The Colmar Pocket (1945) - How the Allies Liberated Alsace in World War II

The Colmar Pocket was a German stronghold in Alsace during World War II. It originated when the Allies pushed the Germans out of France. From the Colmar Pocket one of the German attacks during Operation Nordwind took place. When Nordwind came to a halt, American commander Dwight D. Eisenhower urged General Jacob Devers's 6th Army Group (consisting of the US 7th, under the command of General Alexander M. Patch; and the French 1st, under General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny) to clear the Colmar Pocket. This is a forgotten WW2 battle in the history of the liberation of France.
History Hustle presents: The Colmar Pocket (1945) - How the Allies Liberated Alsace in WW2.
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SOURCES
- Operation Nordwind 1945. Hitler’s Last Offensive in the West [Campaign 223] (Steven Zaloga, Jim Laurier).
- The Wehrmacht's Last Stand: The German Campaigns of 1944-1945 (Robert Citino).
- codenames.info/operation/chee... (09-10-2021).
IMAGES
Images from commons.wikimedia.org.
VIDEO
Video material from:
• Bataille de wingen ope...
Bataille de wingen operation nordwind 1945
• The Liberation of Alsa...
The Liberation of Alsace November 1944 to March 1945 (in French)
• WW2 - French-American ...
WW2 - French-American liberation of Alsace, January 1945
• 1944-45 Battle of the ...
1944-45 Battle of the Bulge - US Footage Only
• Battle of the Bulge 19...
Battle of the Bulge 1944/1945 (Combat Footage)
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MUSIC
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[@HistoryHustle]

Learn about Operation Nordwind: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWLHkqtqlql_qrs

[@milankrishna2550]

Thank you Stefan for covering this topic of ww2. Even though I am a history buff I still didn't know about this until now.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you as always!

[@Foomba]

I heard my father mention the Colmar Pocket. He was with the VI Corps and was a veterinarian in a mule outfit. Thanks for the history lesson. Well done!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply!

[@krisfrederick5001]

You just pulled a Mark Felton on me, I had not heard of this. Well done sir

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks!

[@ElCondeFrancisco]

Mark have a very brit view of everything. But the true Is that Uk should have lost any war without Us help.

[@shriekingbushpigshrieking]

@@ElCondeFrancisco yes. We all helped.

[@ElCondeFrancisco]

@@shriekingbushpigshrieking "All" the ghosts...

[@davidpowell1327]

We were just there 2 weeks ago and our tour host’s Dad was there in 1945. Incredible tour

[@HistoryHustle]

Very interesting that must have been!

[@mammuchan8923]

Operation Cheerful started in the midst of a heavy snowstorm, love the irony 🌟

[@HistoryHustle]

Yeah indeed.

[@Hilti-rb6dp]

Love the shout out to Audie Murphy! He was baaaad man

[@HistoryHustle]

Still have to see his movies!

[@demonprinces17]

Hell and back was on tonight

[@luxembourgishempire2826]

Love these vids! Thanks for this Stefan! I adore your forgotten ww2 battles!

[@letoubib21]

Forgotten?!

[@luxembourgishempire2826]

@@letoubib21 Yep

[@davidsradioroom9678]

I do, too. Thanks!

[@albertmarnell9976]

I love Stefan too and his work! But that does not mean that I have to see EVERYTHING through his eyes!

[@albertmarnell9976]

Are you Flemish or a Walloon? You guys don't have a LOVE FEST either and that is the human condition. People can not get along even the brothers and sisters that come out of the same uterus. Remember Cain and Abel?

[@nickbremner6274]

Thank you Stephan, I've been to Colmar - beautiful town but I didn't know it had seen such action in WW2. Driving over the Vosges Mountains to the west of Colmar there are many French cemeteries dating from early in the war.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply, Nick!

[@GetRidOfCivilAssetForfeiture]

I just visited the Colmar Pocket and I have read a book on the topic of Operation Nordwind. The visit was an excursion tour as part of the Rhine river cruise I was on. The guide was a German named Willie who was about 70. He was a great guide, both knowledgeable and could retell the events in such a way that you felt you were there. He told the story of Audie Murphy’s one man stand as we visited the site of it. We also visited the Memorial to the allied forces who fought in the battle of the Colmar Pocket. We also visited the Museum of this event. I highly recommend the visit and if you ever get a chance to go on a tour with Willie to the sites, do so. He will make it worth your while.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply.

