We Were The Most Efficient Prison Workers The Americans Ever Had

We Were The Most Efficient Prison Workers The Americans Ever Had

[@WorldWar2Stories]

Ladies and Gentleman, the diary of Helmut Horner. This is part 14. Here is the playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLyuEmb1VavZARAG13NojLWW1yBVb-E4j7

[@jasonpatterson8091]

Where do you get the titles for the videos from?

[@hatac]

Very good. The psychology of the supervisors was genius. And the history of west Germany is proof that it worked.

[@everettbass8659]

Which one is the next in this series.I want to know when Helmut gets home and so forth.

[@hatac]

@@everettbass8659 Tomorrow. You're up to date. I'm starting on one of the other story playlists on the KZbin channel.

[@jasonrussell45]

Have just discovered this channel recently it’s amazing. Helmut’s story is ripping yarn, why are next episodes, private and how does one get to listen ?

[@arthurtane6505]

My Czech uncle found himself after the war in Germany as a UN Soldier. The Americans promised that if you served five years in the UN army you could migrate to the USA, which he did. He married a young German woman - who's first husband died in the war - and together with her son Ludwig moved to the USA in 1951. My aunt is still alive today and lives outside of Evanston, Ill on a farm where together with her second son Hans she still works seven days a week helping to restore old vintage automobiles. My aunt is in her mid 90s.

[@vblake530530]

You write as poetically as the narrator of this story speaks.

[@Tugela60]

There was no such thing as the "UN army", lol. Your Czech uncle was making up a tall tale to tell you.

[@arthurtane6505]

@@Tugela60 The occupation of the Germany was carried out in the name of the United Nations. Those men in Germany selected to help with the occupation were given uniforms which specially had UN on their uniforms and helmets. I've seen many photos of my uncle in a UN uniform.

[@Tugela60]

@@arthurtane6505 There is no United Nations army and never has been. Peacekeeping operations are carried out under the UN flag but the troops involved come from the national armies of member states. There is absolutely no way the US would have been offering green cards to foreign troops carrying out peacekeeping operations. The first UN peacekeeping operation was in 1948 btw. Your uncle has been telling you a tall story.

[@arthurtane6505]

​@@Tugela60 Wrong. The administration of the displacement camps in Western Germany in WWII came under the care of the care to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). The Guards at those camp sites clearly wore UN uniforms.

[@redr1150r]

I have enjoyed this series immensely. I stream it over my phone into my helmet as I buzz back and forth to work on my Harley-Davidson.

[@josephhall5681]

On your Harley-Davidson? Lol

[@micheal49]

@@josephhall5681 Harley owners are like vegans. You don't have to ask. In the first five minutes they will be sure that you know. Then they will re-mention it every five minutes, just in case you might have forgotten.

[@toastnjam7384]

My dad was a camp guard for German POW's. He said they were a hardworking and industrious bunch. They liked working on the local farms and they were always skillfully making things out of scraps. Some made all wood coo-coo clocks that they sold to camp personnel or the locals they work for.

[@JamesMena-ym9vf]

Germans were and continue to be industrious/skillful and never give up on projects. The world owes so much to Germany!

[@kathleenmccrory9883]

My grandfather was an American Guard and mechanic in the motor pool at a POW camp. He told me the same, the Germans were hard workers and good mechanics.

[@batboy555]

My family farm in Canada was used as a German pow camp those days. Never had a problem with them. Hell they didn't even need a guard. Many stayed after the war.

[@donnarion1147]

I listened to the first 13 episodes yesterday and today, and just finished. So I'm thrilled to get the next one so soon. This series is fabulous, and I'm enjoying it immensely.

[@isaali1448]

Basically I listen to these experiences of this man every night before sleeping. I'm with him on his journey especially when having a full belly, and the fevers, depression and the sadness and the separation between friends. I look forward to his return home and the meeting with his family as well as what is ahead when he returns. Even though it's a long time after, I wish him well.

[@dwightehowell8179]

When they got home they found.....hunger.

[@Skipjack7814]

I agree, theres something compelling, even comforting in it.

[@watkinsrory]

It is odd that we feel for these men despite what we know or have been taught to know of them. Maybe it is the realisation that the soldiers are not too different. They are after all the pawns of those that seek power or glory through the blood and tears of others.

[@michaelsinclair7253]

They had no idea what their fellow POW’s, who were in Russian hands, were experiencing at the same moments in time. If he would have, he may have complained less. They were the lucky ones.

[@trickydicky2908]

@isaali I do the same.

[@garycornelisse9228]

This is certainly one of, if not the most, remarkable presentation I have seen in my life. That covers 82 years. Wonderful. Thank you.

[@dougbyrd1970]

I feel some connection with the narrative in this episode. Helmut's group arrived and began their work at West Point 6 months after my father's graduation in June 1945. By the time he and his PW group arrived, my father was on his way to Japan for post war occupation duties. I was born in April 1946 about the time they were leaving West Point for Long Island. 10 years later, our family moved to Germany where I attended elementary school in Giessen, Butzbach and Munich. What a wonderful adventure we had living in Germany and with our wonderful German friends. One of my sister's was born there. When our family departed Germany out of Bremerhaven, we traveled the north Atlantic in a troop transport much like the ship carrying Helmut's group. We also spend some of our time with green faces immersed in the misery of seasickness. The north Atlantic can be rough. In June of 1970, I graduated from West Point so I can easily picture the vivid descriptions Helmut so eloquently documents about their time there. What an exciting and emotional moment when Helmut receives his postcard from his wife! Sometimes, the world feels so small and much more intimate than we can imagine. Wunderbar! I look forward to the next episode.

