The Sudetenland: The Trigger for WWII

In the heart of central Europe, in the middle of a deep, dark forest, lies a mountain range that changed the world. It’s smaller than the Alps, less dramatic than the Dolomites, and far less romantic than the Carpathians. And yet, its place in modern European history is so vast, so great, that its reputation could dwarf even the Himalayas. Known as the Sudetes, this borderland between the forests of Germany and the hills of the Czech Republic may not be famous. But the region around it is. In 1938, the Sudetenland helped plunge Europe into war.
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Credits:
Host - Simon Whistler
Author - Morris M.
Producer - Jennifer Da Silva
Executive Producer - Shell Harris
Business inquiries to [e-mail]
Source/Further reading:
Early history: www.radio.cz/en/section/speci...
Some notes on 1620: www.historytoday.com/archive/...
www.radio.cz/en/section/czech...
1848: ww1.habsburger.net/en/chapter...
1919 fight for the Sudetenland: www.britannica.com/place/Aust...
In the First Czechoslovak Republic (1919-1938): www.britannica.com/topic/Czec...
Map, German population in Czechoslovakia, 1930: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Su...
(Lead up to WWII): www.britannica.com/place/Sude...
(Opinions of visitors in 1937 - including that the Sudetenland issue will resolve itself): www.radio.cz/en/section/archi...
(Overview of what some key players were thinking (apparently there was nearly a coup against Hitler over the issue!): spartacus-educational.com/GER...
Expulsion of the Germans: www.spiegel.de/international/...
“Wild Expulsions” and organized marches: www.radio.cz/en/section/speci...
www.radio.cz/en/section/talki...
2015 - Sudeten Germans association in Germany finally gives up claims on homeland: www.thelocal.de/20150302/worl...

[@jedetraktor_cz]

Greetings from Sudetenland - Mikulášovice ( Nixdorf ) . Writing this , sitting in the house , formerly owned by ethnic germans , seized from them 74 years ago . You can see ghosts of the past all over here , if you care to look . Still we have old german inscriptions on houses , where shops used to be . In our part of Sudetenland , maybe 1/2 of pre-war houses are gone - some crumbled to ruins by neglect ... many intentionally set on fire after the war ....some were set on fire by their original owners - to deny them to newcomers ..... many more burned later by czechs to destroy all hope of germans to ever come back . And yet more demolished in massive scale clean-up programme in 1960´s + 70´s . Where somebody had a kitchen - now 50-60 year old trees grow , amongs piles of bricks and stones . One curious consequence : with huge surplus of housing , there was very few buildings constructed since the war . As result , whole region looks like one huge open-air architecture museum .... most of the houses being from late 19th or early 20th century . Some of them with no repairs being done since the war . This is getting somewhat better only in recent years . Population here is mixture of Czechs , Slovaks , Hungarians , Gypsies and Germans...or rather their descendants . Most of the people here identify themselves as Czech , even when having some other ancestry . The figure i have on Germans is, that about 500 000 were allowed to stay. Also one unmentioned way to stay for germans was if they were skilled in some craft , which was in high demand and short supply . Quite a lot of people here have german surnames ....but i would say that 99,9% of them are fully assimilated and dont even speak german any more . For example , my uncle was born to German mother and Czech father in 1950´s . They spoke german at home , so when he went to school , he spoke almost no Czech and had to learn it . Now he is in his 60´s and doesnt speak German anymore , he even used to take classes to re-learn the german . As a whole , i would say the region was pretty much fucked up and 70 years after the war it hasnt yet recovered . It is getting better in recent decades , but i think it still will take several generations to heal . One short story for the end : Recently , while walking in forest , where house used to be , i found broken porcelain cup , with very clear german inscription " Zum Geburtstag" ( For brithday ) .... i must say , that was very intense experience .

[@joshs199]

Wow that's really interesting. Thank you for sharing what you know with us. After watching the video. I was thinking about what it was like there now. And I have so many more questions now ! Many blessings

[@xyxxyyxx]

Having roots there (as in: my great-grandfathers family was dislocated from there to Austria including my grandmother) I visited there twice recently, the first time to visit where my grandmother used to live with my father from that side and it was shocking to see the impact that recent history had there. From a lot of crumbling houses to the impact that communism had with fields being kilometers long (I might exaggerate but it felt like that). The thing that was most surreal for me and struck me the most was not a thing that that side of the family used to own (they were pretty rich), but an abandoned house with the faint image of a grape and the text "Gasthaus zur Traube" (Grape Inn). The second time I went there was the funeral of my great-uncle who was buried in the place he was born, went to school and was thrown out of. (No hard feelings though, I probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't for that, and history is history that is not possible to change)

[@k.m890]

Your 🏠 is Spoils of War. Try sacrificing a pig next to old trees and see what happens

[@antiussentiment]

Thank you for your insight.. The one hundred odd thumbs you have seems trivial to the gravity of your story.

[@jgc4818]

Wow, that’s very eerie. Thanks for the read. Those men who caused the war in 1939 had no idea what they were getting into... we must always remember our decisions today, however seemingly minor, cause lingering impressions on the world. Greetings from the U.S.A.

[@MrVvulf]

Defenestration is the word of the day. It means "the action of throwing someone out a window". Now you know. Go forth and enlighten your friends. Just don't defenestrate them.

[@amb163]

I taught my four year old niece how to say it a few months ago, and now she says it whenever she pushes one of her Fisher Price® Little People from the window of a Fisher Price® House.

[@claudiobizama5603]

The olde, formal way of saying "YEET OUTTA WINDOW"

[@IgabodDobagi]

@Ratko Mladic it's still used any time someone is thrown from a window. That just doesn't happen as much anymore as it used to. People don't like being brought up on charges of attempted murder.

[@SmolPotatowo]

It's one of my favourite words :^)

[@CSelH]

The Second Defenestration of Prague is one of the few historical events where both the name and the event itself are equally very fascinating.

[@klaxxon__]

I love how my (Czech) history teacher described the situation after WW2: "The expulsions were completely understandable, but not in the slightest forgivable". The regions that comprise former Sudetenland (the name is not used anymore by anyone, really) are still among the poorest in the country. After the war, it was settled by Czech fortune seekers and opportunists, entire estates taken over by former servants, by people with little to no bonds to the land, with no familial skills and no education and the whole place failed to develop (no that the communist takeover offered much opportunity for that).

[@bobsnow6242]

Sounds a lot like Rhodesia/Zimbabwe

[@Legitpenguins99]

"Completely understandable but not in the slightest forgivable" is something id really like to hear more these days. Empathy is a rarity these days

[@stepanpytlik4021]

I disagree. After the revolution, the region is guickly reviving

[@ximrade4287]

@@stepanpytlik4021 What Revolution?

[@borec2468]

@@ximrade4287 Sametová Revoluce

[@copperhamster]

The best part about "The Defenestration of Prague" is you have to actually qualify it. Why? Because you have to qualify, was it the "First Defenestration of Prague" in 1419, the "Second Defenestration of Prague" in 1483, or the "Third Defenestration of Prague" (which is this one) in 1618. Which is the only one of which there were survivors. One of those survivors was later ennobled, with the title "Baron von Hohenfall", literally Baron of Highfall.

