Forest in the eiffel region of western germany. A forest that harbors the dark past. With a legacy still visible in isolated places. From a time when it was dubbed a green hell. In the closing stages of the 2nd world war it was the scene of bloody fighting between u. S. And German Forces. The path to the western allies advance from belgium into germany lets straight through the forests around the village a field can. For locals the battle is still a key part of their history. This ticket will come to mark it was while riding around here on my bike as a teenager that i really came into contact with the history of the herd conformists its Mission Environment on virtue i would suddenly come across ruins among the trees with Massive Concrete walls. And when i asked my parents they told me they were the remains of bunkers from the 2nd world war. Ringback and once you know what to look for in this wartime landscape you can also see bomb craters trenches and foxholes and the stones stone slush or. This mud so if you really take the time you can find a lot of these world war 2 relics in the hood can forensic. Its. For around 5 months the forest was the scene of successive bitterly fought battles between the american and german armies. Although the americans had more troops and were better equipped their attempt to drive the germans out of the forest was a military disaster. Progress was slow and costly as they became bogged down in the treacherous terrain. It was a nightmare i dont think there can be worst hell it was awful it was phrasing. And these damn shells hit the top of the tree and came down and sours and so fragmented it could trio anybody. I was in combat there for 10 days. At the height of about. I was trembling or practically the entire 10 days it was since i. Knew i could die of course. And i was terrified. An estimated 25000 american and german soldiers died in the forest. Those who live in the hurt forest it was a miracle. Here i am i dont know how i survived. The forest was a death trap for the u. S. Troops. They called it hurt in forest after the small village that was at the heart of the fighting. In the battle in the herd going fall it was one of the longest and deadliest battles on german soil in the west. It left a lot of scars not only on the inhabitants and their descendants but also on the landscape itself in the forest and on local buildings. For the german troops the war was in effect already long lost. I knew zeke you know. Even the young soldiers. Through those who could reflect. Didnt believe in victory. Nish. You just wanted to survive to come home safe and sound in the house. But nazi war propaganda portrayed a completely different picture and everything going for him on the boat from box 3 or 501 by if you can but look you couldnt find your film and it. Just didnt click of in book counted by then everyone knew the allies would win the war and this was as we hear of everything that happened in the 100 can wagner meant just a minimal delay of the inevitable getting food for thought i wonder what it said by gadhafi and indirectly contributed to the continuation of the murders in the concentration extermination camps and in the prisons and other places. Until the very last 2nd of the 3rd reich is this was used by the game called. Since d. Day in june 1044 the western allied troops had been advancing from normandy through france and belgium towards germany. In the process liberating paris brussels and antwerp from nazi occupation. We were told through ordered to take the ground that very were wrong and they get away from. Our weird rounds through to win the war we were wormser going to work and not. On september 11th 1044 the 1st u. S. Division speech the belgian german border near us and. More than 3 months earlier than expected. One day later the 3rd u. S. Armored division crossed into germany near the town of what can. We just went through the town i went on the other side none were going into the real trouble with the 1st. Sight of the seaweed line. The secret line was the defense of wall built to secure germanys western border. We saw the steel gates on the road and dragon stevens the 1st dragon steve that we are the same. Antitank obstacles were known as dragons teeth they accompanied a line of bunkers stretching over 600 kilometers from the dutch border down to switzerland for western allied troops a formidable obstacle. Kind of an all for strong bussy arms when they had no precise idea what to expect at the zig friedland. So the closer they got to the actual territory of the 3rd reich the more insecure they became with not because they thought they would still face strongly fortified in heavily manned defensive positions. And the norm not the allies had been taken in by the nazi propaganda of the prewar years. Of this one so far of the American Military films excerpts from german propaganda films showing the sig friedland as an insurmountable object to explain to its troops what they were up against. In the next siding. As many as half a 1000000 men work as much as 20 hours a day to build conflict 2000 fortified positions on land. The new madrid germans are brutal sig freedom on. The very. Were Holding Without would stop most didnt happen. Could we broke through the free line we took a whole crowd you lose what we did but we knew that you started saying free run. Was a bad place to go to as official rules like a logically physic friedland was effective on both sides and we did hear what its military value in the actual fighting was very limited. U. S. Troops succeeded in breaking through the antitank barriers near what get. Put