What REALLY Happened To The German Dead? | Normandy | WW2

[@stefaniecosme4774]

After watching a Spectacular short video (which, the theme music from The Pacific was being played, which made it Even More Spectacular) that showed pictures of WWII, then and now, and after watching just a few minutes of this video, I Immediately knew that I Needed to Subscribe to this channel- I also felt the need to comment on something that was said in the part of the video when you/The History Explorer was first walking into the German cemetery, which was something to the effect that by visiting the cemetery that you/your channel Did Not support Nazis nor the Nazi cause- Hearing that you had to basically and preemptively defend the Amazing thing that you were doing, which was showing us another Devastating side to that Even More Devastating war, kind of made me Sad- It also made me think of something that Shifty Powers said in the interview part of Band of Brothers where he said that he came to realize that the German soldiers were also doing what they were, which was what they were told to do as soldiers- He also said he thought that If the circumstances were different, he might had even been good friends with some of those fellow young men (I believe, However, that that would NOT include the SS)- Anyways, I Thank You for what you created for us WWII enthusiasts to enjoy and I Very Much look forward to watching your other videos!

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Thank you so much and what a fantastic comment. I hope you’ll check out some of my other videos too 😊 Sadly, if you make videos that cover German units/ actions or locations it does tend to attract two types; the first group accuse you of promoting Nazism; the second group tend to feel loyal to the German cause. As a result I prefix videos like this with that statement. I find it sad too. I really hope you enjoy the channel and thank you so much for your kind feedback

[@jameshinchliffe8453]

​I enjoy ​@@thehistoryexplorerthe channel is very good. But I can remember the words of my father who's youth was stolen from him by the Germans and the Japanese.He was drafted in the one year draft of 1940 and then he was forced to serve for the duration of the war. He was a southerner which no one gave a damn about anymore than we give a damn about them. Trained under General Patton at Ft Benning in the 2nd Armored Division and served in North Africa, Sicily, and the European theater of operations until the end of the war. He developed a hatred of both the Germans and the Japanese until the day he died because they'd robbed him of the best years of his youth. I have come to agree with him! To hell with both of them! And I don't give a damn where they're buried!

[@angeloforzinetti3930]

P

[@georgemiller151]

I went horseback riding in a part of Belgium about 25 years ago. - I can’t remember the name of the town - but I was guided by a Belgian. There was evidence of the war in the woods (foxholes, etc.) and we got to talking about the war. He said that the front line moved back and forth a few times. There were dead Americans and dead Germans scattered around. He said the locals buried the Americans and marked their graves and they were later recovered by the Americans. “And the Germans?” I asked. “The Germans? We just through them in a pit, covered them up and forgot about them.”

[@bryanbufton4358]

I can only agree with you. 😅​@@jameshinchliffe8453

[@Monsoon-sd6vr]

I served 30 years with a combat Regiment of the British Army; during my travels I visited that cemetery. As you point out not to gloat or make fun, that was never our intention, we were just pleased that they looked after their fallen as we would look after ours.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Well said mate

[@417jumps3]

I had an uncle who was in the first wave on Omaha Beach. Miraculously he survived the war but was involved in fierce combat. About a year before he died he told me about his war experiences. What I found interesting was his respect for the enemy/Germans. He said they had a job to do just like the allies and had respect for hard but clean combat. He left his experiences at that and I never learned more.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

It’s fascinating isn’t it? Some Germans were worse than others and some had much deeper held beliefs than others

[@417jumps3]

@@thehistoryexplorer I know, right. Sometimes that’s hard to comprehend but what you said is the absolute truth!!

[@Jaden-y7e]

3 Replies

[@labrd41]

I would imagine that very few solders on either side really wanted to be there.

[@417jumps3]

@@labrd41 oh I’m pretty certain that’s a seriously true statement!!!!

[@boatnut64]

I've been to Le Cambe. I went there with my Son, on a trip to Normandy. My Great Uncle, Harry Thomas Sharp, was Killed in Action, July 4 1944, at Carpiquet Airport, and is Buried at Beny Sur Mer. RIP

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Thanks for sharing 🙏

[@jocelyneb]

La Cambe German War Cemetary Normandy

[@johnnyhollis9977]

My father was nearly killed shortly after VE day by a fanatical German known as a Werewolf. My father had no choice but to silence him for good and was subsequently court marshalled for 4 minutes and released with no further action necessary. Little respect was afforded to some German dead as the bitter conflict had killed many allied soldiers who were far too young to die. The same could be said for the German soldiers too who quickly realised that things were not going too well. The dead German was quickly disposed of down a bricked lined ditch and covered with bricks. No marker was added. After seeing the horrors of war first hand it is easy to understand the bitterness that ensued in those awful and tragic circumstances. Great video!

