How Popular Was Hitler? - WW2 Documentary

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thanks for the question Rob! We do our best to answer all the questions sent into us, whether that’s in Out of the Foxholes, our KZbin shorts, or sometimes in longer episodes like this. Members of the Timeghost Army with the rank of captain or above get a guaranteed answer to their question. It’s the Timegost Army that allows us to keep making videos like this. Join today at timeghost.tv/ or on Patreon.

[@deshaun9473]

Very good episode!! Thank you for your hard work and I wish all the best to all of you here at WW2!!

[@deshaun9473]

In my opinion, one of the best West German chancellors in the post war era was Willy Brandt. His policy of Ostpolitik did a lot to help ease tensions between the West and the Eastern Bloc, leading to period of relaxed tensions between East and West known as Detente. The highlight of this was the famous kneefall gesture he made at the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial in 1970, in which he kneeled in honour of the Jewish fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto. It's even more interesting that he pursued this, despite the fierce opposition of the Nixon and Kissinger administration, and their escalations in Vietnam. He should be remembered as a true agent for peace.

[@nicholausbuthmann1421]

Just donated $10.00 to y'all. Wish I could give you more ! PLEASE follow this video up with the same for Japan regarding "Tojo & Showa". Such is much more nuanced regarding Showa (Hirohito) but, not Tojo or his Kwatung Army Ultra Nationalists. Who haunt Modern Day Japan much like American, British, & German White Nationalists do today.

[@balancedactguy]

Dieses Video war Ausgezeichnet Spartacus!

[@balancedactguy]

@@andresassi526 The V2s were not "aim-able" with enough accuracy for their use like that. They could only be launched to large areas with no real assurance as to where they would actually land. Much too expensive a weapon for with no precise accuracy.

[@luciaparlo8662]

"Be practical, give a coffin"- Popular german joke concerning christmas gifts for 1944

[@Progamermove_2003]

Not that much of a joke considering number of deaths, wartime restrictions, rationing and so on.

[@shawnadams1965]

I'm very glad that the the WW2 team decided to continue the stories. Some of the best content on the internet.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you, we all have plenty more we want to cover here on the WW2 channel! Stay tuned.

[@JoseGomez-n4k]

@@WorldWarTwostart over from the Chinese invasion of Manchuria and make a video a week

[@Terinije]

My neighbor growing up was drafted in 1944, sent to Europe in 1945, thankfully saw only limited combat during the drive into Germany, and then served as part of the American occupation force until 1947. He always stressed the frequency of Germans claiming up and down that they never really supported Hitler. He claimed that if you took all of their word at face value, you could fit all of the supposedly actual Nazis in Darmstadt into a single small room given that everyone else denied ever supporting them. Or, as he put it, "a load of bull."

[@kyleolcott1769]

It's not that surprising. Based on the Milgram obedience study ~65% of average people would kill someone if instructed to do so by an authority figure.

[@LegIIAVGCA]

See my post about the 60 year old teacher

[@nicholausbuthmann1421]

The Japanese despite their own collective forgetfulness on War Atrocities would still openly admit they MISGUIDEDLY TRUSTED Hideki Tojo and followed him into hell for doing such.

[@Jezza_One]

What did you expect them to say. 😂

[@CannibaLouiST]

@@nicholausbuthmann1421 why wouldn't they be misguided lol? thats before personal computers let alone internet

[@scottaznavourian3720]

His popularity only declined as his actions impacted them personally they couldnt care less about the millions killed in the holocaust or in the war in other countries.

[@kjyost]

Sounds like Ruzzia right now. When you hear the civilians in liberated Kursk speak they (generally) don’t even talk of, never mind condemn, the evils done to Ukraine, they just talk of freedom from their oppression…

[@briandevlin4136]

Exactly! Stauffernberg and all the other supporters that turned on him only did so once Germany started losing the war.

[@Camcolito]

@@kjyost Sounds like the US right now.

[@dariuszgaat5771]

@@kjyost Ukraine has made a state religion out of the cult of mass murderers of Jews and Poles from the OUN-UPA during World War II. I don't feel sorry for them.

[@Bd-ng1zv]

That’s every country and every people that has the opportunity to do so, idiot

[@scottlarson1548]

After the war William Shirer spoke to many Germans and overheard their conversations in public places. He said in his "End of Berlin Diary" that Hitler was unpopular after the war simply because he lost the war, nothing else. He heard Germans complaining that if Hitler had listened to his generals then they surely would have defeated the Soviet Union and won the war. He did speak to people who had been against the war and they were also disappointed that there seemed to be no real regret about the war other than having lost it.

[@DennisSullivan-q2r]

Jeeze! That's appalling.

[@scottlarson1548]

@@DennisSullivan-q2r Read the book to read more appalling things that happened in Germany after the war ended. Shirer also noted that we were shipping tons of bread to feed the Germans directly past starving people in the Netherlands and Belgium. He constantly overheard Germans complaining how terrible American white bread was.

