What habits of the Germans surprised American soldiers?

[davidnichols]

German soldiers aren't going to give up beer.

[JeromeDiamond-csyw]

A company I worked for had a former German soldier who was on the Russian front. I filled in as a foreman over Christmas holidays and I was told that this particular individual would get quietly drunk at a certain time. I was not to be concerned because his friends around him would take care of his job. This happened as predicted, when I asked after the holidays what this was about, I was told that he was the last member of his unit and that they had promised they would meet on Christmas Eve and celebrate! He was the last one.

[JoeyStarley]

"Only after observing Americans did they learn to bathe and do laundry?" Hilarious!

[oldbisciut]

Once they began retreating they weren't in one place long enough to do laundry.

[Tkoner]

Old boy in the second slide looked like he just took ALL the perviten and it just kicked in 😂😂

[AceAlpha]

Actually hygiene was incredibly important and ruled in the Wehrmacht. I don’t believe this video to be accurate. The conditions of war most like likely contributed to the brutal conditions, but to say the Wehrmacht didn’t know anything about hygiene until they saw the Americans is ludicrous.

[BushcraftingBogan]

The most interesting part of this story was left out. There was a young Sgt. In Gottfried's unit by the name of Fredrich Von Maytag. He improved on some of his officers inventions and after the war he sold some stolen art and moved to the US. It was in New York that he began the Maytag washing machine company.

[papabobjohnson]

During the fighting in Normandy, you could smell the Germans, a mixture of wet leather, bo and tobacco

[falk]

The Ami heroes were as clean as salon soldiers could be, my grandfather would say.

[Dman]

I love the part about the booze and music.
Love each day as if it was a celebration.
Sometimes the war is spiritual and just getting by.
I wonder if the GI troops saw Europe today and America if theyd really say the Germans were evil.

[akabucy]

Gottfried is my family name. My great grandfather fled Nazi Germany while serving in the SS. I long wondered if it was because at that time the Nazis were purging Jews from all German military groups.

[adventussaxonum]

Ah, the "History needs to know how great at everything the yanks were" channel.😅

[Hellojack-kv]

And the Americans had a shower and make over every day .The war when the Americans arrived was fluid, moving, Much different from WW1 . Both sides were the same . All the allies and the Axis powers were in the same boat.

[bloqk]

Lack of hygiene could have been due to the emphasis of resources? Which was more important? Ammo or soap?
It's been bandied about that during Operation Barbarossa in the latter part of 1941, when the issue was brought up about transporting warm clothing and ammo to the German soldiers, Hitler ordered that ammo had the transport priority.
So, that same mentality could have been applied to hygiene, too.

[contourlinescorp]

Hard to believe.. feel like it wouldve been the opposite in many ways, but also wouldve depended hugely on the time and place. The germans occupying north africa early in the war for example wouldve had different behavior and living conditions than those losing to Allies on Dday..

[rudyho]

yeh...yo yo...mensch...no ww2 trench??... dat' was WW1...😉

[peterhase]

How many more lies u want to spread About german soldiers? U are not ashamed?

[erichall]

Apparently, the Nazis just didn't like bathing it wasn't their way of life.

[annedejong]

Mixing fact after fact to adhere to an outcome that feeling good is the same as being good or something shouldn't be projected on everything, because it isn't right, even at the Second World War and particulairly in this case, three strikes out

[mikebragg]

Bull shit the Germans were all using harern