I think its something a lot of people forget - there were tons of children in this who experienced some of the worst horrors ever. For all the braggard bravado in this thread, people don't want to look at the real nature of the war.

The things my grandma saw were beyond belief, and they're things you don't often hear about. It's only been within the past 5 years or so that she's started sharing them... likely because she knows when she's gone those memories are gone. A 9 year old seeing Things like Dresden where bodies were everywhere and being placed in piles to burn up? The smell, sounds, and sights associated with that, for days on end, with the looming fear of Russians who you just saw rape, loot, and kill coming in on top of that?

I will never be convinced that widespread bombing of cities was the proper approach. Ever. I know you'll have bad asses here commenting that "hurr durr Germans deserved it" - but what does a child have anything to do with deserving such a thing? Anyone who has a child could never imagine having to put their kid through the real horrors of what happened there.

It's those same bad asses here who have never seen a real all out war and talk shit. I thought it was "neat" too and that America were bad asses who beat those evil Nazis until I saw and heard the stories first hand. Then my mindset changed. I started looking into things myself. Talking to people who were in the actual war, and who were victims of it. Talking to people who lived there about the situation before, and after the war. There's so much information not in history books.

At the end of the day, the biggest victims weren't the soldiers, its the families. The normal workers going about life trying to make ends meet. The farmers who just want to be left alone and enjoy the land. Fathers and brothers who are to this day permanently missing. Mothers who were killed trying to bring their children to safety on trains that got strafed. Children who never got to see their parent(s) again, and lived their entire adult life wishing their parent(s) were there for their birthdays, Christmas, etc. Tons of families were never made whole again. That message is often lost.

WWII was a war unlike anyone has seen since. All the other wars since then pale in comparison. Somewhere along the way between then and now, we, as the west forgot what was important in life. We lost our moral compass, and allowed subversion to rot us from within. At some point we stopped caring about what's really important and the lessons learned from that struggle. Sadly, because of this, I believe we will see another such world war in my generation. There's too much in common between the events leading up to then and now, and while history doesn't repeat itself, it sure as heck rhymes.

1956 really was when the last German POW returned from the Soviet Union.

My great grandfather returned in 1953 - a whole 8 years after the war "ended"

Millions had no home to go back to as it was either East Germany, or more commonly, Poland now.

Technically we could argue it wasn't until 1991 when the war really ended...

When those children’s parents started a war, they put their children at risk for such horrors.

Great video, always like seeing our past history.

And as always, fuck the russkies.

Fantastic video, thank you

This was total war.

Also, I'm going to go out on a limb here and bet that our bombs did not a fraction of German children compared to the Jewish, Gypsy, etc., children who were exterminated by the Germans.

It kinda reminded me of parts of Detroit.

Today, OP was a cool guy!

I find that very hard to believe.

Many were guests of the Soviet Union or in Western PoW camps.  The luckiest were in American PoW camps here in America.   Some of those guys were discharged and had to return via England.   England put them to work for a couple of years before discharging them again and sending them back to Germany.  Some Germans stayed in England, married an English or Scottish bride and got their citizenship there.

Is it any wonder why the Germans have become the leader of what is wrong with the EU? Those that were left turned to socialism and their descendents have no will to preserve their own kind.

Relatives of mine survived, but only from sheer luck. They were bombed, chased by the Russians, and made it through the cold War. Now there seems to be little desire amongst modern Germans to preserve their future.

Sad.

The bucket brigades in the film are bullshit propaganda.
Those chicks are dressed up in their best clothing with make-up on.
They are moving way too slow to be effective.

This is more in line as how the looked working to rebuild Germany.
The women were called "Rubble Women" (Trümmerfrau).

Something people should be wise to remember when voting. All of those "innocent civilians" supported and tolerated one of the most evil regimes in modern history.

LoL at the drunk in the top hat stumbling around with his hasenpfeffer.

Don't want no shit, don't start no shit.
The Germans started the shit by bombing England.
Ever hear of the Blitz?

I could give a flying fuck about the kids and families of the Nazi led Germans during the war.
After the war? Monroe Doctrine all the way.

Username checks out.

The Germans had a really tough time after the war. Many didn't have a home to return to, and those who did might not want to return (eastern Germany, Sudetenland, former Eastern Prussia etc.) Some of my family fled west away from Russians and made it. A cousin's dad and brother got picked up Russians and sent to a work camp. Her dad died if starvation and her brother made it out, but only because he was a camp cook. He lost an arm in the invasion of Poland. Her dad was a WWI vet.

It was war and war is hell and has to be done. But it is hard to reconcile when you see family suffer on both sides. This cousin fled to NW Germany where her brother was stationed so she got lucky. She would write letters requesting info about her brother and dad and had to go through a friend in Berlin because they would only get letters in Berlin about those in soviet captivity.

