WW2 German High Command - What Did They Sound Like When They Talked?

[@fantafanta5983]

A little summery for those who don't speak German Guderian talks about preparations for Operation Barbarossa and a new combined strategy for the Troops and the airforce Mannstein is a bit out of context, but it seems like he is talking about the Mindset of his elite Troops. Keitel talks about his faults and that his best traits as a soldier were obedience and loyalty. Raeder is explaining why he wasn't the headf of the Kriegsmarine anymore after 1943. Rundstedt said that he had nothing to do with politics and started to quote Montgomery. Göring is also out of context but it seems like he tried to defend himself by saying that he understands that he did something wrong. Jodl speaks about Soldiers police and an Agency that works for the enemy. Dönitz said that he didn't know what was going on between Mr. Eckard and the head of department. Paulus said that he had to represent the chief of the general staff.

[@DrDrCr4zy]

Jodl is specifically talking about an intelligence agency. probably "Abwehr".

[@TheRobiRobson]

Guderian starts with talking aboutthe task of breaking through the extended Maginot line at Sedan. The footage seems to be from the winter so there is some discrepancy between words and pictures.

[@abradolflincler9500]

@@TheRobiRobson He‘s talking about how they used the winter and spring to train the troops and leaders both practically and theoretically for the upcoming invasion of France

[@fantafanta5983]

Yeah you're right i trusted the footage too much

[@brianmaphar9685]

@@TheRobiRobson indeed. and the combined arms of army and air force. I cannot distinguish wether he is talking about barbarossa, seems more like giving a lecture about his planned combined arms, which was the blitz krieg.

[@milibaeindustries]

The secretly recorded Hitler-Mannerheim conversation is a fascinating example of historical figures talking normally, not only is Hitler very honest about the course of the war in it but it is the only known recording of Hitler not using his speaking voice.

[@epicshadowdemon1211]

Wonder what happened to the person who recorded it, would have been a life or death situation if he was caught.

[@milibaeindustries]

@@epicshadowdemon1211 so far as I know nothing happened to him, presumably because he was a Finnish broadcaster and the purpose of Hitler's visit had been to smooth things over with Finland. He was discovered by the SS who stopped the recording and demanded it be destroyed, but it was instead simply stored away in the archives of Finland's public broadcasting service.

[@relatiivity3461]

I came to comments to say this lolol I always found it interesting how Hitler had a "Propaganda Voice" for his speeches and just his everyday talking voice that alot of people never got to really hear.

[@epicshadowdemon1211]

@@milibaeindustries What a lucky man, the fact that they allowed him to store it away instead of destroying is pretty surprising. Do we know he's name at all ?

[@milibaeindustries]

@@epicshadowdemon1211 Thor Damen, from what I've read by some accounts he convinced the SS the recording would be destroyed, either that or it was agreed it would never see the light of day!

[@florianlipp5452]

Here is my feedback (being German myself): - Rommel was from Württemberg and he does have a fitting (though mild) regional accent. So his accent was VERY distinctly NOT Prussian and woud have sounded rather rural to his Prussian colleagues. (fun fact: Württemberg currently runs a PR campaign to promote business investment in the region with the claim "we can do just about anything - other than speaking high German"). - Guderian was Prussian and he does have the fitting accent - he speaks just how you would expect a typical Prussian officer to speak (it sounds very "sharp" and "crisp") . - Rundstedt is a similar case. - Manstein was old Prussian nobility. But born in Berlin - and he does have a strong Berlin accent. (To German ears, the Berlin accent doesn't sound posh at all but rather proletarian and a little bit "shabby". Like Cockney English in Britain. It's a little bit strange to hear an officer born to Prussian nobility speak with such an accent). - Keitel is from Lower Saxony which is considered to have the "purest" High German accent with hardly any dialect. And that's just how Keitel speaks (though he also sounds a lot like a typical arrogant Prussian officer). - Raeder ist from Hamburg. His accent doesn't sound very Hamburg-like to my ears (but maybe someone from North Germany can correct me here). - Goering is a tricky case. His family moved around Germany quite a lot during his childhood. And it isn't easy to pinpoint his accent. (I would say "Prussian", but maybe I am wrong). - Jodl was born in Würzburg (Franconia) and he does have (weak) franconian accent. (Jodl and Rommel are both from southern Germany. All the others are from northern Germany. To my ears at least, Jodl and Rommel speak less militarily crisp/sharp than the others but have a more pleasant softer accent). - Doenitz was born in Berlin but doesn't have a strong Berlin accent. It's rather just a typical Prussian/military officer accent (very different from Manstein who does have that Berlin accent).

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Thank you for sharing your insight!

[@chryzos3091]

I must agree. Excellent comment thank you :)

[@Breezer08]

As someone from Hamburg, i would say that this is pretty much "old" Hamburg Dialect. not very thick but its noticeable. especially in the pronounciation of the words endings with "ch" and "g" you can hear it.Not that this is the case in this audio. its called "the missing G" because the hamburg dialect turns the G into a CH ending. By the way, he is talking about his relationship to hitler and that he noticed that he was no longer in Hitlers favored circle and he argues that he wasnt guilty of disobedience towards Hitler but literally "threw my Post (in the meaning of Job) on the desk......." Audio ends "Funfact": Guderian's Granddaughter was my Politics and Economy Teacher in 10-13 Grade

[@corneliali7747]

I'm curious to hear your insight on Rundstedt!

