German WWII Archive

tl;dr: I'm now a YouTube partner and you can give me money through super chats and channel memberships (but you don't have to)

Hey everyone,
This is German WWII Archive, and I hope you're all doing well.

The other day I submitted an application for YouTube partnership.
I never cared much about being a YouTube partner for the past 3 years that I've had this channel, but I was just curious to find out if they would accept me.

I was actually surprised: Not only did they accept me, it literally took less than 24 hours. They said that an application normally takes up to a month, sometimes even longer, so I was expecting it to take a few weeks at least.
I'm actually currently living in a hotel and will probably only move in my new apartment next month, so this caught me a bit off-guard.

Don't worry, I won't put 25 ads over my videos now, in fact I won't put any ads at all on my videos.
However, I've activated the Channel membership and the "super thanks" function. If you want to, you can now donate some money to me through the comments; and you can also join my channel as a paid member.

There will be only one tier, a 5$ one, offering the same benefits as my 5$ Patreon tier; that is mainly access to one additional video per month.

As I've been running my Patreon for some time now, there are already quite a lot of videos on there, so if you join now, you'll get access to these videos as well- 26 in total.

This includes a lot of super interesting videos, such as footage from Rommel's funeral, from the paratrooper landings on Crete in 1941, footage from a German supply U-Boat operating in the Atlantic, a propaganda film about the Legion Condor in Spain and many more!

So if you have a few bucks to spare, I'd greatly appreciate some financial support.

However, let me be very clear that nothing will change: I will still upload one video every weekend, and there will be one extra video per month for Patreon/Channel members, but other than that, all the content on my channel will continue to be free for everyone, and I won't put annoying adds over my videos.

If you don't want to donate for whatever reason, please don't feel pressured to do, I don't expect anyone to and I'm not gonna be angry at you if you don't. I appreciate you all and wish you all the best, with or without donations!


That's all for today, I wish you all a good week ahead!

2 months ago | [YT] | 332

German WWII Archive

Hey everyone,
I hope you are all doing well.

While I normally don't talk much about myself on this channel, simply because this channel isn't really about me, I will share a quick personal update today.

I just received the notification that I’ve passed my master’s degree. My thesis was accepted, and I completed all required coursework and earned the necessary credits.
While I haven’t officially graduated yet (this will happen in late March), I now have the official results.

I had already made sure that I fulfilled all the requirements a long time ago, but I was still anxious about it, so I’m pretty relieved now.

In order to "celebrate" this, I will release this weekends video a bit earlier, namely in a few hours.

That is all for today, I hope you have a great day and a great weekend!

4 months ago | [YT] | 1,090

German WWII Archive

"German Volunteers in Spain", a German propaganda film about the activties of the Legion Condor during the Spanish Civil War, is now avaliable on Patreon!

Featuring footage of various early German weapon systems, such as the Heinkel He 111, Dornier Do 17, and the Panzer I, it offers a rather interesting look at the first time the Wehrmacht found itself fighting in an actual war.

The film also shows Spanish Nationalist forces being trained by German instructors in the use of small arms, artillery, and even tanks- including both German Panzer I vehicles and conveniently captured Soviet T-26s.

So, if this sort of footage happens to interest you, you have five dollars to spare, and you feel like supporting the channel, feel free to take a look at my Patreon!
It would, unsurprisingly, help the channel:

www.patreon.com/GermanWWIIArchive

Skip the Carousel

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5 months ago | [YT] | 365

German WWII Archive

Hey everyone,

I hope you all had a great start to the new year and are doing well.

Today, January 6th, marks the birthday of the last two living German Knights Cross Holders of WWII. Out of the over 7,000 people who were awarded this award, these two are the only ones still alive, and considering that the Knights Cross is amongst the most well-known awards of WWII, I thought I’d write a short text about them:

The first one, the older one, is Hugo Broch.

Born on January 6th, 1922, in Leichlingen, a small town near Cologne, Broch joined the Air Force on January 15th, 1940, a few days after his 18th birthday. Between November 1940 and October 1941 he completed his basic pilot training, followed by fighter pilot courses, which he completed between November 1941 and February 1942, and again between May and November 1942 at the Fighter Pilot School 2 in Zerbst.

He was then assigned to the 6th Staffel of the 2nd Group of JG 54, which he joined in January 1943. Fighting on the northern part of the Eastern Front,he claimed his first kill on March 7th, but that was not officially acknowledged. His first official kill was on March 13th, where he shot down a Soviet Il-2 battle plane. He also took part during Operation Citadel, the famous Battle of Kursk. After his Staffel had to be evacuated towards Ukraine due to Soviet counterattacks, he continued to operate mostly over Ukrainian territory, and after his 44th kill, he was awarded the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on November 6th, 1943; a few days later on the 26th, he was also awarded the German Cross in Gold.

Afterwards, he was active as a flying instructor in France and Silesia between December 1943 and August 1944, but returned to his unit, which was now stationed in Lithuania. For the reminder of the war, he fought in Courland, and on March 12th, 1945, he was awarded the Knights Cross after 79 kills. His final award was the “Kurland” cuff title, which he was awarded on April 20th, 1945. In total, he shot down 81 Soviet planes, including 12 heavily armored Il-2 Sturmoviks.
On May 8th, 1945, he flew with his plane to Flensburg, where he surrendered to British troops and was a POW for two months. After the war, he worked for the Agfa AG, a chemical company in Leverkusen, until he retired.
In 2017, aged 95, he was the first former Luftwaffe pilot that flew aboard a Spitfire, which was widely reported especially in British press.