[@jamesgibbs7872]

Your History Videos are fascinating and very interesting - on site location for filming is wonderful!

[@HistoryHustle]

Many thanks!!

[@micahknapp7109]

Really good footage

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@alansewell7810]

Thank you for another fascinating presentation of seldom-explored facets of WWII. In the U.S. we have a synopsis view of the war such that the Western Allies landed at Normandy in June 1944, broke through the German lines in August, then marched straight into the heart of Germany, pausing only for a brief delay at the Battle of the Bulge. We don't study the five months of mostly stagnant, brutal warfare along the German border from beginning of October 1944 to the end of February 1945. Colmar was part of that. I became curious about it a few years ago when I saw the famous Audie Murphy (most decorated U.S. soldier of WWII) movie TO HELL AND BACK where he was sent to fight at Colmar and won the Medal of Honor there. Look forward to learning more as I watch your presentation now.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply.

[@caelebkackowski4621]

I love your channel, history helps me cope with my depression it's so vast and so much to learn, your channel as alot to offer and I've watched it in many depression episodes and it always helps me😄

[@HistoryHustle]

Take care. Get well soon!

[@utkarshchoudhary3870]

This was just another fascinating and great video. Will you do one for the Courland Pocket?

[@RickJZ1973]

That would be very interesting. And also one on the Falaise pocket.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply. Won't travel to Latvia anytime soon.

[@albertmarnell9976]

Stefan went to Erasmus University where he received an undergraduate degree in History and a master's degree in Media and Journalism, in addition Stefan received a master's degree in Teaching History.

[@HistoryHustle]

True. And got an MA in teaching history.

[@albertmarnell9976]

@@HistoryHustle An MA also in Teaching History? But also an MA in Media and Journalism?

[@albertmarnell9976]

@@HistoryHustle I just changed it. Is that how you want it?

[@HistoryHustle]

Yes, perfect.

[@nickpapagiorgio5056]

Great video professor! Alsace is one of the most beautiful regions in Europe in my opinion! Colmar, Mulhouse, and Strasbourg are three absolutely beautiful little cities and some of my favorite places in the world to visit!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you for your reply!

[@alfredobowenbobenrieth7164]

My family from my Mother (Bobenrieth) comes from that region, the higher Rheinland and I remember having heard that in the beginning of 1945 general Patton freed Alsace and then the Germans took back some regions in Alsace and executed many partisans of the French resistance who had came out... Now I understand there were pockets in Alsace and combats lasted for a time... Thank you

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this, Alfredo.

[@AsuraMidori]

LOVED the video, my grandfather moved to the use at 16 from Italy with his family to join the war. as part of the Fire and blood Division. he refused to talk alot about this battle only remarking he lost alot of friends. despite being awarded medals by France years later in his 90s for his effort and actions. there wasn't much online about the battle so the video really shined light on his history. he had passed a few years ago so have been digging into his history to learn more about what he went through since he couldn't/wouldnt talk about it.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@RickJZ1973]

Very interesting Stefan! I enjoy scholarship on the late battles of WW II history. It's always great to see a new upload. The Alsace region looks like a nice place to visit.

[@HistoryHustle]

It sure is a lovely area to visit. Thanks for your reply!

[@paulryan2128]

Great footage, Stefan. I made a brief stop in Colmar some time around 1993, after visiting Strasbourg and on my way to the Great car & motorcycle museum in Mulhouse. I just stopped to mail a letter, wish I had known about the Colmar bulge then! I recall stopping for lunch at another town that used narrow canals in the downtown areas. Can't recall the name, but they said it was the Venice of Alsace. Great times!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply, Paul!

[@xvsj5833]

Love your History Vlogs Stefan Keep up the good and Thank you for sharing your deep knowledge 👍 ❤️

[@HistoryHustle]

Many thanks!!

[@DavidJones-oc3up]

Great video as usual. Learned quite a bit from this.

[@HistoryHustle]

Great! 👍

[@midsue]

Thanks Stefan for all the videos you are doing about interesting and often forgotten parts of the war.