[@marcturner2119]

What a well crafted connection you have articulated. Thank you. Helmut would be proud I suggest.

[@JustMe-gn6yf]

I was a Navy Brat born on a Navy base in 1960 I didn't get to experience as much as you but I have vivid memories of exploring the edges of the sugarcane fields at the base of hills and the caves on Okinawa and beach combing the beaches of Adak island in the Bering sea all the the other places were in the States, Dad served 20 years as a Navy Seabee. One perk about living in Adak was the commander's son and me were friends

[@danielmace4946]

As a military dependent my first experience with Germany was in 1963 (I was 7 years old) when my Dad was assigned to Stuttgart. Six years later my father was sent again to Germany, this time to Wurzburg. In 1972 Dad was again assigned to Germany this time to Giessen. Dad was a Senior Noncom in the ADA field and took assignments to Germany every chance he could. We didn't realize it at the time but he was requesting those assignments and then he'd act surprised and disappointed about another assignment to Germany. He loved Germany and eventually so did I. When I graduated High School in 1975, I followed my Dad's footseteps and enlisted. I took my family to Germany three times. First, to Buedingen in late 1976. My next assignment to Germany was in 1990, initially in Mainz but after Desert Storm the 8th ID deactivated so I ended up being reassigned to a small airfield in Frankfurt but that Unit was relocated to Giebelstadt AAF (Just South of Wurzburg). My final assignment to Germany happened in December 1995. I was assigned to a Unit at Fliegerhorst AAF (Hanau) but the 1st Armored Division deployed to Bosnia for a year so that first year was really spent in Bosnia. We redeployed back to Germany In November 1996 and 3 months later I came out on the Sergeants Major selection list and 3 months after that I was on my way to the USASMA, Fort Bliss TX. I was excited about being selected for the Academy but also a little disappointed that on my sixth and as it turned out, final trip to Germany I would actually only spend 7 months in Germany! I retired in August of 2000. It was a grand adventure🙂

[@conniedavis9657]

​@@danielmace4946😊😊

[@dougbyrd1970]

@@marcturner2119 I hope so. Thank you for the feedback.

[@Howdy76]

I sure thank you for these . I was stationed in Germany in 1971. Hard to believe the locals had been through the Hell of war

[@willlockler9433]

This is a work whose impact upon me is impossible to overstate. I look forward every day to the next installment. It will surely end at home in the arms of loved ones. I will be both happy and sad, but mostly very thankful.

[@lockman004]

Now, everyday I'm like Helmut Horner waiting to receive mail from home. Instead I'm awaiting the next installment of this historical saga. I long for the day when Helmut returns to the embrace of his wife and family. Great, well written story.

[@ericscottstevens]

The POWs who returned to Germany wore US army surplus uniforms and cash on hand from their work in the fields. The cash they spent on their arrival back to Germany was the infusion of money that helped restart their economy. It is an often overlooked facet of the POWs working in the US, they already were rebuilding a future Germany.

[@richardstephens5570]

Many German POWS in the U.S. and Canada weren't sent immediately back to Germany, many of them were sent to countries in Europe to help work and rebuild as part of war reparations. Most German POWS of the Americans and British were released by the end of 1948, most of those in French captivity were released by the end of 1949.

[@corinnem.239]

I never knew this. The German POW experience in the US is not mentioned with WW 2 History in our schools or as adults. This has been very interesting.

[@billwilson-es5yn]