[@Breezer08]

@@corneliali7747 During my time studying History von Rundstedt was seen as a very very capable commander. In particular in terms of grand strategy and planing large scale offensives. In terms of fanatic naziism he was more of a "i dont care" guy. He knew what was going on. Passed on the orders from the Oberkommando ( German High Command ) to the generals below him. So he was guilty in terms of not stopping it. It is widely agreed on that he was not pushing it even further than that in terms of ordering Massacres or anything like that. I would say he was one level "above" Rommel on the Fanatic side, but not even close to guys like peipper, himmler or SS Generals who were lunatics.

[@trojanette8345]

I have a (now decesased) German relative. One thing she told us when she came to my country was that, "you American's spend so much time translating our military. You people have no idea that our military know more English than, you know, German". Quite eye-opening !!

[@matropgy]

Acutally saw this like yesterday. As a German I can say, I was very surprised and kinda.. impressed in a way. Their voices are much brighter, if that word in that context even makes sense, than 'average' voices today here But still very impressed by this, especially with Manstein but with his Prussian Aristocratic backround I found it fitting I guess. Guderian and Rommel were most fitting for their 'looking' if you can say this. Well done video, Chris! Good night from here, stay safe everyone.

[@YekouriGaming]

Many of the top commanders were of aristocratic background so the way they speak is closer to royalty.

[@joshuasill1141]

I also wonder how much of the "brightness" to their voices can be attributed to the recording equipment of the era?

[@JoshDouble]

love this idea for a video series. i've always found historical figures voices to be interesting too.

[@andrewshaw1571]

There's a very poor quality recording of tchaikovsky's voice out there from when edison visited and was testing recording technology.

[@sirfatty5068]

On Keitel,he was a rubber stamp clerck with no ability. The only reason he was as high up as he was because of his willingness to be Hitler's mouthpiece. My favourite story about him is one time Burkhart Müller-Hillebrand asked who Keitel was,when he found out he became horrified at his own failure to salute his superior. Franz Halder just told him,don't worry it's only Keitel.

[@justinqueso9644]

I always wondered about this and it's kinda weird to think that all these historical figure's voices could never be saved.

[@dexjaro5438]

I would love to see you do a video regarding the voices of the Soviet military generals/politicians, or even of people like Hitler, Himmler, and other men such as them. Maybe even do some British generals/politicians. I loved the video, keep up the good job, Chris.

[@andrewmanous2932]

A lot of people think hitler has a high pitch voice cause of those goofy speeches where he’s scream at everyone. But if you listen to his real voice it’s actually pretty deep and ominous

[@Siegbert85]

Those speeches were also recorded with crappy technology which will automatically make you sound different.

[@curtvona4891]

Yeah, he sounded like someone kicked him in only one testicle.

[@Grey11s]

@@curtvona4891 Imagine talking about manhood in your "Aryan" race but only have one testicle.

[@doesnotexist305]

I’m glad you touched on the “Clean Wehrmacht” myth. I really value Guderian for his tactical knowledge and Panzer Leader is a fascinating read but the fact that he so vehemently denied the Wehrmacht’s involvement in war crimes when the evidence is so overwhelming is… well, it’s unfortunate. You really wonder how much Guderian knew of what was going on and what his real views were.

[@asgautbakke8687]

The human mind is a phenomenal thing. It is astonishing how much it is able to ignore in spite of clear evidence when it simply wants to ignore because acknowledging the truth will be painful and possibly even personally risky to you. And the Nazi regime made a good job at enabling common Germans to look another way when inconvenient hints popped up. In this case Guderian, Jodl, Dönitz and many others are good cases in the point.

[@samrevlej9331]

Guderian was on the Eastern front. There is no way he kept his hands clean off the atrocities committed by the Wehrmacht there. He was defending his own reputation as well.

[@testtor2714]

There is no "Cleanr Wehrmacht" myth. There is only a "clean Allies" myth. The Wehrmacht defended Europe in the last battle on life and death. All major atrocities claimed to have happened are made up. Some were revealed after a few decades like Katyn, while others are still used as lies to this day. A good book about these lies made up for agitational purposes is "Allied war crimes and crimes against humanity" with prolog by Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

[@OTDMilitaryHistory]

Same!

[@pako7414]

You should watch the only recording of Hitler speaking normally, which gives some insight into how he thought the war was going and earlier invasions while trying to convince the Finnish to launch another offensive.

[@junas4166]

Love the start, the introduction was delivered flawlessly! Amazing!

[@hoosierdaddy9373]

A voice that REALLY surprised me, was Patton....everything I'd ever heard, read and seen portrayed made me expect something completely different than how he sounded........(and LITERALLY as I was putting the last word on here, you just mentioned this exact same thing!) 😆

[@mike9512]

what a cool idea for a video. I would never think to ask or look for this but I really like it.

[@saiien2]

Erich von Manstein definitely surprised me the most. I didn't expect him to have such "high tone of voice". He reminds me Göbbels a little bit.

[@gidi3250]

From a documentary about Rommel his son remarked hearing that Hitler asked his dad what kind of troops he wanted to have and Rommel asked for an armour division to witch some generals where upset and wanted him to lead infantry like he did in ww1.

[@Dragonite43]

Yukari! :D

[@chmiv7465]

Fantastic video! I’d love to see more like this, maybe Soviet high command voices if there’s a video on that? I’d love to hear how Zhukov sounded.

[@heh9392]

I watched this video myself a few weeks ago, and I was honestly surprised of Mannstein most.