[@HistoryHustle]

👍👍👍

[@Blitz9H]

Another brilliant, concise, and informative video! Thank you!!!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply.

[@georgekaragiannakis6637]

Thanks Stefan for focusing an important yet neglected battle. The cause of the German success was the extended front of the 7th Army after Patton’s 3rd Army had to turn 90 degrees and move north to attack the southern flank of the Germans in the Bulge and relieve Bastogne. But it does surprise me how the Germans could mount successful counter attacks at this late stage of the War.

[@HistoryHustle]

Hey George, thanks for your reply!

[@stephengoodwin6403]

very intense fighting in this area.Thank you,Stefan

[@HistoryHustle]

👍👍👍

[@tonybambridge3667]

You are a brilliant communicator. Thanks

[@HistoryHustle]

Thnaks for replying, Tony!

[@Goetz-von-Luthringshauser]

Thanks for the video!

[@HistoryHustle]

🎅👍

[@baltojo]

My great grandmother was born near Colmar and immigrated to the US with her brothers because they were so opposed to German control of Alsace after 1871. Although I knew that her sister’s family was traumatized by the German occupation during WWII, I didn’t realize that there was fighting so close to their home. Sadly, my great grandmother died in November 1944, so she was unable to celebrate the liberation of her native area.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@hamudabdulaziz9709]

just another great video, love it mate.

[@HistoryHustle]

Many thanks!

[@professorwoland3181]

That shot at the end of the tank destroying that house…. 👌🏼

[@HistoryHustle]

Full hit.

[@8000296]

Top...loving your vids on locatieontwikkelaar!

[@HistoryHustle]

👍👍👍

[@paulkoza8652]

Thank you. I didn't know about this offensive.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks Paul.

[@chrisrea7347]

Thanks Stefan, interesting for me as I lived nearby in Neustadt a.d Weinstrasse for 5 years and visited Colmar, Strasbourg and the concentration camp in the Vosges Mountains . Kiwi Chris

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for replying!

[@mikewest5529]

Excellent!! Little coverage of this pocket and the bulge is the main battle covered in North America. Looking sharp as always on location!!

[@HistoryHustle]

Many thanks Mike!!

[@jimfillingim1523]

PROFFESSOR I DO DIG YOUR SHOW !!!!!!!

[@marcoskehl]

Not "forgotten" battle anymore. ★★★ Obrigado! 🇧🇷

[@HistoryHustle]

👍👍👍

[@helilebon2383]

Chalampé is pronouced 'Chalampeeeh'. Le pont sur le Rhin existe encore aujourd'hui (route et voie ferrée).

[@HistoryHustle]

Check.

[@daviddoran3673]

Audie Murphy was the most decorated US soldier of WW2, I read his book TO HELL AND BACK many years ago....if I remember correctly he arrived in Europe during the Anzio invasion, I suspect his combat experience damaged him psychologically and emotionally......

[@HistoryHustle]

I believe so too yes.

[@gibraltersteamboatco888]

Très bon travail. BZ Hope Operation Undertone is in the queue.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks, hope to cover it in the future one day.

[@gonzalesfrederic6213]

Colmar is superb.

[@HistoryHustle]

Nice city yes!

[@alswann2702]

Audie Murphy was a badass.

[@HistoryHustle]

Sure was. Believe he did suffer PTSD after the war.

[@pittbullking87]

Interesting video! I did not know about this battle. Operation Cheerful didn't look particularly cheerful. The French loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany after the Franco Prussian War is one of the things that led to World War I. During World War II the Germans conscripted men from Alsace-Lorraine to fight in the German army.

[@nikolaasp2968]

The loss of Alsace-Lorraine fueled french revanchisme however it did not led to ww1since Germany was the one who declared war on France in the first place and for totally unrelated reasons.

[@pittbullking87]

@@nikolaasp2968 You are right, Germany did declare war first. I should have indicated that in my post. Although the resentment caused by the German's taking Alsace-Lorraine from France sure did not help relations between the 2 countries.

[@HistoryHustle]

The forced drafting during WW2 was called Malgré nous. More on this later.