[@kibicz]

That makes a rule - if defenestratees die, you succed (as in hussite wars and in catholic betrail that was foiled by the second defenestration) in the other case you lose..

[@miliba]

he shouldve been named Baron von Manürenwagen

[@jimtalbott9535]

Ok Simon - you'll need to do something similar on this for East Prussia.

[@sywu111]

@Bjergsen Senpai the real German "eastern territories" ends on Limes Sorabicus et Saxonicus of 9th century. Anything "German" to east of the Limes is just German conquest or settlement in Slavic lands. Once Lübeck was Slavic Ljubice, Dresden was Slavic Drêždžany, Schwerin was Slavic Zvêrin, Leipzig was Slavic Lipsk, Chemnitz was Slavic Kamênica and so was with hundreds other toponyms east of real Limes Saxonicus of 9th century.

[@sywu111]

@Bjergsen Senpai - well, so were are those "Germanic" people coming from? You certainly know all those "Germanic" people some 2 thousend years ago lived in Scandinavia, only by migration towards eastern Europe, assimilation of local non-Germanic populations or by mere conquest those "Germanic" people moved 2 thousend years ago from Scandinavia to eastern Europe, than they moved to the West as migrants into Celtic and Roman territories. It's funny that people of Neolithic battle of Tollenz (modern Mecklenburg) show some Slavic genom, also Slavic culture is long later. If Germanic people were so influential in eastern Europe, so where are their toponyms? In modern eastern Germany there are whole clusters of Slavic toponyms, which show that local pre-German residents were settled people, later just conquered by Germans. Anyway, any "Germanic" people were in eastern Europe as mere Gypsies, who once moved here, than moved there, and eventually any those "Germanic" people left eastern Europe already in Hunnic times. Your certainly are less connected to those "Germanic" people of eastern Europe, than any modern local eastern European men or people. Anyway, can you explain why medieval Deutschen had called "Wenden" all of Slavic people east of Limes Saxonicus (or the "Saxon's Line")?

[@WhiteSeaLeviathan]

@@sywu111 True DRAHT NAHT OSTEN I think they called it. Well now is DRAHT NAHT WESTEN!!!

[@IamAWESOME3980]

ethnic cleaning is always fun.

[@kaiserkitsune9393]

@@sywu111 you just proved his point congrats

[@alm5992]

"A vital history: one that deserves to be remembered!" Feel a 'History Guy' vibe here.

[@Zeldarw104]

I don't think so Simon Whistler brought facts & history to youtube!💯 ........ And beyond! 🙂

[@artz9643]

@@Zeldarw104 The History Guy does it better.

[@janbrazda443]

I live in Sudetenland, in Teplice to be exact. Gotta say, you handled the pronouciation pretty well. All of the informations are true, it’s interesting for me to see how the world looks at this part of our history. Great job!

[@0799qwertzuiop]

It's so sad to see another tale of how nationalism destroyed countries from the former Austrian empire. Sometimes it seems to me we would be better off if we stayed together and found a fair compromise.

[@stepanpytlik4021]

@@0799qwertzuiop It was however Austria's fault.

[@tomfu6210]

@@0799qwertzuiop Well, german nationalism. WW2 was only a climax of 100 years of developement since 1848.

[@citywokbesitzer6834]

@@tomfu6210 Versailles

[@tomfu6210]

@@citywokbesitzer6834 Oh no. Austria was draged into a war which was not in its interest. Germans were minority in the state but tried to conform it to Germany what obviously was against interests of other nations in the state. The result was inevitable.

[@annettepiff9759]

My father was born in Moravia, Czechoslavakia on March 2, 1919, so naturally I consider this video fascinating. He grew up speaking German and Czech. I will be sure to share this video with family members. Thank you very much for creating it!

[@jimtalbott9535]

A large chunk of my family is from the Sudetenland - my Great Grandfather was from Lomigsdorf, in Olomouc. He left around 1900, and ended up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He had NO desire to end up as part of the Kaiser's army.

[@muchentuchen6592]

Are you nazi? Shame on you sir.

[@jimtalbott9535]

Muchen Tuchen That depends on who you ask. I DID vote for for Obama twice, so......

[@andrewlange7820]

Muchen Tuchen ur a dummy

[@muchentuchen6592]

@@jimtalbott9535 Again shame on you sir. Voted for obama but didn’t vote for Hillary? What sort of liberal are you?

[@kurtvanduran7725]

The Kaiser was German, The emperor was Austro-Hungarian

[@sussekind9717]

As a descendant of Sudetenland Germans, I feel that it is high time that these stories be told. The atrocities committed on both sides before, during and after WWII are often glossed over in history books. The fact that they were annexed by Nazi Germany, is about the most anyone ever hears about it. The horror stories I heard from my one surviving grandmother was appalling, and would always bring her to tears. However, regardless of the PTSD that was surely brought to the surface in her final years, she thought that it was imperative that it be known, so that such atrocities would never again occur.

[@Jen39x]

Susse Kind I wish more of us had made simple recordings from that generation. Somehow like every other child and grandchild we thought there would be time later.

[@AnthonySenpaikun]

@Peter S You are the height of ignorance.

[@Elador1000]

@mxt mxt, First of all, I agree that there were atrocities committed against germans by Czechs. But be careful with saying that Czechs oppressed the Germans. Yes, they were shot at in 1919. Mostly because they were seen as traitors and this video did not do the event justice. During those demonstrations, germans destroyed Czech national emblems and insignias, attacked Czech officials and tried to disarm policemen. Several Czech soldiers were killed. That's why they started to shot into the crowds. But I digress. My point was that the Germans were not really discriminated against. At least not hard and definitely not in the standard of the first half of the 20. century. They had political representation. Their language was thought at schools and could have been used at public offices. They had some form of political autonomy. Charles University even had classes in German. Compare that with, well, almost any other minority at that time... Crimes during the explosion were horrible though. I can understand why they were committed but they were an injustice. But please, don't take this channel as a good historical guide. He produces nice summaries but they are often full of mistakes.

[@FirstNameLastName-lp7yt]

@Peter S obvious bait is obvious

[@ondrejnovotny3273]

oh poor poor grandma that lived through the horrors of the Sudeten German expulsion! Maybe she should have shared those horrors and her terrible PTSD with survivors of the concentration camps that suffered under nazi pigs so adored by those poor innocent Sudeten Germans...

[@onkelnext3827]

I live in the western portion of Sudetenland and I have ancestors from Sudeten germans (i am 1/4 German). And I want to clarify that Czech and German people don't have grudges about this outcome. I live in 100 old house that belonged to german industrial family. After ww2 and deportation of germans, this house has fallen to czech people (we have been the communist country after all). 20 years back that german family (a man who was living in our house as a child and his family) come to our house with a wish to see how it changed after the years. It was pleasant experience for both sides to hear about history of our house.

