This episode is one of the few which shows the humanity in the German army. As with all conflicts, this was not a binary where it was the ‘good guys’ versus ‘the bad guys’. And before anyone else says it - some people will probably complain how we frame the Soviets as the bad guys. We chose to tell this story from a neutral perspective, but fact is that many German civilians feared what the Soviets would do to them, and preferred to live under American occupation. This might be considered anti-soviet, but it simply is how many Germans viewed the Soviet army and one of the reasons why Wenck and his 12th created a corridor for the civilian refugees to escape into American occupied territories. We’re happy to have a reasonable and research-based discussion in the comments, but we won’t tolerate any extremism or revisionism. Another note: while this episode is about a moment where the German army thought for humanity instead of against it, it nowhere near proves any sort of clean-Wehrmacht myth - and we won’t tolerate any comments of that sort either. And with that, I will leave you. Enjoy the video! Cheers! If you would like to gain early access to our Sabaton History episodes and actively support this awesome project that we are so passionate about, you can do so by joining our Patreon community. There are some pretty cool perks when you become part of the Patreon family. Find out more and join here 👉 www.patreon.com/sabatonhistory

My grandmother's family made it out of Berlin, thanks to the sacrifice of the 12th army. I salute you.

STEINER!!!!??? WHERE IS STEINER????? my fuhrer, steiner...... steiner did not mobilise for his attack.... *sudden shaking of hand*

I think Walther Wenck deserves a lot of respect. Hell, there should be a film about this.

By this point in the war " the optimistic ones was learning English The pessimist Russian "

Such an underrated song and story.

My grandpa was captured at Berlin age 17. He was in captivity for 2 years and then released. He was a really funny guy and made friends with the russians, which in return got him chocolate and extra bread and this is how he survived he said.

Without his actions, we would not have the heavily memed scene in Downfall.

Soviet archives still not fully available. How surprising...

Protecting civilians from harm is the mark of a real leader.

Soviet forces expected to be around a million, turns out the soviet forces were stronger and larger than anticipated. Status: FUBAR 12th Army: No retreat, no prisoners, no missing. We liberate the people of Berlin, to hell with orders. *Achievement Unlocked: Hearts of Iron* All joking/memes aside, I have nothing but the utmost respect for the 12th Army.

Love hearts of Iron!! Both the Paradox game and the Sabaton song

Everytime Steiner is mentioned, the only thing I can think of is the movie Downfall. Also I respect your dedication for historical accuracy that you have to reupload over an incorrect birthyear. Kudos to everyone.

9:05 “had to listen to the guidelines of his conscience” I’m gonna remember that quote forever.

I applaud you for your correcting even a small mistake. This is a truly great and underrated song

Much respect to that Commander who saved countless lives

Oh god I knew HOI4 gonna be in here somewhere.....*laughs away in fascist Bhutan*

Next week has to be Primo Victoria. I mean it's the 6th of June (the big 75)

“Buildings are just buildings. What actually makes a city is the inhabitants who live in them” Technically Berlin was saved, just not the German High Command

With Steiner's counteroffensive, everything will be back under control

This is my favourite Sabaton song! The song is excellently written and performed and it has great music that gets stuck in my head. Most of all, I absolutely love the theme of soldiers making great sacrifices to save lives! This song, No Bullets Fly, Ballad of Bull and other such songs about the humanity of soldiers who choose honour over glory are the ones I treasure the most, even if the gloriously action packed songs about awesome battles are great too. I bought the movie Dunkirk last weekend in preparation to watch it after the next episode on the WW2 channel and I got goosebumps when I read the words "400,000 men couldn't get home, so home came for them". I hope Sabaton makes a song about the Dunkirk evacuation one day, btw. That's just how I am. I get slightly teary-eyed and goosebumps from these kinds of stories. It's the same as when I see videos of twenty-something people working together to save a dog that is stuck in a drainage pipe. It warms my heart in all the right ways. :')

Me accidentally buying that soundtrack is how I got into Sabaton, so glad I did.