​@@corinnem.239The USA set up the German POW camps to denazify the soldiers, sailors and airmen. Their barracks were comfortable with heating, fans, plumbing and electricity. They were fed well 3 times a day and received a bottle of beer once a day. The camps allowed them to save up their daily beer ration to consume on a Saturday night each week or every other week if they wanted to get sloshed. They had a library and could attend classes to learn English, US and World History plus more. There they learned that more Germans immigrated to the USA than any other nationality (30M German, 20M English, etc.) with the first German POWs being the Hessians during the Revolutionary War. They were sent to live with the Pennsylvania Dutch (Germans) on their farms where they were treated like family while helping out with the work. Most were young poor conscripts whose pay was room and board so were encouraged to stay or return since each new settler received 300 acres of land for free from the colony. Many stayed while many more returned home to come back later with a wife and family to settle down in Pennsylvania. The WW2 POW camps were often built where there was a large presence of ethnic German farmers that still spoke German so the POWs could work on their farms and ranches. The nearby farming towns also held a good number of ethnic Germans so were taken there to see movies, attend dances or hang out at the soda shop chatting it up with the girls and young women. After awhile they were allowed to go there without supervision. The US Government paid the POWs $20 a month if they worked in or outside the camp. The farmers and ranchers paid the US Government for their labor and were free to pay them a bonus if they wanted to. I worked with a former German POW in East Chicago that returned with other POWs to the area south of Chicago where their camp was located. It had a large German and Dutch population that they worked for and told them to return to stay there once the war ended. He and the others did that after returning home to find all their family was dead or missing due to Allied bombings. They joined the US Occupation Army to serve as interpreters while earning an income. At the end of their enlistment they were allowed to immigrate to the States and apply for citizenship. I used to go visit him and his POW buddies at a tavern with my Hungarian neighbor on our BMW motorcycles. The Hungarian fought on the Eastern Front until being captured in Poland in 1945 to spend the next 7 years in a Siberian Gulag. His POW experience was quite different since he was sent to a state factory with brick barracks where he trained to be a tool & die maker and machinist. They raised their own food and livestock that fed the entire camp then got cleaned up once a month to meet Russian women in town where they ate, drank and danced before going off to a room to mate. The women said the Soviets took all the men away during the war with only 20% returning so were being forced to get pregnant by the POWs. Said their camp guards were unhappy since they weren't mustered out of the army once the war ended so were stuck there until further notice. The Soviets emptied the camp of POWs in 1952 so the guards seemed happy as they loaded the prisoners into RR boxcars. He fled Hungary after the Soviets came in during their uprising. The Soviets were rounding up any man that served during the war and he had no desire to be imprisoned again.

[@BoydBrandson]

I'll agree to the fact that they were paid in US dollars, not Deutsche Marks.

[@Marcel_Audubon]

The pittance of POW cash did not play a role in restarting the German economy - it was nothing compared to the mountain of cash the Marshall plan provided. It did allow the men to return to their families with some dignity.

[@Albemarle7]

The world needs a lot more people like farmer Ritter.

[@davidkalbacker6033]

Camp Upton was not far from Where I grew up. Now nothing remains of it. This daily download is very important to me as a regular listener. Naturally I am Hanging in until the very last.

[@mongosaqqara]

Fascinating diaries...they were treated better than by their commanders...love this channel!

[@CodeeXD]

And better then they treated their power. Even in the shitty camps they should count their blessings we didn't do them like they did others

[@nancysexton4364]

Wonder if the Berlin airlifts and the Marshall Plan made Helmut realize what a compassionate people Americans are as a whole, or if he retained his often resentful view of us til the end.

[@CodeeXD]

Probably not. Hopefully he gets home to his wife with a little half black baby

[@noxscotchxtape]

He is a bit short sighted and ungrateful. One only has to consider his fellow comrades in russian POW camps or even the American POWs that were in german camps. To see how good he had it comparatively in his camps on US soil.

[@robertalpy]

I think Helmut died here as a citizen recently...in his 90's. So he must have liked it if he decided to become one of us and alter his families destiny and that of his offspring. It's interesting to see what the krauts thought of us. His complaints are the complaints of all soldiers everywhere. Complaining is every soldiers heritage and right...lol.

[@nancysexton4364]

@robertalpy That'd be interesting if true. Do you know that he did move back here for sure? If so, would like to check out any links you may know of :)

[@robertalpy]

@nancysexton4364 Second hand through someone in the comments of one of his diary recordings. The person said he died in the Midwest I think, last year. I believe he said he was in his 90's. He or she mentioned aspects of his life there that made it convincing. I'm sure he'd turn up on census records though and those are free to the public. If he changed his name it might be harder but I believe that's how the other person obtained the information.

[@donsmith7613]

My cousin, who was a tail gunner in a bomber that was shot down over Germany, was held prisoner in a NAZI camp. He went into the camp weighing about 165 pounds and was down to around 80 pounds when the camp got overrun by the Americans and he was free to return to the states. This story of how well they were treated but still complained is disturbing.

[@hohetannen4703]

Well as a German American whose ancestors were probably here before yours, tough sh*t. We don’t do that to people in free countries. Take your revenge fantasies to the business end of an MG42 at Omaha beach.

[@raymondmanderville505]

I remember stories of German POWs walking to town in the Mid West to go to the movies or buy ice cream . That they were so far out in the middle of nowhere , that no one feared them running away & they were happy to be safely out of the fight & well fed .

[@Fewolf825]

about being well fed,, i read that many were ashamed that they were so far better off than the people at home

[@batboy555]

That was fairly common.

[@jim6658]

I'm addicted to this. What a story.

[@richardthornhill4630]

Fascinating insight into the heart of a soldier, compelled to serve in the military, sucking in the propaganda, and the slow realization of reality. I well remember my first visit to Russia and Ukraine, finding them people who love their nation and culture and well welcoming and friendly. They were not communist.

[@middleclassretiree]

Maybe you can explain why the maga cult has fallen prey to such nonsense in this country

[@hiturbine]

This Helmut Horner - a man I am sorry to never have known. His diary is a priceless treasure, for which I am supremely grateful to have its contents narrated in these presentations.

[@l3uIletpoints]

To hear these guys complain is amazing. The sentiments proclaimed here, the entitled thoughts and feelings... did they not realize how utterly lucky they were to have ended up in America instead of Russia? The treatment they received in spite of the crimes perpetrated by their entire society at large... unreal!