[@DennisSullivan-q2r]

@@scottlarson1548 I was stationed in Bamberg, in 1980. The locals were so nice to us. We would look at them, and wonder how they could have done that cold blooded killing. Anyway it's been about 80 years. Dr. Ruth Westheimer lost her whole family, but said she didn't blame anyone who came after that time.

[@scottlarson1548]

@@DennisSullivan-q2r I was in Germany in 1985 and I saw "AMIS RAUS!" graffiti everywhere. Three times Germans told my friend and I that it was wrong that the U.S. declared war on Germany -- they didn't know Hitler declared war on the U.S. first. One German yelled at my friend and I in a cafe to "go back to your country and take your missiles with you!" I'm glad that you had a good time there.

[@DennisSullivan-q2r]

@@scottlarson1548 You ran into that times young people. The older ones were damn glad not to be under The Russians in ,the east.

[@grevberg]

They had a saying at the end of the war, "enjoy the war, the peace will be terrible!"

[@vibecheck3572]

@@nonono9194fr. They did nothing when Czechoslovakia fell apart and became a German protectorate, but when Poland, a country Britain had zero capacity to defend and wasn’t even a democracy was put in danger, suddenly Hitler must be stopped

[@FilliamPL]

⁠@@vibecheck3572Not to mention that the precedence for the Entente declaration of war in 1914 was not because of Poland but because of Austria pissing on Russia’s leg, so in 1939, there was no historical precedence for defending Poland. Poland had no special reason to be the “line in the sand”. If not Poland, then it should have been Memel. If not Memel, then it should have been Czechoslovakia. If not Czechoslovakia, then it should have been Austria. Anyone with a brain at the time would think “maybe letting Germany annex its Great War territories is a sign that something bad is going to happen”. The UK had just as much ability to defend Czechoslovakia as it did Poland: none. The allies were so incredibly stupid prewar. Blaming it on Chamberlain is lazy; the people were genuinely indifferent to Germany’s annexations of 1930’s Europe. It was when the people of the UK were in a state of war with Germany that they began to care. It was not upon hearing the news that Germany invaded Poland that changed their minds; it was when they heard they’d be fighting a war with the Germans- and that they’d actually have to fight. If the German people can be made responsible for Germany’s carnage, then the Allies’ pre-1939 constituents can be made responsible for letting it happen in the first place. This isn’t to say that the blame only starts there, but if we are to explain one, then we ought to explain the cause of the one.

[@vibecheck3572]

@@FilliamPL Germany regaining their prewar territories wasn’t a problem and most British people thought that German lands should be under a German government

[@FilliamPL]

@@vibecheck3572 It was a problem because entertaining irredentism never goes well. When Ruritania annexed what it proclaimed to be historical lands, they did so because no one stopped them before. They annexed more land because still no one cared to stop Ruritanian irredentism. They thought that German lands should be German because the pictures in their heads were that “Germany is so far away, and this is so inconsequential to me. They should just have it. I’m sure everyone there would be happy with this”. Are you forgetting how easy it is to wash your hands of any care and complicity for an event on the other side of the globe simply because it is so far away?

[@brycefelperin]

In the mid 1990's I was a soldier stationed in Franconia, Germany. I lived with my wife and her two kids in a converted apartment over an old carriage house, owned by a a farmer and his family near the river Main. The family was always friendly with me and helped me out by towing my broken down car off the street with their tractor until I could get money to fix it. Once they invited me into their house and up on the third floor of the house was a framed picture of Adolf Hitler. They were nervous when they saw I had seen it, but I just nodded and said nothing. You should know though that I am a Jew, and that family never did know of that. I figured at the time that being outraged or saying something about it would not matter in the slightest and soon I was divorced and had to move back to the barracks anyway. So for those that say Nazism is dead, I say no, it just has morphed and gone underground. Its still there, ready to rise again should the circumstances in the world allow it to rise again in one form or another. As the years go by, and I see stupid people labeling others who don't agree with them as 'Nazis' I simply know that someday, the fight against Fascist people will have to be fought again. The next time against others who label themselves something else, but still espouse the same ideals of racism and totalitarian ideology. Never forget!

[@isJay]

At worst those people amount to about 15% of any population. The unfortunate reality is those 15% can usually charm another 15%--and then with some positive circumstance can garner another 15%, that in a split vote is more than enough to snag power. Hell we know from German history, 37% was enough to swing the Nazi's into power, and then after slipping to 33% they started meddling in the voting process. People can move the goal posts on Nazism and Fascism. But the simplest reality is individuals that subscribe to it are extreme populists, usually praying on nativist/xenophobic tendencies and often do everything in their power to accumulate power and avert all forms of democratization. It almost always culminates in "I am the only one that can fix it" and "if I didn't win the election, it was stolen." This just means there is a wide swath of actions that can foment fears of Nazism and Fascism. The keys to it being, promoting xenophobia and casting doubt on free and fair elections. Something that is quite apparent in one party of American elections today.