[@manualsm1631]

Doenitz's strategy only worked because he decided to actually sit there acknowledge what he did and apologized. All others who stood on trial pled not guilty and tried to proclaim their innocence. He also was able to dodge execution because there was proof that the allies did the same thing Doenitz's U-Boats did. German convoys were sank, German sailors were killed in the water, and German civilian ships were sank or captured, so there wasn't much the allies could use against him that justified an execution. Why he didn't wear his uniform, I do not know, but I would also go for the civilian look, when you wear the uniform you are 100% seen as the enemy (because you are).

[@APersonOnYouTubeX]

So Doenitz was smart huh

[@Bruh-rh5zf]

Didn't he also had a good lawyer that point out the the fact that the allies were doing the same thing as german uboats

[@omarbradley6807]

Doenitz hardly would had been executed literally his sentence was 10 years. Also the Allied war crime of Laconia, anulated any possible charge against Doenitz, because the Germans did not kill enemy sailors, but neither rescue them anymore, that was the charge of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare, however that was an accpted doctrine. He was guilty of some things more related to the slave work, and association with Albert Speer. He also claimed his inocence, the one who played the fool to escape the execution and apologize and made a show of the "Ex Nazi", was indeed Albert Speer

[@undertakernumberone1]

@@Bruh-rh5zf The person who pointed that out was Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. When the Laconia Order came up Nimitz gave a statement htat boiled down to "We've been doing that shit the moment we entered the war."

[@gidi3250]

Doenitz had so stuff to the British and Americans liked his honorable knight of the sea's stick however they did find a lot of fault for him after he was made leader and lead the broken remains of the Nazi regime for about 2 weeks he ordered his men to never think about surrender and most of his daily meetings was spent with him ordering death sentence after death sentence to men who where surrendering some where soldiers and some where conscripts but doenitz still ordered them hanged or shot and his last few men did spend most of their time in those 2 weeks shooting and hanging deserters.

[@armanahmed2005]

A new concept and I liked the idea. Hearing their voice brought a chilling breeze within me! Upload more and will enjoy with curiosity..

[@Zachattack1212]

I'm just going to say this right now I like that thumbnail

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Trying to be a little more “catchy” with the thumbnails. I’m not very creative with that stuff.

[@kevinw7469]

They are improving

[@Zachattack1212]

@@VloggingThroughHistory well that thumbnail did catch my eyes so I suppose you did succeed

[@annieblancken8201]

It was interesting how you talked about the “vibe” you got from some of these men. I felt the same way you did. The vibe people give off tells us quite a bit I think.

[@badcornflakes6374]

Exactly

[@hardy3089]

Chris, I just wanted to say thank you. I became a sub after your atun Shei reaction vid on Gods and Generals. I know this vid has nothing to do with that but, my ancestors fought for the confederacy. I will not make excuses or attempt to justify the cause they fought for. I did appreciate your objective view of it however, the shei film makes it so black and white and it really pissed me off. You did a fantastic job highlighting the true history in that video. I’m glad the confederacy lost of course but your objective view was a mature sensible look into the mindset of the time and is the reason I will continue to watch everything you post. Keep up the good work sir

[@Grant25]

More reactions to the real side of these historical figures please Chris!

[@vandercecil9449]

Chris, a dear friend of mine was Life Magazine photographer & TV director, John Florea, who took the famous picture of Patton "babtising" the Rhine. He told me Patton sounded like a "high school principal". Much enjoy your show!

[@vandercecil9449]

Oh, John's photos of the Malmady Masacrewere used to convict a German General named Step Direich (?)....

[@i_are_penguin805]

Absolutely love your videos I used to hate history but thanks to you it is now my favorite subject

[@jaycuthbert245]

How can anyone at any point in their lives "hate" history, hearing it or learning it? It always has been and always will be fascinating. Sure, whilst I was at school I unfortuntely was much more concerned with my first love/girlfriend. But I ALWAYS enjoyed the subject I was learning about and it always caught my attention. My only regret is to go back realizing how important it was to focus my attention on it and my homework and work hard to get the grade I was predicted to get (B) and didn't let relationship stress prevent me from doing is.

[@i_are_penguin805]

@@jaycuthbert245 i hated history because of the way it was presented and taught in my specific school system particularly because i was not able to choose what parts of history i was interested in and i always gave history a bad wrap for that reason but now that ive gotten really interested in history based youtube channels ive really started to enjoy history and have become quite fascinated by how very small events couldve completely changed the world today

[@jaycuthbert245]

@@i_are_penguin805 that's a shame mate but I am glad you finally found the appreciation of learning history and if you had a thoughtful and charasmatix history teacher at school your love for it could have began years previous. I've always adored learning history regardless of the subject

[@Mr.Janitor]

Wow, these are some interesting voices. Chris, you continue to make such great videos and I am happy to learn the materiel that you bring every day.

[@Datguy5]

You should check out Top Nazis "Everyday" Voices by Mark Felton Productions. It has some major generals not mentioned here and also Mussolini speaking English.

[@dennypetrosian8589]

History is so fascinating, especially through the eyes of another that enjoys it to heart as well. One day we can be following the path in which Jack the Ripper took, the next, listening to the voices of Generals throughout world war 2. And sticking with the theme, two traits if you will that make someone become much more real and human to me are their image/video in color and their voice.

[@alexamerling79]

Really fascinating you got the recording of Manstein. I did not expect his voice to be that high pitched.

