claimed that they had been a secret anti-Nazi the whole time. None better represented than in someone like Albert Speer, who should have been executed. If you're interested, I recommend listening to talks given by Niklas Frank, where he talks about how a lot of people from that era either downplay or avoid discussion of family/personal involvement in the regime. It's fascinating, because he's not only the son of Hans Frank, but he grew up in post WW2 Germany and saw those social issues all up close.

[@kkpenney444]

@@gabepoling3536 so *of course* they overlooked the decimation of the Jewish populace?? Hey, what's a genocide compared to a paycheck.

[@douglassnyder214]

There is an interesting video on KZbin about movies taken by Germans during this time period. Germany was becoming wealthy in the late 30's. There was a blossoming industry making home movie cameras during that time, and it became a status symbol to own one. More than any other European nation, citizens of Germany made home movies documenting daily life in pre war and wartime Nazi Germany. After the war, most of these video were hidden away, as the people who recorded the movies were ashamed by the content. But, after all this time, these videos are coming out. The people in the videos are dead now, and the inheritors of these videos are making them public. And these videos are forcing historians to change their opinions of the German populous. These videos show openly racist and hostile attitudes to others, not by Nazis, but by average Germans. They show that there was probably much more widespread knowledge of the Haulocost than thought. Racism and Aryan supremacy was widespread and embraced by most in the general population.

[@m1m3rmedia]

Incredibly hard to watch episode, but a very important one. These crimes against humanity must never be forgotten.

[@hand3and3]

We hear about the holocaust constantly. The real history that gets forgotten are the japanese atrocoties (unit 731, rape of nanjing, sex slaves from korea, cannibalism, etc...) We also never hear about the communists killing 20 million christians, or raping all of germany as they pushed in. Soviet commanders ordered men to rape all german women, no matter the age. I'm sick of hearing about the holocaust. Its always paired with violin music to really make u feel sad. The victors write history tho

[@blakebergquist5436]

The world agreed to never let it happen again, yet here we are in 2021 and there’s currently a genocide occurring in China.

[@krishkrish8213]

The British had the bower concentration camps , thousands of people died but its never talked about in British schools I didn't even know it happend and to this day probably wouldn't know it happend if it wasn't for clicking on a KZbin recommended video. We have MPs that downplayed the camps and the atrocities that were committed.

[@jasonb9562]

These should all be remembered in case we find ourselves or others going down that same path. Trail of tears, African slave trade, etc should be in that conversation as well.

[@jacktattis]

Deniers state they never happened

[@simples7758]

Thanks for mentioning the 12th Armored division. This cleared up a bit of confusion I had in the episode as I had always had the impression that it was an armored unit that had liberated the camp. My grandfather was a survivor of the camps and most of the congregation in his synagogue were survivors with numbers on their arms. I still recall, over 60 years ago, one of them saying that the most wonderful thing he saw in his life was when tanks with white stars appeared outside the camp. I will never forget.

[@Papillon234]

You’re a very thoughtful and empathetic person. Thank you for your considerate, fair and thorough work.

[@ReelHistory]

You are very welcome. You're kind words are appreciated.

[@johngingras]

I can't watch this episode without ending up in tears. The horror, the evil, the inhumanity of what was done just hits so hard.

[@brovold72]

Is very clever/jarring that they use the most generous "we could've been pals/just doing their jobs" veteran intro monologues for this one.

[@johngingras]

@@brovold72 Agreed!

[@L1VE3V1L]

If you don’t shed any tears, it’s almost inhuman

[@andreraymond6860]

Thank you. This is is an episode that hit me hard upon first viewing the series. I have watched many reactors since on You Tube and have become some what hardened to its impact, but your comments and analysis has brought me back to that first feeling of outrage I felt nearly 20 years ago. The quote from Stein 'these are my people' echoes Liebgott breaking down in the truck and crying after translating the announcement that the prisoners would have to remain in their 'enclosure'. It informs his actions in the last episode.

[@edwardwhite4015]

What I appreciate about your reviews is that you don't nit-pick a film to death and realizing that the film makers had to condense certain events and characters in order to tell a compelling story.

[@77mpickett]

Silence is as lethal as violence. Well said sir...

[@SpookyDeer]

Webster's portrayal in the series I think is so fantastic. His book, Parachute Infantry is a recurring re-read for me.

[@guyjperson]

I'm going to have to find that book, (and maybe the one about sharks). I quite liked Webster in this show, and was told, while saying I admired him, that he wasn't well liked in the Company and was always thought of as an outsider. Eion Bailey always raises the caliber of any character he portrays

[@matthewhull5876]

It’s entirely appropriate that these scenes make you sad. That is the right reaction. They need to be shown though. So the next generation will remember.

[@tracypolselli1464]

I’m proud to say my twenty six year old son just bought the book and he and his friends are binge watching this most important “show”.

[@ReelHistory]

Thats awesome, thank you!

[@bwianbiccus]

When that old POW hugs that soldier and breaks down crying. I did cry me self.