[@modero6370]

I'm German (living for 26 years in Canada, though). But during my time in Germany, for the first 38 years so to say, I never saw or heard about something like that. I think that would be very rare. But I too mistrust the current peaceful atmosphere in Germany. Lots of what we nowadays see as Nazi- ideas had been circulating in Germany long before the days of the Nazi party and I agree that there is a certain potential for it to show up again. At least parts of the AFD is infected with that and so are parts of there voters!

[@huntersmillie00]

I was an exchange student in the 1980's in California, the family who hosted me were Austrian immigrants after WWII, my limited English at the time, I remember they said Hitler was a good person.

[@freetolook3727]

We as humans are destined to make the same mistakes as our grandparents as the next generation forgets and does not read history.

[@nicholausbuthmann1421]

Lots of German Families would have pictures of IRWIN ROMMEL which is something many Americans & British do as well and is more than acceptable but, yes your experience is a kick in the crotch. In my attempt to sound like My Hero DON RICKLES. RICKLES to his credit never held anything against Japan or The Japanese despite being a 20 MM Oerliken Anti-Aircraft Gunner aboard a Liberty Ship getting dived on constantly by Kamikaze's while supplying PT Boats.

[@Mondo762]

I would love to see a similar video about post-war Japan. I seems that even today nobody there asks the same sort of questions.

[@scottlarson1548]

A great book to read about this is "Hiroshima Diary" by Dr. Michihiko Hachiya. He experienced the Hiroshima bombing and described the confusion that happened after whatever that bomb was that fell on his city. The most surprising thing is that how people were shocked by the surrender because they *assumed* that there had to be a reward after their years of sacrifice during the war. The Japanese simply had no understanding of what it meant to "lose a war".

[@andrewdgw6779]

They still think they are superior

[@PMC47]

I don't think it took too much convincing Germans or Japanese to have them all saying out loud that they were a(n alleged) superior race, and therefore they should rule the world.

[@youtubedlaccount9331]

There's the book "Embracing Defeat".

[@RodmanTackleAdvisor]

Japan gave up. We had to annihilate Germany. Japan gave us a territory in Asia. Also, Germany went about the history differently. They completely distance themselves from the cult of Nazism. Japan simply erased it. It's not spoken of at all. Their alliance with us made them a superpower. They have a post truth society.

[@Billy-I-Am-Not]

I found the diary entry of Lore Walb darkly humorous, though I can only imagine what he and many other germans had been thinking at that time. But I imagine Walb sitting in his ruined city as enemy troops close in from every direction, as the economy disintegrates into nothinness, as millions of young men are fed into the meatgrinder of war to never return, and thinking to himself "I think I disagree with Hitler's foreign policy"

[@Dostwyn]

A common phrase at the time was "Wenn DAS der Führer wüsste..." (If the Führer knew about THIS...) People would use this phrase when they ran into trouble with incompetent officials. It shows how people disconnected their image of Hitler from the reality of the party. The belief was that Hitler was benevolent and competent and would surely deal with these idiots if he only knew about them. Them still being around can only mean that he doesn't know what they're doing. During the last stages of the war and afterwards, the phrase was used ironically. People sometimes jokingly use it today.

[@thechto-to3151]

literally the same was happening in the USSR! "If only Comrade Stalin knew about this..." Seems like it really is just how authoritarian regimes operate

[@varana]

And the Tsar before that. "If only Father Tsar knew" comes from Russian peasants under the tsarist regime.

[@CanadisX]

Today it seems to be the sentiment in Russia as well. Seen a lot of videos where citizens call on Putin to do something about their stupid local official or officers im the army.

[@doger944]

I think this is a principle element of the 'Cult of Personality' method of dictatorship. It is borrowed from the philosophy of constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch is always assumed to be innocent. Any act of the monarch against his people is blamed on the manipulations of evil advisors or a failure to properly educate the monarch. Similarly, anyone who carries out the monarcharch which go against the interests of the people are charged with treason against the monarch for enabling his corruption. The key difference is that in constitutional monarchism, this philosophy exists as a part of the separation of legislative and executive powers, and exists to prevent the legislator from siezing dictatorial power in the event of executive overreach. In dictatorships where those powers are consolidated in the "monarch", the same philosophy results in a religious and slavish devotion to a single person who has total control over his citizen's lives and cannot be held accountable for their actions.

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

That's pretty interesting

[@gilwhitmore9682]

The crazy train was pretty full for a while. Seats became gradually available as the years went by, until the Allies derailed the train entirely. Even as it lay on it's side, off the rails, there were still some that clung to their seats. Crazy at the core level is hard to get over.

[@BHuang92]

When people believe in lies for so long, they accepted it as truth.

[@4rumani]

​@@BHuang92 name the lie the americans and the british betrayed europe

[@littlekong7685]

@@BHuang92 The danger is when they make that crazy their identity. If you question the crazy, you question THEM as a person. If you try to take it from them, you are stealing who they are, they have nothing else, so removing it will empty them. It has to be replaced, displaced slowly over time, but many will still cling to this core crazy they push away anything that might threaten it and deny reality so they may cling to it.