[@halmycroft194]

There is a great deal that we (I presume I speak for a largely English-speaking 21st Century audience) will lose even through a relatively short distance of historical disconnect and linguistic unfamiliarity. I remember hearing a number of years ago about an account from Göring's official translator for the Nuremberg trials. Apparently, said translator would deliberately mispronounce his name as closer to 'Gering', the name of a mouse-king in a German fairytale, something Göring got annoyed about. When you consider that a slight difference in pronuciation could lead to quite a heated response, and that these were all people with differing vocal quirks (and possibly regional accents although I'm sure many of them will have been from the Prussian officer corps), it's especislly helpful to have these audio-visual records as sources to help give details about what they might have been like and how they would have interacted with others.

[@thefrenchkiwi9435]

Hello. I have been watching your content for a while now but it's been fairly recent since I subscribed and started tuning in regularly. I've also joined the discord server a few days back, I like it very much and met plenty of cool people. Since you asked. I am French. I have traveled extensively throughout my life and experience plenty of different cultures and traditions. History is one of my biggest passions and I even studied it at Uni. But I dropped out because uni wasn't for me. I still want to work with History however and I have been working in finding a job that's in line with it. I have a particular strong like for medieval history. I've also been making content on KZbin. Nothing too impressive so far although I'm hoping to make more serious stuff in the future. What I finde particularly interesting about your channel is your react content. It's really cool to rewatch videos I've already seen but with more insight from an actual historian. I have also been watching your other content, I'll have to catch up to some of your vlogs, especially the ones in France.

[@CosmosJack]

The tapes of Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis was the first thing I thought about after your intro

[@clearss1]

I think this style of video is great, some great primary source discussions.

[@8mycake244]

My grandfather fought under Patton in north Africa, Sicily, Italy. He told my father that after the war, they would see trucks pass with German soldiers, guarded by two or three Ally guards. Whenever they saw a truck pass with multiple Ally soldiers with only two or three Germans, they knew they were SS.

[@Thraim.]

Regarding what their voices sound like. A reason they sound off to you might be that microphones of that time weren't great. You know how much the quality of the microphone changes the sound of your voice on recordings.

[@norbertrottenari4516]

Hi Chris, if you read this im going to translate the best i can what Keitel says "I have erred. I was unable to prevent what should have been prevented. that is my guilt" "it is tragic, having to realize, that the best thing i was able to give as a soldier was obidieance and loyalty".

[@matthewrussell8590]

This was fantastic, thanks

[@dombom1036]

There is a really interesting recording where Hitler is talking to the Commander of the Finnish army, Mannerheim. Hitler’s real voice is pretty deep

[@fallout766]

Love the whole idea of this, excited to see what do further with this series :D

[@WiesoNurMistnamen]

9:40 He was not only convinced that he would be executed but he asked if his sentence could be converted into death by shooting and was denied

[@Dan-jp8jr]

Who was this

[@WiesoNurMistnamen]

@@Dan-jp8jr Erich Raeder, Grand Admiral and supreme commander of the German Navy

[@untruelie2640]

Jodl was the long-time chief of staff of the OKW and thus heavily involved in all german military operations of WW2, including the "famine order" and the "commissar order". He was definetly a war criminal. What surprised me about Paulus is that he sounds a little bit "intellectual". (Which would be fitting, since he was a career staff officer and not a typical frontline commander like Rommel, von Manstein, Guderian or von Rundstedt.)

[@revanofkorriban1505]

Paulus was also in charge of the pre-Barbarossa wargames.

[@gaminglove4145]

This is the reason I subscribed to this channel

[@jefferyhyatt]

Not WWII, but Otto von Bismarck sounds *nothing* like you would expect. His voice from one Edison's wax cylinder recorders is on the KZbins somewhere.

[@christophercrowley9873]

My dad worked on Göering's car. When a guy from Kilburn High Rd. Bought it and brought it to London. She'd see it on British Pathe news, the windows had been replaced by the time my dad saw it.

[@bobs1728]

Keitel and Jodl were Nos. 1 & 2 in the OKW, the German high command, and had daily access to Hitler. They were both portrayed in the German language film "Downfall", about the last days of Hitler. Hitler was portrayed by the late Bruno Ganz, who did an outstanding job. The KZbin channel ' Hitler Rants Parodies' is hilarious and uses clips from the movie updated to current events. Really like your video.

[@CodyChepa88]

Great idea for a video series 👍 Keep up the great work.

[@Nateorade117]

Interesting video concept - well done!

[@strpdhatldy]

It was really interesting. My one German born friend (female) has a very deep voice, so I was surprised at how many of them were high pitched.

[@mikeilkenhons8896]

My ex-father in law was a Luftwaffe pilot in WWII. His brother was a party member. His other brother was educated at Oxford and flew for the RAF. His uncle worked at Gestapo HQ. He was a witness at the Nuremberg. I met and spoke to him. A very quiet and distinguished speaking man. But still arrogant.

[@vahurjoa210]

Maybe an idea for a video: tier list of best/coolest names of different operations in WW2.

[@prins1of1death]

I'm glad we got so many recordings of this. Since it makes the key players come more to life. Only missing Eichmann to be honest.

[@leightonwalters6687]

Rommel was a key commander in the May/June 1940 push through the Ardennes....breaking through at Sedan

[@iTz_Plewtoe]

That joachim peiper dude gave me chills. You can tell that guy doesn’t feel empathy. Cold killer for sure.