[@mikedx2706]

The German arrogance is really amazing.

[@conceptalfa]

👍👍👍!!! Completely agree, although don't forget these guys were still under the influence from the brainwash they received from the nazi regime...

[@mirquellasantos2716]

They were lucky they were white and in America and I guess that black American soldiers were in Russia cause America treated them badly. I think they were better off in Russia since in America they were brutalized and even died in poverty. The ones who felt ill could not go to the 'White only Hospital".

[@robertschlemmer5039]

​@@mikedx2706- astonishingly similar to American arrogance.

[@bustedupgrunt1177]

@@robertschlemmer5039 - since ya seem set on it, tell me all about the arrogance of US POW's in Japanese and German POW camps.

[@208transparency4]

I'm so blissfully invested in this history. Many thanks to the uploader for keeping Herr Horner's account alive. ❤

[@soco13466]

My father's time as a clerk- typist for OMG in early '46 gives me an idea of what these POW's were going home to. Basically, the cities were wrecked, but bomardiers were targeting all but certain areas and buildings. The kaserne in Munich was an example. Dad told me of riding on a tram, when a man tried to shove a woman and her baby from the tram. He told me he shoved the guy off instead, who landed with his neck broken. Dad told me he felt no guilt for that act. Another time, he was on a train, when an obviously starved German soldier, in tattered uniform sat across from him. He gave the man a couple of hard boiled eggs. The man devoured the eggs, shells and all. He felt a deep understanding of what the man had suffered, in Russia.

[@RolftheRed]

I am quite touched by this. I met many former POWs in northern Canada that had come back to live, most due to the utter destruction of their home(s) all over Germany. I rented a room from a fellow from the Black Forest I discovered gradually over pipe smoking at the Hearth. Over the years I've run across old-timers in like situations. I never considered - to any real degree - the pain of that imprisonment. Thank you for all the work this takes to share this with the larger community and I hope it can teach shared humanity to us all.

[@Glen.Danielsen]

Oral history is utterly priceless. And especially when so beautifully, artfully read. I cannot help but subscribe to this vibe, this Brit excellence in documentary making. 🇺🇸💛🇬🇧

[@shanecomeback8296]

He was in for a shock when he got back I bet.

[@Arborhawk]

1988 was when I left the Army at Ft Dix. Spent most of my 3 years in Hanau Germany.

[@mikeyoungblood1706]

What a Wonderful telling of a Sad tale, Very well narrated , Thank the Poster for doing this.

[@AutumnGracy]

I'm losing my mind over the fact that I randomly started listening to this series only to find out that after being shipped all over the place this guy ended up clearing the land for the Victor Constant Ski Area at West Point, which I have been to and worked with (and even made a PokéStop for), and which is like 10 minutes away from where I live. Absolutely insane.

[@dougbyrd1970]

It's a small world, indeed. My dad graduated from West Point in June 1945, six months before Helmut's group arrived. As a firstclassman at West Point in 1969, my fiancé and I spent our Christmas vacation visiting my family in Frankfurt where my dad and our family was stationed. Upon returning to WP from vacation in early 1970, I spent my first day back, before classes were to begin, skiing at West Point. Unfortunately, I broke my ankle on the Bobcat run and had to sit out the squash season.

[@onebridge7231]

They were lucky to have been in the U.S. versus Russia.

[@philliphall5198]

That’s a fact they later learned sadly

[@marycahill546]

Fascinating series. I have been listening to all the one hour parts of Helmut Horner's diary. Many thanks!

[@davidkgreen]

Thousands of German POWs returned to Canada and did very well for themselves.I know their sons and daughters.

[@jeffduff8482]

Very good story and narration. Great job!

[@deadlyoneable]

Well……the way this ended, this can’t be the last one. I just can’t get over the differences of how the lucky western front POWs were treated compared to being a prisoner under the Soviets. I’m sure once Helmut returned and realized this, he thanked his lucky stars every day. No matter how bad things got, he came out of it alive which can’t be said for the majority of eastern front prisoners. Even the lucky ones that survived didn’t come home till the early to mid 1950’s I believe.

[@Fewolf825]

I have only heard a few of these, but when you make comparisons with the Soviets, I have to smile at the arrogance of these prisoners , (in the early days) complaining of the food.. Ha , they had canteens, cigarettes, ping pong ...they should have been grateful for being prisoners and not dead, and traveling in Pullman cars instead of cattle cars the way the Germans treated their prisoner) . But gradually these guys came to their senses. I had an uncle that spent at eat 7 yrs in a Russian camp, he came home and had an early death.

[@Marcel_Audubon]

Helmut doesn't seem like the kind of person to realize things - he has rationalized the whole German role in the war in his mind and actually seems put out to be a POW

[@RockCorley-im1si]

I feel we have share in their jounery.Thank You.