[@MBarne4908]

Going back through this show twice in the past two weeks and reading both Ambrose’s “BAND OF BROTHERS and “D-DAY” it’s amazing this series was done as well as it is, and still holds up. I watch it twice a year and visited the 101sr Airborne museum in Ft. Campbell last week. Thanks so much for providing extra details, and filling in some blanks. Greatly appreciated. Look forward to getting all your booksz

[@Rmasters33]

My wife's uncle jumped with the 101st, 326th AEB at Normandy His plane was hit, on fire, both pilots killed and he was wounded and/or broke his leg on landing on a fence. He thought about half the stick got out. He was made a POW almost immediately by an English speaking German soldier. The guy could have shot him, but he said he was a conscript and wasn't going to kill anybody. My father was in the 172 ECB engineers and came in through Normandy D-Day +60. His outfit built a 1400+ foot pontoon bridge over the Rhine in March, 1945, Dad was held over a year rebuilding things and received a commendation for his work in turning a Wehrmacht HQ building in Kassel into a hospital. I understand it's still being used.

[@savionsmith2204]

How long was he a POW?

[@Serenity113]

Stein: "They're my people." God, that hit my heart like sledgehammer. I can't imagine...

[@FlankerJackChannel]

And yet in 2021 we tolerate Nazis because they are a sizable voting block of a major political party. Who will stand against them?

[@direwolf6234]

@@FlankerJackChannel don't forget the confederates waving their flags too...

[@tzufbb]

I can imagine I'm both a Jew and an Autistic both were victims of Nazi genocide

[@jjones503]

@@direwolf6234 there are litterally zero logical colorations between the confederates, their flag, and nazi germany. Any connection you may fathom is simply delusional confirmation bias.

[@direwolf6234]

@@jjones503 enslaving people is the commonality ...

[@lucasrokitowski8707]

My aunt is currently 99 years old and lived through a camp like this. She sometimes forgets what she's been doing yesterday, but she can recite the names of the concentration camp guards at any time.

[@shadxwslash44]

24:03 I might be wrong, but I think the line said by Bible, Shia LaBeouf's character, in "Fury (2014)" is a reference to Babe's recollection. - Wait until you see it... - See what? - What a man can do to another man.

[@ReelHistory]

That sentiment was common among these veterans -Andy

[@tigqc]

God bless Ike for having the foresight that he did to make sure everything was documented.

[@mikloowl4899]

I never fully understood holocaust deniers or how they could be so until 2020 rolled around and being in health care ... now I get it.

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

@@mikloowl4899 Yes, despite all the evidence to the contrary that the virus wasn't as deadly as the media and fear mongers were claiming, that it was made in a lab in China, and that China was responsible for letting it getting anywhere near the level it did and still those people were told they were stupid, lying, and perpetuating a conspiracy theory even though everything they claim has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be true.

[@ZuperFlax]

Excellent and heartbreaking episode. Thank you for your lovely insights and your vulnerability that you share with us! Keep up the good work!

[@rayharley597]

There are three images that stick with me from the camp scenes; Bull Randleman hunkered down almost unbelievably stricken by what he was seeing, the exchange of salutes between Perconte and the Jewish Veteran of the Kaiser's Imperial Army and Perconte calling O'Keefe by his name and the ghostly expression on O'Keefe's face, kerk

[@SamTochelliDzn]

Holy crap, this series only has 4k views? It popped in my recommended feed so I assumed it was very popular. I've been listening to these on my drive to and from work every day this week after finishing my yearly rewatch of the series and it's wonderful getting this additional detail.

[@ReelHistory]

Thank you! This is a relatively new channel still.

[@SamTochelliDzn]

@@ReelHistory Well this is excellently produced content, and such a good addition to the series.

[@ReelHistory]

Thank you again! Feel free to share and help it grow. Its fun to put together and see peoples reactions.

[@bennettroberts4155]

I've seen the series a million times and this episode makes me cry every time. If that's not a testimony to how good Bob is idk

[@monitor1862]

In the 1960s my father worked with a WW2 vet who helped liberate one of the camps. He told my dad it was beyond belief that people were being treated that way. Lots of "medical" experiments.

[@robertsarasi392]

Only when I first saw this I realized that the world didn’t know at that time what we know now. It hit me like a truck. Thank you for this series of thoughts. I found it 2 days ago, but I cannot stop watching.

[@joshualincoln7191]

This may seem weird but I was glad to see you get so emotional during this episode. I have probably seen this 25 times and every time I sob. I can’t help it. It makes me, in equal measure, sick and furious. I am a new subscriber and am loving your channel.

[@morgainedepolloc4161]

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. My Dad gave me his copy. And yes, my Dad was a life-long reader. It now makes sense--it may have provided comfort during his wartime experience in WW II. And it continued to provide comfort later in life.

[@FIDEL_CASHFLOW_]

@3:32 I recall reading an interview somewhere with one of the writers or producers and they answered the question why this scene is included especially because it feels so out of place. This individual said that they included it because he dies just a short while later and it was an attempt at giving some sort of contrast to his death, showing him full of life and every bit a human man.