on the other side they met with stubborn resistance from german troops who were firmly dug in in the bunkers and in the woods. James cullen was wounded in the fighting near the village of ot. I got it. Through the rio trying to blow. When i looked i saw the blood pouring out right where my heart was and i said god. Im not going to die here in a lousy german field because it looked deadly a few weeks later polands parents back home received the news that their son had been wounded in action after being hit by shrapnel he was away from active duty for 2 months. With american troops progressing much faster than expected supply lines were stretched which in particular meant fuel shortages for tanks the advance ground to a halt just behind the german border. That gave German Forces time to rebuild their lines of defense until then the van must had only stationed isolated units in the northern i felt meanwhile preparations were underway for the 4th storm old men and boys the home guard for germanys last ditch defense in a televised address propaganda minister yosef gulbis called on his compatriots determination. I would be if you take out the food and if you keep the fire the fuck yourself if you feel it. You know hardcovers the trees can go as usual goebbels was lying of course wouldnt be claimed that the enemy was not yet on german soil although they were and he tried to mobilize any remaining forces by months of us to be said that the german population were all too happy to go along with that they were tired of war and wanted it to be over supplied but they were also terrified of what the allies would do to them if they came and. The americans wanted to advance further into germany and finally see the war ended their aim was to reach the rhine and then lure industrial region but ahead of them playing a dense forest almost 10 kilometers wide which blocked their path the health can fight. In local villages the war had been all too present for several months especially due to the allied air raids on cities like. The civilians sought refuge in air raid shelters. Rational enough. There were constant air raid illiterates. And one day we came out of the bunker 6. 00 and 6. 00 buildings had burned down during the night the cattle were screaming the pigs were screaming the people were screaming it was awful. In september 944 the villages were evacuated as the invading troops and the front line came ever closer. And this morgans one morning our parents said we have to leave the artillery shells were landing all around a midi lets that we were the last ones left in hotshot my parents said this is too much were going to leave to begin. Instead of going around the forest to the north the american commanders decided to advance eastward right through the middle where they hoped german defenses would be weak but they completely misjudged the terrain with disastrous consequences. The 1st push in october 1944 ended after just 3 kilometers. This is nice to have has a but its not as if the forests are alien to americans that its always highly problematic for an army to fight and would have to rein in the camp. I was askin doesnt even ponce and unfocused wild fun things cant just drive through forests and over a large tree and for fun. Because 1st you have to cut paths through them whats on. The ground was also littered with landmines and the americans ran into a chain of bunkers in the forest this was where the germans had dug themselves in. The americans were able to destroy some of the bunkers but after 10 days. Losses on both sides were so great that the fighting died down for a while. Shortly afterwards American Forces further north achieved a decisive break through taking out an october 21st after fierce fighting it was the 1st german city to fall into allied hands. But this was a little help to the american soldiers in the nearby hurt invite. As the autumn rains began the weather was worsening from one day to the next. The u. S. Troops were literally bogged down plans for a 2nd advance had to be repeatedly delayed as one g. I. Later said anyone who says he knows where hes been in the forest is lying. On november 2nd the americans attack the village of bossa knock and from there they took the villages of comma shite and schmidt via the car valley but once again they underestimated the difficult terrain some of the hills they had to cross were 150 meters high. Frenzy of on of the in when you reach the top of the hill your mediately experience the phenomenon of looking over the landscape from one plateau to another. But you have no idea how deep and steep the valleys in between are and your notes and. The 28th u. S. Infantry division reached the village of smiths relatively quickly but then its supply lines were interrupted. The desired. If you look at the fossil and schmidt with the valley in between the only link between them is a footpath that winds down into the valley and then up again on the other side on of them and like to be there all for a start and before some of them were conscious either of the americans thought the. Path would be easy enough to drive and walk along with that theyd be able to move the necessary troops vehicles heavy weapons and other supplies alongside us reduce the cost which Everything Else but that was nonsense and. The remains of tank tracks are a stark reminder that the battle for fasa knock and schmidt ended in disaster for the americans the invaders retreated in panic only for german units to cut them off down in the valley tanks crashed down the slopes and many soldiers collapsed from exhaustion. The battle in the car valley which