[@natureschild2000]

This is a priceless view into the hearts and minds of German youth of the Third Reich, revealing the imposition of the twisted mentality of that dark phenomenon on the Innocent young souls, the distortion and mutilation of young lives that resulted from this imposition, and the effect of war violence on the youth, their revelation of their betrayal by the Reich's architects and henchmen, the great goodness, empathy and devotion of pure comradeship that was a bright light in the darkness, and the more positive attributes of German culture like frankness, hardwork, practicality, perseverence, decency and honesty that has produced so much good and greatness and upliftment of humanity historically and continuing today, but which was temporarily diverted and harnessed for widespread diabolical degradation, destruction and murder through a unique set of circumstances. Of course, horrible things were done by Nazi Germany, not just by the forces of racial arrogance, hatred and purification but also by the common Wehrmacht soldier in the field maddened by violence, fear and grief, varying in the different theaters of operation. War is a machine that sucks in youthful souls and bodies, some with capacity for evil but most with innocence and naivete, good will and hope, and grinds their hearts and bodies producing brokenbodies and broken hearts, troubled minds, lost innocence, lost time, lost vitality, lost opportunity, remorse, guilt, pain and much more, but also discrimination of good and evil, and what really matters in life. Helmut Horner's diary shows or implies all this. There are many graves of German soldiers of World War II, some maintained, some lost, but many are too much ignored and neglected officially and spiritually by a great nation ashamed of and revulsed by its past. A whole generation German youth was sacrificed on the alter of arrogance, anger and hatred. They should not be forgotten nor condemned, but remembered with empathy, understanding, goodwill and forgiveness, which will help heal the wounds of World War II. Some of this WWII German Youth still exist in the world today, though very few now, and most have passed on into the Beyond, but they still exist. Life is never extinguished, just the bodies it enlivens. The sharing of one soldier's thoughts and heart, Helmut's diary, through all media internationally will go a long way to healing, understanding and forgiveness for those who suffered the maelstrom of World War II, and understanding of that event by those of us looking back, and appreciation of the universal goodness and potential for greatness of youth and the human heart. It is important that this diary be preserved not only in the Archives of Germany (a record of the WWII German youth and soldier) and of the USA (a record of whom we fought and of our German POW system), but be made into historic films about World War II and the universal innocence, goodness and potential for nobility of youth, and about Youth's trust and subservience to authority and false sense of duty that make them vulnerable to misuse by the elders of society. Our youth are a precioius trust to we older citizens of country and life, and they are the future of humanity. We should not send them lightly into the Meat and Soul Grinder of war.

[@Bob.W.]

Thanks again. My dad didn't get back from the occupation of the former Japanese controlled Korea and discharged until July, 46. Let's see if Helmut beats him home.

[@ardeladimwit]

He definitely had it a lot worse as well... and definitely not as much free food, either.

[@josephwolosz2522]

OMG! Helmut helped build the ski area at West Point! Well howdy! That's close to me. And it sounds like they took the Palisades Parkway to New York City! This man traveled across this great country. His heart lie in Germany but his soul was in America. And for that he was grateful. Hope to see you tomorrow Helmut.

[@SKILLED_two]

Excellent all around. Thank you.

[@jasonpatterson8091]

If anyone is curious, the thumbnail for this video is taken from the film "Land of Mine" or "Under sandet" in Danish. It's an incredibly good Danish WW2 movie; I highly recommend it. In the US at least it's not going to get a lot of distribution due to being in German and Danish, but it's 100% worth it. In short it's the story of a group of German POWs (all teenaged boys who were enlisted and then immediately captured as the German army put anyone they could into service at the end of the war) who were sent to Denmark to demine the beaches. (This was a war crime, but it needed to happen and the victors get to decide these things.) It shows the interactions between them and the Danish sergeant who is in charge of them (as well as some of the other Danish soldiers). It's touching (note: touching does not mean sappy, some seriously unpleasant stuff happens in this), interesting historically, and far from boring.

[@waiting4aliens]

There is a version in English.

[@jrt818]

The minute I saw the thumbnail I thought of the young German POWs de-mining in Denmark even though I only heard about in passing.

[@jasonpatterson8091]

@@waiting4aliens Ah, haven't seen it. Thanks. I'm a subs not dubs kind of guy. 🙂

[@dougbyrd1970]

Yes, indeed I saw it in English. Tough duty for the POWs but I understand why the Danes handled it in the way they did.

[@SamFagundes]

it shouldnt be considered a war crime when it was the germans who caused all the aggression leading up to that date of these POW’s going to the beaches. germans caused it. they can fix it. even if its the ss who was the true bad guys. these people still went to fight for their countries cause and it wasnt even a admirable reason either

[@giancarlogarlaschi4388]

Politicians and Workers at Berlin's Tesla Factory , should listen to this series and Learn !

[@rickstevens1479]

As an American it makes me proud that we treated prisoners of war with compassion and respect. We are responsible for so much destruction in the world so it's nice to know there was a time when we didn't...those that really sufferd during the war where the civilians, we killed more innocent civilians then we killed soldiers..like in all wars ..

[@Outlier999]

We? It seems the other Allies and the Axis Powers also did a pretty good job of it too.

[@JustMe-gn6yf]

​​@@Outlier999I think he means since WW-2 but even then we ( the United States) are not responsible for most of the destruction in the world, but being the sole superpower and number one consumer in the world we do get pulled or pushed into conflicts more than other countries sometimes because the United Nations fails to do it's job

[@Idahoguy10157]

@@Outlier999… America wasn’t invaded of bombed. There wasn’t the level of animus here compared to in other nations. There was plenty of food. And the Germans were paid for their work.

