In this video I show you How two notorious Germans met their end in Normandy and what happened to the German soldiers who died during the battle for Normandy.
What REALLY Happened To The German War Dead? | Normandy | WW2
In the summer of 1944, more than 100,000 people died during the fighting that followed the Allied landings in Normandy. At least 14,000 French civilians lost their lives. Even as the fighting in Normandy continued, the American Recovery and Identification Service already laid out two large cemeteries with both their own and German fallen, near the small village of La Cambe. After 1945, the American forces transferred their dead to the cemetery of St. Laurent-sur-Mer, 15 kilometres away. The bodies of the German soldiers were exhumed there and buried in La Cambe.
âIn 1954, at the beginning of the Volksbund Deutsche KriegsgrĂ€berfĂŒrsorgeâs (German War Graves Commission) reburial work, La Cambe cemetery was already one of the largest provisional German military cemeteries of the Second World War in France, with about 8,000 dead. Subsequently, the remains of 12,000 German soldiers from 1,400 graves, as well as another 700 bodies found at scattered war sites in Normandy, were interred at La Cambe. On 21 September 1961, the La Cambe War Cemetery was officially inaugurated.
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Excellent as always Rob.
I have never seen a German cemetery. Although somewhat plain, those crosses leave an indelible mark on the landscape and the cemetery. I wonder, could you tell me what type of stone they are made from? The dense darkness of the stone makes me think of the darkness they brought all over eastern and western Europe trying to perform the job of one lunatic idiot who failed miserably. Disgusting. I am surprised France allowed the Germans to bury any war dead in their country. Just my opinion. â„ïžâïž
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!
Very powerful video. Curious as to why Wittman was buried alone and with another soldier.
Thank you for the History. And the video/picures that bring it life.
Rob, another excellent video thank you so much your content is always excellentđPaul
Great video
yes, they were evil
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.
I went to the village in 76..
Very sobering.
THE GERMAN CEMETERY HAS A VERY DIABOLIC MALICIOUS DARK LOOK JUST LIKE THEIR HEARTS
0:39… The look on these children's faces is just so very scared…!! đą
Have you ever been to Ysselsteyn in the Netherlands?
It occurs that if they were being moved to central resting places ,why werenât they repatriated
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!
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.
The SS soldiers were the same as all the others – many were 17 years old in the HJ Division.
I visited La Cambe cemetry twice! In 1988 and 2001. It's a respected place.
Heroes, unlike communist forces.
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.
Very interesting. I am French but was not aware of this German cemetary.
And yes, Oradour is still remembered by all French people.
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!
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.
Why weren't the war dead sent back to their country of origin?
Nearly 85 years later and the exact same thing would happen to the Germans if they went up against the allies in todayâs time.
Why does Michael Wittman have a candle lit at his grave? He was a pos!
Who cares ? They never thought about who they killed.
EnglĂŠnderne er skyld i at verdens historie er sĂ„ forvrĂŠnget at man ikke kan finde op og ned pĂ„ den đfuck England og deres lĂžgne đđ©đ°
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.
Por favor em portuguĂȘs BR.
NĂŁo consigo entender,
Por favor em portuguĂȘs BR.
NĂŁo consigo entender,
Great video, I wouldnât call Wittmann âinfamousâ but Iâd call him famous. Yes he was in the SS but Iâve never heard anything about him committing atrocities and Iâve 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 donât 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 didnât 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 Iâd like more information and Iâm running out of books to read on the subject.