I'll watch out for it, sounds like a good, if - #97532822 added by anonymous at Reality of war

Reply+6

(07/15/2013)[-]

In my great grandfather's diary (He was a Nazi official 1938-1945), I found a passage dated the 25th of September, 1944, saying "So many dead. Bodies everywhere, some so mangled that that you can't tell if they're British or German. There were just so many Brits... They just kept coming, no matter how much flak we threw at them. I've seen the Brits fight all over the world, but these people, the "Red Devils", were something else. So many of them coming down on parachutes in an air armada so thick it eclipsed the sun. And they're all dead... The only ones left alive are the ones that didn't jump. Oh god, the stench, that Godawful stench. So many rotting bodies, and too much fighting to even dispose of them. The horrors I have seen today alone are far greater than those I have witnessed in the last 6 years of my fighting; never before have I witnessed such a massacre. Please, God, make it stop... Make it stop..."

The rest of the entry was just "Make it stop..." over and over and over. He ended up going nearly insane after Operation Market Garden, but he was recuperated by the time of the last stand for Berlin, which he took some part in leading.

TL; DR: My grandfather not only saw the reality of war first hand, he helped create it, and never really got over what he had done.

#377 to #304 - anon id: edc1102b

Reply0

(07/27/2013)[-]

As a german would you mind posting this in its original german text?

#352 to #304 - anon id: 109b5506

Reply0

(07/15/2013)[-]

Respect to you and your Grandfather, he fought in the most bloodiest war the world has ever seen. My Grandfather just passed on Friday, he was a WWII veteran who fought for the Red Army during that time. At that time, he didnt understand why he had to fight but before passing on his death bed hours before his departing...he told me everything. He told me about his brutal training, the friends he made and lost, including the battles he fought in...my Grandfather even fought during the Siege of Stalingrad. He too went insane for a little pit before healing. After the war he came to the US and married an American, my Grandmother, and eventually my generation showed up. Even though the Russians and Germans were enemies, I think both of our Grandfathers would have been good friends and learned from their mistakes. Thank you for letting me share this Mr. Ishallsmiteyou.

#353 to #352 - ishallsmiteyou

Reply0

(07/15/2013)[-]

Your grandfather sounds like one hell of a guy, anon.

#365 to #353 - anon id: 109b5506

Reply0

(07/15/2013)[-]

Thank you sir, he would have appreciated that but at his age and what he went through, I think he would have said "**** off" in Russian. He never really meant it, it was just from the things he saw that made him think of another meaning of hell. During our conversation of Stalingrad, I asked him how many Nazis(He never said Germans because he knew all of them were not involved) he killed... he said he stopped counting after he had to swim through the trenches and mortar holes that were filled with blood...Years before he passed away, he even took me to the city that use to be Stalingrad and showed me where he fought, where he lost a friend, and the spots he took position in. Most of the buildings are gone now and he said the best place to be a sniper, (I didn't believe it at first until he showed me his rifle he used all the way through the war...its really worn down, I want to try and restore it), was in a building but at the same time it was the worst.

#347 to #304 - CyrilKeir

Reply0

(07/15/2013)[-]

Fun fact, they added Flak cannons to the list of "cruel and unusual weaponry" that they aren't supposed to use anymore, after that battle. Closest thing we still get to that, is the shotgun.

#311 to #304 - anon id: 97070962

Reply0

(07/15/2013)[-]

Respect to your Grandad from Britain.
You should show that diary to a war museum so they can copy it and use it, it sounds like a very good insight into the mind of Germans during the war, and to dismiss the notion that they were all "evil".

#312 to #311 - ishallsmiteyou

Reply+2

(07/15/2013)[-]

I am, I'm going to translate it and send it to a war museum in London, Ontario.

#313 to #312 - anon id: 97070962

Reply0

(07/15/2013)[-]

I'll watch out for it, sounds like a good, if depressing, read.

#314 to #313 - ishallsmiteyou

Reply+1

(07/15/2013)[-]

Well, I've only translated about an eighth of it so far, so it's going to be quite a while before I get it sent out there. And yes, it is very depressing so far.

#330 to #314 - trevanman

Reply0

(07/15/2013)[-]

dude.
I'm assuming it's written in german.
let me read the original text

#333 to #330 - ishallsmiteyou

Reply0

(07/15/2013)[-]

What, you want me to send you the book or something?

#371 to #333 - trevanman

Reply0

(07/16/2013)[-]

well...the book is too valuable.
you could send a copy

#372 to #371 - ishallsmiteyou

Reply0

(07/16/2013)[-]

I doubt I'll do that, I don't have the time to record the 400 or so pages. I'd scan it but the book was made in 1935, so I doubt that flattening it out and putting it in a scanner would do anything but wreck it.

#373 to #372 - trevanman

Reply0

(07/16/2013)[-]

then don't.
doesn't matter.
I'll get to read it when it's in the museum, then

#374 to #373 - ishallsmiteyou

Reply0

(07/16/2013)[-]

probably, but it depends whether or not:
1. they accept it
2. I get around to finishing it
3. the paper doesn't disintegrate in my hands as I flip through the pages

#375 to #374 - trevanman

Reply0

(07/16/2013)[-]

whoah...wait.
I bought two books last year in Stralsund (northeast Germany)
one of them is a copy of "Streit und Friede" from 1843 and written in old german. (gothic) it's really hard to read.
the other is a copy of Beowulf from 1918 and written in either Icelandic or old nordic. (I'm gonna go with Icelandic)

You'll be fine as long as you're careful with it. Don't eat anything when you work with it and wash your hands before you touch it. That way you should be fine.

Nobody really likes to brag about such a family's past. But hey; my great-grandfathers fought in the war as well. Just not as Nazi officials. The father of my granddad on my dad's side had been in on most of the action, I believe. I think he had been in the army from the invasion of Norway until his capture by the Soviets and was lieutenant or something. (he became mayor of the town he settled down in. and more or less built his own house. the house is still in the family)
The other; my grandmother's father on my father's side (yeah, pretty much my german side) was a corporal and had to defend against the Soviets until he got captured by them. Probably because he got hit by some shrapnel from a Soviet grenade. Some of those shrapnel pieces got out, others remained in his leg. The man never fully recovered from it.

I don't know what exactly happened, because it's awkward to ask and my family doesn't want to speak of it.

Anything interesting from WWI next?

#317 to #314 - anon id: 97070962

Reply0

(07/15/2013)[-]

Keep up the good work, every diary completes our picture of history.

#318 to #317 - ishallsmiteyou

Reply0

(07/15/2013)[-]

You, sir, are awesome.