[@natekaufman1982]

​@@BHuang92 The worst lies are the ones you earnestly believe to be true.

[@gth042]

Well, we are only a stone's throw from a species whom you can put a bag over a prominent member and have that member cease to exist in an otherwise aggressive and territorial troop. That we can write this after the 1960's suggests we're not doing bad for being this far detached from biology. Room to improve, for sure, but I suspect we'll go through a few ~90% mass-casualty events before crazy at the core is meaningfully expunged.

[@Swedishmafia101MemeCorporation]

"My party is so popular that it's the only party on the ballot!"

[@LegIIAVGCA]

Did the Nazi have elections?

[@pocketmarcy6990]

~Kim Jong Un

[@finchborat]

@@pocketmarcy6990 And Saddam Hussein

[@andrewdgw6779]

-Kamala Harris

[@brysonwest93]

​@andrewdgw6779 whatever would make you say that?

[@mshotz1]

IN 1980, I was in the US Army Stationed in Bavaria. We shared a table with an older German couple. We were in Armor units; he was a tank commander on the Eastern Front. So, we had something to talk about. Later, he told us that all the problems in Europe were due to the Juden. We just shook our heads and smiled. Later, while walking the way back to the barracks, we had a deep discussion amongst ourselves that it was not THAT long ago. Added to that reality was the .50 cal. ammunition we used for training was made in 1943 and 1944. It had been sitting in storage all those years only to be used in late 1970's and early 1980's by 18 year old sons of the men who fought the war.

[@StartledPancake]

Its interesting that these days we have a far clearer picture of the failures of denazification and the lenient treatment of many Nazi officials and German soldiers, which likely fed into the general feeling that "If they were so bad, why weren't they punished for it" of the German populace. Speer was alive and well in 1980, having been free for 14 years and living large in London, his release having been supported by useful idiots like De Gaulle, despite having been directly responsible for the deaths of millions of slave workers. Under such circumstances, is it so surprising that the average German family looked back on mass genocide with rose tinted spectacles?

[@lawrenceking192]

My brother was stationed in Germany in the late 70s; he observed that the Germans could be divided into 3 groups based on age: the old, who had supported the war and resented the Americans; the middle-aged, who were afraid of the Russians and welcomed the Americans; and the young, who were afraid of nuclear annihilation and resented the Americans.

[@soulscanner66]

@@lawrenceking192 It's more accurate to say they resented the military presence.

[@stoffls]

As for the love of Hitler: my mom was born on the day after the Stauffenberg plot. Readily my grandma gave her the middle name Adolfine - I think my mom was glad, that it did not become her first name.

[@markusdegenhardt8678]

Uff

[@DavidKutzler]

Germany was my first duty station in 1991 as a newly-minted US Air Force officer. I had occasion to visit a German civilian cemetery (which was quite lovely). I noted small stone markers on several of the monuments for married couples. I asked my German friend Werner about these markers. He shook his head sadly and said, "This one says that the couple's 18 year-old son, "Fritz," died in Czechoslovakia in 1944."

[@gamingraccoon7344]

Never forget! Thank you all for your ongoing work

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for watching!

[@gerardwall5847]

US Army intelligence investigators did in depth interviews of a substantial percentage of party members to determine how deeply committed the members were. The conclusion was there were several million Germans still committed to the party ideals and its deceased leader even after total defeat.

[@charleskramer6189]

That is not a surprise for immediately after the war. We all have a world view (a way we frame the world, or what some call a "reality tunnel") defining good and bad, explaining how things work. Nazi propaganda was brilliant at establishing their particularly nasty frame -- and it does not disappear overnight. Might it might be possible to displace with something new. A more interesting and probably much more difficult study would be what they believed 10 years after, when they had a basis to believe something else.

[@freetolook3727]

Sounds familiar for some reason.

[@jeffreysnyder936]

Have you ever heard of the book "They Thought They Were Free" by Milton Mayer? He was an American Jew who , after the war did a stint as a visiting professor at Frankfurt University. The book is about 10 different German men that he interviewed extensively after the war. In the interviews he didn't disclose to them that he was Jewish. Basically, the title says it all -- they had fond memories of the Nazi era, didn't see Hitler as evil, and perceived themselves to have had a high degree of personal freedom during Nazi rule. On the Holocaust, none thought that the mass murder of Jews was right, but to varying degrees were in denial that it had happened. Some denied that it had happened at all, and others, perhaps thinking of the German soldier as being inherently disciplined and noble, could not accept that they would mass murder innocent people... that those that had been killed must have been doing things that warranted being killed.

[@ihollander6736]

Thank you, I will be reading this

[@eiavops4576]

If they felt like they were free have you ever considered that they actually were?

[@jackjones1249]

Instead of wallowing in the past maybe you should read about what the zionist joo,s have been doing in gaza for decades.