[@thehistoryexplorer]

That’s a terrible story, war brings out the worst in everyone. But at that stage of the war everyone was weary and tired of the conflict

[@johnnyhollis9977]

@@thehistoryexplorer Totally agree. My dad suffered internal blast injuries that reduced his quality of life for years after the war. When he died from having dementia in 2006, his personal confrontation with the German tormented him. He told me many stories of his war experiences. Not all of them were that traumatic, others though described total carnage. He was a great man, albeit a bit of a maverick! 😉

[@Strength-in-Union]

Nice one, Buddy. Thanks for introducing a German war cemetery to those who may never have given it thought. I have visited several - not through any bad reason, but because the vast majority of those dead were only serving their country - as we do. They may still have living relatives, and its important for descendants to be able to honour their relatives. There will be some truly nasty people buried there amongst very many more Germans who just served their country. And we had some truly nasty folk serving in our armies too! But they're a' deed, and buried at peace - in some very beautiful cemeteries - ours, and theirs. I urge those interested in military history and the content of your videos, to take time to visit cemeteries with war graves. Read the names on the stones - that way, those soldiers are not being forgotten.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Thanks mate. Well said 👍

[@vicordecastro2851]

​@@thehistoryexplorer_ may they all rest in peace .🙏 .🙏 .🙏

[@StephenGrew]

War is insanity! Those poor men and women.

[@TheJon2442]

Sadly and too often started by those who never have to suffer and often profit from their actions.

[@strontiumstargazer103]

There’s a lovely tranquil tree shaded gothic crossed German cemetery in Belgium. However the Belgians buried the Germans upside down so that they’d never be at rest and planted the trees so that they’d never be in the sun.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Their cemeteries are really something else. Very sombre

[@napierlines6977]

The quality of these videos is brilliant. Thank you

[@craemac]

“It is well that war is so terrible, or we would grow too fond of it.” ― Robert E. Lee

[@longtabsigo]

Wittman’s unit caught the British troops out of their tanks and other vehicles brewing up their tea! So when W’man “passed by” he was able to score vehicle kill after vehicle kill with no return fire whatsoever. I’ve been told, for what it’s worth, that this action was one of the incidents that led the British military to equip virtually every tank, IFV & APC with a boiler that allows for one to brew up their tea while never needing to exit the vehicle. I suppose I could google it but almost 3am, I’m sure someone (or everyone)will correct me if I am wrong. 😁

[@TellySavalas-or5hf]

I visited La Cambe cemetry twice! In 1988 and 2001. It's a respected place.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes I agree, it was my first visit but I found it to be very peaceful and respectfully done

[@rolfagten857]

Did you met Ronald Reagan at the bittburg S.S. cemetry , Telly?!

[@spudgun7474]

The vast majomajority of those fighting on the axis side were far from Nazi. The majority were regular citizens fighting for their families and country.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes that’s true

[@berg6964]

100%!!

[@PrussianRedWhiteBlue]

ITS OK TO BE WHITE

[@chrishoman3928]

Not exactly true most were Nazis just not finatic u can look up how many people were Nazis card members for lack off.

[@Phillip-q9s]

Hardly, when the need for the Einsatzgruppen was established , it recruited older policemen not initially of fighting age, they were given the option of not getting involved in the actual killings with the option of other duties and zero repercussions, but they mostly willing volunteered to carry out these hideous crimes with the aid of the Wehrmacht

[@Peace2U-ec6es]

Powerful Video. Powerful lessons. Thank you Rob.

[@user-vv6sy2ox4q]

The massacre at Oradour sur Glane was perpetrated as a reprisal for a crime against German prisoners by the resistance. The captured Germans (including a relatively senior officer of the 2nd SS) were placed into an ambulance and burned alive with civilian spectators laughing at the sight. The Germans were incensed when they heard this news and proceeded to commit their terrible crime. Just an altogether appalling series of events.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

@@user-vv6sy2ox4q yes allegedly that is the case, but it does not justify the actions, as you have already pointed out. A terrible set of circumstances!