[@bingobongo1615]

Michal Klimesch I am glad you personal made good experiences! There are no real reasons today why the countries should dislike each other. However: A lot of Germans do have grudges about the outcomes and Czech never ended the Benes decrees. That being said we started the war so complaining doesnt really work... Also Germany is widely unpopular in Czech. In fact Poland, Greece and Czech are the triangle of anti-German sentiment in Europe.

[@Stoneface_]

Vinnisl a poles love Germany though. Millions of them in Germany 🇩🇪!

[@paulherzog9605]

@@Stoneface_ Poles i have known are at peace with Germans. Hate Russians

[@nofuxCZ]

@@bingobongo1615 Germany is unpopular due to Merkel, not because of what happened during the war. Unfortunately, lots of disinformation was floating around about Merkel during the migrant crisis of 2015 and since then the view on Germany deteriorated. Germany was one of the best liked countries here before that.

[@MrSonofsonof]

@@bingobongo1615 I think there is less and less anti-German hostility every year. It is long process though. Even in the 1960s West Germany was still claiming large parts of western Poland and all of the Sudetenland, and it was only on the 1970s that the FRG finally gave up its claims. Obviously the main reason that Poland and Czechoslovakia remained communist was the Red Army, but post-war conservative German governments didn't help the situation.

[@TH3B0N3Y4RD]

My Opa was 13 when his family escaped from Germany. Last boat out before Germany attacked. Grew up hearing about all of this. They ended up in the peace region of B.C. There is a hall called the Sudeten Hall out there. This video hits close to home for me. My Opa passed away last Friday - may he rest in peace after living such an extraordinary life... thank you for this video!

[@aaronmarks9366]

RIP to him

[@paraboo8994]

Same for my neighbour. She was an awesome lady, like a grandma to me. She made these delicious chunky sausages she said they used to have there. She was an amazing woman ❤

[@genghisghost]

rest in piss and i hope hr is burning in hell

[@vh5663]

Thank you for this video! I have a few interesting things to add to this story: 1) Lot of similiar things in the late 30's happened between us and Poland. There's a strip of land we actually fought a war over in 1920 and ethnic tensions and violence happened in pretty much the same way for almost the same reasons. Poland actually invaded the area while we were getting ready to fight Germans. Yet another similiar events happened with Hungary, which was a soviet country for a time back then, conserning some Slovak regions. They too attacked when Hitler invaded - and boy, did we wipe our asses with them - until the country collapsed from the west of course. 2) It was not just about some killings here and there and about putting the rest of Germans to trains and sending them away. Children were tortured in old gestapo dungeons, there was even a special camp where so called revolutionary guards gathered some local German women and went on a bit of a raping spree. That shocked even the authorities of post the war Czechoslovakia. The biggest massacre happened near city Postoloprty, where some 700 Germans got shot. The oldest person killed there was some 80 years old, the youngest not even a year. Most of them were not from the reich, but were swept to these lands by the war, and some of them were not even Germans at all. There are eye witness accounts about the ground covering the graves still moving about two days after the shooting. 3) Lots of the people commiting the massacres of Germans (but by far not all of them) were those who worked with Nazis before and tried to clean their names. Most of them were later "hired" by the communists to do the very same job they did for nazis - to snitch and spy on others, but also to torture and kill innocent people in the concentration camps and prisons. Most of the victims there were people who fought against nazis in the western armies, but even those from the eastern front or even partisans who were not specificaly the communist kind of partisans. Of course, the massacres of Germans were not connected only to the areas influenced by the soviets after the war - after all, most of our borderline with Germany is in the area liberated by the Americans. 4) The Sudetenland was one of the richest parts of the country, often based on small business, small farms, trades etc. The fact that the traditional business communities were driven away was not helped by the fact that the communists crippled the entire country even more with the ways they reorganized the economy and the politics. Something that worked for centuries and made Czechoslovakia one of the most developed countries in Europe at time was suddenly erased. The communists also closed up vast areas of the Sudetenland because they needed to create a heavily guarded zone around the bordeline with the more lucky countries in Europe. They destroyed entire villages, moved people away and put hundreds of miles of barbed wire, walls, machine gun nests etc. all over the place. Most of the worst communist camps and prisones were situated in the Sudetenland too. 5) The consequences of all of that are still very much alive today. It's the poorest region in the country. When it comes to politics, it dominates in voting for both the far right and the far left parties. The biggest numbers of unemployed people are from there, there's not many places to get education and it just don't get better at all. The population gets alarmingly old as the young people move to the big cities in the heartland or to Austria or Germany. Pretty much unless you don't own a pub, a hotel or a ski slope (or if you don't cook meth), you're facing a big problem with making the living there. 7) I don't know it it's despite it's history or because of it's history, but the Sudetenland is truly a magical place to visit. It's almost completely empty of all people in certain parts, the nature is STUNNING and all in all it's like a completely different world. I can't even count the number of times me and the guys wandered across those wide woodlands scattered with remains of castles, villages, ww2 forts, slept under the stars, drank from mountain streams and got silly at some of local pubs. It's also no rarity to find things like barbed wire, guns, gas masks etc. in those parts - I actually found quite a few things myself. But every now and then you hear a local story about "some germans corpses still rotting in the ground somewhere behind that church over there", which is not exactly pleasent, but definetely interesting to hear. Most of my family from both sides is from various regions of the Sudetenland with many stories to tell. After all, most of them saw both world wars and events before and after each of them from a very close distance, some of them even from a frontline. But that would make this comment far too long. :D

[@stepanpytlik4021]

Well, large parts of what you said aren't true. For example, "Sudetenland" is no longer that poor and in many parts it actually flourishes.

[@vh5663]

@@stepanpytlik4021 I guess that depends on what specific regions you're talking about. Some are pretty much ok, some are far from it, but all of them face similiar problems. The closer you get to the borderline, the worst it gets, but of course in places where big german, austrian or czech cities are nearby, it all can be ok, especially if you work in Germany or Austria. Anyway, in many places the population stands just one closed factory away from a half of local residents not having a job and literally everywhere majority of young people leave after finishing high school and only small part of them returns. That's not what I would call flourishing reagion. Plus what are the other things you think I'm wrong about? As I said, me and my brother are the only people from my family who were born and lived away from the Sudetenland + my gf and her entire family is from there too. This topic is very familiar to me, so what did I say so wrong?

[@stepanpytlik4021]

@@vh5663 Some regions are still truly poor. But most of them are finally recovering. From my point of view, communism damaged the region most

[@vh5663]

@@stepanpytlik4021 True. Communism damaged the entire country the most.

[@stepanpytlik4021]

@@vh5663 Communism damaged the world most

[@deusexaethera]

6:01 - Am I the only person who, after a few decades of learning about history, gets very jumpy when anyone starts talking about "utopia"?

[@jenross9786]

Me too, honestly. Pretty sure that is how every dystopian story/movie/whatever starts

[@Jodibear]

By “Utopia” you mean Genocide

[@littlerave86]

Well, people are just too different. What one person imagines as utopia is another person's nightmare.

[@baltasarnoreno5973]

No, you are most certainly not alone in feeling anxious when some visionary starts proclaiming utopia.

[@starkusmc1981]

Utopia means No land for a reason.