[@jacqueslefave4296]

My dad was a POW camp guard in rural Georgia. The Italians worked in the farm fields, the Germans worked on repair and maintenance of railroad tracks. They did first class work. By unspoken mutual agreement, none ever talked politics. Their were non-fraternization rules, but some of the black female farmworkers had pretty light skinned babies born to them in the course of time. An ancient Greek historian said, "The laws of nature are stronger than the laws of mankind."

[@conceptalfa]

A little pitty Helmut didn't produce some exiting shorts from other comrades war stories, both still during their active service or from the camps, I'm sure there must have been some exceptional cases worth mentioning???

[@TheJojoaruba52]

Great series.

[@MyFiddlePlayer]

My neighbor in Germany was a former teenage POW who was taken to the US and back. I never knew he spoke English until days before we moved out. It turns out that he learned to speak English from the prison guards, who thought it was funny to teach the Germans mostly swear words, and he felt that he didn't want to make a bad impression by saying something offensive.

[@Ralphieboy]

German prisoners were also the most efficient captives the Soviet Union ever had. Except they didn't get to go home once the war ended.

[@AnakinSkywakka]

Listening to Helmut's story, from start to finish, was such a trip. As far as I know, no one in my family fought in the war, so I can't say I can relate to it as much as everyone else here can. But even so, I can't help but feel what he and his buddies felt throughout their journey. I'd love to visit Europe someday, though, and learn about the history of this war in person. At the very battle sites where men like Helmut and thousands of others have fought.

[@explosivehotdogs]

3:28 "with your hand on your ass by way of Alexanderplatz" as a Berliner I will definitely be making use of this phrase LOL

[@seanberthiaume6909]

Been to Ft Dix MANY times in the National Guard as well as having lived 35 minutes from it for 25 years in Blue Anchor/Hammonton,NJ...

[@Navybrat64]

I found these episodes popup in my feed and started listening to them. I can actually picture what's going on in my head and what everyone and everything looks like. These Germans are lucky to have been captured by Americans rather that Russians.

[@asullivan4047]

Interesting and informative. Excellent photography picture 📷 enabling viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing. Class A research project!!! Special thanks to the German ( POW ) captives. Sharing personal information/internment experiences. Making this documentary more authentic and possible. Especially the western front ( Pow's ) that ended up in the states. Were treated 1000 fold times better. Then their Nazi brother's in arms. Within the current territorial gains of diabolical Stalin 😈😈!!!

[@Tugela60]

What an interesting account from a clearly intelligent individual.

[@tommycaraway9762]

Just wondering where people who are listening to this are from and a little about you. I am a former paratrooper with the 82nd Abn Div ( 2 trips to Iraq 2003 & 2004) and now a sheep rancher/ farmer who now listening from Stockton Missouri. This is just a curiosity of mine about the comments Of people and what they have experienced and there place in this world.

[@spacehonky6315]

Howdy, neighbor! I'm a Montgomery County farm kid trimming trees in Stl, living near House Springs, Mo. I enjoy this series so much. Mr.Helmut does a great job narrating his inner dialogue. He's sharing a part of WW2 history with which i am completely unfamiliar. Thanks for serving, sir.

[@joegeezer6375]

1st Infantry Division of the 4/16 infantry soldier 1984-1987 stationed Cooke barracks Goppingen Germany. Living up in the northern plains of North Dakota. The Germans I have experienced to be the most kind hearted folks to have met during my tour and subsequent 2 visits since that time serving

[@karlfonner7589]

Hello, my name is Karl and I am a veteran of the cola wars of the 1980s,LOL 😂. I hope you’re enjoying this as well as your summer. oh yes, I’m from California and plan to go gold panning tomorrow. I am 63 years old

[@svenpeter5942]

A west german here, who served his national service in 1983-84 and emigrated 1988 to Costa Rica, a country without army, so his kids would not have to serve the worst invention of human race. One grandpa had been in Northafrica and became POW in Italy in British camps. It took him until 1947 to reunite with wife and kids, who lived tough times in Elbing (close to Königsberg/Kaliningrad) The other served in 1916-17 in Belgium as M/C messenger and again 1940-1945 in Norway as engine mechanics and engineer. When he returned to Berlin in July 1945 neither house nor machine shop existed. He started to feed his family with a foundery in his garden using gun shells as prime material.

[@ottoodell_dell]

From Transylvania , , I' ve had different relatives ( gradpas , uncles ) serving in Hungarian army and in the Wehrmacht to , who went MIA @ the" Don Riverside" Russia . And I've met someone in the North Germany region in 1995 , a German Doctor ( aged 77 @ that time ) who told me a very similar story , like this one here. He was passing Normandy as e young medic to Cherbourg ( Cotentin , past future "Utah beach ") , when "D Day morning" happened as they were @ " Omaha Beach ". After the landing @ "Omaha Beach" , he was one of the first prisoner taken alive , then PoW in US, well treated .... He said , everybody else before them was shot during the assault , no prisoners taken ... ( On could understand why..)