[@graemer3657]

There was a trial after the war of the SS involved in the Oradour massacre. 14 of the 21 were Frenchmen from Alsace Lorraine who were conscripted into the SS, 13 of them by force. There would have been more people tried, but few of the SS present at the massacre were alive at the wars end

[@jacquesmalite2612]

​@my aupa was partisan he faughr das reich division.they killed major kampf,a war criminalité.ss killed 700 women and babies in oradour...what soldiers.....krauts will be always krauts..... graemer3657

[@vasilenegulici6146]

RESPECT CELOR CĂZUȚI ACOLO 😊😢❤ DUMNEZEU SĂ-I ODIHNEASCĂ PE TOȚI 😊❤

[@luckyguy600]

It is what it is. War never changes/ just the tools used to fight them.

[@lappin6482]

So true

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Very true

[@jamesbednar8625]

Very good and interesting video!!! Watched a video of a French girl visiting a German War Cemetery in Normandy a few years ago, think it was a smaller cemetery off the beaten path. Her video was during a rainy day which somehow seemed fitting. That was quite a powerful video for she was expecting to feel a bunch of hatred or whatever, but she left very humbled because of the lives lost, regardless of nationality and she realized that a lot of those dead soldiers were around her age group. I have been to the American Cemetery in Normandy, as well as all the beaches and other locations - really does humble you. Regardless of era/battle, have always wondered what happened to the dead of battles, especially way back in the ancient times to present. Of course, the "victors" take care of their own spectacularly and the "losers" - what happens?? Toss into a mass pit most likely/

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes exactly! Well said

[@Tanjacs]

0:39... The look on these children's faces is just so very scared...!! 😢

[@thehistoryexplorer]

It is very sad isn’t it

[@mikeyj9607]

In 83 while stations at Pruem AFS maybe 30 miles from Bitburg AFB a couple of us visited the Miltary cematarey there ,the one made infamous from President Regans visit.I was impressed at how it was set up the row of crosses like in Normandy how peaceful it was and how germanic it was .One thing that stood out was they had soldiers interned on both sides of the marker we just remarked typical german efficiency ,none of us knew about the SS dead that was there ,would have made no difference as being in the military we respected the way they buried their men

[@clarkkoch4723]

Very good history lesson. Thanks so much.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

My pleasure! I really enjoyed making this one

[@jjt1093]

There is a good documentary using gps and battle reports for exact locations on the death of wittman, I agree it must of been my fellow countrymen, he passed 150m infront of a row of canadian shermans holding up in an old chateau courtyard. Now to this video, very well done, had no idea so much effort was put into relocating the german dead to a central plot, that was an amount of respect to them to do that.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Thank you very much, I’m so glad you enjoyed the video

[@JesusRunsMyHouse]

My dad was 17 when he volunteered and went to war because his two older brothers were already over there. My one uncle was shot down over Guam and him or his has never been found but I remember them putting a picture and his favorite rabbit gun in the coffin and burying it. My other uncle was there from 41 -42 and again 44-45. My dad went on to fight in Korea and Vietnam and came home a alcoholic basketcase

[@Roller_Ghoster]

Ive had the honour of visiting all the sites shown. Oradour sur Glane is just below the modern day village. Frozen in time is an understatement. I was there way back in 2011. There was still the remains of a childs toy pram in the ruins of the church. Id say that was one of the hardest things to see in all of those locations. Great work and top quality content.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

I wanted to make a video there not very long again but a few others forgot there before me! I’ll release one from there in 6 months or so

[@Roller_Ghoster]

@@thehistoryexplorer cant wait!

[@davidk7324]

Well done, thank you. We made a stop at Marigny, I believe, during Paul's April tour.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Ah yes! Another great place. Some of the pictures I uploaded were actually from Marigny

[@waterpongo6975]

Sad to say I didnt event knowthis cemetary existed. interesting place and really good information in here. well done Rob

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Well you can’t know everything! Ha!

[@domenicodelucia163]

Uyiti i

[@Thecarman1994]

I visited with my father 30 years ago. He was stunned to see a grave with his own date of birth. Dad had had a life, a family and a career.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

It’s enough to make you stop and think

[@Thecarman1994]

@@thehistoryexplorer yes, dad lived to age 96. What might that young German have achieved

[@PAS_2020]

Amazing look at the enemy side. This video so full of fact with compassion. You are gifted and respect that very much in all your videos.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Wow, thank you. What a compliment! You’ve made my day 👍

[@elizabethtaylor3779]

Fascinating. I especially appreciate the learning opportunity, provided by someone who relates the information so articulately.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Glad it was helpful! I enjoyed doing the research into this one

[@Jaden-y7e]

​@@thehistoryexplorer2 Replies

[@medic1627]

In case anyone was wondering, the coins left on the grave are put there to remember the person buried there. It's a form of remembrance, it's letting the person know that you dropped by to visit them.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Thanks for sharing. There were many graves with coins, not just the ones features here 👍

[@michaelzahnle5649]

@@thehistoryexplorer We have the same practice stateside. I've personally left coins on the grave markers of past military members that I've found in civilian cemeteries.

