Mayrock Harald - German WWII Veteran Interview 

Thanks for watching and your comment!

Thank you so very much for your interview with this very intelligent and interesting man. As a Canadian born of German parents, I see so many parallels....except my parents and ancestors go back many generations from Poland...so, Polish was also spoken in my home...but mostly German. My father was drafted into the Polish Air Force....and this story I remember well...BUT, now they are no longer alive, and I now am older...I have questions. Anyways, he took the (Polish) plane, flew to German occupied Romania (Bucharest)...landed, defected, and switched sides, as his loyalties were German...only to be sent to the Russian Front. NOW!!! I wish I would have asked, but no one is alive anymore to answer two questions: Why would the "Polish" put a "German" in a Polish fighter plane, and why did the Germans not shoot him down? 3/4 into your documentary, Mr. Harald confirmed and answered another piece of the puzzle for me. After the war ended, and both my parents, "refugees," yet my father with "German" papers...I kind of knew the story with regard to curfiew...but... I did not know France was there as well. Now I understand. He decided to walk by night (I was always told to Belgium) to find his friend. Maybe not totally true, or I don't remember correctly. He was captured by the French, not sent to the mines, but, my father was (in German) a "Meister Schlosser" and VERY good at his trade. He was a prisoner of war in a factory. Treated very well, I might add. I now understand how that really may have come to be. I still have his release papers (in French) that not until a couple of years ago had translated by a friend from Quebec Canada. Kind of the same. His rank "Sgt.". I was told the Sgt. in battle was shot, and they put my dad in charge. I thank God he wasn't SS. That I am sure of. I have not missed a Rememberance ceremony here in Canada. I am so grateful for the soldiers who fought for our freedoms ❤ Thank you so much. I understand so much more. You did an amazing job interviewing a most interesting, humble, and intelligent man.

Thank you for watching and sharing your father's related story as well. @@user-it5wt8sj5y

​@@MakingHistoryProjectqqqq

​​@@user-it5wt8sj5ywhy? if he was "ss" you'd know your father was the best of the best

Thank you for watching.

Please more interviews

Thank you for that comment. This is why we do what we do!

“In a few DECADES there won’t be any left? Mathematics is a challenge for you? A) The youngest WW2 veteran alive in 2015 (when this interview was conducted) was 84 years old. B) “In a few DECADES” will mean these ages are 20 years past death, by a 98.33 percentile. Please attempt to think prior to posting comments. Thank you!

@@MakingHistoryProject And you approve this lower minded post? What a shame!

Interesting response. I am not sure what your dispute is. The comment was to strike home the idea that Veterans are passing as a prolific rate due to age and their stories should be preserved. I do not think the comment was a mathematical exercise, which is certainly not how I read it. The point is that today any WWII Veterans are quite old. Assuming a soldier got involved late in the war in 1945 at the age of 16, that Veteran would be 95 years old. I would suggest that would be the youngest WWII Veteran you could find alive today. Further, these are the facts from Statista as to the annual projected number of living U.S. WWII Veterans www.statista.com/statistics/1333701/us-military-ww2-veterans-living-estimate/ That study suggests that 226K veterans were alive in 2022, 87K in 2024, and they are rapidly declining from there. @@toberrdrawforc

@@MakingHistoryProject Thank you for your response, those numbers are indeed quickly declining 😢 One of my customers is a 100 year old veteran from the Netherlands, and the war he fought in is still so alive and active in his mind. Really goes to show what an offer these young men made to go to the battlefield. As for that critical comment, I don't think much can be said to it in response, this indeed is not about mathematics 🤣

He had great language teachers. But chemistry? Apparently, not so much.

@@sup8857He did not appear fond of his chemistry teacher 😂😆🤣

Impressive for an american perhabs ! I speak 4 languages fluently, and 3 more where I get by, and im not unusual in Europe, most speak at least 3, and the worst educated userly still speak 2, their native tounge and English ! What is impressive about him is that he seems to have gone through real trauma, and managed to build a life afterwards !

Very evasive, with a selective memory.

Every German soldier from WW2 I've ever seen interviewed conveniently never was around any of the brutal sh!t they were famous for...which is really the only part i am interested in. How one is part of such a dark thing ? And they just point fingers at other Germans... You'd think at least one of these guys would just be honest.

Thank you for watching and your comment.

