James Holland

And it's a real shock because, you know, one has to remember that before the arrival of the Nazis, before the First World War, I mean, Germany is this place of unbelievably rich culture, of music, of science, of literature, of art, of engineering, of a proud nation, of a brilliant military heritage and, you know, super creative, yet just like that. Yeah.

You know, 12 years, less than 12 years, they've descended into the Holocaust. And it's horrible. It's so grotesque. The contempt for human life is so appalling. The cruelty, you can't imagine it. And, you know, even things like Zyklon B, that is to be more humane for the executioners, not for the executed. You know, you're all crammed naked together. That's humiliating.

You know, 12 years, less than 12 years, they've descended into the Holocaust. And it's horrible. It's so grotesque. The contempt for human life is so appalling. The cruelty, you can't imagine it. And, you know, even things like Zyklon B, that is to be more humane for the executioners, not for the executed. You know, you're all crammed naked together. That's humiliating.

You know, 12 years, less than 12 years, they've descended into the Holocaust. And it's horrible. It's so grotesque. The contempt for human life is so appalling. The cruelty, you can't imagine it. And, you know, even things like Zyklon B, that is to be more humane for the executioners, not for the executed. You know, you're all crammed naked together. That's humiliating.

Different age groups in a concrete room. You're being gassed. It's not a particularly quick death.

Different age groups in a concrete room. You're being gassed. It's not a particularly quick death.

Different age groups in a concrete room. You're being gassed. It's not a particularly quick death.

It's horrific. It's incredibly painful. All your capillaries and your lungs burst. You're gasping for air. Your whole chest is heaving in pain. And some people can take up to 20 minutes. And you know there's nowhere out. And you're watching other people dying. And you know that's your fate. It's unspeakably cruel.

It's horrific. It's incredibly painful. All your capillaries and your lungs burst. You're gasping for air. Your whole chest is heaving in pain. And some people can take up to 20 minutes. And you know there's nowhere out. And you're watching other people dying. And you know that's your fate. It's unspeakably cruel.

It's horrific. It's incredibly painful. All your capillaries and your lungs burst. You're gasping for air. Your whole chest is heaving in pain. And some people can take up to 20 minutes. And you know there's nowhere out. And you're watching other people dying. And you know that's your fate. It's unspeakably cruel.

And then the Allied troops are getting into Buchenwald and Belsen and Dachau and they're seeing these emaciated people and they're seeing defecation all over the place and disease and rife with typhus and typhoid. And the whole thing is just unspeakable. And of course people are shocked.

And then the Allied troops are getting into Buchenwald and Belsen and Dachau and they're seeing these emaciated people and they're seeing defecation all over the place and disease and rife with typhus and typhoid. And the whole thing is just unspeakable. And of course people are shocked.

And then the Allied troops are getting into Buchenwald and Belsen and Dachau and they're seeing these emaciated people and they're seeing defecation all over the place and disease and rife with typhus and typhoid. And the whole thing is just unspeakable. And of course people are shocked.

You know, it's one thing going to war and you have kind of sort of basic notions of kind of Geneva Convention and all that kind of stuff. Then you see that. Off the charts. I mean, how can you contemplate that? How can you process that? Of course, they're absolutely devastated. They're completely shocked. And of course, it's why they've been doing it.

You know, it's one thing going to war and you have kind of sort of basic notions of kind of Geneva Convention and all that kind of stuff. Then you see that. Off the charts. I mean, how can you contemplate that? How can you process that? Of course, they're absolutely devastated. They're completely shocked. And of course, it's why they've been doing it.

You know, it's one thing going to war and you have kind of sort of basic notions of kind of Geneva Convention and all that kind of stuff. Then you see that. Off the charts. I mean, how can you contemplate that? How can you process that? Of course, they're absolutely devastated. They're completely shocked. And of course, it's why they've been doing it.

If ever you want to kind of raison d'etre for going to war, it's that. And for all the kind of moral ambiguity of the war, the bombing of cities and towns, mostly by allied guns or by allied bombs, when you get to Buchenwald and you see this pitiful example of human deprivation and misery...

If ever you want to kind of raison d'etre for going to war, it's that. And for all the kind of moral ambiguity of the war, the bombing of cities and towns, mostly by allied guns or by allied bombs, when you get to Buchenwald and you see this pitiful example of human deprivation and misery...

If ever you want to kind of raison d'etre for going to war, it's that. And for all the kind of moral ambiguity of the war, the bombing of cities and towns, mostly by allied guns or by allied bombs, when you get to Buchenwald and you see this pitiful example of human deprivation and misery...

It's so bizarre. And I think it's a really, you know, history never repeats itself. Of course it doesn't because this is now and that was then. Yeah. But patterns of human behavior do. And I think one of the things that's so fascinating about it and so alarming is the fragility of democracy.