[@donrodgers283]

I’m 75,an American, my father was in the army and was a replacement in Italy and made it to Germany. He never spoke to much about it. When I was drafted in 1968 and was told I was going to Vietnam he told me this, stay low, look, listen and smell. I inherited my childhood home. Never went through much in the attic. After I retired that was the big honey do list. I found a box containing things from his time in Europe. 6 diary’s listing every country, battle date/dates and every man he knew who was killed starting in Sicily and ending in Germany. My wife and I read these together over 3 weeks. When I can home he said I know what you saw please leave it there and that was it. I saw 1 year, he saw 3 years. I don’t know how he did it.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

I love reading stories and accounts like these. Thank you for sharing 🫡

[@gartwilliams3347]

Visited the German Cemetery outside of Bastogne this past May (2024) Very interesting and I was told no Belgiums visit the cemetery. Also the dead were buried in their uniforms, or sheets, no real coffins.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes that’s true, the closest they got to coffins was a cardboard type box

[@mampe8898]

I visit here in finland at rovaniemi city german soldiers war cemetery. When they started built it local people were against it of course. Sad place.. there is actually good presentation video.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Thank you very much

[@j.lietka9406]

I occasionally watch videos where metal detectorists go to WW2 battle fields and remains of soldiers are found. The remains are eventually returned to the country of origin. I would like to see a video on the WW1 & WW 2 memorials to fallen German soldiers. Thank you

[@prontsc]

It was a disrepest to the fallen soldiers, not SS soldiers to be buried in shared and mass graves after the war. My German uncles who died in 1940 had their own graves and tombstones until after the war in the 1950's when they were dug up and reburied, on land no one wanted. Most killed in Normandy were young men/teenagers with no experience since the Nazis' were expecting the Allies to land north by Calais. When I showed my German relatives the photographs I took when visiting, they all asked who is paying for graves upkeep and never have been to any German war cementary. And there's alot of them!

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes the are a lot of them. There are no winners in war, that’s for sure

[@h.db.9684]

“Land that no one wants” is a good place for a cemetery. You’re not wasting some valuable property for some people who aren’t affected by their zip code.

[@eric-wb7gj]

It makes more sense to have them centralised if the area has to be maintained & commemorated. It would make it far more difficult for maintenance crews to tend thousands of separate graves. Also, depending on their location, if there are residents there, they may not want the grave of anyone in it. At least they are not forgotten. After Waterloo, it's said the bones of the soldiers were ground up, sold off & used for fertiliser.

[@peterwallace9764]

@@eric-wb7gj- That would be very demoralising for any relative with dead soldiers in their past family relatives.

[@Sunnydays14121]

So sad seeing children in uniform 😢

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes that always gets me 😢

[@Tanjacs]

And the look on their faces is so scared...!! 😢

[@Jaden-y7e]

3 Replies

[@TellySavalas-or5hf]

Hitleryouth boys.

[@fosterfuchs]

The first post WWII German war movie is called Die Brücke (the bridge). It's about a group of German teenage friends from a small town who at he end of the war sign up to fight for the German Army. After brief basic training, it's really too late for them to be of any use. So a German officer orders them as an afterthought to defend a bridge at the edge of their town. They take it extremely seriously, and by the end of the movie, only one of them survives. The movie shows the sheer senselessness of what they did.

[@timalexander7758]

Great video! I enjoyed this one very much

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Glad you enjoyed it! I’m getting some heat for this being ‘pro German’ apparently. You can never win. I really enjoyed the research for this one 👍

[@timalexander7758]

@@thehistoryexplorer Those are just crybabies looking for something to get offended about. You only said What Happened. Just need to tune those people out

[@AL6198]

Very interesting. I am French but was not aware of this German cemetary. And yes, Oradour is still remembered by all French people.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Thank you very much. I will release a film on Oradour in the near future, such a impactful and harrowing scene!

[@Berlin-Kladow]

Interesting. It would be interesting to have a video of visiting other German cemeteries in Germany in the future. I have visited Germany many times but have never had the opportunity to visit any. They seem to be hidden away in shame . I couldn’t find any on websites. It’s truly sobering to visit these sites and remember all the people who suffered the horrors

[@thehistoryexplorer]

That’s a great idea. I don’t have plans to visit Germany this year but I’ll remember to visit the cemeteries when I do

[@robertbishop6935]

There are a lot of German cemeteries littered around Northern France.

