My friends totally chewed me out for saying I've collected some things from the Third Reich

[ILH]

Hi Awesome,

I can understand your worry and annoyance, but they will forget about it eventually.

I hope this may be some small consolation:
I worked in an army surplus shop in the middle of a Brighton, UK (a VERY PC place) during the 1990s when the Swiss Army sold off their stocks of 'Minnestrone' Camo gear. Worried about possible adverse reaction, I put a notice up saying that it was similar to ww2 German Camo (Liebermuster).
Next thing I know, the boss recieved written letters of complaint saying I was promoting nazism and we had a (tiny) group of protestors outside who would not talk a calm and reasoned expalantion over their own wild imaginings.
Like at school, it wasn't easy to hide from the fools and bullies- they knew where I worked....
In the end they gave up and fogot about it, some even came back and bought stuff.

The only time we ever got serious agro was for selling Russian rabbit FUR hats... that cost us two shop windows!

[RDUNE]

I've had people react in all kinds of ways when they find out about the German portion of my collection. I've heard "how can you collect such evil things", "whats wrong with you", and one guy in college started giving me the Nazi salute whenever he saw me and told people I was a skin head (which was silly for more than one reason, not the least of which being that I had a 'James Dean' haircut). I try not to bring it up unless I'm talking to someone who understands militaria or history, but if it does come up I usually have to remind the person that I have pieces from several countries, both allied and axis, in my collection.

I was worried what my girlfriends reaction would be the first time I showed her one of my armbands. She just looked at it for a second and said "oh my god" (then I flinched) which was immediately followed by "Thats sooo cool, can I hold it?" Then I spent a good while showing her other pieces, and explaining them (right after I decided to marry her ).

Like someone else said, your location will play a big part in how people react. I live in Virginia, which is close enough to the south, and West Virginia, that people associate anything 'Nazi' with white supremacy, KKK, Aryan Nation, Aryan Brotherhood, Aryan Circle, White Knights, etc. People find out you have something with a swastika on it, and they immediately assume you are a white supremacist.

I have a bunch of Japanese items also, but I've never heard someone whine about Pearl Harbor or the Bataan Death March....

Your friends are being ridiculous. Take the advice others have given and see how that works. And if they still give you crap, then your friends are intellectually inferior to you, your understanding of history, and your appreciation of its artifacts.

[Reich Dog Walker]

I occasionally get flak for collecting TR memorabilia too. Most people are completely shocked (like my inlaws) when they see something with a swastika on it, let alone an entire collection! There has been a few people to either call me a Nazi or start with the white power crap...It used to really bother me, but I guess its all part of the hobby, having to defend yourself against the general public's views, which for the most part are ignorant. I still have my US Army uniforms, that doesn't mean I was an ardent George Bush supporter or hardcore Democrat!? I don't really advertise my collection that much, I keep it in my office at home. If I think somebody would really enjoy seeing it, then I will show it too them. I'm more worried about potential thieves than I am worried about offending somebody. Besides, I could never be a Nazi....my hair is too long!

[Reich Dog Walker]

oh, one more thing...would owning a captured Iraqi flag make me a Baathist?

[davejb]

What do your so called friends say about japanese equipment collecting, do they look at something and think " OH YEAH WE KICKED THEIR ASSES " because of Pearl Harbour. Although the holocaust is one of the most horrendous event of ww2 ,The japanese committed some of the worst atrocities ever imagined, but i bet you theyll sit and watch a John Wayne film kicking japanese butt and end up cheering.These people are not your true friends otherwise they would respect your privacy and historic collecting, plus a great deal of all the militaria found in our countries had been brought back by veterans ,why?, because it was a trophy,they had been there,if they werent bothered by it why should a bunch of ignorant historically uninformed fools who i dare say would run a mile at the thought of defending their country have any say in what you do as a hobbie,here in England some of our veterans who have large collections are actually asked to go into schools and tell and show what all these items are and i have never heard of any teachers making complaints nor the parents, im afraid you have some very small minded people as friends,change them!! and you carry on collecting because us oldens arent getting any younger and this history needs to be preserved. Good luck to you

[SatansCabanaBoy]

You know, after reading Reich Dog's post, it got me thinking. I think everyone is worried about every collection they have acquired over the years. There is always the possibility of thieves breaking into your home. I have collections of hockey memorabilia, antique furniture, photographs, toys, books and other lots besides militaria. If thieves did break in...what can I count on being gone? All of my TR artifacts, that's for sure.
Why is that?
Because it's highly collectible for one reason.
So who collects this stuff... that a scrap of cloth, or a button can be worth thousands of dollars?