[@andycocchia4202]

“It’s not history to learn to get comfy before bed”.... Me sitting here comfy and ready for bed 😳

[@codychambers6017]

Same

[@craigmason9893]

😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳

[@andrewjohnson780]

Omg same

[@deltavee2]

Me here comfy *and* in bed ;-D

[@burningb2439]

Ye cant beat gettin comfy..

[@SatyreIkon]

My granny and her family fled from the Sudetenland before the massacres and deportations started. I don't know what exactly occurrerd, but she always blamed "that awful Hitler" for her fate and the loss of their family farm. (Ironically she shared her birthday with Hitler.) Miss you, granny. Your stories were great!

[@Artanis99]

That was quite enlightened view of the whole event as sudeten germans were essentially used as pawns for Nazis to undermine their neighbors. One of my high school teachers had us study this in depth during ethics seminar and one of most interesting things we were shown were excerpts from town chronicles pre-hitler rise in power and entries after that. Difference was staggering. During early 30's most entries were about mundane events such as births, deaths, weddings etc., but after that in late 30's there were entire essays teeming with pro-nazi propaganda that were either dictated to the writer or copied verbatim from propaganda leaflets.

[@ltmund]

​@@Artanis99Don't forget though, those Germans had been oppressed of the democratic right to self determination. Look at it like this: if a people are oppressed then they often turn to extremism for help. That extremism is based on hatred for the Oppressor. The answer: ensure people have rights, one of which is self determination.

[@leehaseley2164]

Grest video. I spent three years at school in Germany, and my teacher told us stories of how her family was expelled from the Sudetenland as a small child. You did a great job.

[@ondrejnovotny3273]

I hope the teacher also explained whether her family supported Henlein and saluted Hitler when he marched to the occupied Sudetenland...

[@someguysomeone3543]

@@ondrejnovotny3273 Triggered much?

[@ondrejnovotny3273]

@@someguysomeone3543 yes, I am triggered by your avatar:)

[@ondrejnovotny3273]

@Hautzarte Verwöhnung Mein Kampf was published in 1925, from that point to 1938 it was very clear that Hitler is a racist, violent pig and anyone sympathizing with that deserves no excuse for hailing to this man and supporting his party and cause;) I hope one day Germans like you will admit that their ancestors screwed up big time...

[@ondrejnovotny3273]

@Hautzarte Verwöhnung haha it was a punch in the face, oh poor poor war losing Germans:)) Do you realize that Germany and Austria lost the WW1, right? So what do you expect, everyone would just shake hands and keep the pre-war borders?? hahahaha good one:) Your ancestors were lucky that their countries were not dissolved to pieces by the winning nations, that applies to both WW1 and WW2... And stop making excuses for the nazi supporters, I already told you it was well known even before the war what kind of racist pig Hitler is so anyone supporting such ideology deserves only to be condemned, nothing else...;)

[@volkhen0]

Ahoj, Greeting for Czech friends from Poland. I Love Prague and your language.

[@Medafets]

This was fascinating and heartbreaking. A brilliant episode. Thank you so much for what you’re doing on this channel.

[@f.n.schlub2269]

Amazingly good. This vid gives far more context than I was ever taught, or stumbled across. Thanks.

[@chrisclifton7276]

That is probably one of the best videos produced on every channel simon on. There is not much information on the sudetenland that is easily digested. Thank you so much guys. All of you. Fantastic. I have seen hundreds of your videos and this is the first one I've saved for further digestion. Thank you again. This shines a whole new light on Chamberlain too.

[@PepperoniMilkshake]

Eye for an eye makes the world go blind

[@IgabodDobagi]

stupid quote. it's just one eye so you can still see out the other one.

[@Doochos]

@@IgabodDobagi then you take the remaining eyes. Not stupid

[@MasterMalrubius]

@@Doochos yes it because the word "eye" is singular.

[@Doochos]

@@MasterMalrubius You keep taking an eye at a time until everybody is blind...

[@MasterMalrubius]

@@Doochos Where does it say that?

[@tomharris9570]

Immensely entertaining, informative, and with a wonderful sense of humour. More people need to see this channel. Going to be sharing this everywhere. Outstanding work as always, Geographics crew!

[@geographicstravel]

Thank you :)

[@Mathias-kz5dr]

@@geographicstravel Your numbers at 10:00 can’t be correct: The Sudetenland had 3 million German inhabitants that comprised 25 % of the population. So the Sudetenland had 12 million inhabitants? Can’t be correct.

[@shawndayhoff4038]

Another standout video. Absolutely excellent slice of history with a unique perspective. Well done to the writers and Simon. Some of your best work.

[@andrebrodmerkel2327]

My Grandmother and Grandfather were sudeten deutsche. Both were forced to leave within a 24 hr notice as my grandmother told me. They fled to bavaria with their families and werent welcomed by the natives there. They slept in barns and hey for months. But later they settled in a small town in franconia called "Baunach" were they were part of a sudeten club to keep the languange and traditions alive. They even kept their own festive clothes which is quite different to the bavarian. My grandfather was a leader in the club and helped many other sudeten deutsche to settle down and get jobs. Years later my family went to see my grandmothers old town but she couldnt recognise her old house anymore. She had bad dementia by then. My grandfather's town was completely deminished, gone. Just a small shrine in the middle of the forest remembers that there was once a settlement. I think the name of the town was Karlstadt. With this family history I thought a lot of the WW2 and the atrocities been made by anyone. Its sadend me to see what humans can do to each other to this day. Mostly its just for power reasons. After all, we all are brothers and sisters, living together on this planet!

[@dharmatmaram]

And your nazi leaders are invading our country again this time economically and stealthily under the disguise of green /EU/ agenda!

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

I literally went camping in this land 2 months ago... beautiful landscape and wilderness... so peaceful... I had no idea that it is a land with such historical importance! Thanks for teaching me something new, Simon!

[@bb54321abc]

Great presentation Simon. I knew the general details, but this in-depth historical presentation was well worth watching. Thank you.

[@FrZsncool]

Thank you for this amazing video! My grandmother is from Sudetenland and I never really understood the history. She never wanted to talk about the past.

[@antiussentiment]

Humanity's next step is learning that vengeance is a weakness and forgiveness is a strength...

[@krakonos8626]

You must realise how Czechs felt. Germans killed their fathers, sent them to concentration camps. They were lucky that they made it alive. Normaly you are sentenced to death for betrayel of the country. I don't blame Germans for betraying our country I blame Czech kings for inviting them.

[@Headhunter97]

@@krakonos8626 the point is, that if you do kill and make civilian people into refugees because of actions that people with the same national identity commited, you are not one step better... Revenge is a never ending circle.

[@nemooutis-marcusboateng7459]

Haha Bumanity will never learn that. It is an animalistic, programmatic leaning.

[@Mirinovic]

@@Headhunter97 To bych vás chtěl vidět .

[@rustyspurs771]

When you kill two people with a single bullet, it's impressive and we call it a "Quigley". When you kill 20 million, it's horrifying and we call it a "Gavrilo Princip surprise party".