Cc to "fuck around find out" too

tag

What did Germany do that France, England, Russia, Austria, Bulgaria, Serbia, etc weren't also guilty of?

With commentary from the guy who filmed it, 1976. One of my favorites.

Tough times-
Rebuilding a whole country.

Everyone was dressed up and had pride.
Those Germans were tough.

My great grandmother came from Germany on a freighter to Texas in the early 1950’s.
All her brothers were killed in WW 2.

She moved to California and built a house- she wanted a big stone chimney- to make cash she had 2 jobs and paid cash for the house.
She had that house and a few other rentals in her compound.
When she died in her early 90’s she was worth millions.
Never had much of an education- from the sweat of her brow she made it in America !

She lived a very frugal life-

She was a stout tough  SOB German women and was a great cook- her Struedel was epic-
God bless Grossmutter( german word for grandmother)

That was not my experience. My landlord in Germany, Ottmar, was an SS tank driver - Panzer IV or V, I can't remember. He despised the Russians, hated the French, tolerated the Brits, and loved the Americans. It was kind of freaky he still had a lot of war and Hitler stuff - hidden, which he only shared with me after I had been a tenant for a while. Every time I went to pay the rent, he'd invite me in to drink cheap table wine while he told me his war stories in 3/4 German - 1/4 English, then show me some of his memorabilia. Most of what he had were pics of him and his fellow soldiers, most of them dead. He said he admired how the Americans were committed to helping his country after Germany had done so much harm.

Glad to see that the Russkies were able to stop raping long enough to pose for a few publicity shots.

Is he still alive? I wish I had spent my 20s chasing down interesting vets instead of bad girlfriends.

Got a good chuckle out of the bitter girl at 1:10. Sorry your family is dead, babe. Don't blame us. Don't start no shit won't be no shit.

Thanks OP, that was really interesting.  I kept rewinding and watching the footage of Hamburg and saw a couple places I recognized.  I go there every year for work and walked that city out from one side to the other.

Everyone in the film is smiling because they're not on the Russian side....

The older generation is different. The younger ones are either commies or nazis. Merkel fucking up Germany over the past 5 years with rapefugees has changed Germany for the worse.

There are lots of very nationalistic Germans out there.  Ironically, most of them aren't in Germany.

Having a hard time believing this.  I lived in Germany in the mid 80's when a lot of those old soldiers and people who lived thru WWII were still alive and they were grateful to us GI's being there.  Some of them still had that deep German pride but they weren't butthurt and didnt hate us.
Fast forward and my current job takes me to Germany every year, they don't hate us.

Thanks great video

None of the women are wearing pajama pants and house shoes.

The quality of the video is great!  Having seen a lot of that in person fairly recently it is amazing how destroyed it was there.

The broad in the bikini @ 14:00 had a banging body and I vote best if film.

Brilliant video. Thanks for posting OP

I doubt it. He was pretty old when I knew him (88-91), so I don't believe he's still alive. I lived in the little town of Hoxel, south of Morbach, Germany.

My uncle went through Colone with the US army. He said that had to use bulldozers to clear the streets to let the vehicles through.

Colone's massive destruction 1945 video

They blew the hell out of that place.
Did what had to be done.
No negotiation, only unconditional surrender.
After doing what needed done, they said, “that’s it, it’s over”.

That’s the way to win, kill enough of the enemy that they either can’t fight back or, they don’t want to fight back. It seems to be more effective than winning the hearts and minds.

A lesson they should have applied to the Soviets immediately after; we're still paying for that today, and likely will for quite a while yet.

How do you even begin to recover from such devastation?

I don't think any GI is going to get any pussy from her.

soo, the african americans in the US are right to ask for compensation/reparations from our generation, since we are responsible for the deeds of our parents and grandparents?

These wartime films become more relatable, and more personal, when shown in color.  Black and white tends to erase the human aspect, color enhances it.  It vividly reveals that the people back then don't look any different than people today.

Financial aid and assistance from the nation that just bombed you back to the Stone Age.

Fascinating .  Was this actually a time when reporters DIDN’T hate America ?

Horrible analogy.

There is not hot unlimited state of war between Black Americans and whoever.

Just like current Germans are not under threat of death in war because of what their grandparents did.

If one Nation decides to start a war with another. And is killing the shit out of them. Inflicting death and great suffering in the other nation. One of the risks that comes with that, is the other Nation might kill you the fuck back and resist. Part of that includes doing all they can to get you to stop. Including attacking the places you live and the people that support your ability to fight.

If killing your family will stop you from killing mine....and you show up one day to try....yep. You started some shit that put your families lives at risk.

LOL so they think the third times a charm?

Taggage.

LC

Indeed. The old grainy black and white film footage makes the captured scenes seem more distant and unrelatable. The color and sharpness of the restored film makes it comparable to viewing modern video footage.