Must all be nazis, right?

..nazi theives, nazi buyers, nazi store owners, nazi neighbourhoods, nazi cities...

[ian]

most evrything that becomes collectable and valuable seems to come from a defeeted army
and counties justiffy there actoins in defeeting that army by demonising it ,and yes that is correct
but as years go by the artifacts of that army become demonised as well
its down to i believe a over doing ove the demonisation
yes what the n-z-i s did was to be condemd but the demonisation has gone to the point of even a photo of a swastiker is seen as ofencive
its troublesome but understandable given the demonisation
od realy that the same has not happend with the japenies ?
cheers ian

[Steven M]

From former TR collector:

Note: The following comments are my personal views about MY having these items. It is in no way intended to demean those who actively collect the items - it is a personal choice and point of view.


Collecting items from this murderous regime carries with it, a cumbersome burden which was always a source of conflict for me. In my mind, I merely wanted to have things in my collection from this era because of the aesthetic nature of the items. It is all very appealing to the eye on the surface, however the heart of these items is as black as death itself. I had my entire study draped with medals, swords, photos, flags...you name it, I had it - EXCEPT for anything related to SS or death camps. For years, I justified my collecting in my mind by convincing myself that what I collected was totally detached from the areas which I chose NOT to collect - I was wrong.

After much reading, and research about the murderous SS and the horrific brutality of the camps, I started to look at the items I had differently. I think what "did it" for me, was when I came across a listing of individuals with certain ailments who were deemed expendable because they offered nothing but "burden" to Hitler and his demons. I saw "epileptic" in the listing, as my wife has this ailment, I thought about her being exterminated if she had lived in Germany during this time. Right then, I made the decision that these pieces had no place in my home as it became personal.

I was able to look at the items I had in a different light than I had before, and actually was a little ashamed that what I had created in my room, was a memorial to a demonic and murderous regime. These items carry a very dark presence with them, and each collector walks a fine line when they choose to collect them.

I have very good friends that are decent people that collect TR and SS items whom I know have no Nazi-sympathies, and they are comfortable with having the items. The collectors I am concerned with are the ones who have screen names that memorialize the SS or Gestapo or other murderous individuals of the Reich. I wonder about their mindset.

Since I have purged myself of these items, I noticed a difference in my personality, before, I felt that I had a darkness upon me, like that of the spirit of depression and hopelessness. However, I didn't realize the magnitude of this effect until it was all gone. I NEVER sympathized with the Nazis, but the evil that put them into power had a negative effect on me. For those who do collect, NEVER underestimate the dark powers of Nazi-ism, as it is alive and well, and will gladly take hold of any willing individual.

All I am trying to say here, is that with collecting these items, comes a great responsibility to ensure that the line between collecting for the "history" of the items and collecting to glorify the regime is a fine one...and sometimes we don't even realize that we are portraying ourselves as being sympathetic to the Reich. There is nothing "cool" or "neat" about these items. They are representations of a time in human history when evil dictated the rule of law, and a select group of human beings were regarded with the same disdain for rats and vermin - not even babies or the very old were exempt from the goal of this evil.

Just something to think about to keep us "grounded" in our intent in collecting, or as the youngsters say - keep it real.

[Reich Dog Walker]

I'm going to collect things that were owned by Bill Gates and Donald Trump, hopefully people will start calling me a Billionaire!

[JPhilip]

My friends have known for awhile about some of the American-type things I have, and they've thought it was all damn cool, my m1 helmet, the medal or two that I own, the pearl harbor newspaper clipping, but the SECOND that I told them that I owned a nazi armband, I casually told them on facebook, they all FREAKED OUT and started sending me hateful messages about how, if I'm a nazi, they can't be my friend anymore, and since I support nazis that I'm not going to have any friends anymore, they TOTALLY got the wrong idea. That doesn't even make any sense, why jump to conclusions like that? I just thought I would write it here among fellow collectors.

Close your facebook account
Change your friends
Collect what you want
Thanks