[@eloquentsarcasm]

@jamovic Don Quigley Down Under, epic film in which Quigley sniped 2 gomers with 1 round.

[@starscream548]

This is your best video on this channel yet I loved the somber description at the end thank you very much for this second channel and this amazing video

[@tasiatyler4662]

Well done. Extremely informative and with compassion. Geographics has done it again!

[@jnew42]

Congratulations on breaking 60,000 subscribers so rapidly to everyone working on making this extremely well thought out, interesting content. It is interesting to see the role which a region has influencing history for better or worse. Thank you. Edit: Just my two cents but the start of WWII was either at the signing of The Armistice, or the Palace of Versailles. Even at the time many felt it was an untenable treaty... Just my thought to add to what has been said.

[@EmiAsseisha]

A descendant of both Czechs and Germans of Sudetenland, I appreciate this video very much as it’s gonna be helpful in explaining my foreign friends the complicated history of my homeland. That said, I feel like it should have been mentioned, that Czechs and Jews and even Germans who did not agree with Hitler’s new regime faced the expulsion first back in 1939. They were forced to leave their homes with next to nothing into Bohemia. The expulsion of Germans after the war was the second event of this kind. Both left people homeless and starving. Both cost lives. Saying that Czechs had a good life in Sudetenland once Hitler took over is a lie.

[@Mirinovic]

Sudatelad is part of Bohemia with great German population but stile part of Bohemia

[@nanaqueen9404]

@@Mirinovic did you read my comment at all? I know where Sudetenland is. I was born there.

[@Mirinovic]

@@nanaqueen9404 V tom případě proč spolu mluvíme anglicky a žádny kraj Sudety nejsou. Východní, Západní Čechy či Jesenicko?

[@Beadledom2024]

You make history exciting and romantic, with anticipatory storytelling skills and a palpable love of what's come before us. Thanks, man!

[@davidparker8920]

This is a very sad note of history that is wonderfully delivered by it's presenter. I was moved emotionally by his delivery and by the end of his presentation felt like crying. I have watched many of his videos but this is by far his best! I am a lover of history and have studied world war 2 in depth. But knowing the history is not enough to fully understand it's context. Simon has a way of delivering it with it's emotional context. It is not enough to say thank you for a story so well delivered.

[@gideonhorwitz9434]

If you went back in time before the war and did a road trip around Eastern Europe you’d be shock to the amount of Germans living there is just staggering the amount of colonies that were set of during a period of hundreds of years. Identifiably Ethinic Germans living outside the actual borders of Germany and the Sudetenland was just a most well known example.

[@paulherzog9605]

Read about Volga Germans

[@arthuryong4968]

Germans in Eastern Europe? What about Norwegian, swedish, and danish settlers?

[@longtimenosee320]

@@arthuryong4968 Actually yes. Eastern europe also had scandinavian minorities until 1945: Ingrian Swedes, Gammalsvenskby (Swedes of Ukraine), Kola Norwegians (Russian norwegians). I have no concrete idea what happened to them, but i think they were either assimilated with local slavs, or expelled.

[@vh5663]

Whats shocking about this? The Czech republic is not eastern Europe and the czech people mixed with german and austrians since the dawn of time, with or without german settlers in Sudetenland.

[@Mirinovic]

Akorát že to byly Čechy 😛

[@resileaf9501]

It's a wondrous thing to be able to take such a severe subject and talk about it soberly, with some humor here and there to distract from the awful human misery. Turning our heads away from history will only make us worse people. We need to be able to learn about the good and the bad of what our civilizations have done. It's the only way to advance. Great video.

[@geographicstravel]

Well said. And thank you.

[@jeldibye]

Simon & team, this is some of your finest work yet. Keep up the amazing work.

[@eddietheloggie]

Great video, the narration was top notch. Much more impassioned then others I've heard you give. Well done!

[@tabbysmithfield3794]

Gonna have to listen to this a time or two more. I LOVE history, but this? So much information! I couldn’t possibly explain it back to anyone after just one hearing! Lol.

[@lindapolle1665]

Re: to production manager Add more charts and maps, especially historical ones. Many of us have family history over there, but what country, when, is the question. Try to voice-over information, rather than just do "talking-head". Charts of time lines color coded help present loads of information in little time.

[@chancerNW]

This sums up the excellent quality of documentaries on You Tube. Great clear, sincere, presentation not dumbed down for the masses. Yet retaining a very human touch. This is what should be on the Discovery Channel. Not Ducky Dinenasty or Bike Mechanics On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown.

[@rickyricardo4168]

I love watching your channels as you have a way with words that few do and it is both entertaining and informative at the same time. Thank you so much for the effort you put in to everything you do I very much appreciate it.

[@cornsomething]

Thanks for putting this super informative video out Simon and team. Really informative history

[@Mertule93]

I wish they taught us stuff about our own history like this at school, we just got a very brief idea of what happened, lots of dates and names of course, with no real context. Thank you for these videos and greetings from Troppau, Sudetenland!

[@spectreshadow]

Yay I wanted to hear more about this.

[@delian7721]

Well done Simon, i can with confidence say, this is your best channel so far! interesting topics that makes the nerd inside of me, glued to the screen!

[@AWMuSick]

Man it's hard not to subscribe you, the music that you put in the video in tandem with your narration made me anxious , keep up the good work looking forward to more videos.

[@martinmikus6142]

It small known fact that same expulsion happened in southern slovakia where around 200k hungarian where expeled for same reason

[@sanderskovly7641]

There were quite a few germans in Hungary as well. Were they expelled as well?

[@Hromovlad1]

@@sanderskovly7641 Not sure, Hungary was a close ally of Germany during World War 2.

[@VagoniusThicket]

Sander Skovly Actually Germans in Hungary were always well accepted . Many Hungarians learned to speak German . My father had German playmates and learned to speak their dialect .

[@rczv]

Yes, the perhaps not as thoroughly as in Czechoslovakia, but many Germans were deported from Hungary after WWII. And also many families torn apart when some would end up deported and others were allowed to stay. Their houses were often given to Hungarians deported from Czechoslovakia. In Hungary, most Germans arrived during the 18th century in an effort to re-establish agriculture after the Turkish were driven out (many Slovaks also came at the time to the South East of current day Hungary). Most arrived in boats on the Danube, and settled along it (mostly in counties Tolna, Baranya, Bácska) Look up Donauschwaben, Schwabenzüge, or Schwäbishe Türkei for more info.

[@rczv]

Also, other than being deported to Germany, many Hungarian Germans (Ungarndeutsche) were taken to concentration camps in the Soviet Union (málenkij robot) along with Hungarians.

[@volvo1354]

at least the Czechs took out Heydrich, despite the costly aftermath

[@poryg5350]

Fun fact. The assassination almost failed. First they were supposed to throw a grenade... That grenade did not go off. Then the submachinegun jammed... And it shot in the last seconds. Heidrich did not die immediately. He died a couple of days later in the hospital.

[@tea_and_crumpets6919]

@@poryg5350 Except it was the other way around. First they used the SMG, but it jammed, so they threw a granade that didn't kill him. But the wound got infected by the horse leather from his seats and he died a few days later in a hospital of blood poisoning.