[@dennismason3740]

At 41:50 - Helmut may be referring to an elite group of German soldiers called, informally, the Werewolves, who were trained with specialized skills. I don't know, really, much about them, perhaps you can do the research.

[@marketablepresentations7824]

And could never fight America again.

[@heathergilchrist5149]

I bought the book and finished it. An excellent narrative.

[@reginahay5211]

Helmut and his friends were naturally angry and resentful. In a conflict the loser cannot be expected to be friendly and easy to get along with. Being in the military might have had something to do with his ignorance of the concentration camps, but the German people did know. Interesting how they discuss the abandoned Morgenthau Plan.

[@charlesrs]

Morgenthau was a psychopath we would become no better then what we fought against

[@vblake530530]

The narrator’s cadence is like lullaby..

[@011dave]

excellent series we have become used to hearing about the war from the allied point of view but it's easy to forget that all of the countries involved in the conflict ended up with millions of POW's and I certainly would not have wanted to be taken prisoner by the Japanese

[@jonmeek3879]

Please tell me there are more episodes to come !

[@conceptalfa]

There surely are!!! He has to come home too, although its not going to be any pretty sight with everything bombed out and people and country in misery, but they started it ... I guess he's going to wish to go back to America!!!

[@jonmeek3879]

Thanks so much , great job

[@BearClawAK47]

I wondered how many listeners picked up on the Werwolf referance.

[@Titus-as-the-Roman]

I wonder how many of these men will be forced to go to East Germany due to it was their previous home, the soviets were specially interested in getting their hands on any German they could, those arriving in East Germany, already been a pow for a while, were quickly grabbed by the Soviet police and sent to crushing work camps in Siberia, most wouldn't end up surviving. Starved and frozen.

[@Tugela60]

That is nonsense.

[@Titus-as-the-Roman]

@@Tugela60 No Sir it is NOT, Research it.

[@Titus-as-the-Roman]

in fact if any German escaped, the guards were so instructed that the numbers had to match that they would then grab any German man they saw and threw him on the cattle car

[@Tugela60]

@@Titus-as-the-Roman You are reading too much right wing propaganda. The soviets sent RUSSIAN prisoners who were repatriated back to Russia after the war to gulags, not former German soldiers who were repatriated back to Germany. Most of the German men only got home one or two years after the war had ended.

[@TXJan0057]

The Russians don't forget Leningrad Lasting 900 days between September 1941 and January 1944, the siege of Leningrad claimed the lives of 800,000 of the city's inhabitants, mainly through cold and hunger. Other sources say the deaths numbered 1.5 million.

[@somethingwicked2558]

I've listened to a few of these. I don't understand why the title of them has nothing to do with the videos

[@CostaCola]

Oh my God I live near West Point and have even been on the sky slope that they cut!

[@conceptalfa]

👍👍👍!!!

[@daviswall3319]

I’ve really enjoyed this series other than the fact that im always starving towards the end--😎

[@TheBeaker59]

40 years ago I met a German soldier who had been captured by the Russians during WW2 his story was less happy. He was never released eventually the guards got tired of guarding and wandered off it took a week before they realised they could leave as well he an aa friend walked for weeks south undtil they were able to steal a motor bike then travelled faster until eventually they reached South Africa.

[@minirock000]

Thumbnail picture from "Land of Mine".

[@pepleatherlab3872]

A historic bit of irony. Consider that WW2 was just an extension of WW1 with a decade of grumbling between. What set off the Germans in 1936? Massive financial reparations hoisted on their population from having lost WW1. The reparations were SO costly in fact, it was largely the reason the population picked up arms and began fighting again. Post 1929 great depression, failed banks (Weimar Republic), massive debts, no jobs and an increasing hatred of foreign involvement in their economy. Along comes a failed artist to stir the pot and they're off slaughtering Europe. Fast forward several years and suddenly German POW's are in America eating well and enjoying the theater with productive day jobs. Like I said,..Irony.

[@calc1657]

No. The Germans were perfectly capable of paying the war indemnity, as it was not onerous with the respect to the size their economy. It should be remembered that Nazi Germany's biggest allies, Italy and Japan, had been on the side of the victors of World War 1. What all 3 had in common were unquenched imperial ambitions.

[@mirquellasantos2716]

Just keep making excuses for German cruelties. Treaty or not Germans were going to commit atrocities and go for world domination. Concentration camps and holocaust in ww2 were not their first. Long before WW2 they created concentration camps in Africa so you can say that Africans were their first victims.

[@mudra5114]

@@calc1657 Not true.

[@ralphvon283]

myth

[@lockman004]

@@calc1657 I became a friend of a powerful native American tribal chief. When I asked how he remained the chief for 30 years (it's an elected position), He shared a valuable lesson. Never crush your enemy. Defeat them, yes, but then help them to regain their footing. Treat defeated enemies with respect and humanity rather than making them into future enemies. A valuable and efficient way to make enemies into allies.

[@thefilipinoreactionary2007]

What do you consider the best memoirs of the war @WW2 Stories?