[@electroxax5492]

I´m almost certain that in my past life, i was one of Paulus´s men, I can remember that bitter voice of the sense of defeat and the volga turned red from the blood of more than 2 million deads, as well as the supplies shortage and of course, walking down the streets of stalingrad, covered in dead bodys and limbs

[@leightonwalters6687]

Guderian....was the author if "Actung Panzer", which was the book used to expound Blitzkrieg

[@brianmaphar9685]

a few notes to your vid: Keitel and Jodl were Chief of Staff OKW and Chief OpsO OKW. in that light, both would have been at the top when orders were sent down. Even though both say they were only soldiers, doing what they were supposed to do, they were convicted and both hanged after trial. As for your comment on Donitz in civis: all who were present and trailed for crimes, during the Nuremberg trials, were taken away all their military rank and awards and convicted as civilians. The Allied forces didnt recognize their ranks and awards, at the trials. Speaking of the trials, I'm positive this is where you hear others speak as well, with the background noise (Admiral Raeder and Von Rundstedt ) because they are "defending" some of the actions.

[@Siegbert85]

Curious how much of a regional accents these guys had. Those Prussian generals sound very Berlin... like low-class Berlin. People of their status today would speak very distinguished clean standard German. But that seems to be a thing for older generations. I once heard voice recordings of Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm II who both also had this Berlin accent.

[@SaltySTR]

Speaking of accents, Rommel had a pretty strong south-western accent.

[@dan_38]

If I recall correctly, most of the reich's government came from what the elites saw as "low-born" speakers, since most came from the cities or outside of Germany. Most were low born soldiers, so it would make sense if they spoke that dialect, if u were counting it as interesting

[@Siegbert85]

@@dan_38 But same wouldn't be the case for high ranking military. Those were the people whose families have been serving for generations.

[@dan_38]

@@Siegbert85 which is why many military families still held their noses up whenever involving with Hitler. During his assassination attempt, the main leads were military officials with long standing and were generational military. They looked down at the nazis and their officials , seeing them as beneath them or as thugs

[@Yora21]

Having looked up that Erich Raeder was born in Hamburg and died in Schleswig-Holstein, I was surprised by his dialect, which really doesn't sound like someone from around these parts. But he did graduate from school in Silesia, so maybe he got it from there. It's a very Hamburgian sounding name, though. ;)

[@gonnaenodaethat6198]

We have to be careful with old audio recordings, because they can often be slightly too fast or slightly too slow or double recorded from one medium to another.

[@srccde]

19:45 Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Paulus was a prisoner of the soviets at this point. He had been imprisoned since he surrendered after the Battle of Stalingrad which also meant he hadn't seen his family in years who now lived in what came to be West Germany, the FRG. Therefore, he requested and was promised to visit his family after making his statement as a witness at the Nuremberg trials. He had no say over what to wear. Also, he was transported to Germany for the first time since his imprisonment to make his statement and was returned to the USSR _immediately_ afterwards - he was declined his request to see his family. Although he eventually was granted contact through letters, it took another few years before he saw them again. He was eventually released by the soviets to return to the GDR where he was seen as a chance of promoting the young regime. He was given a big house to live in, with all servants (like a cook, a gardener, etc.) and a personal adjutant. This personal adjutant, Heinz Beutel, had a special passport that allowed him to travel the german-german border freely. He was even allowed to transport passengers across the border - this way (as he himself was still effectively a prisoner of the GDR and not allowed to leave himself), Paulus was eventually reunited with his family.

[@neppy6319]

joachim peiper his voice made me think of Hans Landa from inglorious bastards. Just that cold straight demeanor.

[@johnsu1rz3wright85]

I'm a huge ww2 guy love watching this stuff

[@DocBolle]

@3:38 Guderian does not talk about operation "Barbarossa" but about the invasion of France in 1940 and its preparations. The word "Führer" he mentions does not mean "The Führer" but simply leader in this context.

[@deavenswainey6415]

Interesting to hear Goering's pronunciation of the letter 'r' in contrast to his counterparts. He rolled it, like a Spanish 'r.' The German 'r' is usually more like a French 'r,' though not quite as guttural. I'd love to know why he spoke like that. Age, travel, wealthy upbringing? A combo?

[@gidi3250]

From what another comment stated Goering's family moved around a lot when he was a kid.

[@christianmayer7432]

In southern German dialects the 'r' is rolled. Göring was born in Bavaria, in Rosenheim, so maybe this could explain his pronunciation. The pronunciation of the 'r' is quite a marker (apart from dialects) for Germans to detect, if someone is from the south.

[@deavenswainey6415]

@@christianmayer7432 Thanks for the info! I just watched a video on Bavarian vs. standard German to hear the difference. I definitely hear the similarity to Austrian German, especially in the vowels.

[@christianmayer7432]

​@@deavenswainey6415 Yeah, I am from Bavaria and we generally consider Austrians (especially the western parts with Tyrol or Salzburg) to be more culturally akin to us than Germans in the North or the East. But I have to say that the Bavarian dialect is hard pressed nowadays, especially in urban environments, so that High German is more prevalent than in rural areas. It is quite interesting, how many high ranking Nazis were born in Bavaria. Apart from Göring, Heinrich Himmler was born in Munich and was connected with the house of Wittelsbach because his godfather was Heinrich von Bayern. And of course you have the infamous speeches by Hitler with his striking rolling 'r'. There is an interesting sound recording, in which he was recorded in a conversation with the Finnish marshal Mannerheim, in which you can hear his daily voice, which was quite different from his speeches. In Nazi Germany it was forbidden to record his private voice and only his emphatic and triumphant speeches were permitted for the German people. A Finnish sound engineer recorded this conversation in 1942 without the knowledge of Hitler. The recording was then brought to Finnland, then it was forgotten and many years after the war it was found again. It has the status to be the only recording of Hitler's private, normal voice. You can find it on KZbin with subtitles: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXa3YoqXfJqmfM0

[@mathiasmueller9693]

You bring up a great point about how much the "regulars" knew about the atrocious knew. I really feel like more knew what was going on but played ignorant. To what level they knew is up to debate on an individual level.