[@Birkebeinern]

It was really an informative video. You really did a good research.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

You are most welcome. Thank you for the kind feedback 👍

[@vilo_h5541]

That was very informative. Thank you.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Glad it was helpful!

[@paulevans3827]

Rob, another excellent video thank you so much your content is always excellent👍Paul

[@thehistoryexplorer]

That means a lot buddy, thank you. 🙏

[@midnightchannel111]

Someone should do a video in the tension, and finally outright antagonism, between the Weirmacht on the one side, and the SS and Gestapo on the other. The former were soldiers doing what they thought was their duty. The 2 latter were outright Evil that had taken over their country. My Dad was a bomber pilot in WWII and both he and my Mom taught us to not look at German soldiers with blame, but at the German people who allowed Hitler to take over. They were adamant about that, the German people did nothing to stop him as he rose to power. Germany of that time is * not * "off the hook for what they started, and Amercians today know sadly little about the war ( * especially * little about the war in the Pacific, and flat out * nothing * about Japan of that time). Germany started the war, they represented Evil in their civil actions againt their own alone, even before you consider what they did to everyone else. But the Weirmacht had constant arguments with bith the SS and Gestapo, which got worse as the war progressed. By the end of the war, there was actually one Weirmacht unit that went over to stand with and support the Resistance in the Caucasses area agaisnt the SS troops attacking them: these German soldiers knew the war was over and saw no reason to, in their minds, slaughter these citizens who were standing up against them.

[@donbartholomew8273]

Germans in the 1930s were much like the MAGA Republicans, willfully ignorant or at least horribly dangerously naive

[@Mag_Aoidh]

Excellent as always Rob.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Thank you! Appreciate the very kind feedback

[@stevenewman1393]

😉👍Very nicely greatly wonderfully well done and very nicely informatively explained on the historical facts of this burial cemetery for German soldiers during WW2 indeed Sir!👌.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

You are most welcome my friend!

[@keithscott1255]

Noticed the wooden barrel shot off a Sherman at 9.24.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes indeed. A OP variant from K Battery. Good spot!

[@jim7544]

The SS soldiers were the same as all the others - many were 17 years old in the HJ Division.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Very true. Although I would say the difference is their indoctrination And ideology

[@JACQUESLUCONT2333]

Hi, im from Russia, and thank you for your videos.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

You are very welcome my friend

[@tombristowe846]

Good vid. There is another interesting German burial ground near Mont St Michel., at Mont d'Huisnes. It's a mausoleum, or an ossuary, where the bones of about 12000 Germans are buried.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Oh wow I’m not aware of that!

[@760Piper]

Very powerful video. Curious as to why Wittman was buried alone and with another soldier.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Glad you enjoyed it. In a future video I explain how his remains were not found for some time and how he was moved here to be buried

[@mrrw1936]

I just find this so fascinating. these subjects are always toucjy but the professionaism here with the productoion and resaerch is so good to see

[@thehistoryexplorer]

You are very welcome and thank you for the kind feedback

[@RivetGardener]

War is a horrible and disgusting thing. I have always wondered what came of the Panamainian bodies strewn along Omar Torrijos Airport when we took it down on 20 DEC 1989. And what about the rest when we cleaned out the other areas, the streets where we fought and the buildings we took over. As an Airborne Infantryman we did our job and moved on. Who cleaned up behind us? I have no idea.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Oh wow you were involved in that? Very interesting

[@Namtov]

Why is there coins on Wittmanns grave ? Is that a sign of respect or ?. I have visited more german wargraves and in the late 19eighties, I visited a gravesite and at a grave I saw a buket of flowers with a ribbon saying "Ein stiller Gruss aus der Heimat" (Der, die, Not sure ) Translated it would be "A silent greeting from home". It touched me that someone would visit a grave 45 years later.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Originally I thought the coins were for people who revere Wittmann but actually I saw coins and other items on many graves. Perhaps family members. I’m not sure

[@johnny99497]

I believe the coins are given to pay the ferryman of the Valhalla. It is an ancient Nordic tradition.

[@griffhenshaw5631]

I went to the village in 76.. Very sobering.

[@MartinVSmith6334]

There is a German War Cemetery in Mota Santa Anastasia, Sicily that is kept as nice as any Commonwealth or American Cemetery is in a foreign country. Ironically it about 5 miles from the American Naval Air Station in Sigonella. Not unusual to see flowers on a few graves. Have not been there in about 10 years.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes exactly and let’s not forget these soldiers had families, sons and mothers, just as we do.