[@knabbob]

thankyou __

[@petervenzon8126]

Great diary

[@noahhess4955]

I would love to know what this guy and his comrades thought when they realized how badly they would’ve been treated had they been captured by the soviets

[@DancingQueenie]

Where did these POWs get journals/books to write in? Where did they keep them? Why weren’t they confiscated? Not just the ones in the US - especially the ones imprisoned in Europe??? Especially the ones who were starving.

[@Fewolf825]

I have only heard a few of these, but when you make comparisons with the Soviets, I have to smile at the arrogance of these prisoners , (in the early days) complaining of the food.. Ha , they had canteens, cigarettes, ping pong ...they should have been grateful for being prisoners and not dead, and traveling in Pullman cars instead of cattle cars the way the Germans treated their prisoner) . But gradually these guys came to their senses. I had an uncle that spent at least 7 yrs in a Russian camp, he came home sickly and had an early death. Holy shit, look at the picture above, clean and in clean clothing, learning English

[@paulwalsh2458]

@19:20 how moving.

[@johnlamb2333]

Well written

[@nickyl9040]

Wouldn't it be ironic if Helmut the Arrogan's family was in EAST Germany

[@tommeredith7462]

These German POW’s loved doing farm work especially if they had pretty daughter’s they could check out. Some farmers had young hot wives that cooked and prepared lunch for the Germans.

[@matt6984]

Where are these stories from ?

[@conceptalfa]

War diary....

[@lockman004]

@@conceptalfa It is a published book, although it out of print. The only copies I could find on the internet are crazy expensive ($300+). Google Helmut Horner and you can find a copy for your library.

[@dacomazielsdorf7618]

Running out of things to clean and listen

[@debbylou5729]

Am I the only one who thinks this claim is both sad and hilarious? The best ‘prison workers’ ? Maybe because they weren’t used to eating at the time? I haven’t known that many Germans. I know they aren’t all the same. The ones I’ve known all have said that Germans are superior

[@jeffmcdonald4225]

I suppose you have to continue this, but damn, this guy is tiresome.

[@josephgonzales412]

Moving.

[@trueKENTUCKY]

good boy

[@robg9236]

The only POWs the US held were Germans and Italians. The Germans might have been the most efficient, but I bet the Italians were lot more pleasant to be around.

[@Tugela60]

Why do you say that?

[@panzerknackerpaul2061]

@@Tugela60 As a German, I hope he is right. :D

[@davidjensen266]

Your alive because we said surrounded

[@111CREWGO69ZEHZ]

No am a much better worker and am not a Nazi.

[@Thomas-wn7cl]

👍

[@Zakaius]

Will Hollywood movie this German soldier's diary?

[@davidjensen266]

Id say i like this..its us saying the fuck out

[@MrCenturion13]

Even as prisoners, they were arrogant.

[@lockman004]

You can cut them some slack, they are Germans. You can't expect them to not be who they were brought up to be. I worked for a German company and we American employees would spend our time joking about our German coworkers arrogance and lack of humor, but on an individual level I never had a German coworker I didn't become friends with. Our German coworkers were always shocked at how friendly we American were. When they would come to my home for dinner they were the most polite and gracious guest I've ever had.

[@davidjensen266]

Lucky dork

[@verasmith4767]

The author is having a pity party. Don't start a war.

[@Tugela60]

Grow some humanity.

[@Garden366]

@@Tugela60. grow some reality.

[@Tugela60]

@@Garden366 The war was not the fault of the common soldier. It is not an excuse to treat them like crap when they are taken prisoner.

[@Outlier999]

Always bragging. What an egomaniac.

[@dfoley6389]

Were SS noncoms really such a bunch of whining women???

[@Garden366]

Evidently yes, as a nationality. Unfortunately my grandfather on my mother’s side was German, from the Munich area. I found him pragmatic to an immense fault and arrogant. He was almost mechanistic in his life and values. Never actually knew him well because of his attitude toward everything. Even my mother found the German’s attitude after the war to be off-putting and spoke against them often during my early years. He didn’t serve in either war because he was either too young or in the US. (Came over between the wars and evidently the US Armed Forces didn’t want him). He died when I was a child and I didn’t go to his funeral because my father would not take me.

[@theprofiler8531]

So much whining by the Germans. Maybe they would like to have gone to Siberia

[@Tugela60]

Maybe you should have gone to Siberia.

[@Garden366]

@@Tugela60The observation is totally valid and only a person with nothing to say attacks the person and not the idea of the conversation. The German POW’s were treated very well in the US. The Germans treatment of US POWs was absolutely brutal and the Soviets were also cruel to German POWs. These are established facts.

[@Tugela60]

@@Garden366 German treatment of US prisoners was similar to US treatment of German prisoners. There was minimal rations, but that was because there was not a lot of food available in general. The US had the same problem in Europe and malnourishment, including death by starvation, was common among german POWs held by them. Deathrates of prisoners in US run camps was about the same as in German camps, about 1%. This idea that axis POWs were well treated by the allies is complete nonsense. They were treated with the minimum standards required by the Geneva convention, and the allies did the same with the prisoners they took. Both sides treated officers relatively well, while enlisted men had to perform manual labour.

[@wb6162]

The Americans were never impressed with any of you.