Thank you for watching and your feedback

That's upper class behavior. Sadly this is not something you see these days.

Thank you for watching!

German the smartest DNA on the planet the Founders, thinkers, creators! They betrayed Germany ! Masacered Germany ! Lied about Germany! GB and America are the war mongers of the planet not Germany!

Thank you for watching and sharing your story

Much respect and many thanks for sharing. My own father was in the RAF as junior officer. He could never understand that had he been born in Frankfürt he would have been in the Luftwaffe. I have always been very appreciative of those on all sides of that conflict who can share the truth with my generation. Born in 1951 and now 72 years old I had been part of the Love and Peace generation, probably obsessed with peace after having been born on rations and raised in the ashes of the war. I find it very healing to hear veterans gifting us all with their memories with the propaganda from all sides removed.it really is a tonic and I thank this Chanel and particularly Herr Harald for his wonderful candour.

Thank you for watching!

Germany and other countries were TRULY BAD then, but Germany has resurrected itself and is now doing very good things in the world. RS. Canada

It is a shame isnt it, Germany lost it’s pride and now without spine

Thank you for watching and for your thoughtful comment. Much appreciated.

"Hero's"? Wow!

​@@mikethomas4598yeah dude. They fought for their country, theyre somebodys heroes. If you wanna be confrontational, tell me your country and ill tell some fucked up stuff they did in war

We don't generally refer to those who fought for Germany in World War II as "heroes" . We tend to throw that word around quite a bit..I would suspect most soldiers don't see themselves as "heroes". Even Medal of Honor recipients shrug off that notion. This man does not strike me as a "Nazi". Not every German soldier was. @@mikethomas4598

@@mikethomas4598..yes, heroes...the German soldier fought bravely to the very end ...no historian denies that..cheers🍷🇨🇦

In the U.S. the institution you’re talking about is referred to as an assisted living facility. It’s just different terminology. I’ve met elderly American veterans who fought in Europe, North Africa and the Pacific campaigns. Very brave men for certain. It was a horrible war for all involved. Hopefully we never have a Third World War.

Thank you for watching and your kind comments.

Boo-boo. The best part of the interview was when he went to Peru . What happened to his business ??????

Thank you for watching and your comment.

Very calm , very cool, a super great interview

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching and your feedback. Much appreciated.

Thank you for watching and your comment. This is why we do what we do.

Thank you for watching and sharing your comment

Thank you for watching and your comments!

And yet they set on fire barns full of women and children. So much so that he could not recall how to say ‘fire’ in German.

Interesting comment. Did you watch the interview? @@cookml

@@cookml They does not equal He.

​@@cookmlnot sure I saw that bit, sounds unlike him.

There was plenty of opposition to the national socialists in old Germany. Especially from the old elite and communist element. Just look at the US currently. Do you think the entire country is supportive of the Biden government?

"nobody was a Nazi"

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for subscribing!

Thank you for watching and your feedback!

Thank you for watching and your comment.

Thank you for watching. It could be individual or cultural. Interesting observation.

Thank you for watching

Thank you for watching!

You're really just a S-y person. @@MakingHistoryProject

It's an American thing. America's huge & it's culture is all about assimilation - by forgetting the 'old' language and sticking with English. It's just built this way :(

I would say better educated then.

​@@ManiSRao-bt3xw There is no assimilation anymore. America as an empire is just a colony for foreign nations at this time.

@@ManiSRao-bt3xwit’s called geography. Germany borders 9 other countries within driving distance.

Thank you for watching and your feedback. Much appreciated.

I disagree, Both mic's should be on both channels not one guy talking into one ear and the other into the other.

Thank you for watching and your feedback

Thank you for watching

Thank you for watching the interview.

Jeff Thomas, Thank You sincerely for You very knowledgeable comment.

whats his duty ? invading foreign countries and killing jews ?

Agree. I think we tend to forget what a large country Germany is. Out of all those millions and millions of people, not all were criminals.

Thank you for your comment@@TheAnthoula14

Thank you for watching and your feedback!

Thank you for watching and your feedback!

Thank you for watching and your feedback

Thank you for watching

Thank you for watching and your comment!

@@MakingHistoryProject of course! I wish more people were doing these interviews! These stories need to be recorded.

Thank you for that feedback!

Thank you for that comment!

Thank you for watching and your feedback!

Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for watching and providing some additional historical context.

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching

Thank you for watching and your feedback.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching and your comment.

Thank you for watching and your comment

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for adding your comment

Usury is the most interesting one indeed

Thank you for watching and your comment

Thanks for watching and sharing the memory for your father

Thank you for watching! It is what makes each interview unique.

Can you share your source of information? My Oma was the accountant for the school and I have an alternate understanding of the founding of the school.

The German-Jewish educator/founder's name was Kurt Hahn, who was briefly imprisoned, then exiled to the UK. His crime: Asking the students and faculty of the school to choose between Hitler and Salem. (source: wikipedia)

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching and your comment.

Thank you for watching and sharing.

Thank you for watching!

English as a businessman.

Well Germans are the most educated folks , honored manners people with integrity and a tremendous intelligence! That’s why they envy the Germans. They made up Propaganda to have a reason to attack ! USA and GB dud war crimes of the finest!

Ever read any books from German soldiers on the Eastern front? Man brutal brutal brutal! Awesome reads though. My favorite is Blood Red Snow! There's another called The Forgotten Soldier that's really good.

@@only5186 I read Guy Sajier's book. Rough stuff

Thank you for watching and your comment

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching

I would search for Veteran organizations to which they may belong.

​@@MakingHistoryProject thank you, how did you find this gentleman? 😊

Amazing... you met this gentleman in Lima, Peru! That's out of the way...

Thank you for watching and your feedback

Yea right and the Germans were such kind and benevolent and kind people in 1939 - 1941.

Thank you for this! It is critical for an understanding of the war's origins. The "Hitler wanted to conquer the world" [so he started by attacking Poland ] tale is getting quite stale.

@@EdfromCanada Germans are honest kind and honourable people with a deep sense of culture, unlike the average Canadian sadly. They were the same in 1939-1941 as in 1871 or 1971...

Thank you for watching and your comment

Nobody is surprised just slightly impressed, as anyone would be by a man who can speak three languages fluently.

Ja, das ist gut - sehr gut!

Thank you for watching and your feedback

what you mean is "Lebensraum"; Liebensraum would be loving space. One letter makes a big difference here.

Not entirely accurate this assessment. The decision to attack the USSR was based on the imminent attack the USSR / Stalin was about to launch on the Axis forces beginning on the border of occupied Poland on or about 10 July 1941

My husband worked until he died at 98 and 4 months...he played on the stock market. He spent most of the war fighting the Soviets in northern Finland. This was a very special generation.

He fought on the Eastern Front.

@@MakingHistoryProject No he didn't . After a short stint on the Austrian Yugoslav border , he fought as a forward observer for heavy mortar detachment against Montgomery's 8th army in Holland . You're the interviewer ?

@vicshauberger2737 I hope you are informed enough to know that Operation Barbarossa(June 1941) was a 6 nation attack. Along with Germany there was Croatia, Italy(60,000 men), Hungary, Romania, Finland and 47,000 Spanish soldiers. There was also 2 divisions of Belgian soldiers. So by May 1941 170 divisions of Soviet Union soldiers were congregating at Germany's eastern front(don't forget that the eastern half of Poland was occupied by the Red army, getting ready to invade Europe. Barbarossa was a direct attempt to destroy the threat of Bolshevism. The Soviet Union were carrying out atrocities in eastern Poland when they invaded in Sept 1939 and they captured 15,000 Polish military officers and took them to the Katyn forest in Smolensk and executed them. I acknowledge you say that Germany inflicted massive casualties on British, American, Canadian and French troops when they invaded Germany after D-day. Do you know that the Polish president Marshall Edward Rydz-Smigley and his foreign minister Josef Beck refused to have a peaceful dialogue with Germany in 1939 to resolve the problematic situation in Danzig and eastern Prussia. Marshall Smigley was under the influence of U.S president Roosevelt and he was told don't make any deals with Hitler. I'm afraid this interviewer is not being accurate because he makes reference to "Liebensraum". Germany did not invade the Soviet Union for that reason. Barbarossa went ahead in June 1941 because the Soviet Union posed a grave threat to the peace and security of Europe. I said already the Reds were getting ready to invade Europe! This is why the European coalition headed by Germany and Italy captured so many Soviet soldiers in the early stages of the invasion from June to August 1941.. it's good listening to this old German man telling his experiences but by saying that the story of German minorities being att*acked and murd*ered by press enraged mobs and militia in Poland, was invented he's putting false idead into the minds of people watching this interview.