[@pittbullking87]

@@HistoryHustle Cool! Look forward to seeing that. Another thing I find interesting is that Spain sent a unit of volunteers to fight on the Eastern Front. They were called the Blue Division.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

It is nice to see this covered and the French army getting some due.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply👍

[@eliasballafrikh8722]

Stefan, could you do a summary on the Kingdom of Albania during the Zog era. Its hard to find information on it about what they wore or what battles were fought.

[@HistoryHustle]

Eventually I'll cover Albania but not anytime soon.

[@clintgu3]

My grandfather, Hugh E. Wardlaw, was the commanding officer for the US forces in this battle. He spent 6 weeks in a wet foxhole & trenches there. I've got many pictures and one of him next to a Tiger tank after the battle. They drove the Nazis up into the Vosges Mountains from here.

[@HistoryHustle]

Respect. He must have seen a lot.

[@shrirang68]

Thanks a ton from India. Haven't seen much about the operations going on during the ardennes. Anything on this ?

[@letoubib21]

Colmar ain't in the Ardennes, itis city is in the Upper Rhine Rift *. . .*

[@HistoryHustle]

Check the sources below the video.

[@daviddoran3673]

Aha!!! As you promised when you corrected me following your last video!!!!

[@HistoryHustle]

No problem 👍

[@thanos_6.0]

Only 7.300 subscribers away from 100.000 subscribers!!!!!! I remember when you only had like 5.000 or less and your Videos got only a few hundred views. "We will watch your career with great interest."

[@HistoryHustle]

Would be awesome to get there in 2021, else it'll be 2022.

[@thanos_6.0]

@@HistoryHustle 2021 for sure!

[@marknelson6777]

How long did it take you to travel to this location from your home ?.

[@HistoryHustle]

Was away for a week.

[@mosheshulman8305]

My father was in the 12th Armored which fought there.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@perito638]

Lastima que no visitaras un pequeño cementerio en Colmar, para varios soldados de diferentes nacionalidsdes, entre ellos el tio abuelo de mi marido. Naturalmente Republicano Español.

[@HistoryHustle]

Interesting to read.

[@albertmarnell9976]

Vlaardingen is where you teach I believe.

[@HistoryHustle]

Ede-Wageningen it is.

[@albertmarnell9976]

@@HistoryHustle I first started with Wageningen without the Ede-. Then I listened over and over how you said the municipality and it sounded more similar to a V sound to me. Then I concluded probably Vlaardingen. BTW, this is good for both you and I but don't expect a steady diet of it. It would wear both of us out. This is hard work especially for me. You are my main focus and you have a large audience to tend to. When you get a chance to process what I've written and I'm not done regarding your pupils being "Fine"., I want to know if my perceptions and knowledge of certain things have caused you see my perspective and even incorporated it to the children or your films without seeing me as a revisionist Nazi. Has anything that I've written to you given you insight or knowledge of things that you never thought about before? Of course, I'm not important in your life but being challenged by someone who is an another educated adult versus a worshipful pupil that knows nothing and accepts everything by a teacher can help everyone grow. But I do have an agenda, before I die, I do not want to waste my knowledge on people that think that Rouladen is a town in Bavaria. I only want to share my information with very educated people who missed things that the departments of education in all countries, edit or teach based on parental pressures, the ignorance and biases of the prior generation of professors and what is considered, acceptable community standards. It is rare that "Acceptable Community Standards" do not come from charlatans, the ignorant, misinformed, essentially people that will stick to an erroneous conviction even if it is factually and morally wrong. Community Standards are to pacify the population and to retain political positions. Why does "Ede-Wageningen" so far only talk about a train station being renovated? BTW, right now I have to go to the store and get, not receive some milk and other items. Luckily, there is an ALDI nearby and thank doG that it is open on Sundays.

[@HistoryHustle]

“Has anything that I've written to you given you insight or knowledge of things that you never thought about before?” Yes it has. What moved me was your view on BLM in combination with the fact that not only blacks suffered slavery, more recent whites under Nazi rule did (e.a. Ukrainians) Why does "Ede-Wageningen" so far only talk about a train station being renovated? Dunno. It’s my location where I’m off to 4 times a week.

[@albertmarnell9976]

Do you teach in Woudrichem?

[@HistoryHustle]

Not there.

[@albertmarnell9976]

@@HistoryHustle What age are you teaching? I find high school students and even college age students maddening. They know everything and I can tell where they get or received their misinformation...as in from the streets or teachers that were not taught properly. They watch too many movies and movies are never reality. They are movies.