[@rainmanmainplan4421]

When i visited this cemetery it was very dense and felt very heavy and just felt bad really that soo many lives were lost

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes I know what you mean! Luckily I was there on a lovely summers day but I imagine in the winter it would feel quite ominous

[@jasonvazquez2563]

Great video, I wouldn’t call Wittmann “infamous” but I’d call him famous. Yes he was in the SS but I’ve never heard anything about him committing atrocities and I’ve studied him exclusively for years. His kill count may be slightly exaggerated but when your fight a foe like the soviets that believe (and still do) in meat wave tactics I don’t see that number being all that hard to reach, staying alive at the same time was probably difficult though . The soviets lost over 20 million people. They didn’t die from the cold. His performance at villers bocage is a great example. I get he was a nazi, he was in the SS both are despicable but enough of the victor writing history. If you can provide evidence or a book that would imply and/or prove that his kill count was fabricated please let me know I’d like more information and I’m running out of books to read on the subject.

[@stevensole1909]

RIP to those brave soldiers

[@Sp10580]

Trust you mean the brave allied soldiers and not talking about the nazis

[@stevensole1909]

@@Sp10580 100% no. I mean the Germans. Allies were bullies who had more money and greater numbers. Germans were the brave ones.

[@allencollins6031]

Thank you for the History. And the video/picures that bring it life.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

My pleasure my friend. I hope you’re doing well

[@chrishensley6745]

Nice video...I respect the German soldier for there way of fighting where alot had to fight...like the 17 and 75 year old men that died there....they were smart in ALOT of ways......Unlike the Japes......that is a different story/bunch of people right there.

[@Maxl1409]

Thank you very much for this video! Just something I notice when referring to german names, etc.: "ei" is pronounced like "I" and "ie" is pronounced like "ee", in this case "Diekmann"="Deekmann" (like in "seek", "deep", etc.) Keep it up!

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Thanks for sharing! Every day is a school day

[@americanpatriot2422]

Great video

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Thank you American Patriot 🇺🇸 👌

[@jerseycitysteve]

We should remember that on the Eastern Front, there were hundreds of villages that met the same fate as oradour-sur-glane.

[@lunn77]

I went to oradour sur glane. Amazing and sad place. It's a must to go if ever in that area.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Oh I agree! I have a video coming up on Oradour

[@lunn77]

@@thehistoryexplorer looking forward to it 🙂👍

[@gillgetter3004]

Thanks I wondered what happened to the German dead👍

[@thehistoryexplorer]

I hope you took something from the video. I found the research really interesting

[@adhofsink1216]

Have you ever been to Ysselsteyn in the Netherlands?

[@thehistoryexplorer]

No I havnt actually but I do have plans to visit the Netherlands again soon

[@adhofsink1216]

@@thehistoryexplorer It is worth the visit. 👌

[@anthonysherry2628]

My late father served in the British Army, Royal Tank Regiment. He met my German mother in Munster. When i see these video's i feel sad, so many young taken on both sides. But they did their duty, right or wrong. What a waste.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Well said my friend

[@rolfagten857]

What if the German Soldier was a British or Irish national in the German army would they also bureid ther?!

[@thehistoryexplorer]

The Germans buried plenty of allied soldiers

[@TKM1951]

It occurs that if they were being moved to central resting places ,why weren’t they repatriated

[@thehistoryexplorer]

It’s just as the American soldiers see moved from various locations to the main US cemetery. Some families did choose to have their family members brought back to the US

[@eric-wb7gj]

I suppose it depends on who's paying, & if there are any living relatives to claim them, or if the government wishes to carry out the task. I read of an WW2 account where a German mother got a note from the railway station saying there was a package for her to pick up, it was a large one, & she had to pay for it's transport. When she got there, she found it was the body of her son in his coffin. She had to pay the fee, then walk him home about 5km to their village for burial.

[@Dulcimertunes]

@@eric-wb7gj😢

[@wumhenry123]

Good to hear that even the german side recognized the war crime of Diekmann and wanted to court martial him.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes definitely!

[@ArnieC1974]

There is an other one who you should visit! It's beautiful! It's on a backroad to le mont saint Michelle and the name is Huisnes-sur-Merthere you will find the cemetery. You have to climb a lot of steps and then you find yourself in a big round circle where all Germans are intured in there own grave, so they are not buried but all have there own plot stacked 6 rows high. You can see a lot there and it's kept very well by the German government. You can walk there for hours and still haven't seen it all. It has a beautiful Chappell as well with all the names engraved. I found it on my way back from Saint Michelle but you can better first go there!