[@euphoriaggaminghd]

​​@@eiavops4576don't let them think about this. After the war, Germans were split between american or soviet occupations, with no freedoms. Americans and Brits will never admit that they sold Poland to the Soviets for 45 years of slavery despite starting a world war over it.

[@TTS1.0]

This answered a question I've had for a long time. Thanks for the great work.

[@WorldWarTwo]

It's a great question from Rob and many others, thanks for watching!

[@thomasknobbe4472]

"Well, I did not ask for Total War!" -Residents of Hamburg and other western German cities, as they cleaned up after the bombings of the previous night, 1944.

[@js1423]

They are civilians

[@jacksons1010]

@@js1423 German civilians of that era cannot claim to be truly innocent. The “blitz” bombing of London beginning in 1940 was freely reported and even boasted about in the German press - there was no public outcry against it.

[@natekaufman1982]

And yet they cheered when the Luftwaffe bombed Rotterdam and Coventry.

[@js1423]

@@natekaufman1982 And?

[@abp1599]

​@@js1423 I think they're trying to say that if a civilian population cheers for their military's attacks on other people's civilian centres, it has to expect/accept reversals and military attacks against their own civilian centres. "What's good for the goose is good for the gander" situation. Although the killing of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructures is inevitable in war, personally I still think that the deliberate targeting of civilians, even in the context of a total war, is reprehensible and never justified.

[@eduardogutierrez4698]

He is so popular that he is probably the guy with most parodies.....

[@cheften2mk]

He is in his bunker trying to find Berlin while Jodl objects to his plans while Fegelein pulls his antics

[@Ramzi1944]

​@@cheften2mk He is still in his bunker

[@finchborat]

@@cheften2mk And he's still upset at Steiner.

[@saisameer8771]

Mein Failure......Steiner.....Steiner wasn't able to find the PS5 at Reichmart.....Fegelein apparently bought all of them in advance....

[@francesconicoletti2547]

Fame and popularity are not the same thing.

[@chriss9397]

The world should hear this. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your contributions.

[@icetwo]

The bombings are the big difference from the First World War. During the Second World War, everyone in the civilian population saw how the war was going because they were right in the middle of it. And at the latest when a British or American tank drove through the village, everyone knew that the war was over. The First World War, on the other hand, was far, far away and you never noticed anything

[@dieletztekavallerie395]

@@browngreen933 That's not a bullshit at all, German cities were completely unharmed during World War I (with the exception of a few cities in East Prussia). Hunger was a major problem for every country in Europe (of course, it was worse for the Germans than the British), but the Germans were not alone.

[@laisphinto6372]

You idiot forgot to mention that the british Had a total Blockade Up that stopped every shipment and they didnt let anything through , almost a million Germans died because of that and they didnt lift that Blockade Düring the Peace Talks.

[@dtaylor10chuckufarle]

My dad was a GI in Europe through VE Day. He didn't talk about it much, but I clearly remember him saying how every German he met said he hated Hitler. Don't believe it, he said, they loved him.

[@mikloridden8276]

Yeah, I heard similar accounts , all the GIs I talked to all said the Germans claimed that to prevent getting mistreated. Didn’t stop the GIs from taking their treasures here and there, the populace knew well what was going on.

[@aaron__7694]

I think hitler popularity peak was before the defeat at Stalingrad, after this big defeat it went slowly downhill. It is easier to support leader who does not fight in your country.

[@ChrisCrossClash]

Nope they are right, just before the Battle of Britain in 1940 was Hitlers peak, Britain hadn't even started bombing Germany yet, everyone seriously thought the war was over, by late 42 bombing of Germany was growing.

[@marknieuweboer8099]

No, the Germans already realized that the war was not going smoothly when the Wehrmacht failed to defeat the Red Army in December 1941. Sparty was right - Hitler's popularity peaked after France surrendered.

[@TheRedandWhit]

Maybe "The war against humanity" should continue into the Cold War before and beyond Korea. It's the best and especially innovative of the series.

[@jamesbodnarchuk3322]

My friends dad whom was a radio operator in the Luftwaffe during the war years younger brother was murdered by the SD for refusing to fight in the last days of the Reich.

[@joecurran2811]

Sick

[@korelzenga2305]

Great account of this important aspect of the years after the war Spartacus!

[@ralphranzinger4197]

The German Word "Lebenslüge" comes to mind when watching this Episode. Similarities can be drawn to the "Lost Cause" in former confederate states after the end of the american civilwar. I would also point out the Austrian position as self declared "first victim" of Nazi Germany because of the Anschluss. A classical myth, used to change a general view on history. Anyway, great Job Spartacus, I hope for a similar Episode with focus on the Showa Tenno (Hirohito) and Japan.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for your comment and interesting comparisons. -TimeGhost Ambassador

[@Bozzzo235]

Why this obsession with nazi germany and confederates by liberal-leftists? These states are dead and are never coming back. People ARE allowed to grieve the death of their countries, even really evil ones , especially if it was as brutal as the death of nazi germany. Only people completely without honour have a super easy time condemning their country for it's abuses (if the country has been somewhat kind to them of course).