The Kriegsmarine also saved another 250K from living under Soviet captivity. Another great song from the Heroes album.

Soldier Of 3 Armies and Lauri Allan Torni next? Sabaton tweeted about Lauri's 100th birthday this week.

Umm, thanks Soviets for accidentally indirectly letting the citizens across.

Do Rise of Evil next, time to really mess with KZfaq's algorithm.

I'm with many others here that this is one my favorite underrated songs from Sabaton. What a story.

I just love the fact that paradox who are one of favorite game developers and sabaton one of favorite bands who both make things about history came together and this amazing song. Also HOI4 has two sabaton sound tracks

Could almost call the song "Reverse Dunkirk".

I bought the Sabaton music pack in Europa Universalis IV which was also from Paradox.

Sabaton should make a song about the Barbary wars, especially since Sweden was involved Maybe even the time the US helped some North Korean sailors fight against Somali pirates as a parody song or something

Not a lot of channels make the effort to correct their numbers!

I discovered Sabaton through Hearts of Iron 4. I was playing as the Soviet Union and I declared the war on Finland. Suddenly, I heard the music slowly creeping in. It soon exploded into: FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL IN SILENCE CAST THEIR SPELLS, EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE Out of nowhere, I had unquenchable thirst to purge the world from the oppressive burgoise.

This, of all people were the greatest moments that even soldiers can choose humanity over glory.

This event should be talked about more. Salute to Wenck and his men.

IDK Why but just imagining such an event makes me sad and cry

This is without doubt one of my favourite Sabaton songs. It tugs my heartstrings, to know that in a time where so much was so wrong, someone still did the right thing. Also; is there a book list of all the books you guys have read concerning the song topics?

Hearts of Iron is a song that consistently is able to bring me nearly to tears

i came across the sabaton through hearts of iron IV as well , i am glad i did !

Name more iconic duo, i'll wait: paradox's history games (most hearts of Iron IV) and sabaton

This song always gives me the chills.

This song breaks my heart.

This song is one of my favorite sabaton songs because it shows that despite all the negativity surrounding the Nazis, there were some good guys in the Wermacht who put the people above the reich

Guy had some big balls to stand up to the Führer like that! Great story and episode guys!!

IT'S THE END THE WAR HAS BEEN LOST

I really want to see you do a video on "The Last Battle" with Castle Itter. Another testament to the fact that not all Germans were swastika-wearing fanatics.

I got an instant World At War flash back 6:05

8:39 - WTF was Bruce Willis doing there? (the leftest guy at the front)

8:53 that general kinda looks like Bill Nye.

Gotta really thank Alex. She sent me a link so I could watch this at holiday place. Hearts of Iron is one of the songs that I found incredible. You guys did an admirable job covering this battle and it is an incredible story. Thank you guys for making this video. One more from the album Heroes. And for you guys personal touch, you gotta find new ways to get around. Games are a perfect medium for that.

One of my favorite sabaton song It is very powerful.

such a strange feeling to hear your hometown (wittenberg) being mentioned in a sabaton video ^^ love the work u do on this channel thanks for all that

8:40 Hey what's Bruce Willis doing there?!

This is one of the main reason “Heroes” is my favorite album, such a great song and great story, much like all the other songs on Heroes

I heard "hearts of iron" on pandora, and came to youtube to see the video. Next thing I knew, I saw the video that told the history behind the song. Love the song, great story, and since I love world history, I love how you guys teach it by doing songs about it. Hopefully one day you guys will write sons about hispanic american history, like war of the triple alliance, mexico's fifth of may, and stuff like that. I think it would be cool, but if not, that's ok. Either way, yourur songs are freaking awesome and having a special channel to tell the stories behind those songs, I can not describe the awesomeness of it. Looking to hear and see more songs and videos from you guys.😍😁😄😀

“No deserters, No prisoners, No Missing.”

The continued preservation of history and the fact that my favorite game developers and favorite band are the ones doing it almost made me cry.