the american subsequently referred to as death valley claimed countless lives on both sides. A few days after the defeat general dwight d. Eisenhower came to the hook invites to meet his troops on the ground and assess the situation neither the allied Supreme Commander nor his officers had expected so many casualties. The mood was despondent. The autumn of 1944 remained unusually wet and cold and the terrain became more and more impassable every day the americans hopes for a quick victory were fading. They had already spent 2 months in the hooked invites the forest they had hoped to cross in just a few days. In mid november 1944 the americans launched a 3rd offensive this time they tried to advance by going further north passing through the villages of klein now and also home and then heading east. During the fighting a 22 year old Italian American from pennsylvania arrived in the hood can buy it in his youth he had hoped to become a photographer. We were there i would say a month a month in the war its a long time for the german artillery. Or since it just never stopped they really bomb does. Thank you heartily if you know the days followed the same pattern. Again with heavy artillery fire from the americans. Who ponce are you then tanks were deployed sherman tanks which advanced on a broad front right off on one car and then of course you could hear the shells and machine guns. On solutions. That was the actual moment you realize there were other people nearby who were shooting at you. As an unknown engine and you know shes power fair bake was sent to the hut converts with other young recruits in mid december to late antitank mines. The u. S. Forces were constantly getting reinforced with more men and more vehicles and equipment but they were not prepared for the extreme weather conditions in the i phone. Whenever they got stuck in the forest they dug in. But fox holes offered little protection against the german artillery and the cold onset of winter. It would rain some time all the snow would melt and the fox 4 was always filled with water. 3 i was fortunate. To have this camera with me and i if you look at my pictures i hear hundreds and hundreds of pictures of officers i didnt take those because neither liked it i took them to make them happy so that they would give me free them to take more pictures here now i tricked all of them. Are you for little boys. The usual or both the germans and the americans spent most of their nights in their fox holes in the woods poorly protected from the cold and wet with makeshift tarpaulin shelters. I transform the nature or around me into a dark room i would ask 3 of my best friends to let me use the metal part. Of the helmet and those became the trays for my darkroom at night i would mix my. Cannot calls most g. I. s were all asleep i was working because the dark room was only the night. The earth was the dark room you see. Tony the car out of hundreds of photos in the herd can bite although he waited over 15 years before publishing a selection of them. All i want to take with photographs order order there thats why i am here today oh i had already gotten killed a long time ago. Some of the fiercest fighting took place in a valley west of klein house in the heart of the forest. In mid november an author Ernest Hemingway was witness to the bloody battles there in his later novel across the river and into the trees based on his experiences he wrote it was a place where it was extremely difficult for a man to stay alive even if all he did was be there. In December Tony the car also photographed his comrades preparing for the christmas season. Gift packages with canned food from home arrived for soldiers who had long since perished they began to give you this food. To the local people to the german. On december 16th 1944100 miles further south in the our den the germans launched a final surprise offensive once again the allies were hard to trust in this likewise heavily forested region and had to bring in reinforcements at short notice to stem the german advance many from the help invite. Granddad an over the ridge you chems during the battle of the bolts there was fighting here but both of you and the allies were very busy with the offensive further south i know. This so lets review as one of that meant there was a period of 2 or 3 weeks without any major combat. Then the war returned to the hook invite in the course of january 945. 00 the americans managed to advance in the face of weakening german resistance the defeat in the our den counteroffensive had cost the defenders their last reserves. I particularly remember the 1st time i saw the americans. As prisoners of war and. Even i was amazed at how well fed they were. And they were clean and tidy including their uniforms. While we were a license ridin dirty rubble. Once the americans reached the ruhr not to be confused with a more famous similar sounding valley further north their way to the rhine and cologne was finally clear. The germans tried to blow up the dams to flood the valley and halt the u. S. Advance. But by now the end of the war seemed to be fast approaching. In february 1945 u. S. Troops liberated soviet prisoners of war and forced laborers in the unknown spiner concentration camp. Many were also held under in human conditions at a 2nd camp near invite. Over 2000 inmates of these camps were later buried at the soviet war cemetery ins in a hot most of them had died of hunger and now treatment. Most of the towns and villages in the health can buy were barely recognizable after the fighting. The allied troops pushed on and within a few weeks had