[@bobrock80]

Thank you for your words at the end of this episode. It can´t be underlined enough, that silence was and still is interpreted as acceptance. I trully hope people will learn from history and never again stay silent when every voice of one´s conscience is needed.

[@jtfike]

If that town decided not to remain silent, they would have been buried in the rubble right next to them. The “silence is acceptance” is a quote only made by people living a cushy life. The army was upset because the town denied knowing what happened. Not because they remained silent in the face of oppression. A very distinct difference. No one is upset they were silent to survive. They were upset because they denied even knowing. That town had no power to change the outcome of that camp. None.

[@tracyfrazier7440]

Thank you for helping me learn more about WW2. Recently I saw a video about why the German people accepted these atrocities. It makes great sense to me because it is still with us and always will be I guess. Our human nature is to refuse to admit we are wrong. We go along with policies that maybe we aren’t really comfortable with because we are told, “yes, it is difficult, but it must be done for the good of society.” After being in total support of controversial policies, people do not draw a line in the sand and say, No further. They must continue to support the leadership or have to admit they were wrong-be seen as fools, idiots, and really, is there anything worse than shame? Yes, there is. I think this is the root cause of the apathy, ignorance, and unwillingness of the German people to stop the madness.

[@hannah_odette]

Hi! I'm just wondering, What was the video you watched? I'd love to see it sometime, if I can.

[@tracyfrazier7440]

@@hannah_odette I will check my usual suspects and let you know if I can find it again.

[@hannah_odette]

@@tracyfrazier7440 Thank you so much. I really appreciate this!!

[@tracyfrazier7440]

@@hannah_odette Here is the link to the video. I think the entire video is worth watching, but it crystallizes into the main point after the 20 minute mark. I’m glad you asked about it because I needed the reminder. Please let me know if you think it was insightful. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWm4q6CCqL16iLc

[@hannah_odette]

@@tracyfrazier7440 thank you so much! I definitely will 🙂

[@edmundscycles1]

A freind in my south Wales village was part of 22nd army group Royal Artillery. He discovered a death camp with his section . I never forget seeing him punch a guy in the face for denying the holocaust. He was 87 when he punched the guy out .

[@johnmassoud930]

Your friend is a great human being.

[@joshuasill1141]

Here's another sick twist: German soldiers of the Wehrmacht that had breakdowns, suffering the effects of PTSD from fighting on the Eastern Front, the effects of methamphetamine addiction, or the combination of all the above and deemed unfit for service were all sent to the concentration camps too as the Nazis declared them unfit to return to "society". The twist is all of Himmler's SS troops who suffered the same thing from all the atrocities they were committing were given extra leave time, better lodgings and food, and a bump in pay for "fighting the good fight".

[@hoozurmama883]

My son is in the 82nd stationed at Ft. Bragg. We live near Bragg. It gives you chills to hear the troopers singing Blood on the Risers at events.

[@ReelHistory]

Don't forget to like and subscribe, but most importantly SHARE this video anywhere that you see fit! This was a difficult video to make but we here at Reel History appreciate you taking the time out of your day to watch. Thanks!

[@troyellis7489]

You guys do an awesome job at giving real context to this. I’d love to see you take a look at the Netflix series The Liberator.

[@FlankerJackChannel]

When 40% of the United States watch an episode like this and don't think something like this will happen to them or they want to be in the guard towers that is why we fight.

[@samuel10125]

He was right and despite the evidence there still a small group that believe it never happened and all the evidence is doctored and the film is acting

[@ramon1906]

But i live Close to Remagen, a Part of that Bridge still stands and there is a Museum in it now:)

[@saltynutsman1]

@@FlankerJackChannel fight who? Read Twitter? This could happen again easily. It’ll be a while till humans evolve to a point we think this is unbelievable.

[@Nitemare1989]

I worked with a very wonderful man almost 10 years ago (i lost contact with him) who was a survivor of a concentration camp he had the number tattoos on his arm. I never got the courage to ask him what camp though, I didn't want to bring up any bad memories. But he was one of the most kind hearted and selfless people I knew.

[@jaimevalencia6271]

He spit in the face of every nazi by being alive I hope he has peace and a long life

[@jasonb9562]

@@jaimevalencia6271 that’s a great way of putting it. The best revenge is a well lived life.

[@gravitypronepart2201]

Well done sir. Heart breaking, but needed. We must never forget.

[@michaelw8262]

I only saw Thirteen Days once several years ago and I remember thinking it was just OK, but I find the Cuban Missile Crisis to be a fascinating moment in history.

[@Ponykeg53]

You should of lived though it.

[@hvacrnortheastern2110]

One of my uncle was in the 11th armored division they liberated Mauthausen & Gusen overran two of largest concentration camps . He pass alway 10 years ago.

[@doa75]

My first PT test at FT Bragg Blood on the Risers was playing on the PA as we ran the 2 mile along Ardennes Boulevard. It was glorious.