This one and Smoking Snakes were the songs that made me discover Sabaton. Greatly underrated, but still one of my favorites.

This is the first sabaton song i've heard. One of my favourite , very underrated.

My favorite song from the "Heroes" album. Not only does it sound humbly amazing, but the history it is telling is one that shows humanity, bravery, and tenacity of the German army.

The most Underrated Sabaton Song ever and Mr.Neidell, I really really liked how you told this Story today and i accept your invite for a peacefull and objective discussion. I think Wenck is a German War Hero. First of all he disobeyed Hitlers Orders and rescued not just Civillians but also the Young Soldiers of his Army but he also took the wounded with him , Children,Red cross personal and many many more. The Wehrmacht wanst good, Sabaton History is right about that. But Walter Wenck in this Moment of the War was maybe the most human Soldier and General of them All. The Americans didnt wanted the civillians, The russians were also not really caring. But walter Wenck did Care for the Civillians. Wenck shouldnt be associated with the Wehrmacht for this but, rather we should see him as a hero who didnt cared about Hitler, about the reich, about the final victory. Wenck Cared about the People who were facing death and Destruction, Wenck cared more about the German Civillians than Hitler. He was a realist and a humanist. As Sabaton history Said correct we simply cant view it from a black white perspektive here because every side in this story has black and white sides. But Walter Wenck in this Case, Had an Overwhelming Light side and if you look at the situation from the time back then Wenck had only young and old soldiers, wenck didnt had a choice like we would have today. But all these lost young lives were not lost in vain because these young people created a corridor for other people to live on. The Dark side of the Wehrmacht always gets connected with him immediatley, but in this Moment he wasnt a General of the Wehrmacht. he was a General of the German People and that must be said here. With the moment of his disobey of hitlers orders he was a traitor and no longer in the wehrmacht. And to Disobey Hitler is for me an act of heroism in World War 2. Wencks Story simply is Lost in the , Which is also justified, bad image of the Wehrmacht. But for Me Wenck wasnt in the Wehrmacht anymore at this point. He was a real Soldier who understand that his Job was to protect the Civillians, i might not no the full after story, but i think the situation at the elbe wasnt in His hand anymore and surely he despised the american actions, i mean he too the civillians all the way with him , why he shouldnt care for them afterwards.. Finally a word about the Soviets. Before you argue that they should have surrenderd to the soviets then. dont look at the situation from our View. but from theirs. And clearly the german civillians were scared ofthe soviets, as He said , people were killing themselves when they were handed over to the soviets, that certainley has a reason. It might require more depth to look at the soviet Counterassault for this to understand the german perspective for that. But it cant be said that they should have surrenderd to those who they were scared off.

This song seriously gets me to tear up time and time again, simply thinking about the desperation many of the soldiers and civilians must have felt and how sabaton describes so very nicely that at this point in the war it just wasnt about Hitler or ideologys anymore but about the people, soldiers and civilans alike.

You just can't download Sabaton illegal. Buy it or stream it! They deserve it!

I don't know which army exactly he fought in because he never talked about it but I know that my grandfather was in one of the armies on the Eastern front who pushed towards the West to get into American and not Russian captivity. Since he never talked about it during his lifetime (like many of the ones who fought in the war) it's nice to hear in more detail about those final days of the war around Berlin.

I listened to this song so many times when I writing on the Hitler Youth, it captured the feel and hopelessness of the end of their war. "Who could ever have believed, seems like nothing's been achieved."