@@Smudgeroon74 Nobody's arguing that point and you're preaching to the choir when describing Germany's motives for invading the Soviet Union . I would only add that the Soviets had two million forward positioned paratroopers in June 1941. Paratroops are primarily offensive in nature , if not solely . The Soviets had hoped the war in the West would've been a protracted one, whereby the wearing down of Germany , England and France to the extent that any subsequent Soviet invasion of the West would essentially be nothing more than a mopping up exercise . The size of the Soviet paratroop forces in June 1941 was approx. two million , most of which were forward positioned . Roughly 10 times the size of the rest of the world's armies combined. This underscores the offensive posture of Soviet forces at that time. The reparations that caused Germany's hyperinflation not withstanding . I would even venture to add that the Weimar policies addressing that hyperinflation of the 1920's was in direct observance of the Communist atrocities occurring in Russia . The theory being , even though workers will be paid with wheelbarrows of cash , they'll still be employed and we might avoid those same atrocities that would occur due to massive unemployment . Hitler's rise to power was directly a result of this political and economic climate . By no means am I excusing Nazi atrocities , but National Socialism was directly born out of the threat of Bolshevism . My initial post was meant to add detail to Mayrock Harald's war activities .

@@vicschauberger2737 well when you say the Reds had 2 million soldiers forward positioned, whereabouts was this? I know for a fact that the Soviet Union had 170 divisions(1,000 men in a division) of troopers at Poland's eastern border and Romania's east aswell. They were not battle ready and were waiting for further instructions. These soldiers were getting ready for a full-scale European invasion! What book did you read this from, if don't mind my asking. Thanks

Thank you for watching

It hurts me a lot too😢 no respect fore this old man🥺

We need men like him

I'm not sure of your problem. He seems to have been 11 in 1939 so by 1944 he would have been 16. By 1944 the Germans were scrapping the bottom of the barrel and were forcing people of that age into the armed forces. As he points out, he wasn't actually a paratrooper. He was in a Parachute Division but he didn't do any paratrooping. He was just in the Infantry. By early 1945 the German armed forces were putting people into any Division, whether or not they were trained. Things in Germany were quite chaotic by that time of the war. What suprised me was the way he seemed to be able to wander around the country in his military uniform. I thought that all German soldiers were placed in POW camps.

It was a common end-of-war scenario in Germany for many youth.

He was born in 1927, so he was about 12 when WW2 started and about 18 when it ended. He was drafted at 17.

​​@@mikeryan3701​After VE Day, many common soldiers (i.e. young conscripts) were given parole/release passes to return home by whatever Allied unit they surrendered to. Most were still wearing their uniforms. But because many German soldiers didn't directly surrender & simply tried to return home after ditching weapons & uniforms, the Allies set up checkpoints to check for such passes; which is also how many high-level Nazis were caught trying to escape. The process was different for Germans already in Allied POW camps prior to VE Day; and depending on which country the camps were in, many were used for clearing minefields and cleaning up rubble for years after the war ended before being released.

I was born in Heidelberg 6-1939. It wasn’t a good time for my mother. My Papa was sent to the war. Was a POW taken by Americans. I think it’s a miracle that anyone came through the war alive.

Thank you for watching and adding that point.

@ezzieeddie5439 you say that that the German people were despised by their victims in World War 2 right? I dislike that word despised, because it invites feelings of hostility right away. What about the feelings of the vanquished Germans post 1945? Do you think they liked the Soviet union, France, America and Britain for what they did to their country? Let's have some balance when you comment here. Germany was trying to defend her homeland from Internationalists and almost 6 years later the most vicious war in history was over. Hitler made 20 offers of peace to Great Britain beginning in October 1939, these peace offers were termed "an appeal to reason". All were rejected by first Chamberlain, then Churchill. So before you start pointing the dirty end of the stick at the reputation of a large north central European nation, perhaps you should maybe read some books and then get back to me. Have a nice day.

@@Smudgeroon74I’m happy someone knows how it really went👍

​@@Smudgeroon74 Thank You for being so courageous and telling some of the true Facts of WW2. WW2 was much more complex then we have been allowed to know. Again, my sincere Thanks to You.