from 1933 to 1945 nazi germany set up
over 44 000 concentration camps for a
wide range of purposes including forced
labor and detention of people thought to
be enemies of the third reich
near the end of the war as germany's
military force collapsed before the eyes
of the fuhrer the allied troops began to
close in on the camps with the soviets
approaching from the east and the
british french and americans from the
west
consequently hitler and his second in
command gave ss henry lieutenant got the
berger one of their most trusted allies
the power to decide what to do with the
prisoners
in what became known as the long march
of 1945
thousands of prisoners of war walked
hundreds of miles in harsh weather
conditions across european countries to
reach germany before the allies could
free them
almighty godlove
[Music]
gottlob christian berger was born into a
sizable upper middle-class family in the
weimar republic of germany in 1896.
he first fought for the german army in
world war one where he ranked up to
lieutenant and won an iron cross first
class for his services
in the 1920s berger officially joined
the nazi party
as the third reich became more powerful
throughout the following decade he
worked in several positions inside the
army until he was appointed the head of
the recruiting office of the street
strava main office in 1938.
during his years as an ss recruiter
berger convinced thousands of men to
sign up to fight in the name of the
nazis and his skills helped the
waffen-ss become one of the most
essential branches of the german army
berger was known as an ardent
anti-semite a cynical yet competent
officer and one of the most ruthless
wartime lieutenants
according to historian gerhard rempel he
was also a skilled manipulator
many of bergen's recruiting and
leadership tactics were not embraced by
fellow nazis including heinrich himmler
one of the leading architects of the
holocaust himmler complained that he
would often be distracted by rumblings
about burger from other ss leaders one
of whom said that the recruiter was
quote unscrupulous blunt and inelegant
in manner and expression yet also full
of genial equality and racy humor
berger was part of hitler's twelve
apostles the most influential men within
the nazi party and was considered almost
a deity among fellow soldiers who
nicknamed him dear almighty gutlab
the almighty gottlob a wordplay on got
the german word for god
although berger helped the right to
accomplish several macabre projects and
warfare strategies he continued to work
as a recruiter throughout the war
[Music]
no more time
on july 19th 1944 as his empire began to
crumble in front of him adolf hitler
issued an executive order from his
wolfshanza headquarters concerning
preparations for the defense of the
decaying third reich
the instructions put the german
population on a permanent war footing
and orders came to begin planning the
evacuation of slave laborers and
concentration camp prisoners to keep the
advancing soviet army from freeing them
during these later stages of the war
many prisoners of war were afraid when
they heard rumors of evacuation
several conflicting stories suggested
that they would be either used as
hostages to leverage their escape or
forced to march until exhaustion
only a day after hitler's orders on july
20th 1944 klaus von stauffenberg and
other conspirators attempted to take the
life of the fuhrer as part of operation
valkyrie
knowing that his empire was quickly
falling hitler turned to himmler and
asked him to lead the replacement army
and choose someone to handle the german
prisoner of war camps which were also
known as stalags as an abbreviation for
stomlagger
despite his dislike for the conniving
burger himmler chose him for the task
he knew the recruiter was entirely
dedicated to the third reich especially
as he was one of the main proponents of
the final solution a nazi policy of
complete extermination of jews and all
other concentration camp prisoners
in addition to the soviet army's advance
from the east the british french and
americans were approaching from the west
by early 1945.
there was no time to plan a thorough
evacuation
berger had to decide what to do
the leader eventually determined not to
let the allies liberate the prisoners
and ordered german officers to move them
out of the concentration camps and
occupied poland near the front lines and
take them to germany by foot amidst the
freezing early spring weather
[Music]
the long march
although the treks began sporadically in
july of 1944 the bulk of the journey to
reach germany started in march of 1945.
it became known as the long march
with every day that passed the number of
fleeing prisoners increased
in total over 120 000 allied prisoners
of war were on the move
each dialogue was responsible for its
own marches coordination via different
routes
although the average walking distance
was 500 miles some men marched up to a
thousand as the paths were not always
consistent and individual groups
sometimes traveled in circles or
zigzagged
the prisoners were divided into groups
of up to 300 men formed in small columns
they marched together through frozen
rivers muddy fields and chilled winds of
up to 25 miles per day
only to barely rest in empty churches
barns factories or even in the open
meanwhile thousands of german civilian
refugees mostly women young children and
other foreigners also attempted to reach
the west and followed the trails left by
the prisoners of war
the 1945 winter was one of the coldest
recorded in the 20th century with
blizzards and temperatures of negative
15 degrees fahrenheit which continued
well into the springtime
the prisoners were not wearing
appropriate clothing for these
conditions and they also suffered from
extreme hunger
many scavenged to survive with only
rations of food available and ate dogs
cats or even grass
the unsanitary conditions and near
starvation caused hundreds of pows to
suffer from exhaustion typhus pneumonia
diphtheria pellagra frostbite and other
diseases
in addition the prisoners nazi guards
and civilians were always in danger of
an airstrike by the allied forces which
often mistook the columns of advancing
people for retreating german troops
the scattered marches would experience
different conditions
sometimes germans from small towns would
provide them with wagons for their ill
or share their rations
however most of the time the locals
would throw objects that the pastures by
as the ice and snow began to melt many
of the columns of prisoners finally
began to reach the western side of
germany
some ran into the advancing allied
armies and were liberated without
question but others did not encounter
friendly troops and met a terrible fate
as nazis used the prisoners of war as
human shields and hostages in the baltic
sea
in early may the royal air force bomber
command implemented operation exodus and
began the process to repatriate the
prisoners by air
over the next month the command flew
almost 3 000 sorties carrying 72 500
prisoners of war back home
aftermath
[Music]
after germany fell to the allies
gottleberger was arrested and put on
trial in 1947.
berger's indictment read quote
between september 1944 and may 1945
hundreds of thousands of american and
allied prisoners of war were compelled
to undertake forced marches in severe
weather without adequate rest shelter
food clothing and medical supplies and
that such forced marches conducted under
the authority of the defendant berger
chief of prisoner of war affairs
resulted in great privation and deaths
to many thousands of prisoners
berger argued that under the 1929 geneva
convention the germans had the duty to
remove prisoners of war from a potential
war zone
the henry lieutenant also claimed that
the rapid advance of the red and allied
armies left the nazis no choice but to
force them to march in such perilous
conditions instead of by train
burger ultimately attempted to appeal to
the judge by stating that he had
protested against hitler's decision
according to him he had neither the
power nor the authority to countermand
the executive order
[Music]
his statements and insufficient
eyewitness evidence earned him an
acquittal but two years later he was
convicted for his role in the genocide
of european jews and sentenced to 25
years in prison
however his stay was reduced and the
almighty gatlab was released in 1951
[Music]
after his release
berger returned to his native
baden-wurttemberg where he lived an
ordinary life as the owner of a curtain
rail factory and as the patriarch of a
large family
for the remainder of his life he
continued to defend his right-wing
beliefs contributing to monthly journals
and magazines
and writing articles encouraging the
north atlantic treaty organization to
provide further consideration to former
members of his beloved ss
[Music]
the long march period ultimately became
lost within the broader account of the
last months of world war ii as chaos
ruled the nazi party
with the camp shut down bureaucracy gone
all top officials in hiding and
countless individual events occurring
simultaneously this atrocious event
became buried and widely unknown
still the long march period is an emblem
of the twilight era of the third reich
and how it faced its demise in violence
fire and blood
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