[@miliba]

they shouldve kidnapped and made him disappear without any trace

[@peterroberts2737]

Always suspicious of himmler, heydrich was the only person who could threaten his position, getting better in hospital, visit from himmler, dead.

[@volvo1354]

Peter Roberts you never know, would never put something like that past him.

[@saeidhn]

Simon! Hands down one of the best videos you have ever made.

[@judyeckhart4766]

Interesting and important piece of history that is rarely talked about. Thank you.

[@eliasbra9959]

Very interesting and informative. My grandfather came out of the Sudetenland and was expelled even though he did nothing. Very nice to learn about it.

[@tompeled6193]

Silence is violence. If he wasn't an active anti-Nazi, he deserved it.

[@masterchief-vd1xs]

​@@tompeled6193 you making it yourself very easy, don't you

[@bubakbubakovic9286]

Simon, please make more videos about Czech history, you will find out that such small nation played suspiciously way too many roles in history and shake world order many times. Btw. Greets to Prague

[@Pelagion98]

Funnily enough, he lives in Prague :)

[@FraggnAUT]

lol, says every small country ever. As an Austrian, i cope the same.

[@bubakbubakovic9286]

@@FraggnAUT this couldn't be said about all small countries, only about the european ones. Also we, czech people, are sharing common history with austria. We were in one form or another same state for more than 500 years. Personally I see Austrians as our cousins, I've learned Deutsch since I was ten y.o. But unluckily, most Austrians don't shares my opinion and basically don't like us very much

[@FraggnAUT]

@@bubakbubakovic9286 yeah, im aware of that, a shame. My ancestors come from bohemia when it was still part of the Austrian Empire.

[@masterchief-vd1xs]

​@@bubakbubakovic9286 don't feel bad about it. The austrians are just a bit special. The aren't too fond of us Germans either and we consider them as our little brother.

[@ypsilondaone]

Thank you for putting light onto these semi-unknown stories.

[@aidan8473]

Love your geography videos, keep it up!

[@honzagrossmann2977]

I live in the Sudetenland region of the Czech Republic. All that remains in the general knowledge today is that “Germans used to live here”, and all the physical evidence of the past long gone is the German architecture. Even to me as a local this has been very eye opening. Thanks, Simon.

[@martinvlcek5332]

@Hautzarte Verwöhnung probably most people have some mix in the region, even back then quite the number of "Germans" had either Czech or Germanicized-Czech names. i am half German, Sudeten (half on both sides of the family, both have stories of being kicked out and then coming back a few weeks later by "simply walking back").

[@honzagrossmann2977]

Hautzarte Verwöhnung Yes, they do. Hell, look at my name, I’m half German as well!

[@gusyates1839]

Honza Grossmann Germans should take back everything that was stolen from them; Danzig, Breslau, Konigsberg the whole lot. It’s not right.

[@Stephanthesearcher]

@@gusyates1839 i am german and i dont agree. this places where german once because german identifieing ppl lived there. no german live there since the war. all places should belong to the ppl who actualy live there. my fathers side came from danizg (living there sine the 14hundreds and my mother from a village unknown to me in the sudetenland. they both fleed from the russians in 45 and met in westgermany , married and here i am.... :-)

[@gusyates1839]

Stephanthesearcher You don’t agree because you’ve been brainwashed and indoctrinated to feel guilty about being German. All you’ve ever been taught about history is the bad things the Nazis did. Not the bad things done by others which were just as bad. Do you know that the Japanese did even worse in China (google the Nanjing massacre) but they don’t learn about it in school? Their government wants them to be proud to be Japanese. The Japanese got away with their holocaust but our people have been treated very badly. Now that bloody idiot Merkel has filled Germany up with Third world asylum seekers who do not assimilate and will only subvert and destroy Germany. We’re having so much trouble with African and Middle Eastern immigrants and refugees in Australia. If you haven’t worked it out yet, they hate us and didn’t come to the west to be friends. Stupid bleeding hearts and left wing fools don’t know what they have done. Merkel should be shot for treason. But that’s a separate issue. Those areas were brutally ethnically cleansed by the Russians, Poles and Czech’s and that is why there are no Germans living there today. Germans had been living there since the 13th century. Do the Australian aborigines have no claim to their tribal homelands and sacred sites today because the English colonists drove them out and settled the area with whites 100 years ago? Ich bin Volksdeutsche. Du soltest stolz sein.

[@donaldg0613]

Wasn’t “the birthplace of World War II” really Versailles?

[@grewdpastor]

@Donald G Yep! one can even argue there was only one World War with a truce for the years 1919 till 1939.

[@thulyblu5486]

@nikos tsoutsias Fun Fact: The UK and France declared war on Germany 3rd of September 1939 without being attacked, not the other way around.

[@fullmetalalchemist9126]

Not precisely

[@lloydster9000]

The birthplace of WW2 isn’t just one place. It’s not just the Sudetenland, it’s not just Versailles, it’s not just Sarajevo; it’s really all three.

[@wekapeka3493]

It’s not that Versailles was the birthplace of world war 2 but rather Versailles was the place where Germany feigned that WW1 was over. They signed an armistice to stop the war advancing onto German soil and causing the destruction they had brought to France and neutral Belgium. By Fabian stealth Germany broke all the terms of the armistice one at a time, they claimed hardship as a cause for being unable to pay the reparations they had agreed to but instead use the money to covertly create a new army and Luftwaffe. Warships were built larger than international agreements. They had no funds to pay the reparations but they had funds to build a fleet of submarines for offensive use. The Germans whined that Versailles set reparations too high for them to pay yet when Germany won the Franco-Prussian war nearly fifty years earlier they imposed reparations on France that were greater than those accepted by Germany at Versailles. France paid them. The world thought the war ended in 1918 but Germany used the peace to re-arm so it could continue.

[@colinmartin9797]

Damnit, Simon. Your skills for narration have gotten so good over the years. You're somehow so earnest in your presentation, but you churn out content like a madman. When something is genuinely funny, you can barely hold your laughter. When it's somber, you're always on tone. You've got one hell of a talent for telling the world's varied stories. If anyone deserves to be the next "British man who narrates our life", I.E. the next Attenborough, it'd be you. As other youtubers have grown and diversified, it always feels like they've lost their souls trying to post so much content. But you sound just as earnest and enthusiastic as you did a decade ago, back when I was first in paramedic school and watching your content.

[@baroqueman1]

Thank you Simon for presenting this fascinating and complex historical account, which has so many gruesome and sad facts I had not previously read about. As always, in the aftermath of such horrendous conflicts, the innocent suffered along with the guilty. Much of Central Europe must have been a dangerous and terrifying place in which to live from the 1930s until after WW 2 ended. I am thankful that I grew up in the relative safety of the 50s in UK , now often thinking of those who were denied that advantage in those years which are yet within some people's living memory.

[@stnwrd]

Simon needs a standing ovation for this video!!!