[@morgainedepolloc4161]

Good mention of the discovery of the concentration camp. I had some interaction with US Japanese citizens who are very disturbed that their role in liberation is not consistently and accurately addressed---so much so that they reacted almost violently to mention of my Dad's role (my father and I perceived as "white," though of mixed heritage). An experience that almost comes full circle with regard to race/ethnicity---our struggles regarding inclusion/cultural identity continue today.

[@lowellwhite1603]

There were many concentration and work camps liberated, all over Germany and occupied Europe. This was, by far not the only one.

[@BlargeMan]

That's interesting, I didn't even know that. God bless those Japanese American troops, they showed incredible loyalty and grace when they really didn't have to and it wasn't completely deserved by our government at the time.

[@ibuprofriends]

@@BlargeManstill wouldnt be deserved tbh

[@christophercarrier2902]

@@ibuprofriendsIf the US is judged in comparison with other real countries, versus a hypothetical utopia, it doesn’t look that bad.

[@peinek]

I know I'm late and I just discovered this channel. My favorite historical movie is Midway(1976). Love the channel!

[@BTVRhoenrad]

Thank you for your very exciting analysis of this fantastic series. I only moved to Landsberg two or three years ago and only learned through "Band of Brothers" that there was also a concentration camp here. I visited the locations after that. Professionally I have already visited some camps (I work for television) it is still very moving for me every time to enter such a place.

[@Machtyn]

RE: Walking in the forest. The smells surrounding that camp would probably have been the first thing to assault them. I don't remember if the actors portrayed that. It definitely would have been off-putting and very disturbing to walk in on this camp and others like it. And it's why the Nuremburg Trials still will find a 90+ year old German living in South America somewhere and bring them to justice.

[@ronmaximilian6953]

Thank you for your observations and correcting some of the misconceptions and errors in this episode. I cringe every time they get Hitler's death wrong. But others like having the unit liberate Kaufering IV were made for very good reasons. I don't think any episode of any historical drama has affected me this way. The AHC documentary "Nazi Death Squads: Einsatzgruppen" came close. The only things that surpassed it were "Schindler's List" the Russian movie "Come and See." I am a son and quadruple grandson of Holocaust survivors and have known about it since I was 7. I watch the episode every year either on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz or Yom Hashoah.

[@gregborchardt2547]

As a historian, I am surprised by your comment at around 28:30 that the Germans allowed the atrocities to happen. As a historian, you should know that the Nazi regime was a dictatorship and the first thing Hitler did when he gained power was kill everyone who had opposed him. That is what dictators do, and much more, and much worse (think North Korea, as a modern example). It was very common for people who voiced opposition to anything the Nazi regime did throughout their reign to be arrested and then never to be seen again (again, think North Korea). A common comment by people who survive a dictatorial government is that "half of the people were spying on the other half." Dictators rule their people with utter fear and are ruthless in controlling their people. There was no freedom of speech or freedom of the press, which was 100% controlled by the regime. As a historian, you really should know and understand these aspects of the Nazi regime. That being said, I am really enjoying your videos. I watched 7 of your BOB videos yesterday and now am watching the rest today before moving on to other movies you review. Thanks!

[@joek600]

You forget the part where most Germans felt that Hitler was actually fulfilling Germany's ''destiny''. As long as there was victory after victory everybody cheered feeling vindicated for the crushed dream of WWI. After the fall of the ''3rd Reich'' not a single nazi in Germany..... right....

[@megancrager4397]

You're both right. Many Germans actively took part in the abuse, way before the Jews were shipped off to camps & ghettos. Some didn’t, but far too many did.

[@MrJJuK]

I brought this episode in to show in our RE class back when I was in year 7 I think I was 13. Was a very powerful episode

[@guyjperson]

I watched this when it came out, and am going back through BoB again. I remember you stumping for your 1000th sub. Come a long way since then, it seems. Congrats.

[@ReelHistory]

It turns out that hard work pays off. - Andy

[@benballesteros6346]

Thank you for supplying such great information

[@iamnolegend483]

Regarding Dick Winters’ comment about the Germans getting their own medicine: My father served in the 95th Division and I recall my mother telling me he and his buddies were eating in a “liberated” German house. After they were done, they threw the dishes out the window.

[@IrishTechnicalThinker]

Excellent video and thanks for sharing your thoughtful knowledge on this whole series. I got emotional, watching your emotions. This is a brilliant channel.

[@aleksanderstrommer7677]

I've been waiting this video for 20+ years.

[@rockstarJDP]

Around 21:30 ish, theres another Easter egg for you - the French soldier performing the executions is Tom Hanks apparently!

[@ReelHistory]

Nope, that's a rumor that has been disproven. His one and only cameo was as one of the "red devils"

[@rockstarJDP]

@ReelHistory Ah is it? If you squint your eyes being that it's only briefly in frame you can see how it could be mistaken as him! Good of him to represent the Brits too though! This is by far his best cameo mind: kzbin.info/www/bejne/babaeHyArrmtf7ssi=azLYeOqX_JG7FnUK

[@shaggycan]

4:00 is it really surprising a guy with Winter's upbringing thought a sex scene was gratuitous?

