Posted on 11/08/2014 1:56:55 PM PST by beaversmom
I came across this video on NetFlix a few weeks back. Shortly after, I then found someone had uploaded it to You Tube. I watched it for a third time last night with my mom on my little phone. I think it's well done and very emotional. Amazing what these men went through and survived. I have so much respect for these men. On the You Tube thread, one of the posters said that her father, Norman Fellman, who was one of the GI's featured in the documentary, passed away just this past August. God bless all these men...the men that perished fighting in WWII, the ones that are departing now, and the men that are still with us.
Thanks for this post. I wasn’t aware of this particular story.
You’re very welcome. I wasn’t either.
From the NYT article:
“Hauer was astonished. America! To him, it was a faraway country, the land of cowboys and Niagara Falls. It had captured his imagination as a child. Yet here in a concentration camp beside a provincial German town were Americans working as slaves for the Nazis.”
This was mentioned in the film. The civilians in the camp were astonished and very dispirited to see Americans there.
This is the reason my dad who was in WWII never let us watch Hogan’s Heroes growing up, because of what a mockery that show made of the true hell our guys went through. Thanks for posting this.
Watched the video. Read the articles linked here. My heart is heavy.
I’m just finishing up the NYT article that was linked about by lbryce. Amazing, well-written article with interesting ending. I had the video going at the same time and it, too, is about to end.
Captivating, fascinating, and beyond sad. No way to ever heal the millions of collective wounds, big and small, but I guess some individuals found ways to move forward. Mind boggling to think of the millions of lives that were impacted in various ways by this war all over the world.
Yes indeed.
You are welcome, RM.
Very interesting about your dad’s feelings on Hogan’s Heroes. Understandable. I wonder how the Americans that were not sent to Berga fared?
Knowing the full extent of the gruesome atrocities, the unadulterated sadistic brutality of The Germans, I would
have to agree with you on this subject.
Sobering thread - thanks.
I went to Dachau in the late 70s. Imagined or not, that place had a terrible feeling to it. I’ll never go to another, and I’ll never forget it.
I Will Bear Witness by Victor Klemperer is outstanding...and heartbreaking. It’s a 2 volume translation of his diary.
I have heard and read several people say that very same thing. If I had money I would visit some of those sites.
Since when did “German” become a race?
Medved has an excellent account in his book Right Turns of an eerie experience he experienced at Gettysburg as a young man. Without permission, he camped there at night with a friend.
And in contrast German POWs were treated very well in the states.
http://jkezo.s3-solutions.net/writing/STALAG%20IN%20WISCONSIN%20BOOK%20REVIEW.htm
In fact, they received such humane treatment at the hands of our military that many requested permission to stay here. Although the government’s negotiated peace treaty denied all such requests, an estimated 5,000 POW’s found work sponsors and immigrated back to the U.S. during the 1950’s.
Tell me again how America is not exceptional and the last best hope on Earth.
Any one know what keywords to add to this?
Keep in mind that not all the Germans were Nazis, and even today ---- thanks for reminding us --- not all Nazis are German.
Thanks, JimRob, for pulling nomad's at #5. We too easily forget that we don't defeat our enemies by becoming them.
Tagline.
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