Mein Krieg - Amateur WW2 Films by German Soldiers (5/7)

Mein Krieg - Amateur WW2 Films by German Soldiers
Amateur movies shot with small handheld cameras by six German infantrymen on the Eastern Front during World War II form the core of this documentary. The men who took the movies appear on camera as old men to provide narration (in German, with subtitles), and they provide a perspective not often heard. As might be expected, they distance themselves from atrocities, and as they were foot soldiers in the Wehrmacht, their denials of involvement are probably true. One of the men still owns the camera he carried in the war, and he demonstrates how its small size made it perfect for impromptu filming in the field. Clips of smiling troops on the move is accompanied by an old man talking about how happy they were to be going to an unknown destination, likening it to "the joy one feels when on a journey." It turns out the gleeful trip he recalls was actually the beginning of the invasion of Poland and thus the beginning of the war in Europe. Later footage shows combat conditions in Russia, and the grisly aftermath of vicious combat. The rarity of the film footage, some of which was shot in colour, makes this documentary worth watching. But the recollections of the amateur cameramen also provide an unusual insight into the German war machine, such as when one of the old veterans mentions how he eventually realized, "This was no defensive war forced upon us, it was an idiotic war of aggression.

There are many fine moments in the footage. The striking (colour) image of the ragged swastika flag flying over the barracks and the Nazi-style monuments is jarring because it looks so recent. One rarely gets such a sense of connection the historical past with B&W film. Similarly the colour shots of the soldiers make them look alive and real in a way B&W film does not. One gets a sense that indeed, all of this did really happen. Seeing bombed-out ruins of Polish and Russian cities in black-and-white is one thing, but in colour it is striking. The other scenes of the AA gun shooting down the Russian plane, the night tank scrap, the retreat in the mud sea and the unexpected arrival of Field Marshal von Manstein for dinner in the field are all very interesting, as is much of the narrative. To see men talking about the experiences they filmed themselves, fifty years later, is often moving.

Playlist for whole episode: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B2B5380D15BED95F
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM5-eMZuusg
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B6lmNLFWL0
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItBnkLygOCc
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt-lu-hRvKg
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtLQgOkNQ3E
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k608MgsyJmg
Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhpE0nB0SNY

Visit my YouTube-channel for more documentaries about the Second World War, First World War and more or visit my website at http://sites.google.com/site/thegermanwarfiles/ for a better organized and easier access to all my YouTube documentaries and their descriptions.

Category:

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Tags:

• Amateur
• German
• Soldiers
• Mein
• Krieg
• Second
• World
• War
• Documentary
• private
• Eastern
• Front
• Leningrad

[MARPHHH]

can you tell me when this documentation was produced ?

[GermanWarFiles]

@MARPHHH

No, sorry. Try google.

[Rogue6g]

all warfare should be conducted with brutal overwhelming force so as to win quickly and make the losers know they were beaten. The ONLY rule to warfare is 'to win'.

[paleblue498]

Germans have a sick, degenerate gene in their DNA that allows them to commit such sadistic and brutal crimes. They should never have been allowed to unite because sure as shit, they will eventually get it into their square heads again that they should take over Europe, the filthy inbred degenerates...

[Fritztoons]

@triggernutsy1

Both of my grandpas where soldiers in Russia.The whole war! One as a medic and the other as logistics officer. I listened to their stories of them as a young boy. No pride! They wherejJust lucky that they survived. Both where very angry about their top "leaders". They where confused after that bloody war. They just whanted to forget the horror they did and the horror they survived. Nothing to be proud of.

[skupinbart]

@MARPHHH 1991

[vincent7520]

Clean after our killings ???…

Who do you think you are ???…

Germans soldiers leave this job to the uttermench (do I spell it right ?) ; a German soldier has nobler tasks such as mass murder and other war niceties.

God ! … What's worse about this part of history is that some people do not show any sense of guilt. In our present troubled times this is very scary.

[vincent7520]

read Kuznetsov's BABI YAR : you'll understand what the Ukrainians endured …

[Akke024]

@MojoHead96

Quit on the Vodka dude, you make a disgrace of your country....

[foofich]

@MrHeiner96 hope you're right))