[@thcdreams654]

Another banger. Thanks Sparty and Time Ghost. Appreciate the insightful and informative content.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@fastpublish]

He had the same popularity as a successful football manager.

[@RobbieCalifornia69]

This is one the best episodes of the whole WW2 series. Great work Indy and Spartacus and the whole staff. Never forget … absolutely right.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for watching, never forget!

[@haeuptlingaberja4927]

Thanks, Sparty. Perfect take.

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for watching!

[@millipedic]

Once again, excellent content, thanks Sparty.

[@dtaylor10chuckufarle]

Masterfully done, Sparty. I especially like how you touched on the present day at the end.

[@sambowman91]

This video shook me, particularly the last 5 minutes. Presumably, at some point, the question “would Germany better off without Jews” would poll with a majority saying “no.” When did that crossover occur?

[@aapelikahkonen]

I think this was one of the best episodes you have ever done. Thank you!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@residentgeardo]

Highly interesting episode. I hope you will do more post-ww2 epilogue stuff in the future. So much has been said and written about ww2 itself but the immediate postwar aera is much less covered.

[@deshaun9473]

Interesting episode!! Keep up the good work!! ❤

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you!

[@dougedsall3317]

My immigrant maternal grandparents, who came to the US between 1950 and 55, believed in the 'good hitler years' for the rest of their lives

[@brianmacadam4793]

I'm 64 now, and in my youth I knew several people of German extraction, two whose parents were hitler youth. One of the parents still thought the German position and actions in the 30's was acceptable. The other was a wary participant in the German "machine" was a " important worker " during the war and never got caught up in the fighting. The only other had made it as an elite pilot and managed to escape to Switzerland late in the war. Not a Nazi, I think.

[@lawsonj39]

In the 1980s a young German man started spewing his hatred of the Soviet Union because of the suffering his grandmother had to endure under Soviet occupation. I said I was sorry for his grandmother but asked what the Germans could have expected after all the savagery they'd inflicted on the Soviet people. The German guy looked confused: he didn't know what I was talking about. So much for German postwar education about German crimes against humanity.

[@CatsCatsCats-qs6cx]

You remind me of my first competent history teacher, who had very harsh and measured words for the few assholes who thought it was a joke

[@alexamerling79]

Always wondered what the ordinary Germans were thinking during all of this especially at the mid war point of 1942. Great stuff Sparty!

[@freetolook3727]

The German people gave up their winter coats and suffered. The irony is that those coats never made it to the troops in the field. The Nazis said that the army had all the winter gear they needed. So, everyone suffered except the Nazi elite who picked out the best coats for themselves.

[@Abdullah-tu9vg]

That is how it work in all societies. The elite at the top live in luxury even if those at the bottom suffer

[@Britton_Thompson]

That is 100% not true. You just made that up, and you know it. The donated coats absolutely reached the troops on the Eastern front. This is easily proven in the logistical & supply manifests. There's also multiple diary entries from frontline soldiers expressing thanks for the winter clothes they just received. Besides, there was nothing an average citizen had that anyone in the Nazi elite coveted. They were all stinking rich from plundering the continent. They had the money and access to the finest things available. They didn't want the public's hand-me-downs

[@andrewdgw6779]

They went out. Just not to the front.

[@DaveGmn]

@freetolook3727 - your line breaks, strong statements, and the way you tie 'suffered' at the first and the last, and the unsaid contempt -- and implicit selfishness -- by leaders for those who support them, all of this transforms your post into one of the best World War II poems I've read.

[@dragonfour55]

Never Forget. Truer words have never been spoken.

[@tweetert.9978]

Spartacus, I love your glasses! They look really good and I like the color.

[@john_in_phoenix]

I'm here to watch before youtube decides it must be censored.

[@gth042]

I'm surprised they haven't noticed the Dresden pictures.

[@cboffard8350]

Nonsense

[@MacGuyver85]

Thank you. Never Forget!

[@firstcynic92]

Why do I keep hearing strains of the "I was not a nazi polka"?

[@Benaplus1]

The complicity of the German people, their support for Nazism from the early 1930s on, and their total lack of self-reflection or willingness to admit their role in the war and its atrocities, are starkly and effectively illustrated in the book "Stones From the River." If there's one book I've read that so effectively conveys the lives and attitudes of Germans in the interwar and war years, it's this one.

[@marshalleubanks2454]

Victor Klemperer did not write about "love," but about "belief." Even at the end of the war, when many were disillusioned, there was still a fanatical core who believed in "Him."

[@timothyfoley3000]

A great and required reading on this is They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer...

[@konst80hum]

Isn't that the typical journey of the followers of any false messiah? The former willing and enthusiastic acolyte now blame everything on the dead leader and exonerated themselves.