[@lloydgoldston3620]

Anytime someone calls Wittmann The Black Baron I just have to shake my head. Michael Wittmann was never called that during the war unlike The Red Baron who was known by that name during WW1. Post war rubbish thanks to a quasi scientific television show on who killed Wittmann where that silly moniker first appears. Please do history a favor and don’t perpetuate myths. Diekmann is pronounced Deekman and not Dykmann. In German Ei sounds like eye and ie sounds like ee as eel. Otherwise a very well thought out, respectful look at the cemetery at La Cambe and the massive amount of war dead interred there. Sorry to be pedantic. I do appreciate and enjoy your YT releases. Thanks

[@Kirtlington-Bandit]

Everyone should be taken to a war cemetery , whilst stationed in Germany any relative visiting i always took them to one. When you see the ages it really puts your life into perspective and what people sacrificed their life’s for .

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes I agree. In any military cemetery

[@garyhill1050]

The wermacht were regular soldiers over time the were disgusted by Hitler's planning and there is proof that the wermacht were sick of Hitler but the sad part is they were being led by the ss who were the fanatics. during the last months of the war the majority of the German army that was still fighting were ss and in that time frame many were the fanatical 17 to 20 year olds

[@TheConfederate1863]

I think you can see at the cemeteries who won the war….😢

[@thehistoryexplorer]

In what way?

[@carresteigerwald3278]

Im surprised people even visit it. That being said, these people, beyond the war, were someone's child. They were a little 4 year old playing with toys at one time. I know its very difficult to think about, but the Lord loved them too. However their choices decided most of their fates, regarding their eternal place.

[@LucasOliveira-lu7sw]

Por favor em português BR. Não consigo entender,

[@kerrydennison7947]

It's very sobering to see this considering how the Germans treated the Russian war dead. I have always wondered why the French people even allowed the notorious SS to be buried on French soil you would think they would have forced the bodys to be repatriated to Germany after the war. Then again the Russians simply plowed over the German cemeteries in Russia and turned it back into wheat Fields etc.

[@desmondthompson9123]

Midnightchannel you are coating the official history not the Real History about WW 11.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Huh? Sorry I don’t understand

[@josephd9190]

lol had to put it not about honoring but to learn about “our enemy”. Dude the wars been over for decades. Can’t you just show use the cemetery and just do it to remember the pointless loss of life war causes and to pay respects to the dead. These things are always so political. Lost my interest after that comment

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Fair comment. I meant no offence by it, merely that they were the adversary on the other side of this conflict.

[@johnoliver8833]

Pretty sure that tano commanders success was due to either him or his mate text book copied an englishmans booklet on tank warfare

[@thehistoryexplorer]

I know the story you’re referring to. They captured British doctrine booklets and Rommel is claimed to have said ‘the British have the best doctrine in the world but their officers do not read it’s

[@gregbolitho9775]

Glad they got looked after, alot seemed not to be.

[@paulevison9497]

Sadly you keep calling Heers (army) as werhmarcht which means armed forceces!!!

[@thehistoryexplorer]

It’s how they are portrayed in the books I used

[@paulevison9497]

@@thehistoryexplorer Then should you not put this right as it's an historical fact and helps the narrative?

[@rossthompson7956]

Two uncles served their also. One B17 navigator and one ground combat. They mever openally talked about it. The navigator said they had to fly to Russia and used the hay stacks for cover as the german fighters shot up the Russian base. Russians were nice to the allies back then.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Outstanding 🫡

[@Dulcimertunes]

The Nazis didn’t need a reason to incinerate civilians

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes of course

[@rosewhite---]

Dirk Bogarde was with intel and travelled through the area and noticed bulldozers making huge trenches for the truckloads fo German body parts.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

I’ve never heard that. Interesting

[@rosewhite---]

@@thehistoryexplorer it was in the falaise area a day or two after the fighting stopped. his autobiography is quite an interesing read.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

@@rosewhite--- thank you! I’ll try and check that out

[@HuppeldePupNL]

Great video. Thanks. A word of advice, however: can you please make a bit of an effort to get the pronunciation sort of right, of the French and German names. Ehdolf Dikemun and Ahdolf Deekman do not sound at all similar to most Continental ears.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

I will try my best. Sorry

[@Prfdt3]

In the end who was the Victor?

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Who do you think was the victor?

[@mrnexus8seven949]

Why are you surprised so many people visit this cemetary?