[@HistoryHustle]

Age 12-18. My pupils are fine.

[@nerozero8266]

👍

[@HistoryHustle]

👌

[@krisfrederick5001]

That's what's called a "money shot" 06:45

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed.

[@basfinnis]

Must have been desperate in those last few days. Very interesting video. Thanks. I read a book a while back about a French guy from Alsace who was drafted into the German army. Got sent to the Russian front, then after the collapse ended up in the French army after 🙄

[@HistoryHustle]

Ah yes, the so-called Malgré-nous. In the future more on this.

[@albertmarnell9976]

Conflict is good for ratings and increases audience size!

[@HistoryHustle]

Battle history does indeed well on this channel. And perhaps also on the YT platform as a whole.

[@albertmarnell9976]

@@HistoryHustle I actually meant conflict between the people that fight with comments.

[@HistoryHustle]

Vids that cause a storm in the comment section don't always do well. It's more that vids that do well are viewed by larger audience and thus there's a chance a comment section storm occurs.

[@albertmarnell9976]

@@HistoryHustle Thank you. I would never have thought of that. You're the one in the business so to speak.

[@albertmarnell9976]

The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Following the Night of Long Knives in 1934, the concentration camps were run exclusively by the SS via the Concentration Camps Inspectorate and later the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Initially, most prisoners were members of the Communist Party of Germany, but as time went on different groups were arrested, including "habitual criminals", "asocials", and Jews. After the beginning of World War II, people from German-occupied Europe were imprisoned in the concentration camps. Following Allied military victories, the camps were gradually liberated in 1944 and 1945, although hundreds of thousands of prisoners died in the death marches.

[@HistoryHustle]

True. Soon more about what Germans knew of these camps.

[@HistoryHustle]

Can't tell which camp that was.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for letting me know.

[@johnhemphill1938]

Ah, Colmar, the Colmar Pocket. From this point Nazi Germany never had a strong offensive in the West. Wow this was good

[@HistoryHustle]

I understand.

[@molecatcher3383]

Alsace ? French or Geman ? The Alsatians by language and culture (originally) are German but were annexed by the French in the 17th centuary. They were subjected to intense pressure to become Frenchified for many generations and especially after Nazi Gemany. However they now mostly like to identify as being French, especially because they are associated with the winning side.

[@HistoryHustle]

The Alsatians I spoke in Strasbourg felt more French than German despite their language sounds more German.

[@baltojo]

The statements after the annexation by France are incorrect. Alsatians are proud to be French. Many of them left for other areas of France and other countries after Germany re-acquired the region in 1871. My great grandmother immigrated to the US with two of her brothers because they did not want to be German. Their younger brother joined the French Foreign Legion rather than be conscripted in the German army and then immigrated to the US. The children and grandchildren of their sister who remained in Alsace were greatly opposed to and traumatized by the Nazi occupation during WWII. I have learned this first-hand from my relatives who survived this. My great grandmother spoke French and taught my American-born grandfather French as his first language when he was a child. Yes, one will notice the German influence on some of the food and architecture, just as one will notice an Italian influence in Nice. However, my relatives consider themselves patriotic Frenchies and they don’t even speak any German. They live in a village on the Rhine and will drive to Lille, Paris and Brittany, but won’t even visit Germany. I have visited them on July 14 (Bastille Day) and it is celebrated in Alsace the same as in the rest of the country. I have friends from this region and they will say the same thing.

[@jimfillingim1523]

The ALSAS..is came from.

[@HistoryHustle]

?

[@mattbarbarich3295]

That region looks much more German then French.

[@HistoryHustle]

Doesn't mean it is German. I'd call it Alsatian. The Alsatian language it very similar to German. Most Alsatians I spoke do see themselves as French though.

[@zoranvitic630]

What happened to the Baltic states during the Second World War? They were independent countries before the war.

[@HistoryHustle]

Cover them here: Estonia kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnjcYnaCi5eMp6M Latvia kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4GvmpuEpLqqhdU Lithuania kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2HZkHWEnbFketk

[@davidtapp3950]

Did the Alsatian want to be "liberated"?

[@HistoryHustle]

Yes.