[@TheWolvesCurse]

my grandmother was expelled from sudetenland. she never talked about it, neither about being expelled nor about how life was there. she came to the south of hassia with a group of people. in my home village there is a street called "sudeten strasse" after the sudeten deutsche who setteled there. very interesting to learn more about the land where part of my ancestors came from.

[@jaystone7587]

Wow, thank you for this information. Excellent!!

[@theangryaustralian7624]

That intro gave me goosebumps...what a way with words

[@krunokartus5382]

I am living in a Sudetenstrasse in Germany, and it's name reminds me of the people who lost their lives, insane battles, crimes and attrocities...to never happen again. But also of a beautifull Czechia, friendly people, travelling by train and by a bus (from my high school). At the moment it is clear that peace without war makes more good things to people then any war, regardles of nation or goddamn religion.

[@MrBOSTodd]

Thank you. I’m descended from Sudeten Germans, and found your video informative.

[@bearhughes7009]

Thank you for this I have been hoping for good doc on the Sudetenlands

[@CoteMoretz]

Judging by your comment at the end of the video about “ that deserves to be remembered” makes me think you are also a fan of “The History Guy” here on KZbin, I hope I am right in that assumption, I throughly enjoy his content as well. And as always keep up the great work Simon(and everyone behind the scenes that we don’t know about) you have some of the best content on KZbin with all of your channels and are always providing us viewers with great information to begin on countless rabbit holes of learning. I greatly appreciate everything you all do. Thank you.

[@georgecunningham9175]

Thank you for giving perspective, detail and most importantly a "face" to this period/episode of European/World history. Most of those who are familiar with the Sudetenland know that it was a catalyst for the war, but few know the entire history of the area and its peoples. In particular, many people are not aware of the retribution meted out by nations on ethnic Germans who lived in those lands after the war ended. While I will neither condemn nor condone those actions here, I believe that it is important to view history as a whole, including all of the ramifications of victory over a foe. But as they say, history is written by the victors............

[@gryf92]

Denn heute da hört uns Deutschland Und morgen die ganze Welt

[@Stephanthesearcher]

my mother was born in the sudetenland and fleed westwards in 45 at the age of 6 and settled in west germany

[@Oneman.oneboat]

Good research and presentation as always. I liked your doffing the cap to The History Guy with your final phrase "its history, that deserves to be remembered"

[@TheGhilamonster]

Rough 99 years!!! Excellent content! Thank you, Simon.

[@Yora21]

My family is from Pommerania. In Pommerania it was primarily the Soviets who expelled the Germans, not the Poles. And the region was resettled with Poles who had been expelled by the Soviets from annexed regions in Eastern Poland. Because of this, there was much less bitterness between the expelled German Pommeranians and the new Polish inhabitants. They all had suffered through the same shit.

[@TheWaterboarders]

"People started seeing each other as separate, almost as rivals" Welcome to the 2020's.

[@heatherjones6647]

Humans just never seem to learn. It's so depressing.

[@TheWaterboarders]

@@heatherjones6647 But we always think we know more than generations before

[@allhailseek7795]

Best channel ever, dope videos man

[@WartsG]

My Grandfather was born in the 1930s in Sudetenland, he lived this. This is part of my heritage, thank you so much this was really awesome to have watched!

[@tomashoracek5445]

two villages, Lidice and Ležáky were wiped out

[@kibicz]

A Javoříčko (although not in 1942)

[@deusgaming9146]

So 270 000 people were killed and 3 000 000 people were deplaces because of two villages?

[@kibicz]

@@deusgaming9146 there were also +- 360.000 dead Czechoslovaks, many others imprisoned, most of others suffered some kind of forced labor, fear of persecution, harrasments by local German minority, there were wholle areas where local population of Czechs was removed to somewhere else and so-on for 7 years. Those two villages are the most motorious examples of German terror.

[@petrskopal4922]

@@deusgaming9146 No, dozens of settlements were burned to the ground, Lidice and Ležáky are just the two most notorious. Hundreds of massacres and executions carried out by the SS and Gestapo served as a catalyst for a brutal post-war revenge, costing the lives of approximately 30 000 Germans.

[@simonh6371]

They weren't in the Suedetenland, but in the Kladno region.

[@majfej]

Good not to forget that despite some shortcomings Czechoslovakia was the only democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. Its minority policies were much better than any other country around proven by the fact that most of years 1st Czechoslovak Republic had government with German parties. And last of all the video is quite diminishing the horour of Munich agreement when people of Czechslovakia were bravely standing at fortifications in Sudetenland to face murderous to Nazi machine to be met by tracherous act of French and British government who happily kissed boots of Mussolini and Hitler.

[@primkup]

@Darth Vaderich Cry louder.

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

As a Brit I can only apologise for Neville Chamberlain's actions. It may be hindsight, but we regard him now as a fool who brought shame and disgrace upon us.

[@MrTortureandtorment]

Terrific info on the Sudetenland. Never knew what it was really. Good job Simon!

[@semi-trad-kind-of-wife]

Really enjoying the new channel 👍🏻

[@mickeywakefield]

My uncle was from Carlsbad, now called Karlov Vary (or something like that). He told the story of how he ran for 10 days through the woods to escape the soviets and the mobs coming after them with nothing but a small backpack. He was 10 years old. He is a very simple man, and always worked in tough factory jobs. He was successful in Germany, but very much blue collar. He never spoke much of his old life, and we assumed it was mostly similar. After the fall of the wall - the rest of us were finally able to travel with him to his old home. He had been coming occasionally since the late 70s but could only go alone. We were astounded. His house was still there - a massive farm complex. Obviously he was from a very wealthy family. The house had been split into 20+ smallish apartments by the communists, and my uncle had been sending all of them little presents for years without telling us! They loved him, and he was a welcome guest! It was hard for us to imagine - since some of the people living there had been the same ones who came with guns to kick them out at the end of the war. My uncle seemed to know that if we continue to try and settle old scores, things will never get better. He still visits - he is a very old man now - and his old enemies are friends. Living in Europe today, with rejection of refugees, neo-nazism, brexit and all the rest - I wish more people could learn what my uncle taught us. We are all the same, and we do better when we are together, not separate.

[@modernDEsignwithFusion360]

@jn!x23 maybe you should read my comment again.

[@Mirinovic]

Česky to byli vždy Karlovy Vary! Není to pováleční výmysl!

[@jsparrow2563]

​@Mirinovic wasn't the city founded by Germans and Karl the 4th gave them city rights? 🤔 That's why the name is Karlsbad (Karl's Spa). That's what also the Czech Government Homepages are telling. Maybe you know more then historians and your Government, happy to see your sources. :)

[@Mirinovic]

I ONLY Tell that czech name of city way always Karlovy Vary. That name wast made up after ww2

[@Mirinovic]

@@jsparrow2563 No Karl4 him self fundate city. Acording Legend hi was hunting in this parts. And his dog hunt buck that run a way and fall from rock to spring Karl 4 try bath in this spring he let spaw town to be build aroud it so thats how Karlovy Vary/ Carlsbaden was found

[@ronbaker3677]

I'd say the Danzing corridor created World War II and the inability to resupply it. Mussolini went into Ethiopia in 35 in Japan invaded and started action in China in 36. Hitler didn't invade Poland until 39. I guess it depends where you are but the history books all say in 39 in Poland. In reality it started in 1918 with the Treaty of Versailles

[@kookiefrasier6751]

Thank you Simon! I had never heard any of this history before! I had heard of the Sudetenland and knew it had something to do with WW II but that’s it. I never heard of Konrad Henlein, I never heard any of the history of the Sudetenland before him (ancient or otherwise), and I had never heard of the events after the war when so many Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia and Poland. Nothing of all the horrors that occurred there had I ever heard of. You have filled in a massive gap in my understanding of the area and it’s place in history! So much of that time finally falls in place. Thank you again, I’m ever so grateful for you tying this all together. Your living there, I would assume, has helped pay major dividends for your viewers.