[@joecurran2811]

Nazism is a cult

[@arthurt.chasperton3569]

It was quite obvious that the mood soured after the war started to be lost. You primarily talked about this largely, I suspect, to avoid having to deal with the more uncomfortable question of his popularity before that point.

[@bingobongo1615]

From my own family history - the family of my grandfather were social democrats with the oldest son however being quite a fan of Hitler. He said the mood was confused and worried when Poland was attacked, then quite well when Poland was defeated (most Germans certainly were against Poland) anf then great after France was defeated. However, the war declaration on Russia completely soured the mood and never recovered. It did however turn into defiance in late 44 hours hence Germany itself was threatened.

[@dentoncrimescene]

With total media control, its not hard to see how they could convince people. Especially in the early days of radio and cinema. Its bad enough now with all the untruths on the internet.

[@robertjarman3703]

While that is helpful, the Germans really did take over France, the Benelux, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, and Poland in less than a year and had gained the support of Romania, Hungary, and Italy, and had previously taken over Czechia and Austria with Slovakia as a puppet state as well, and had begun to cozy up to the diplomacy of Finland, and Switzerland and Sweden were neutral. That seemed like a pretty good achievement to many Germans at the time, especially given what they had done in 1914-1918 and how they weren't even able to get to Paris. It is hardly a surprise that Hitler's domestic popularity soared then.

[@NathanDudani]

​@@robertjarman3703 CzEcHiA

[@benjaminjones8782]

@@NathanDudani yeah you know like the country

[@El_Presidente_5337]

79 years later I can proudly say that I hate him and his regime.

[@PumaTwoU]

YES.. Yes yes yes... so many people need to hear the last 2 minutes of this episode.

[@Javaman92]

Once again a well delivered program. I absolutely agree, we DO owe it to the world to... never forget!

[@DominikFleury]

Holy what an amazing Video! How incredible insightfull of a facette of this terrible war thats is usually left unexplored. It saddens me to find out that in the end many nazies lived their life fully and without facing justice for all the pain they brought upon this world. Never forget!

[@BruceJones-i9z]

My mom was a German teenager in Munich during the war. She said her building custodian would sweep up all the broken glass and other debris from the Allied air raids. She would loudly complain about Hitler and the Nazis as she did it. Nobody ever turned her in to the authorities for her mocking of the all mighty Fuhrer. So, Hitler wasn’t universally loved in Germany.

[@joshuakincaid8238]

Congrats on 1 million subs. Since I saw the last video. It was less than that.

[@Glagolight]

Thank you for this very interesting video and for your very just/wise words in conclusion ❤

[@naveenraj2008eee]

Hi Sparty This topic is need of hour. Never forget

[@kjyost]

The Soviet’s cynical use of Dresden postwar is a historical abomination. The fact numerous academics now buy into the war crime narrative is bizarre. The Soviets requested and supported and thanked the Brits for bombing Berlin and other cities. Late in the war, the Soviets drew up the line that put Dresden in the allied realm to bomb and were clear about the need to bomb the Berlin - Dresden - Leipzig region as a major communications & supply region. The Soviet army went through Dresden in days, not weeks as they had to in lesser bombed cities. There is no “Battle of Dresden WWII” because of what the Soviets requested and received.

[@VayleGW]

I would love to see a special like this on Japan, especially with regards to Emperor Hirohito, Hideki Tojo and the Taisei Yokusankai

[@Mortz76]

Great content

[@DraigBlackCat]

Out of curiosity I have just looked back at Episode 1 of War Against Humanity and I see Sparty looking so much younger. Without doubt the horrors that he has had to study and bring to our attention with the cry 'Never Again!' has aged him in ways beyond the mere passage of time. Sir, I am humbled by the sacrifice you have made on behalf of all those victims of this war's terror, who had to face and succumb or endure horrors perpetrated by fellow humans. Victims who's only fault was to be different. Were it in my gift I would award you and your Timeghost team members the Nobel Peace Prize, for you have laboured far beyond the efforts of The League of Nations, The United Nations and The International Red Cross and done more to try and secure a future of peace. As it is, the biggest honour that I can bestow is my promise that I Will Never Forget!

[@turrican4d599]

COVID-19 ages a man.

[@shawnr771]

Thank you for the lesson.

[@konst80hum]

Also never forget..

[@Grunniger61]

anxiously waiting

[@huntersmillie00]

There are many many around the world who still dearly loved and still idolized Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, etc.

[@mrmr446]

To get into power they only needed to convince the people the alternative of a left leaning government was worse, once there that dissent is pointless, dangerous and ineffective so the majority keep heads down hoping not to be noticed. Their example should always be remembered whenever anyone tries to persuade the public that some minority or other is the cause of their problems and not a convenient distraction.

[@antoniofernandesmarchetti1097]

We have a lot of that here in Brazil by bot sides!