[@jimpemberton]

Not a bit of it surprised me although I have to say I didn't have any preconceived ideas going into it. You mentioned historical items we might be interested in. I enjoy your channel, so I'll contribute some possible ideas. Here are a few: * As for WWII, the devotion of most of these fellows to the ideology of the 3d Reich intrigues me. Why be so devoted, and who carried on that devotion into following decades who never stood trial? * Also, Pearl Harbor is interesting. My grandfather was engineering chief of the USS William Ward Burrows that was away from port at the time, but also had a close call with civilians aboard. My grandmother and aunt were evacuated from base housing through strafing fire. Her written account is a nice read. (I also have a great grandfather who started life as an Ochs and ended life as an Oaks. The context was WWI.) * Something else that's neat is the history of skirmishes the colonists had with Native Americans during and after the Revolutionary War. I have ancestors on both sides of that, in particular one settler adopted a native girl who was orphaned during a raid he was on in the Tennessee Valley. I'm one of her descendants. The family ended up being some of the first settlers to Kentucky when it opened up to the colonists to be settled. For a long time the family lore talked about the raid on the village, but didn't give the context or the locations. When I saw the time of the adoption, I understood the historical context at that time and why only a couple of years later they moved from Granville County, NC, to Whitley County, Kentucky. Among the settlers who moved at the time were some of the White family who were descendants of Captain John White. One of my great grandmothers was a White. * Outside of American history, the Norman invasion of Britain interests me as it is the event that started my family name, Pemberton. Adam, a cousin of the Montgomerys, assumed governorship of the barley-producing town of Pemberton and took the name as a title, Adam D'Pemberton, and the surname was born. * There is an account in Ireland where the King of England came for a visit and demanded to see the Irish girls. Instead, he got an army of Irishmen posing as girls who also turned and attacked the English. A harp-playing musician who was hired there for the event fled to Scotland, found refuge with Clan Buchanan, and started the Harper name, more of my ancestors. I can't find a lot on that account and I'd like to hear more. Beyond that, most of what interests me is Church history, the Ancient Near East, and various archeological discoveries.

[@colozona]

Hey Chris, I hope I'm not committing a faux pas by commenting on the wrong video, but I was watching your presidential ranking video with Mr. Beat and I noticed that for Carter and FDR neither of you mentioned Three Mile Island or the Dust Bowl. Each of these were unprecedented disasters, obviously of different scale and duration. Admittedly all Carter did was take a tour of the facility, but this calmed the panic. FDR, however, used his administration to drastically reduce the severity of the ecological disaster on the plains and achieved almost messianic status when it rained during one of his visits. Were each of these events reduced to minor blips on the radar in the scope of the rest of their presidencies or were they just something you guys didn't think about in the moment?

[@robertholmberg6485]

My neighbor and my father's best friend who commanded a flame thrower tank at Iwo jima and Okinawa drove Parton when both were on Louisiana.

[@unforgottenhistory6376]

This is an awesome idea of video. Well executed to nice job.

[@mp1323]

You should read the book The Road to Huertgen. Forest in hell by Paul Boesch. Mr. Boesch was a pro wrestler in the NWA in the 30s but when WW2 started he joined the army and became an officer. After the war, he came out as a highly decorated war hero (silver star, bronze star, purple heart). It's a great read.

[@sistermarynapalm8612]