[@TheEvertw]

WW2 was responsible for many, many babies, so it is definitely relevant.

[@krisfrederick5001]

Imagine seeing the horrors of War...then questioning humanity even more. P.S. I love the Frank Capra reference in the title..."Why We Fight" is an amazing series.

[@emmen0]

I missed the analysis on the title of this episode 'Why we fight'. It goes all the way back to the recruitment and finding the will of the people and soldiers to fight for a free and democratic world, with the use of these film series. This moments exceeds any expectation of the soldiers for the horrors of the war.

[@818Lakerplaya]

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) is one of my favorites, the first film I saw that's from the perspective of the Axis army.

[@kyleshiflet9952]

Watch Stalingrad (1993) it can be a tough watch though

[@borismuller86]

It’s interesting that Letters From Iwo Jima is soo powerful, yet Flags Of Our Fathers is largely forgettable.

[@kyleshiflet9952]

@@borismuller86 I actually think both are powerful movies in their own ways

[@stevenwiederholt7000]

The thing people have to understand about this, is it didn't just spring up suddenly in Germany. The Nuremberg laws were based on the best thinking of the previous 30-40 years on Eugenics, and the Jim Crow/Segregation of America. Eugenics was very popular/mainstream at that time.

[@nikkio.9990]

Yes indeed, Hitler didn't invent this shit, he simply capitalized on it.

[@stevenwiederholt7000]

@@nikkio.9990 Exactly my point. Thing is after the war A Lot of people were trying to cover their asses about their views on eugenics.

[@boosuedon]

I truly hope you plan to explore "The Pacific" as you did "Band of Brothers". The Pacific PTO stands in stark contrast to BoB. While the ETO had two years to train and form that special bond the Marines had a very short training period before they were loaded up on transports and sent to New Zealand and Australia to begin the long slugfest to Japan in August of 1942. No 48hr passes to a friendly city to rest, fighting a suicidal enemy one island at a time, living in the rain and mud fighting the demons of PTSD with little hope of respite. Based on several books that the actual participants published including; A Helmet For My Pillow and The Old Breed at Peleliue. Three years of fighting vs 11 months in the Europe Campaign.

[@nigeh5326]

Depends on your nationality Poles, the French and the Brits along with others fought from 1939 to 1945. 1 great uncle was killed outside Dunkirk, another 2 fought in N Africa, Italy, Normandy then across France into Belgium and on to Northern Germany. Another great uncle was captured in Singapore by the Japanese. Then tortured in a POW camp where he caught malaria and other diseases before being liberated. Until he died he used to suffer with ptsd and was always v thin and weak. All war is hell.

[@jacktattis]

2/2 AIF in Africa 1940 home again 1942 up in the SW Pacific until 1945 Discharged 1946 My friends Father was there So the Marines still late

[@jacktattis]

Oh and he fought in 25 battles in New Guinea alone

[@KNakanishi]

33:10 - I want to highlight the dramatic irony of this. At the beginning of the episode, that same woman, a wife of an SS Officer, made such a fuss at Nixon for breaking into her home. Yet she stood by in vocal support of a husband who died protecting a way of life that tortured and destroyed the lives of millions of Jews, and she knew about it.

[@rationalbasis2172]

At the end of the war, every German wanted to be taken prisoner by the armies of countries they had never occupied. Because they knew what they had done.

[@yadarehey1130]

The story of Norbert Freed felt like punch in the gut. Thanks for sharing

[@lulu63]

The Salinger fact I did not know. Thank you. Also I have lived in Holland for 40 years and the Germans knew. They ALL knew. They knew.

[@ian_forbes]

While appreciated for all the past episodes, given the tragIc events specific to this one, thank you so much for the added historical context once again. Totally agree this may be the most impressive and important television ever presented. There is so much to learn from history; as they say, so we are not doomed to repeat it. Sadly, I feel like the recent rise of overt fascist ideology and activity is an example that not enough people take the time or interest to learn from the past and to want to ensure humanity doesn’t slide back into such depravity and horror. It’s up to all of us to do better and not just let the loudest voices be heard.

[@gravitypronepart2201]

Amen. And I add Marxism to that list.

[@Smuffleri]

The HBO war trilogy in general is great but I'd love to hear your take on Generation Kill, even if it isn't your historical forte

[@ReelHistory]

That is happening, its going to be interesting

[@Smuffleri]

@@ReelHistory Excited to see it when it comes out!

[@smccall817]

Best news I’ve heard in a while. Can’t wait to see !

[@nicolehall694]

You said you had family who were liberators. I had family who were liberated. I think in some way that makes you and I family ❤ Thanks for the great breakdown of the series' most difficult episode

[@ReelHistory]

That is one of the most meaningful comments we have ever received. Thank you.

[@daylearceneaux4083]

The only drawback to portraying the camps is despite how great a job the production crews and the actors involved did, it still doesn't come close to the real footage and photos.

[@prettyokandy230]

i think they portrayed it about as well as one can expect without going back in time.