The second living Knights Cross holder is Heinz Rafoth.

Born one year later, on January 6th, 1923, in Putzar, a small town in Pomerania, close to the present German-Polish border, he was drafted in October 1940. His unit was the 3rd Company of Infantry Regiment 48, 12th Infantry Division.

His first combat experience was during the German invasion of the Soviet Union, where he also, similar to Broch, fought in the northern sector of the Eastern Front. He was wounded for the first time in October 1941, returned to his unit in December; his division was one of the units that got encircled in the Demyansk pocket.

Rafoth proved to be a capable soldier, and was promoted to Sergeant in September 1942; in February 1943, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class. He continued fighting with the 12th Infantry Division at Staraya Russa, later in the Nevel area and in late '43/early '44 around Vitebsk, where he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st class and the Close Combat Clasp in Bronze.

In March 1944, he was ordered to attend officer training. As the Wehrmacht lost many of its officers after years of fighting, more and more NCOs were sent to a officer training to fill up the gaps. In August 1944, he was promoted to Lieutenant.

In January 1945, he “returned” to the 12th , which was destroyed on the Eastern Front in June 1944 and raised again as 12th Volksgrenadier Division, now fighting on the Western Front; Rafoth was appointed chief of the 2nd Company of Grenadier Regiment 48.

In March 1945, his Battalion was surrounded by American troops in Blessem, a small town west of Cologne. Rafoth took over command of a Kampfgruppe- only around 20 men-, which was supposed to cover a breakout attempt by the battalion. However, he spotted strong American forces moving in, and decided to attack the Americans, which were completely taken by surprise and pushed back.
Rafoths group captured a railway bridge and held it against strong enemy counterattacks for two hours, allowing his battalion to safely retreat and slowing down the American advance towards Cologne. For this action, he was awarded the Knights Cross on April 20th, 1945.


After the war, Rafoth finished his PhD in agriculture in 1952, and joined the post-war Bundeswehr in 1956 as a captain. He joined the BND, Germanys secret intelligence service, and was involved in the Guillaume affair in the 1970s. This text is already long enough as it is, so I won’t go into details about it, but feel free to look it up if you’re interested.

Rafoth retired in March 1982, and nowadays lives in Bavaria.

So there you have it, a brief biography of the last two living Knights Cross holders, who celebrate their 104th and 103rd birthday today, respectively. I hope you found this story a bit interesting, and I thank you all for watching my videos and supporting my channel!

Wishing you all a great new year!

The first and second images show Hugo Broch (right person) in 1945, the second image shows him a few years ago.

The third image shows Heinz Rafoth, both in his Wehrmacht uniform and in his post-war Bundeswehr uniform.

Skip the Carousel

1 2 3

5 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 460

German WWII Archive

Hey everyone,
I hope you are all doing well.

As 2025 is coming to an end, I would like to thank you all for supporting this channel, watching my videos and posting comments- a lot of them are interesting to read, and I do read every single one of them (some are also borderline stupid, but at least they make me laugh).

I want to extend a special thanks to everyone who has supported this channel financially over the year, so all my Patreon supporters and people who have donated coffee to me. I will finally start working next year, so money will be less of an issue, but as a poor student, it still is very much an issue now, so I greatly appreciate the support.

I actually had a lot more planned this year in terms of narrated videos and I have some pretty neat ideas about that, but sadly I don't have much time for that and I've also been super busy with job hunting, writing my master thesis and asking homeless people to leave (I work nightshifts as a security guard).

Anyways, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year 2026.
I've also just released a Christmas-themed video, and this will be my last video for this year.
I will take a small break and will be back with a new video in the first weekend of January.

Untill then, take care, have a happy new year and I'll see you all again next year!

6 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 653

German WWII Archive

Hey everyone,
I hope you are all doing well.

I have a small question for you: Would you prefer a video in lower quality, but without a watermark (first picture), or would you prefer a higher quality version but with a watermark (second picture)?

Ultimately, for me it doesn't really matter much, but I just wanted to get some opinions from you guys, so let me know in the comments below!

Hope you are all having a good start into the week! :)

Skip the Carousel

1 2

7 months ago | [YT] | 300

German WWII Archive

“On the Battlefields of the Greater German Struggle for Freedom", a German personalized propaganda film for Field Marshall von Brauchitsch, is now avaliable on Patreon! If you have a few bucks to spare and want to support the channel, head over to Patreon! (please do, I need money)

This one is actual a rather interesting piece of propaganda film. It is meant as a birthday present for the 60th birthday of the commander in chief of the German Army, Field Marshall Walther von Brauchitsch (1881-1948), who held that post between February 1938 and December 1941.

While it follows the German campaigns through Poland, France, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, it places a special emphasis on the work of von Brauchitsch, showing him leading German forces, conducting frontline visits, awarding medals, visiting field hospitals, and even some interesting and rare footage of him being presented a Samurai sword by Japanese General Yamashita, or being present at the meeting of Hitler and Franco at the Hendaye station in southern France in October 1940.

It is 32 minutes long and definitly worth a watch, so again, if you want to support the channel, head over to Patreon:
www.patreon.com/GermanWWIIArchive

Thanks to everyone who supports the channel. And of course, the content on the Youtube channel will always be free, but if you're interested in some extra content, feel free to take a look at my Patreon.

Have a nice weekend!

Skip the Carousel

1 2 3 4 5 6

10 months ago | [YT] | 299