[@johnplamann726]

strong content, great work for the episode.

[@pilum3705]

I think you mean the Germans made up only 25% of Czechoslovakia and not the Sudetenland:

[@PavelSkollSuk]

It was actually more difficult. There was no strict division between Czechs and Germans in there. The division was just in Bohemia and Moravia. In Prague these nations were divided, not in Sudeten. My great grandfather spoke mostly German, although he was Czech. He has never forgiven his sister to marry Reichs' German.

[@pilum3705]

Pavel Suk It‘s always more difficult than statistics let you think. But to get a good impression of the situation you can’t take every detail into account.

[@skoopsro7656]

@@PavelSkollSuk some things are unforgivable.

[@PavelSkollSuk]

@@skoopsro7656 But forgettable. And we are the nation which looses memory quite fast.

[@YeeSoest]

@@PavelSkollSuk let's wait for our (i'm german) next election before we award you with that title;) If the right-as-shit AfD moves up, we might take the title of "country with worst memory" from you without asking...as we always did with our eastern neighbors...

[@bikkiikun]

The history of the Sudetenland is very important, as it shows what happens, if you exclude people and then counter exclude them... what happens when atrocities are committed. It will eventually come back to haunt you or your decendents.

[@conveyor2]

Doesn't seem to apply to Japan, who see themselves as victims of WWII and nothing else. Now a normal country with a healthy self regard that would be banned in Germany.

[@TheRealBatCave]

Awsome episode man!

[@aardvark1956]

Finding videos informative is the perfect way to describe them.👍🏼

[@aaronmarks9366]

This was a fantastic video. As a WWII fan, I knew about the Sudetenland and the Munich crisis, but I didn't know how brutal the postwar expulsion of the Sudetenland Germans had been. Thanks for putting a magnifying glass on this corner of WWII and European history! Big fan of your Biographics channel btw!

[@hanswurst6712]

I am not sure if "WWII fan" is a very smart choice of words. 😜

[@goofygoober1009]

people who killed Heydrich weren’t partisans but Czechoslovak soldiers sent from England

[@karfomachet7265]

these men fit the definition perfectly - a strong supporter of a cause -party or person , they laid down there lives for the cause of a nazi free Czechoslavakia .

[@letecmig]

@@karfomachet7265"partisans" are guerilla. Men who killed Heydrich were soldiers of the Czechoslovak Army on a mission- acting on orders of their superiors in a operation set up by the Czechoslovak intelligence service in Britain. The people who worked with them inside the occupied country(the resistance) could be called 'partisans' , but not the soldiers who executed the Heydrich

[@rodanzig]

@@letecmig As I understand it . The reason they sent those guys to kill Heydrich is because he used the carrot as well as the stick and the Czechs were benefiting in terms of their contributions to the German war effort . They had a large and modern weapons industry . Heydrich ruled them with a light hand . The proof of that is that he could drive the same route to work everyday without an escort . The Czechs and Slavs may have hated the Nazis but they chose cooperation and it's benefits over resistance . The Nazis reaction played into Allied hands ( safe in London ) , I wonder how Heydrich would have handled it .

[@letecmig]

​@@rodanzig a) "Czechs were benefiting in terms of their contributions to the German war effort"- like people in any country in occupied Europe essentially. Except Poland may be. From Denmark, to Holland to France- you worked in the industries that supplied the german war effort(from trucks to socks to food), you were a Danish farmer who fulfilled your quota of agricultural produce, you were French worker- you were fed and not touched unless you were Jew or Resistance .... that was a universal policy of Nazi occupation west of Poland. .... and in none of the countries were the results different util the front was relatively close b) "The Czechs and Slavs may have hated the Nazis but they chose cooperation and it's benefits over resistance"- well, that was unversal attitude in every country.... in France, Holland, Denmark, Norway, you name the country..... the only exception could be Poland, but that is truly heroic exception to the pattern in the occupied Europe b) "Heydrich ruled them with a light hand "-Heydrich ruled with the iron fist: anybody involved in any kind of opposition was destroyed with his family. He executed 'collaborationist' prime minister because he was in touch with the resistance, he executed several generals of the Czechoslovak army etc. etc. But those who did the work, kepr their head down if they were not Jews were not touched. So this was the carrot-stick policy of heydrich. c) "The proof of that is that he could drive the same route to work everyday without an escort " heydrich did not drive every day without escort. He did drive sometimes. But that was not the point. The point was that the local resistance would not even think of killing Heydrich as they knew what the consequences would be. And the local resistance who aided the soldiers were very much in opposition to the plan to kill H and asked London govt in exile to cancel it! (they helped anyway as they felt it was their duty to provide support regardless their strong opposition to the mission, but that is a different matter)

[@karfomachet7265]

@@letecmigpartisans as guerillas is one use for the word but any search will show the main use is a supporter of a course and these 2 most certainly fit that discription - there course being a nazi free Czechoslovakia . Thats if u want to be picky like u are being .

[@TouchofShunshine]

Okay!!! Every channel that Simon has, I have subscribed. Okay, what other channels will you create that I can't resist?

[@ChristineCAlb1]

Fascinating! One of your better videos.

[@markothwriter]

My great grandfather was a German from the Bohemian kingdom. He would never say that he was German or Czech. He always said Bohemian.

[@kierandegrada2573]

Magnificent snapshot of European history. Very well done!

[@geographicstravel]

Thanks :)

[@i_smoke_ghosts]

well done ! excellent presentation as always.

[@vladimirkraus1438]

Excellent video. One of the best on this channel.

[@tomm9963]

One of my high school teachers mentioned that his grandparents were German's from Czechoslovakia but never mentioned anything more than that. Knowing what I've learnt over the last decade I'm not surprised

[@bingobongo1615]

Tom M My history teacher was from East Prussia. When he died his family said he never ever spoke a word about the expulsion which left him alone as a young boy. The Germans brought lots of suffering to Europe but the Eastern German civilians paid a very high place for atrocities their army and nazi party did

[@tomm9963]

@@bingobongo1615 They did. Paying for the sins of their father's sums it up

[@amb163]

Possible Geographics episode: Upper Canada vs. Lower Canada (English vs. French). Or maybe the Plains of Abraham?

[@leegramling1533]

VERY informative. Thank you for restoring a bit of forgotten history.

[@wookiedog]

Very well done Simon. Much respect for you, as always.