[@SNOOPY_-]

im always VERY critical to what people say. you're actually correct in what you say,thats extremely rare. well done

[@Britton_Thompson]

I disagree. I don't think the filmmakers captured the reality of the camps very well at all. My grandfather was a MP in WW2 in Europe, and they were the ones assigned to cleaning up the concentration camps after the war. What he described to me goes waaaaay beyond anything I've seen on film yet. For starters, this camp was too small. Concentration camps were actually miniature cities with their own infrastructure and services. That's just my first criticism. Don't worry, I have more. The survivors in the camp weren't skinny and sickly enough. There should've been some corpses still on the electric wire from the inmates throwing themselves onto the electrified wire just to end their suffering. The next element they missed was the filth. The huts the Jews slept in had trenches dug down the middle that they had to use for a latrine, filled with excrement and urine. Next, there weren't enough insects shown. The corpses left in the open would've drawn massive clouds of flies, along with armies of ants consuming their decomposing bodies. Easy Company should've been walking through the camp with cotton in their noses to blunt the smell of decay the way the troops had to do in real life. Otherwise, you simply couldn't endure these sites with their thoroughly nauseating aromas. The camps also would've had areas that would've looked like small swamps that seemed out of place. These 'swamps' were actually mass graves, with the mud not coming from a water source, but from the bodily fluids of the decomposing bodies underneath the surface bursting open and rising to the top. Because this was the reality of these places. No film or TV series has ever accurately depicted the unflinching reality of what these camps were truly like thus far. Uniform-clad skeletons on the barbed wire. A stench that assaults your nostrils. Clouds of insects feeding on excrement and rotting corpses. Ground soggy from countless cadavers leaking bodily liquids. Survivors so frail they could snap the ligaments in their knees if they stood up too fast. That was the reality of the concentration camps the Allies uncovered in 1945.

[@matevadas9739]

My favorite is Master and Commander from 2003

[@davidkimmel4216]

Your comments are wonderful. I really want to see the Band Of Brothers again. Thank You

[@TheFleahost]

Thank you for treating this with such reverence.

[@tzufbb]

As a Jewish Auttistic historian, I cannot but break down when I see this. Two thirds of my mother's family were exterminated in these concentration camps all over Poland .I'm an advocate for both Jewish and Autistic holocaust since Autistic people were victims of this kind of genocidal acts even before the war began. So I advocate for both Jewish and Autistic holocaust and thereby let everybody who humiliate me as an Autistic person feel a deep sense of Shame and personal responsibility for these acts. Just like we should treat Jews as human beings, Autistic people and researchers should be regarded as people with basic human rights and obligations at an equal opportunity and legal status as anyone else, otherwise we have not learnt much from the Holocaust. I'm sorry for breaking down like this but this episode touches a very sensitive nerve in my subconscious. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the issue.

[@High_Priest_Jonko]

Really cool idea, and so full of information. Nice work!

[@billdavis6900]

@ReelHistory - I know you posted this 2 years ago but I wanted to comment about your comments at the 28 minute mark when you talked about how the GI you interviewed said that one would think there were no Nazi’s in Germany and that the German populace allowed these things to happen. I think it can be argued that the German people didn’t just allow this to happen through their complacency, but that they were complicit in its happening. People need to remember that Germany was a democracy post WWI during the years of the Weimar Republic prior to Hitler coming to power & the Nazi party gradually came to power by winning regional representative elections until they had the numerical majority at which time they dismantled their democracy and converted it to a dictatorship. The point being that the German population voluntarily voted the Nazi apparatus in place. I’m not arguing that the German people could predict the future and knew exactly what the Nazi’s intentions ultimately were, but it would be erroneous for anyone to think that the German people were just apathetic bystanders who looked the other way as the Nazi’s took over. The majority of German people actively participated in the Nazi rise to power by voting them into office thus putting them into position to hijack the government and giving Hitler Carte Blanche power.

[@megancrager4397]

Absolutely. Today, many people try to excuse their apathy as helplessness.

[@wedgeantilles4712]

I like Waterloo, Tora! ... Tora! ... Tora!, Zulu, Tombstone, Master and Commander, Gettysburg and Saving private Ryan.

[@matori1901]

there is a scene in this episode in witch a man carrying old man, is speaking Serbian, he was saying "People help, please help him, he is still alive, you still can save him" i was in elementery school when i first watched this series to hear those words, to understand them, while everything else was subtitled

[@ReeseMacalma]

Keep it up! Loved watching your videos after my latest rewatch this year.

[@veramae4098]

The French had a certain notoriety for turning in the Jewish neighbors, especially business competitors, to the Nazis, even before it became a law.

[@borismuller86]

My great-grandfather, Colonel Charles King of the REME was the first British officer through the gates at Belsen Concentration Camp. He never spoke about it until one night with my mother, after he’d had a lot to drink. He showed her some photos he had taken, and told her about how he’d had nightmares for decades because of those days. At some point between that night and his death, he burnt all of the photographs. I once asked him (I was still very young) if he hated the Germans because of the war. He simply replied “No, all of the bad ones are dead.”