conquered the rhineland and the industrial ruhr valley as they advance towards berlin. The evacuated residents now hoped to be able to return to their villages. When the americans passed through one of them asked us where we were from we said we were from schmidt he said he had fought there and we shouldnt go back there because the whole place was in ruins and the village had been mined but we said were going home and he would be in the house in a house. The fighting in the hilton forest was over but the war had left a trail of destruction a ravaged landscape whose scars are still visible today. American soldiers began clearing the mines that were buried everywhere german prisoners of war were forced to help them. But they could only remove a small number of the deadly devices. Of that again and again we hear this huge bang and another person flew through the air so many people lost their lives feel or feel that way bozo plainness me and one little girl had been playing with a hand grenade she thought it had perfume inside. The hand grenades had rings on them and when you pulled them you had to throw them away very quickly and. The girls hand was blown off. And the guns and thomas picked and not a very central aspect of the postwar experiences of People Living in the i thought it was that they actually had to rebuild their lives on a former battlefield and didnt condones the mccombs and children died because they played with munitions that it was dangerous to plow and cultivate the fields decided that this is whats in the good ol what. It took decades to clear the most severely affected parts of the forest of ordinance debris and the dead whod been left there and so would give us none of us unimportant. It would take the forest decades to recover. At the same time nearby towns had been destroyed by air raids. In september 945 almost sure i returned home from the war. After being the mobilized me and another guy arrived and given on a Freight Train from bahrain at the beginning of september. Through from bourne chromed and really looked at each other and i said martin is this really do when. Since sure he said theres the sign post dos letter actually it was a bit lopsided but its said to have been through. An air bridge and then we looked across the whole town. It was one big pile of rubble in a muslim salon and soused some of you couldnt see a single building Still Standing near were snatched on investment or gone and the really depressing thing was this eerie silence here. He continued to his home village of course how on foot. It had been almost completely destroyed during the fighting the locals resorted to scavenging amongst the wrecked american tanks. Prost the arm or crown of some guy or hides the americans left behind lots of canned food that. Is or ought to be if there was canned corn beef was one of the main means of 100 here there were also soups and other kinds of meat on the whole fryers hog now it is a. This is mark warner but these tunes of corned beef were big enough to make a huge part of soup for a large family. As hard as inside so temporarily they helped us to get more or less enough to eat. Almost right. In the 1st summer after the large parts of the woods that had survived the fighting would suddenly catch fire during the fighting the americans had used phosphorous and their ammunition which ignited very easily in the heat. Built by our home territory in my skin and an aunt who takes the shot failed and then it simply fastened these up i just told this yet one in South African unfolded and all about him calling him. On a leave of eason is. I dont get it he have a statement you dont need. And it ought to mean and its not get to my god oh nothing nothing still stand by me thats going to be the biggie about so much. About it as needed by our country and if a devastating one of the top boy and the 2nd this greatest. The local us repeatedly found the bodies of dead soldiers in the forest i know youre there for her serves my bird myself and i dont need to explain what half rotten dead people look like on those. Who have to take a deep breath mentally tumors were introduced you do Something Like that with them and are smart. The 1st war cemetery in the area was built in force in iraq several years after the war. Many of the dead were recovered by former german army captain you leos and thus was who dedicated the rest of his life to searching the forest for fallen soldiers. If you mention. Shove a 1000. 00 in the thought of before. You start the you go bargain by use its its is a myth the whole thing by its you jesus vanished immigrants when your family was with your mom most i would obviously like if i get drunk on the under that so its when i was to get. In under you give a sense of when you put your lips to events of fintan is jews were by use it stop. The war cemetery in force and became the last resting place for around 2300 dead soldiers and a Meeting Place for veterans and relatives of the german fallen. Another war cemetery was set up a few kilometers away in neighboring health again in 1982. Nearly 3000 soldiers are buried there many of them in unmarked brains. Since the americans did not want their soldiers buried in germany the former enemy many were laid to rest in the netherlands luxembourg or belgium at the Military Cemetery of all the chapelle for example. It was not until 4 decades after the battle that the 1st group of American Veterans returning to the health care but to the place where they had fought as young men or your body would suggest that you didnt understand why you became the marquis as they call it or good for. The