Have any Wehrmacht or SS members commented on the military collecting hobby?

[Horst Wessel]

Plenty of Wehrmacht and SS members survived the war, so did any comment on the inception of collecting their war relics as a hobby? Did any of them start collecting, themselves? That would be interesting.

[Glenn66]

Can't imagine too many survivors of those terrible times wanted to be reminded of it IMO.

[hoacha]

My moms cousin was a kradmelder on the eastern front. He saw my collection while visiting from Germany. He and his wife loved it. First thing he did was put on a helmet.

[Horst Wessel]

My moms cousin was a kradmelder on the eastern front. He saw my collection while visiting from Germany. He and his wife loved it. First thing he did was put on a helmet.

That's an uplifting story. Thanks!

[LizardKing]

Well not exactly a German soldier thing but it gives an idea of the feelings of the ones that had suffered under the german occupation here in Greece.

My grand father was a 10 year old boy when the war broke. He suffered a lot and i grew up listening his stories! When he learned i had an increasingly collection that includes a lot of german items and being a history buff himself told me:

"i like what you're doing to preserve the history but don't even try to show me your items. If i even see one of these helmets or flags again you'll lose it".

I'm a ww2 collector for 8 years now and he hasn't seen or examined a single item yet. We only sit down and talk about them!

[Horst Wessel]

I can respect that. Thank you for the story.

[Neil Hever]

Gerhard Hennes was a signals Leutnant in Africa. He wrote several good books and we supported him at appearances.
We provided backdrops with original items at places like Reading WWII Weekend and Fort Indiantown Gap. At one event in PA, I put up a signals display along with a complete tropical uniform and music as well. Gerhard looked at the gear and remarked "where did you get this?" He also listened to and remembered Heia Safari. His advice, never wire up a phone inside a tent in the desert. As soon as a vehicle comes by and pulls the cable - everything goes flying. Certain objects brought back specific memories. Photo shows him looking at a shadow box we made for him. He didn't care much for artifacts. If you can locate his book Under the crooked cross it is worth reading.

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