[@nextube_owner]

31:41 in Kamp Westerbork, Drenthe, The Netherlands, they have a speaker that says all names and ages of the ones that have gone on trains to Auschwitz, Sobíbor, Bergen-Belsen and more camps, over and over again. I was there with my scouts group, and it really hurt my feelings when i stepped closer to the wagon where the speaker was. I heard someone from ten years, another of seven. Shoutout to the news reporter who decided to volunteer to say all these names. Also, once in a year, EVERY NAME ever been in Westerbork, is being said, day and night, by various people in that foundation who does it. It takes a week to say all names! It’s incredible, we can’t let that happen again! (Unfortunately we do) 🇺🇦❤️

[@nextube_owner]

Can you imagine. There even came an old lady, 101 years old there, had her 102nd birthday in Westerbork, before being sent to a camp.

[@robertweeks4240]

watching Gettysburg directors cut right before my son and i went on a civil war battlefield road trip begining with gettysburg! absolutly my favorite!

[@megancrager4397]

Director'a cut actually cus parts out. My dad's scene was cut.

[@Valkanna.Nublet]

Seeing the people in the town saying they weren't nazis reminds me of something I heard years ago, to paraphrase: There are 5 people sat around a table. One is a card carrying member of the nazi party. One owns a business that supplies food to the local camp. One enjoys the social status she gets from being married to a high ranking official. One runs a factory that makes vehicles for the army. One was happy to see the Jews arrested because he could finally find work. There are 5 nazis sat around a table. The premise being that you don't have to be an actual card carrying party member to be guilty, if you support the regime in any way you are complicit in their crimes.

[@bennygerow]

My step mom (almost 80) was born in Germany, and she's never discussed too much about what life was like there. She discussed her dad being "a German Army officer" a few times, but that's it. I always wanted to know more, but I can't bring myself to ask the questions I may not get the truth about if I do.

[@ReelHistory]

If you go back through history and ask the people who wished they would have asked the hard questions you would be overwhelmed. Do what you think is right but there are thousands of questions I wish I could ask that can't be answered anymore.

[@noobster4779]

I only have one major problem with this episodes title. Because for all its crimes....they were not the reason the USA fought nazi germany. Nazi Germany declared war on the USA, not the other way around. The nazis forced the USA into the war, the USA didnt koin it because they opposed Evil. They joined the war in Europe because another nation declared war upon them. And before the classic argument comes with "buth the Holocaust only really started in 1941 onwards..." No, it didnt. The first extermination Germany started was in 1939 in Poland with mass murder in the hundreds of thousands. Also the entire time of the German-Soviet War in 1941 horrendous attrocities were commited by Germany and the USA didnt join the war (and yes they were known to a degree do to britain intercepting germany "extermination lists"). The US only joined the war becaus ethey were forced to by the Nazis themselfs. Post war this narrative of a crusiade against evil was created, that the USA embarged to fight evil germany. In hindsight, it was exactly the correct assesment. But it was not the casus belli and not the reason for "why we fight". It was, as hard as it is to say, simply a side effect. it is the same with japan. Japan was commiting mass murder, human experiments and crimes against humanity on a massive scale during the war of China and that was even more known then Germanies crimes by the international community until Pearl harbour. Still the USA didnt join the war to "fight against evil", they were forced to join the war when the "evil" others suffered for years blew up pearl harbour and declared war upon the USA. Against neather main Axis power the USA proactively acted (compared to France or th UK) so the USA sadly doesnt have a moral highground in this. Until they were themselfs forced to look at the crimes by the criminals, the USA was "looking away" willingly itself. The USA would have gone to war with japan and germany without them commiting war crimes because both germany and japan actively started the wars with the USA by their own initiative. The fact that germany and japan were commiting crimes against humanity played no importance in that.

[@heatherwheeler8330]

My first reaction to this was, just imagine being the people who find this, like what do you even think, how do you even begin to process what's in front of you

[@TheEvertw]

I am so glad the top brass took responsibility. It was so easy to handle these situations wrong, leading to even more suffering and death for the inmates. Like just throwing the gates open would lead to them wondering off into the woods and perishing there. Or giving them an unlimited supply of food would cause them to eat too much and die. Even sending them home would not always work out well, as their houses were usually taken over by others, and they had nowhere to go, their family also having been exterminated. These people needed to be nursed back to some level of health, then repatriated. The war was far from over for these people.

[@joshuasill1141]

You can't. In the early stages of Iraq we often had a group of Iraqi National Guard units or Iraq Police units we were training or interpreters with us. They all wore face masks so they couldn't be identified by the local populaces. Sometimes we would go out on patrol and find these guys and their families butchered and dismembered in their homes, or get reports that various officers or high ranking soldiers were being replaced because of what happened to them. You don't shake that.

[@ChrisMillerCrazyHouse]

As an artist Iam usually interested in special effects and how the production team recreated certain sequences. This is one that must have been extremely difficult for the production team to research and recreate.