whole battle itself like like the man said this morning it was it was futile it was foolish but the fact remains it was done as satisfy the whims of a feel for their superior officers that have a lot of had to be done well i didnt enjoy it at the time about i dont mind being here now because. None of you fellows are wearing uniforms so. Its oks far as thats concerned but. I did was say it was pretty different. Dream a little over. A commemorative events sometimes brought together american and german veterans former enemies. Plus a little fat but. The battle also left its legacy in the forest itself. Over the subsequent years bomb disposal experts have frequently been called in to remove bombs hand grenades and other ordnance. The dangers that lurk here will continue to affect future generations in the region. Even now 75 years after the battle the war is still present in the ground of the health conformist. You prefer. This is an area that has obviously not been like so many areas and there has been bought used to feel affiliation and moved here you might still unearth a grenade by scratching away the top soil. Sometimes these things dont look like munitions at all the for example theres a german grenade that looks like a cigar but about the same size. I would be but if it goes off youre a goner. In the 1st decades after the war hundreds of tons of ordinance were found in the forest every year. This footage from 1904 shows the yield of a search lasting 2 weeks one. You have to imagine that here by him i mean in a single day in a single attack only the americans fired about 12000 grenades stopped on. 1000. 1000 not 1250. 00 given the typical assumption that 15 percent of these are dogs then we have to assume that there are about 1500. 00 dogs in an area of 3 and a half to 4 hectors that. For a number of years now historical researchers have been studying the herd convert using the latest scientific methods theyve been able to reconstruct the course of the battle in places where this wasnt previously possible. Women here do divide could be to get them but when you walk through the woods here you encounter signs of a battle at every turn when in all the open spaces however the former battlefield has been completely cleared of the record vision other words we always see half of the battlefield and we can see that here we are. Trying this of are not. Were standing in what appears to be a completely level green field with nothing to indicate that were on a former battlefield. But in fact were in the middle of a highly fortified section of the german 2nd line of defense with. Many local people have kept the memory of the battle alive in addition to the german dead thousands of americans who had been sent to europe to end the nazi terror perished here although this is by no means clear everywhere. The most dangerous time its a march to take the memorial stones for american or german soldiers for example and the way they are treated on equal terms is actually quite questionable. Why is it licensed. It ought to be made clear that the americans were fighting for something very different than the german soldiers but you find them dotted around the landscape without any commentary on. The forest is still frequented by people foraging around for relics of the battle and even today the area is a popular site among war enthusiastic but many locals are annoyed by these groups of individuals in american uniforms repeatedly reenacting scenes from the battle. In the. Bunch mutiny here will be simply its kind of like replaying the war. Some people even to go trenches here. And conceive so they dont leave this commemorative landscape as it were. That there isnt its lot of course they dont shoot each other with live ammunition but people still find it fascinating. I take a critical view because there were so many fatalities here whether its fun or not is beside the point. Today there are now signs for walkers and hikers in various places telling the story of the battle of the health can forrest they also remind us of its importance for the western allies advance through germany but they help get invites will probably never be a normal forest again. Certainly not now some 75 years after the battle. I went back to the hercules forest. Maybe 10 years ago i cried like a baby because i suddenly remember my best friend got killed in her trip chorused it was ugly ugly for mankind to to have warrants the trouble that mankind makes is that he thinks hes italian hes german hes spanish we are all here. And this video. Paradise is our earth. Beyond. The. Deprived of their child and their future. Tens of thousands of children by a spiders were orphaned in iraq. To become darius. Since the fall of mosul theyve been refused papers. And the chance of going to school. What will become of. Close up. 30 minutes on d w. How to not. Just cover your concept discover with the bauhaus. School a legend after 100 years as the ideals of the dot house are more relevant today than they were. A 100 years ago visionaries reshaped things to come because people understood design as a way of shaping society. About half a matter does cost our youth. With ideas that are part of our future takes out a part of our way. Small part documentary stories made. For you. This is g w news live from berlin tonight the world makes a big down payment to fund the fight against the coronavirus World Leaders pledged 7 and a half 1000000000 euros to help Fund Vaccines treatment and testing but how much will it take to make it all available and affordable for everyone also coming up tonight hope for hundreds of wind and refugee