[@MyCarmenus]

Elsass is German territory on majority population basis. The French colonial troops brutally violated many alsacian women when Alsace was "liberated".

[@HistoryHustle]

Source?

[@loveisintheair8003]

Well, I know they did the same when they liberated Italy. There is a franco-italian film about it. It's called "La ciociara" (La paysanne aux pieds nus) by Vittorio de Sica - 1960.

[@FirstLast-ow1pt]

Liberated?

[@HistoryHustle]

Yes.

[@jankusthegreat9233]

59th to like and 10th to comment

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@bapt.r9699]

I'm Alsatian, our culture and language are german. Unfortunately, France invaded us several time and won 1945.

[@letoubib21]

Sorry, but then you are not German but Alemannian *. . .*

[@morewi]

Why would you want to be a part of Germany when they treated your grandparents like 2nd class citizens Everytime they got a hold of it

[@bapt.r9699]

@@morewi I observe that french propaganda did a great work. What u said is absolutely false. France divided Alsatian people from 1919 in 4 categories but never germany. You know, I spoke with my grand parents and many old alsatians and they said that they prefer german period.

[@bapt.r9699]

@@letoubib21 it's the same than if yoj say : you're not a human but a french. Alemanian are german (germains). It's the same word to speak about nationality or culture

[@morewi]

@@bapt.r9699 it's really well known how the Germans had racial slurs for people in the region and mistreated them and how Germans living outside of a German nation were treated as race traitors in the Nazi period

[@albertmarnell9976]

How can an animation of the creation of the Berlin Wall be called beautiful? That is the same as an animation of the creation of Auschwitz being called beautiful. August 13th, 1961, my mother turned 40. I was 6.5 years old. My mother and her parents were so upset. Beautiful?

[@HistoryHustle]

Don't think the Berlin Wall and Auschwitz are the same. The Wall had to keep people from crossing from east to west. The latter was a death camp.

[@albertmarnell9976]

@@HistoryHustle I completely disagree. The Wall was a wall of DEATH and MURDER. It was a WALL of Psychological Pain for families separated or wanting to get out of the D.D.R. which was not Deutsch, Democratic and certainly not a Republic. It was a horror show. I never met any German that liked being essentially in an outdoor prison that was labelled a city with STASI and you know some of the rest of it. The Wall was made to put the psychological fear of death in people and people were murdered there. Not everyone that went to Auschwitz was murdered. A man I knew from Ukraine was taken there as slave labor, had to take a real shower and had to wait until he was given a work detail in Germany. He died in 2019 at about age 95. He was my friends father. I would ask him and his wife about their experience. If I mentioned Holodomor, the mother would start crying and would say, "Al PLEASE STOP!" She liked me though. Both of them did. "The Wall had to keep people from crossing from east to west." You make that sound so innocuous. That is so wrong and actually passively cruel and myopic.

[@HistoryHustle]

The Berlin Wall for sure was a tragedy and life in the DDR was harsh. Putting it on a par with Auschwitz goes too far. Not the Berlin Wall nor the DDR was designed to whipe out a certain group of people. Yet, people did suffer the consequences of it being a police state.

[@albertmarnell9976]

@@HistoryHustle Your splitting hairs. Do you really think that a wall was okay when people were trapped in the Soviet Union with this going on? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excess_mortality_in_the_Soviet_Union_under_Joseph_Stalin

[@albertmarnell9976]

@@HistoryHustle And how many were murdered after Stalin died and were trapped behind the Iron Curtain? The Wall was only a part of The Iron Curtain. I put it on par with Auschwitz and the death camps especially if you total all of the deaths from the Russian Revolution until the Iron Curtain came down.

[@albertmarnell9976]