[@vernonrabbetts]

They went to a Cancer Ward and asked for non-actors to play the parts of the inmates. When they explained what they were doing they had a lot of volunteers. The main actors never saw the camp, or the inmates until the day of shooting to make their reactions more realistic. Unfortunately, there were too many pictures from too many camps of too many victims, whether living or dead. It made designing the camp too easy... ...I read the testimony of a British Sergeant at Bergen Belsen. He was given a milk tank and a ladle to dish out to people as needed it. He described how a scarecrow of rags pushed her way to him and thrust a bundle of rags into his arms and gestured for milk. He opened the rag bundle and found a very dead baby in them. She wouldn't give in, she demanded milk and in the end he ladled a small amount of milk onto a mouth that had not been able to open for weeks at his estimate. The mother, the scarecrow, crooned with happiness - he used that phrase, I'll never forget - took the dead baby, turned and fell dead after three paces. She'd stayed alive only to get food for her baby, I still sob when I think of it and I only read it. What was it like to have lived it?

[@shaggycan]

12:20 This is a nice touch; razing the windshield on the Jeep. A German tactic when retreating was to tie wire across a road at head level to slow the enemy advance for very little investment. While the windscreen didn't always prevent injury it was better than nothing, later in the war they started welding an iron beam perpendicular to the front bumper to cut these wires.

[@TTH247]

Raising

[@joek600]

wow I always wondered about those beams. I thought that they were working as somekind of guide for the machinegun in order to not aim too low and shoot the hood by accident. Thanks for the info!

[@ReadmanJ]

Fun Fact: 15:50 that's actually Tom Hanks in a cameo as the French soldier doing the shooting

[@wattsnottaken1]

“Jews, Poles, Gypsies.” “Musicians, carpenters, lawyers, doctors.” This episode is just too much sometimes, get ready to cry if it’s your first time watching this episode.

[@kellydavis1837]

Favorite historical film has to be Apollo 13, then mini-series is tied between these and From the Earth to the Moon, what can I say I love Tom Hanks and his history films. I'd love to see you do both of these actually.

[@kathleenmckenzie6261]

Bit of irony, perhaps -- Hitler built the autobahn prior to actually going to war to facilitate the movement of troops and materiel into other areas of Europe. That gave Eisenhower the impetus to initiate the construction of the U.S. interstate freeway system. I grew up in Wisconsin 30 miles west of Milwaukee and it was said by local civil defense volunteers that a long, straight stretch of the I 94 that we traveled regularly going into Milwaukee was heavily reinforced to serve as an auxiliary aircraft runway. Two movies that also deal with the Holocaust are 'Relief of Belsen,' a British production, and 'Sobibor,' wherein we see Alan Arkin and a young Rutger Hauer in major roles.

[@dbach1025]

Love the book. Great job and can't wait to check out Dorr's museum in Gettysburg.

[@MorningThief_]

I always wondered if the part where Nixon tells the troops about the other parts of the war, about the German troops forgetting to blow up a bridge over the Rein, I wonder if this was a shoutout to the final standoff at Saving Private Ryan, who, Private James Ryan, was in the airborne too.

[@danballe]

now that you mention this, I would bet they purposefully did that.

[@Robi2009]

33:49 - one of the writers of this episode (John Orloff iirc) said it was editor's mistake, as he himself put correct date stamp for this scene - May 1st 1945. As the whole episode is a retrospective, I think the 17th April refers to the time they found the concentration camp

[@ReelHistory]

Yes he responded to us about it. We cover that in our 1000 sub special.

[@thomasrocker7408]

My all time favorite movie is without a doubt, " Waterloo. "

[@mosheshulman8305]

Thanks for mentioning the 12th Armored. That was my father's unit.

[@howardoller443]

Frank Perconte told me, during one of the visits to his home, that the stench at the Concentration Camp was vile and overwhelming.

[@shirleypotter4668]

Nixon's helmet took a hit and he received a burn from the bullet... that's how close he was to getting that purple heart.

[@ChuckJansenII]

Why We Fight was a series (1942-1945) of documentaries, most directed by Frank Capra. A notable inmate of Buchenwald played the Cockroach, Corporal Louis LeBeau on Hogan's Heroes: Robert Clary. He did Hogan's Heroes and stated that any chance to make the Germans, Nazis in particular look stupid was okay with him. Clary is still alive at the age of 95 living in Paris, France. One notable actor in Germany spent time in German prison as a result of his opposition to the Nazis. He would go on to star in many notable movies including: 1. 'The Enemy Below' as U-Boat Captain Von Stolberg. 2. 'The Longest Day' as General Günther Blumentritt. 3. 'Battle of Britain' as German Ambassador to Switzerland Baron Von Richter. 4. 'The Spy Who Loved Me' as Bond Villain under the living in a pineapple under the sea Karl Stromberg. Swear that if you look you can see Bikini Bottom in one shot. Squidward and Patrick Star were his neighbors. Okay, that's 'A Bridge Too Far.' But he wasn't in 'A Bridge Too Far.' That actor is Curd Jürgens.