[@laisphinto6372]

The methods are very similar only the phrase different or dont with the Jews since they are already the evil greedy capitalist stereotype. Also noticeable IS that the Nazis only Had that much Power the longer the war went ON before the Wehrmacht could have overthrown the Nazis but they were handsomely bribes by Hitler

[@pagodebregaeforro2803]

​@@antoniofernandesmarchetti1097yes. But the right puts all efforts in talking about their perceived (or made up) enemies, in this case the president Lula and "communists" (wich are irrelevant and too weak here - for them anyone on the left spectrum is a communist). The right needs an enemy to grab power. The left on the other side dont seem to hate the entire right wingers but only bolsonarists, meanwhile, all bolsonarists hates all left wingers and for them all are communist.. Pathetic..

[@nicholausbuthmann1421]

Thanks!

[@WorldWarTwo]

Thank you for the superchat!

[@ihollander6736]

Interesting comments section here: Plenty of genuinely interesting anecdotes people passing in stories from their parents/grandparents (on both sides of ww2) General reflection on the tragedy of the war as a whole Some interesting book recommendations about german perceptions towards Hitler/the nazis etc Some people using the hitler psychosis as incredibly dumb metaphors for political figures they dont like that exist now Authoritarian boot lickers pretending to be offended that french kings and russian tsars are used as a comparison at the end And in different strokes, anti-semitism AND zionism. Personally im here for the anecdotes.

[@WorldWarTwo]

We try to catch all the modern politics and the bigotry, but sometimes they slip through. -TimeGhost Ambassador

[@Bozzzo235]

@@WorldWarTwo Modern politics and bigotry? Like anything slightly to the right of leftist social democracy?

[@NigelDeForrest-Pearce-cv6ek]

Fascinating Insights!!!!!

[@Uncle_Roadkill]

Hey, it's that Mr. Hilter who lost North Minehead elections by a small margin! Word is he didn't have much fun in Stalingrad also.

[@fireplusbirdfilms6517]

Preach, Sparty, preach! Never Forget!

[@ktipuss]

Correct about the attitude of Germans in the western areas being relieved at being occupied by the Anglo-Amaerican forces. I once met a former German soldier who surrendered immediately on D-Day when it was quite obvious that, once the D-Day landings had been successful, that would be the end of Hitler. General von Rundstedt, in response to a request from Field Marshall Keitel about what to do after (yet another) failed panzer attack on the British forces, replied: "Make peace, you fools, what else!".

[@tkm238-d4r]

The choice of having to surrender either to the Western Allies or to the Soviets led to Germans on the West to cooperate with the Western Allies once the Western Allies took over the area. This contrasted strongly with the aftermath of the Armistice and Versailles. The revisionists could moan as much as they like but the politically incorrect reality was that if not for the alliance with the Soviets, the Anglo-Americans would have to deal with a much less cooperative Germany in the long run. The idea that the Western Allies could somehow work things out with Germany and Japan without some support from Russia and China was wishful post Cold War revisionist thinking.

[@Historygeek0103]

That anti-war thing at the end makes sense, but tbh fuck it. We gotta stop expansions powers.

[@angelogarcia2189]

All of a sudden, there were no nazis.... lol

[@Splattle101]

So glad to hear you name drop Stargardt!

[@jaredcore8888]

Gerb was half right about one thing. "There will only be the living & the dead"...

[@Carmelo124]

is that a picture of Conrad von Hötzendorf on the left?

[@robertperry9576]

Wonderful! I'm in tears.

[@MBCGRS]

Seemed pretty popular when when the Germans were winning the war.... and afterwards... No, No, No, I was just doing my job.

[@laisphinto6372]

There IS more to IT of course you are the Most popular Dude when you improsing and assaniate every single one WHO disagree

[@jeffmcarthur5617]

As an American post November 5, 2024, I can only say I'm sorry to the rest of the world. This year, we clearly forgot.

[@squeguinquack2570]

This enraged his father, who punished him severely

[@Paul-p1p6m]

"Never forget" thank you!

[@reviewerreviewer1489]

Don't ask Twitter...

[@pagodebregaeforro2803]

Yes, please keep posting on this channel sometimes.

[@eztoindajar]

Sparty is a great orator.

[@kurtwesterman4315]

@Sparty did anyone ever do a special or a war against humanity on the life of Martin Niemöller? Never forget.

[@markhodge7]

Sparty always gets to the core.

[@Britton_Thompson]

What I've always wanted to know is this.... Was Hitler aware of his crashing popularity? Did he know his subjects had turned on him?

[@welcometonebalia]

Thank you.

[@jbart1411]

A very powerful message, thank you. We are all responsible to uphold the freedom that our fathers and grandfathers fought and died for Joe B

[@LeftToWrite006]

At around 2:40, the point is made that Germans became disillusioned with Hitler when it was clear Germany was going to lose; I'm left to wonder if those people were okay with what he did as long as Germany was winning.

[@BTScriviner]

Yes, yes they were.

[@nickdanger3802]

explains why Soviets claim they did not ask for bombing of Dresden