I don't know if this has already been done, but I figured that there were a couple of misconceptions here and misunderstandings there. Therefore, here's what they say. I tried to stay with their choice of words and grammatical structure for most of the time. It might not be all too correct in English, but I think in this case it's a good way of seeing how they viewed themselves. I would translate it a bit differently, but I think that would destroy the way they say it. But let me apologize for the horrible way I translated this. Just a short note on myself: German Navy veteran with more than a decade of experience. History, especially military history, has been an interest of mine ever since, so probably I can shed some light on what they say and in which context. Rommel: ...fewer numbers were by far inferior, we attacked at Michili on the 6th of April 1941. Yes, we even simultanously advanced parts of our forces to Derna to already take the coastal road there to deny the enemy any further withdrawal from Cyrenaica. (cut over to next scene) ... did also this advance into Tobruk, which had already progressed as far as the way(s?) ... (inaudible ... VTH: He's talking about Afrika) alas ultimately not succeed, scilicet taking the fortress entirely. (There is a video of Rommel talking about military strategy and tactics which, if I remember correctly, includes this passage. It's a piece of propaganda and was done in 1943 or 1944.) Guderian: (19)40 we had the task upon us to break through the extended Maginot Line at Sedan. We understood that this difficult assignment could only be successful and its success could only be utilized when unit commanders and troops were thorougly prepared (VTH only heard Fuhrer, but we are not talking about the Fuhrer here, Guderian talks about Führer und Truppen, which is basically Unit Leaders and their forces). Our work in Winter and Fall therefore was composed of diligent theoretical and practical training of our divisions and in-depth reflections on the unprecedented collaboration with our air force as well as preparing unit commanders for the during successful breakthroughs ... (breaks off - This sentence doesn't make all too much sense. There's the rest missing. I guess he might go on like: ... as well as preparing unit commanders for further necessary actions during successful breakthroughs - or something like this.) (Sidenote: There's nowhere any talk of preparing for Barbarossa. I read that a couple of times even from "Germans" in the comments and I am really not entirely sure where that idea came from. Just because there is snow? I have to try that next winter: "Excuse me, sir. Are you taking a walk or are you preparing for Barbarossa?" I understand the misconception with the foreigners, but geez - Germans - pull your act together and listen closely. Don't spread false information here.) Manstein: ... an elite, as they were chosen due to their tactical proficiency and due to their character. (VTH interrupts talking about the voice. I am getting ahead here, but this is from the Nürnberg trials, day 199, when Manstein is being asked, if the Generalstab (General Staff) was an elite that set the tone for/in the Wehrmacht, to which he answers, that: "The General Staff was in so far an elite, as they were chosen due to their ... and so on). He continues: They weren't setting the tone for/in the Heer (The German Army), as their opinions matched those of every other officer. Keitel: ... importance (I assume, as the first part of the German word is broken off) of this (my) position as shown by the argumentation and summation of my defense attorney. (VTH interrupts) Keitel: I was wrong (! Pause) and was not able to prevent what had to be prevented! (VTH interrupts) Keitel: THAT is my guilt! It is tragic that I have to realize that the best I as a soldier had to give, obedience and loyality ... (breaks off) (Keitel is defending himself here at the Nürnberg trials and my first guess is, he is reading a declaration or so downplaying his role and his position and how he, like everyone else, did know nothing about the horrors going on in the Third Reich. I tried to find the appropriate video, but I couldn't, as there are so and so many videos of the trial. Raeder: ... one of them was, that Hitler himself did not favor me anymore and I was aware of that, hence I did not commit any disobedience (VTH interrupts, but I guess he says something like "when") I, so to say, vacated my position (Literally he says: threw my position on his table) for whatever reason and (breaks off) (VTH talks about the background talking, which is - guess what - translators at the Nürnberg trial, translating for the parttaking nations). Rundstedt: We Generals did not care for politics. We did not take part in any political conferences and did not hold any politicial conferences ourselves. I would like (to use this moment, I assume) to make a word of the famous British field marshal Montgomery my own ... (I am not sure if Rundstedt was convicted at the Nürnberg trials or if he was convicted somewhere else, but it is also translators you can hear in the background. Peiper: (The translator got his words pretty accurate. Not much to say.) Goering: ... did not formally forbid me ... I don't know if the Fuhrer knew I had it in my pocket, but he generally forbid it by forbidding the person who actually had to hand it over, Herrn Ribbentrop, to hand it over, so that I had this memorandum against ... (Also Nürnberg, but I can't tell much about the context. If someone finds the video and this piece, I can translate it for you.) Jodl: ... who often contradicted their own leadership principles and their decended/traditional and approved conceptions (probably that's somekind of ideology or view). With military and police forces which weren't subjected to their absolute power of command (VTH pauses) as well as a military intelligence agency that worked at least partially for the enemy. Dönitz: This exchange of notes between Mr. Eckhardt (? That's how this guy is written, probably) and the head of the department wasn't submitted to me, which is clearly shown by the sign-offs ... which ... in (VTH interrupts) Paulus: (I reported) for Duty at the Upper Command of the Army (OKH) as chief quartermaster 1 of the General Staff. As such, I had to deputize for the Chief of the General Staff (VTH interrupts) and apart from that manage all given tasks by him - mostly of operational nature. Hope that helps understanding the background a bit better.

[@calvinkeinath6955]

von Manstein has a relatively interesting background, steeped in Prussian Military history. Interesting fact about him, Paul von Hindenburg married Manstein’s maternal Aunt, making Manstein a nephew of Hindenburg.

[@amanwearingsuspenders7390]

Cool video idea!

[@kennym.4664]

How many (if any) major names from WWI have a voice recording? I'm thinking guys like Conrad von Hötzendorf, Franz Ferdinand, Erich von Falkenhayn, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Tsar Nicholas II, et al. That's a great idea you had with this!

[@burntbybrighteyes]

So Guderian was a talking about develeping the combined arms strategy's for the campain in the west. Also when he said Führer in the beginning he wasn't talking about THE Führer but a unit commander.

[@barbarawissinger]

It was interesting to see Schindler’s List in German. Oskar Schindler was given the Sudentendeutsch accent. I enjoy your channel because you show videos I’ve never seen anywhere else.

[@_Anti_dote_]

The general behind manstein is Cemil cahit toydemir, turkish general

[@EpicHashTime]

I remember hearing that voices sound higher than what they should be in old recordings

[@impositor.]

True very intresting thought

[@benhiscox8582]

Anyway I love your vids man and your content is great keep it up😀😀love from🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@omarbradley6807]

Guderian wasn't imprisoned after the war, he become a POW, and later returned to make his life, also he was not in the Kangoroo courts, he was in the honour courts, those where different, the People's court of Roland Freisler, were the Kangoroo trials, the honour courts, dismissed the titles of the officers convicted by them, as a formality, also he was part of it, not the leader of it, actually it was a comission with many representatives from Keitel, including his right hand on the extermination of Soviet Pows. Guderian served as Chief of Staff of the German Army becoming the de facto commander of the Heer, until he resigned and was replaced by Hitler partisan, Hans Krebs

[@scottishbutamerican1300]

Unrelated but there’s a video of Teddy Roosevelt giving a speech. I’d never would’ve though his voice sounded the way it’s does. It really surprised me.