Stefan, I have so many statements and questions that are uncomfortable for me to ask or state. First, I'm almost 67 which is almost double your age. You seem to be influencing children to be anti-German or the bad guys. Do you explain to them why WW 2 occurred? What was done to the German Empire? Do you teach them about the British Naval Blockade and how horrible it was for the approximately 500,000 German civilians, mostly women, children and old men that starved or froze to death? What about Operation Gomorrah on Hamburg? The British confiscated as much footage as they could. That was a war crime. What about Holodomor and Stalin who was a real mass murderer? I did not realize that so many of the people on here might be young. I have to decide if I want to deal with them. I'm not going to relive my childhood of listening to American, European propaganda about Germans. I lived through WW l and afterwards with my grandparents who lived well into my adulthood. It is wrong to not talk about the goals of the Bolsheviks, Lenin, and Stalin who was truly a real ruthless murderer...he made Hitler look like a good guy. The repeating of these stories out of context is bad not only for German children but for everyone. Rosa Luxemburg was a communist Polish Jew who was born in the Russian Empire. I'm glad that they threw her in the canal in Berlin after they killed her. She wanted all of Germany to go towards Bolshevik ideology. In other words, she was an exported agitator and traitor. The children need to learn about the whole story. Too many of my friends that are retired school teachers were surrounded by suggestible, impressionable and naive young people who inflated the egos of my now retired teacher friends. Children tend to be worshipful pupils that have a clean slate. It is imperative that another generation of children know the whole picture of WW l, before WW l and who was behind WW ll. I have a great deal of trouble with my teacher friends because they are not used to being challenged by adults and one woman that I know who is married to my friend talks with such conviction yet she knows nothing. I keep my mouth shut because I am close friends with her husband and even he can not take her at times but not about war issues, rather politics. I know that everything is about money and power. Might does make right and people do get away with atrocities. Why hasn't George Bush, Condoleeza Rice and the others been tried and convicted of war crimes in The Hague? Why because even The Hague is a fraud. All of those that were behind the invasion of Iraq should have been executed long ago. I better stop here. I could write for months or years. There are things that I know, that have not made it into history books but the information is there even though I've seen up close the elimination or minimization of the information. I will wait for your response. I will tell you something strange...I had contact with David Irving in 2004. As a boy I had his book "The Destruction of Dresden" in English. I sent his friend in German films that were taken in the 1930s in Germany by my grandparents when they went back to visit their parents and relatives. None of the footage looked anything similar to what is shown in movies and on television. I sent the movies to his friend in Germany and that man...(I will not state his name) flew to London to review the footage that was taken as late as 1937 in many German cities. My mother went on the same tour boat in 1937 with a Hasidic Jew who was very happy and smiling. This is not what most people think of about that era. Remember, my family would go back and forth to Germany including my mother. Actually my mother could not wait to get back to New York because though fond of Germany it was boring to her. Back to David Irving. The films were of no use to him. He and his friend only found some footage in Munich ''interesting" but David Irving was so rude to me in an email and once on the phone...I was totally shocked and disgusted. It made me understand Deborah Lipstadt very well and in my heart was on her side. I had nothing to do with the trial. I just wanted my footage to not wind up in the dumpster. I'm going to send you here a clip of a group that wanted Americans from recent war crimes in Iraq to be put on trial in The Hague.

[@HistoryHustle]

“Stefan, I have so many statements and questions that are uncomfortable for me to ask or state. First, I'm almost 67 which is almost double your age. You seem to be influencing children to be anti-German or the bad guys. Do you explain to them why WW 2 occurred? What was done to the German Empire? Do you teach them about the British Naval Blockade and how horrible it was for the approximately 500,000 German civilians, mostly women, children and old men that starved or froze to death? What about Operation Gomorrah on Hamburg? The British confiscated as much footage as they could. That was a war crime. “ Actually, in recent years history school books have more nuance. The Dresden bombing is also talked about and discussed critically. “What about Holodomor and Stalin who was a real mass murderer?” Also these topics are talked about in recent school books! “Rosa Luxemburg was a communist Polish Jew who was born in the Russian Empire. I'm glad that they threw her in the canal in Berlin after they killed her. She wanted all of Germany to go towards Bolshevik ideology. In other words, she was an exported agitator and traitor. The children need to learn about the whole story. “ Again, also this is mentioned in school books in the Netherlands these days. “Might does make right and people do get away with atrocities. Why hasn't George Bush, Condoleeza Rice and the others been tried and convicted of war crimes in The Hague? Why because even The Hague is a fraud. All of those that were behind the invasion of Iraq should have been executed long ago.” Can't tell. Like I said I'm not that well read in recent history. It's not my field of interest yet.