I used to work for a shipyard in Kiel, Germany which was originally founded near Memel in East Prussia (today Klaipéda, Lithuania). When the Red Army closed in its owner, Paul Willy Lindenau decided to risk the Passage through the Baltic Sea in order to escape the Russians. So he ordered his workers to try their best making the Yard's Dry Dock Seaworthy, took his workers and their families on board and then used the Shipyard's tug to pull this death trap contraption all the way to Kiel mid-winter 1945. Arriving in Kiel he built a new shipyard around the old Dry Dock and restarted his business. The same shipyard later came to invent the double-hull construction and the free-fall lifeboat. BTW: The same week Lindenau and his workers made the journey the Ocean Liner Wilhelm Gustloff sunk after being torpedoed by a Soviet Submarine claiming the lifes of almost 9,000 Civilians

I would love to hear Hearts of Iron in an acoustic version, like the Final Solution they sang live.

to think my grandfather was one of those last minute soldiers that were pulled in from the youths to fill the ranks of those armies, and how he probably only survived because of this move from Wenck... when great events like this and your personal history mix like that, thats when you truly begin to see the greatness of such men, who give up their "honor" to safe lives. its just so unbelievable that without him i probably wouldnt be alive today, and i do feel like he deserves some kind of massive "thank you" for that

When you look around & read a situation, see your orders as hopeless, & recognise a far better job you could do instead. Cannot deny the heart in people who decide it's better to save innocent civilians than to throw life away as tank fodder. Respect

I literally listened to that song and thought to myself "Sabaton History should make a video about this" today. Awesome.

Watching a video about a song called Hearts of Iron, while listening to Hearts of Iron, while playing Hearts of Iron... Awesome

I’ve prayed for this day! A amazing video for one of my favourite Sabaton songs!

Best and favourite song of this album, amazing story

I am one of the many people who found sabaton through paradox games. Instead of HOI4 it was EU4 but still, I always felt as though adding music about history to game about history was genius marketing as you are introducing 2 different things that, to an audience that has an interest on a topic such as history, having that linking bridge between them with a sign saying "hey if you like this then you'll like this". I just thought that was a great thing for both Sabaton and people with an interst in history and music find out about the, and poiteintally sabaton fans that havent heard of the game. Anyway can't wait to see you guys in October. Fly safe.

This song never fails to put a lump in my throat.

I’ve been waiting forever for this one! Thanks!

I discovered Sabaton trough Hearts of Iron too, cheers from Romania !

I discovered Sabaton from Hearts of Iron. I'm not a metal guy but I love them.

Never have I ever clicked on a video before I even realised what it was XD

*Sees video in recommended* My body is ready.

This is my favorite sabaton song, thank you for this channel and this video!

Been waiting on this certain song for quite a while, bravo.

by far my favorite sabaton song! Thanks for talking about its history on this chanel!

That video and the song always gives me goosebumps. Amazing.

I Love the Game and the Band.

Was just listening to this song yesterday thinking it would be an interesting story for Indy to tell. Keep up the great work!

Another great video! It’s so heartbreaking seeing those young lives wasted for a hopeless cause that was crumbling around them

Once again an uplifting moment in a hellish week braught from watching these videos thanks guys

Always appreciate & love your work, guys! Thank you so much for doing this! Keep up the great work! ❤

This is one of my favorite Sabaton songs! I'm so glad you did it! I would love to see all of Sabaton's songs have a place here! Night Witches is one I thought of yesterday! Keep up the amazing work guys

Those videos are awesome! Can't wait for The Last Stand!

Amazing song, this story is so moving and brought me to tears the first time I heard it.

This is my absolute top notch favorite sabaton song and gives me chills every single time. I love the story so much. Thank you sabaton!!!

my absolute favorite song from heroes. amazing

Splendid work guys , keep it up!! Waiting for the Winged Hussars to arrive!!!

sabaton music pack in hoi 4 is legit the only music ive bought in the past 15 years lol

I actually discovered Sabaton thanks to Europa Universalis, been a fan ever since.

This song embodies three characteristics of the German people: Sacrifice Faith and Courage. The German 12th could’ve easily just left the men of the 9th and civilians to die but they didn’t even though they knew they were outmatched in every way imaginable they still chose to go in for one final showdown with the Red Army and save their fellow country men before casting away their arms.

This is one of my favourite songs! Every time I hear it it gives me goosebumps. I love how you used the Bach music in there too, it works so well. As always, it's great seeing the full story behind the song.

Fantastic song. Great episode guys.