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Because I’ve been visiting Normandy for over 20 years and this was my first time going to La Cambe

[@JOEBURNES2006]

Michael Whittman was a great tank commander most of his kills were on the eastern front. I think his tank kill numbers were right on. The Germans did not exaggerate kills like the Russians did.

[@kauaiboy5o]

Why weren't the war dead sent back to their country of origin?

[@TheConfederate1863]

Because they were still at war with Germany.

[@kauaiboy5o]

@@TheConfederate1863 Why weren't they reburied in Germany?

[@TheConfederate1863]

@@kauaiboy5o guess they wanted them to stay with their fallen comrades ? Other nations did the same…

[@gemellodipriapo]

Why should it surprise you so many people visit La Cambe cemetery? History unites us all and Lord knows how many Germans or Austrians must visit. Moreover the German army of WWII had a dark glamour about it. There are numerous reasons for it's pull and that's why some of us have watched your vid. Anyway the title is somewhat misleading.

[@thehistoryexplorer]

It surprises me that so many visit. Half a million in 2023

[@gemellodipriapo]

@@thehistoryexplorer WWII is Disney World for adults. And La Cambe has free entry.

[@NormanStanleyNew]

What happened to all the gold teeth from the concentration camps?

[@thehistoryexplorer]

I really don’t know

[@graemer3657]

In Luxembourg the American war dead are buried in single graves. The Germans are buried up to 12 people in a single grave. This is because in the aftermath of the fighting they were buried in mass graves where they fell. When the military cemeteries were created later it was impossible to separate the bones for individual graves

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Yes absolutely

[@HarryFlashmanVC]

Note the weeb coins on Wittman's grave

[@thehistoryexplorer]

There were coins on many graves there

[@emilioalcazar-su9vi]

Always the topic of the bad waffen ss soldiers..the same song of the last 80 years!!

[@thehistoryexplorer]

You don’t think the Waffen SS were bad?

[@emilioalcazar-su9vi]

@@thehistoryexplorer there were million people in the waffen SS..all of them bad guys?IS ridiculous and a nonsense..in war,the allied were not the Saints of series,films and comics

[@williampinchers]

Whitman panzer ace par excellence he was a warrior not a murderer. They were not all the same , we the allies had our own fruitbars to.

[@focus3303]

I'm quite surprised that you find it unusual that so many people would visit a German military memorial and war graves. Are German soldiers not entitled to have the same attention as Allied Soldiers.....!!!!

[@thehistoryexplorer]

You’ve misunderstood my surprise. I am surprised that it got half a million visitors! A huge number

[@focus3303]

@@thehistoryexplorer I haven't misunderstood anything....why would you be surprised?

[@thehistoryexplorer]

@@focus3303 I don’t entertain trolling but I’ll leave it at this; I’ve been visiting Normandy for 20 years and this was my first visit to this cemetery. It’s fair to say most visitors to the area head to Omaha Beach and other locations associated with the Allies. When I find out half a million people visited last year, it was surprising to me. I’m not sure how many different ways I can explain that. Have a great day 👍

[@davidgoodfellow2384]

I'm sure my grandfather who was a prisoner at war at the hands of these bastards would dance on there graves if he was alive they were evil towards my grandfather

[@josephmccorkel7021]

You won't see me there

[@thehistoryexplorer]

That is your prerogative my friend

[@michaelbruce6190]

Stop referring to everything as "Nazi" Germany and stop apologizing for going to a German war cemetery! The Iron Cross was not a "Nazi" decoration, it had been around since the 1871 Franco-Prussian war and most of the soldiers buried in that cemetery were just young men, most of them kids, fighting for whatever they were told to fight for or what they believed they were fighting for.....they didn't want to fight and die in some horrible war just as much as soldiers from other countries. My Opa fought in the Wehrmacht in WWII and he was no Nazi, he actually despised the Nazi's for the pigs they were, and that was the opinion of about 95% of German fighting forces during that time in our history!

[@thehistoryexplorer]

🫡 sure thing. Sorry you were offended by this video. Trying my best

[@michaelbruce6190]

@@thehistoryexplorer not offended at all, your videos are amazing and extremely good! I apologize if my comment came across as rude, sometimes written words don't come across properly and I sincerely apologize!

[@thehistoryexplorer]

No problem. I have thick skin and I’d rather get these things right

[@Ralph94967]

No matter what you may think of the Second World War. The men who gave their life’s did it for what they thought was right. This should be a warning to all people around the world that politicians dictators start the wars and it’s the. Population who are killed in their hundreds of thousands not to mention the civilian casualties who are not part of the uniformed masses. Respect to all fallen who lost their families while fighting a war

[@thehistoryexplorer]

Well said!