[@albertmarnell9976]

@@HistoryHustle Stefan, I know it is hard for you to cover everyone or every topic. Dresden was common to talk about here since the 1960s. I never hear Hamburg discussed and that was far worse than Dresden. Some of my relatives that did not leave Altona, Hamburg or Schleswig Holstein after WW l to come to the U.S., only two who left after WW ll told me what it was like. My great grandmother at age 77 refused to go to her bunker at the end of July of 1943. I don't know the exact day. She was born in 1866. One day, she stayed in her apartment and everyone in her bunker was killed. [The death toll from Operation Gomorrah will always be uncertain, but the most accepted single number is now 37,000. If a range is stated, this is generally between 34,000 (from police records) and 40,000 (a commonly used figure in Germany before the end of the war). Most of the dead were unidentified. By 1 December 1943, there were 31,647 confirmed dead, but of these only 15,802 were based on the identification of a body. In some cases, the numbers of people who had perished in cellars converted into "air protection rooms" could only be estimated from the quantity of ash left on the floor. Those who died represented about 2.4% of the total population of Hamburg at the time.[17] Hamburg was a city of one million and I know there were evacuations but the death toll is a HUGE LIE! Many of the injured died days, weeks or months after the bombing and there were so many injured for life that lived but what kind of a life with arms and legs missing? Children, women, men seriously burned and scarred. As with any war, civilians survived with permanent external and internal injuries and of course the psychological scars, yet Hollywood likes to sell movies. It upset, hurt and angered me so much to put on the T.V. or hear people talk about killing the dirty Germans as a young boy, teenager and even today. This should be illegal today! But say one thing about a Jewish person and the world is supposed to stop! They love getting top billing on the marquee! It still seems that the narrative in most people's minds is a distorted fantasy that sold movies. "All I hear is Holocaust, Holocaust, Holocaust...yet, the majority of people in the camps were not Jews. The allied figure is 6 million Jews and 7 million none Jews. I NEVER hear about Holodomor and Stalin, Gulag deaths, except on a brief rare occasion because Stalin and the people in the east were able to do their crimes with much more secrecy but more so because it does not sell in movies." Yet movies such as "Schindler's List" made a fortune, leaving too many especially young people and even older to believe that WW ll was about the death of almost 6 million Jews. What about the other 69 million? What about this? The Dalstroy construction directorate built the Kolyma Highway during the Soviet Union's Stalinist era. Inmates of the Sevvostlag labour camp started the first stretch in 1932, and construction continued with the use of gulag labour until 1953. The road is treated as a memorial, as the bones of the estimated 250,000-1,000,000[3] people who died while constructing it were laid beneath or around the road.[4][page needed] As the road is built on permafrost, interment into the fabric of the road was deemed more practical than digging new holes to bury the bodies of the dead. I'm glad that you are interested in the period after WW 1. That is why my grandfather first left in November of 1923. My mother, born August 13th, 1921 had to stay behind with my grandmother but my grandmother had to work very hard. Some female relatives took turns helping look after my mother but sometimes at age 2.5 to age 6 was just left locked in her apartment in Altona, Hamburg. The history told of the chaos of the last century is so distorted, it is a fantasy movie. 99% of the population knows NOTHING! Omission is a form of lying.

[@HistoryHustle]

Please respond to the topic of the video. If you have others thoughts e-mail me. Quick reply: the fact that you never hear Holodomor depends on where you listen. There's plenty of books on this. For example the work of Anna Applebaum.

[@albertmarnell9976]

Stefan, please see the clip that may have disappeared by settings of yours. Here is the title of the clip about relatively recent U.S. war criminals including then President Bush who should have been tried in The Hague. "Activists Confront Condoleezza Rice at Stanford University". Very few war criminals get executed if they have power.

[@HistoryHustle]

I'm not that well read about the post-2000 period. Interesting though.

[@elizabethmiller7918]

Sadly the boot of the French occupiers' has been trampling on this beautiful region since 1648. Of course Europe has more urgent threats now so setting this right may never happen... However that these things are still covered in this jingoistic pro allied language is sad. Victors as usual write the history but anyone who combines knowledge with intellectual honesty will throw off those narratives like an old coat that has gotten smelly.

[@HistoryHustle]

History is not written by the victors, but written by those with the most consistent and compelling arguments based on the evidence, backed by a healthy dose of rational logic and passion for debate. The key is not to apologize for any side but to take a firm stand for what's right and what's wrong.