[@stevenjesmer4999]

Col Gen Jodl's verdict was actually overturned a few years later, but then the politicians (especially the Russians) took over the process and overturned the overturning. His wife was able to receive his pension. A fascinating book on the topic is "The Nuremberg Interviews" by Leon Goldensohn. He was an American Phychologist who interviewed each defendant throughout the trial.

[@erikkarlsson861]

If I remember correctly.. So feel free to correct if ther is avidance for the contrary! Piper was not present at Malmedy and it was not an ordered execution of POWs, /likely a brawl that escalated), but said that if his unit had comitted the massacre then its his responability to take the fall as their commander, ordered killing or not. And if thats true, at least thats commendable all things concidered. Sidenote, before his frontline service he was the personal adjutant of Himmler.

[@chrisigoeb]

Love the german high command, smart people(not all of them ofc) . But anyway can ya check out the audio recording of bismarck? Just a short video about it and talk a bit about bismarck, hes just such an interesting person. Also about Rommel from a german perspective here, you can exactly tell hes from Württemberg, this dialect is clearly from Württemberg

[@sendetta]

Feel like the older recordings have a higher pitch and different quality, wonder how much it affect how it would sound irl...?

[@jeremybarber6259]

I'm following you on Duolingo by the way.

[@RomanHistoryFan476AD]

Nimitz spoke up for Donitz defences over the use of submarine warfare, using the logic that America also use subs the same way in the pacific. It saved Donitz from the noose apparently.

[@DC-kx1fr]

Keitel was the opposite of well liked, hahaha. He was considered a total sycophant of Hitler’s. Göring called him a sergeant in a field marshal’s uniform, lower ranking officers neglected to salute him (“don’t worry that’s just Keitel” ) and Hitler even once told von Runstedt that he considered Keitel to be his dumb but loyal dog😂

[@cl570]

I've never heard Rommel speak before, but Rommel does sound closer to what I expected. His film that he is in there reminds me a lot of Patton too lol.

[@glstka5710]

On a rather different subject, I was wondering if you might do the background story on a famous picture. At the Yalta conference Feb. 1945. Probably the most famous photo from it has Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin seated in the foreground, but I always wondered who the guys were standing in the background. #1 is right behind Churchill, #2 a guy behind Roosevelt's right shoulder seems to be taking to the first guy. #3 Further in the background is a guy that looks a bit older and thinner. #4 Back to the foreground behind Stalin's right shoulder a guy with black hat on with a fuller, rounder face. #5 directly behind Stalin further back a guy with more prominent ears, and #6 very far back, furthest back of all, a guy with a very lean face whos hairline on his right is receding quite a bit. I'm guessing that they were on the staffs of The Big Three. They might have some interesting history as men with a supporting role in the important events of WW2. There are 4 others whos faces are not visible so I would not expect anyone to be able to identify them.

[@DrDrCr4zy]

as a berliner i was taken aback by immediately being able to tell von Mannstein was from berlin. just by his dialect. it is kind of crazy how little the dialect has changed and is another reminder of how recent this actually was.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Several people have made that same observation. Very interesting.

[@debrawood1053]

Out of curiosity, what type of accent does Jochen Peiper have?

[@DrDrCr4zy]

@@debrawood1053 he is speaking incredibly matter-of-factly and in a militaristic fashion. Devoid of emotion and to the point. he is speaking a very "high" (=dialect free) german but is rolling his 'R's, which is mostly a southern german thing. the combination of rolled r and no dialect is a little creepy.

[@debrawood1053]

@@DrDrCr4zy Thank you for such a detailed response.

[@CreepingHistory]

Manstein really surprised me. I had no idea of what he would sound like, but I did not expect such a high voice

[@Biber0315]

Did you get these from MajorMark?

[@Yora21]

Guderian really surprises me. I would have expected him to be much deeper and mumbling.

[@ivkobear5291]

Noticed that you skipped Scorceni, i wonder why. Pretty good video though. Manstein was a big surprise for me as well.

[@davidnicholas7516]

I have two and a half years of German from High School here in California, back about 50 years ago, so of course I understood almost nothing that was said. That being understood, I do have a bit of insight into these people's backgrounds (some of them anyway). I agree Keitel sounds defiant and rather incisive, determined. I was surprised by this: I've read that he was so sycophantic regarding AH that his nickname was "LaKeitel", a play on the German word "lakei" which supposedly means lackey. Von Manstein was Paul von Hindenburg's nephew, if I remember right...and was weirdly adopted by his aunt and uncle, who couldn't have children. Peiper's conviction for the Malmedy massacre was overturned because the American prosecutors used "extraordinary" interrogation techniques to get people to testify against him...reportedly things like mock firing squads and "enhanced" interrogations. Once this was revealed they reevaluated the evidence and decided there wasn't enough evidence he'd been present, or even ordered the killing of prisoners, and he wound up avoiding the death penalty. After his release he reportedly sold used cars for a while (not sure which is less respectable, Nazi or used car salesman...I think Nazi by a nose) before supposedly getting so disgusted with post-war Germany that he moved to France (!) where he lived in a remote area. Eventually the Communists publicized his location, a mob attacked him one night and set his house on fire, and his body was discovered the next morning.

[@SourDohSteele]

A video on the Nuremburg Trials would be awesome.