The thing that interests me about this clip is the fact that the writer of the script attempted to recreate the incident taking both sides claims into account. That being the German claim that Us soldiers had attempted to escape and or had smuggled arms and had shot at armed guards. The American claim being that unarmed prisoners were massacred in cold blood many of who were killed at close range with bullets to the back of the head.
I know this movie (the opening sequence about the Malmedy incidents is certainly the better part of it) and I always wondered about Hollywood choosing the most German-friendly version of what might have happened.
Well from what I heard the people who made this film were mormon. Deacon, the main character is supposed to be a mormon (remember him speaking of going on a “mission”). And there was more of a religious undertone to the movie.
I think the film makers felt that after 60 years regardless of what really happened, it was best to take the neutral ground
I have this movie in my collection. I found that the filmakers have tried to stretch one incident into 80 minutes of cinema which i felt became a little long winded at times. I agree that they have tried to keep as neutral as possible. All said though i feel that the whole package is well presented(cinematography,sound,realism).
They should’ve picked German actors for the Germans. Instead they picked the ugliest Americans they could find and put them in German uniforms.:lol:
Good point…a common mistake when it comes to WW2 movies.
You haven’t seen yet the faces of “russians” that they loves to pick into their holliwood movies:)
I was frighten to death whan i at first time watched it
You’d prefer the German version?
the German version is just fine for me;)
I’m not a racist, the chinamans and mongols look not so bad in Red Army , compared to monsters with steel jaw and finished imbecils.
Mongols might to fright only few naive german fraus:)
Not more than Afro-American soldiers at the other side of Germany back then I assume.
BTW, that Asian soldier of the Red Army was actually the good guy in that scene. Guess what his comrades were just doing…
bet, the comrides just raped and killed all boy’s family?
And mongol feels sorry for comrides?
He looks like he should be fighting for the Japs.
Well, almost, they were “only” raping a woman. Don’t you know the film? “Die Blechtrommel” (aka “The Tin Drum”). A supposed classic…
of course i watched the Tin Drum.
nice film , the sexual scene were especially fine:)
And Red Army mongols- it’s definitaly classic…since at least Deutche Wolhenau times:)
Same here.
That has always been a highlight when we had to watch the film at school.
They showed you sexual scenes at school.
In upper grades, sure. This is Europe, not the US!
I’m not sure where this claim came from exactly, and the film is completely inaccurate in the small details which tells me this is mostly a “controversial” revisionist rendering. The unit that was wiped out was from an artillery support unit of the 106th ID I believe IIRC. They were green troops captured largely without much of a fight and I doubt they had much inclination to “smuggle weapons” in or to capture their guards’ weapons. Secondly, if the Americans had tried a mass escape, then more than three would have survived IIRC and such occurrences are rare in War.
I am more inclined to believe the overall story most historians now believe, that the Waffen SS Romanians and Germans under “Blow Torch Battalion” leader Jochen Peiper were simply disinclined to bother with prisoners as they were on a mad dash to Antwerp, while suffering heavy casualties, having their routes blocked and bridges blown --and most critically–running low on precious and rare fuel. Fuel for their precious and rare panzers Hitler decided to piss away in a futile, desperate fantasy offensive achieving nothing but a hastened collapse on both the Eastern and Western Fronts, mostly the Eastern one though. Of course, shooting or disposing of prisoners was nothing new to hardened SS troopers with extensive experience on the Eastern Front. And this certainly was not the first instance of the SS shooting problematic numbers of Allied mouths to feed and guard as they also massacred numbers of British soldiers around the time of Dunkirk…
Incidentally, Malmedy was not the only massacre alleged to have taken place. Numerous instances of retaliatory executions of smaller groupings of surrendering GIs are recounted. It also should be noted of Allied testimony of SS shooting numbers of Belgian civilians in full view of American combat engineers as a sort of “retaliation” for their blowing of several key bridges…
endeed,for sake of true i have to add that GLs also had a lot of possibilies to murder the GErmans POWs for “retrebution”.real or virtual.
Remember Dachay massacre?
see also Jack Bushyhead