How do people react when they see your Nazi displays?

[Jerry B]

the funny thing is that in the UK at various times hanging a UK flag on your wall would have people thinking you were some sort of rabid right wing neo nazi nutter.

[Glenn66]

Even in Australia, the national flag has been decried as a symbol of racism. Apparantly, displaying the national flag seems to imply you are a nationalist, with the next logical (to the bleeding heart, PC brigade) step being that you are a national socialist.

[Gunny Hartmann]

Many good, valid and thoughtful observations have been made in a numer of posts since this thread started. I will not be able to add any substantial new insights here, so just allow me to throw in one random observation:

When it comes to collecting Third Reich material, many people automatically equal "interest" with "identification": That guy is interested in Nazi stuff, so he must be a Nazi.

That is flawed reasoning to begin with, but what endlessly puzzles me is that it seems to be applied only - or at least predominately - to that particular period of history / collecting field.

A real-life example: I once read a militaria magazine on the bus while commuting to work. Apparently looking over my shoulder, some teenage lads behind me saw the headline of an article having something to do with the SS, causing one them to actually remark "Nazi!". To which I clearly replied something along the lines of "I'm not a bloody Nazi, I am merely interested in this stuff". (Which was the end of that.)
Now, that same magazine also had articles on subjects from the German Democratic Republic and Imperial Germany. Had I read one of those, would that idiot kid have automatically assumed me to be, respectively, a Communist or a Monarchist? Somehow, I don't think so...

"When it comes to collecting Third Reich material, many people automatically equal "interest" with "identification": That guy is interested in Nazi stuff, so he must be a Nazi."
This can be oh so true, a friend of my daughter was visiting and spotted my collection, she became irate and called me a nazi straight to my face, i tried reasoning with her telling her a nazi would not have a part Jewish wife but she was having none of it and i ended up asking her to leave.
I'm too old to care what people think of me but now i only show my collection to people who show a genuine interest!...

[robin morley]

My collection is hidden away as having a German Frau there are often varied and assorted Germans staying (presently we have 4 German ladies with us). My current University module is 1914 -1989 War, peace and Modernity. Therefore my bookcase is full of books on such varied topics as Wiemar, The suffragettes, Stalin, Weltpolitik, Freikorp, Liberal democracy etc, etc and what book do they unfailingly pick out and ask why are you interested in HIM, you've guessed it Ian Kershaws biography of 'Hitler'. Trying to have a a balanced and open minded conversation regarding Hitler or the 3rd Reich is just impossible. To even suggest that some of the reforms introduced in the 1930's such as social care and social housing were in some way enlightened generally brings a look of horror to their faces.

[Kevlar]

IMO, when people are in your home they should respect your interests and belongings.
A flag is as previously said a strong symbol, no matter what flag. Flags should only be displayed on a wall if it's a part of a larger collection with other items close to it (same room), or people can easily give you a weird look and start to wonder.

I display my items in the open, not many have seen my collection, but no negative comments have been received, at least not yet.

[sandgroper]

Even in Australia, the national flag has been decried as a symbol of racism. Apparantly, displaying the national flag seems to imply you are a nationalist, with the next logical (to the bleeding heart, PC brigade) step being that you are a national socialist.

There is NO bastard will EVER stop me proudly flying our flag in OUR country. I don't care who thinks I'm a racist, I am proud of my country, my family have fought for it and it is my right to do so. (not having a go at you Glenn or anyone else)

On the original thread though, I think a lot of it comes down to how you display your pieces, if you hang these flags and banners in such a way that it looks to the outsider that you are embracing the ideology then you're asking for trouble. I only have one nazi flag, it is a small pennant, it is stained, torn and I have it draped through the rubble of my display in a beaten, defeated way. I'm happy with the way it looks and I'd be pretty surprised if anyone thought I supported the ideology because I have it. I also proudly have a full sized WW2 Australian flag hanging in the same room, along with an Australian uniform.

[StefanM]

Nationalism can be be a positive position to take. Nationalism doesn't equal extremism in my book.

[Erno]

In many former East European countries I am sure as many people get offended by the symbols of the Stalinist and subsequent Soviet supported communist regimes as they do by Nazi symbology having been occupied and repressed by both totalitarian regimes. A similar situation may also be true for those countries in the Far East that were under Japanese occupation. I am also sure that the significant majority of the Jewish community in the US and elsewhere are offended by Nazi symbology rather than by Soviet or Japanese symbology. It is all about context.

I don't know about the communist symbolism in Eastern Europe, but the bit about the Imperial Japanese iconography is very true. The rising sun flag is seen as very offensive in east Asia, especially in places like China, where the swastika is incidentally not viewed negatively due to its centuries old associations with Buddhism.

[youthcollector1]

It's a sad truth but there are collectors out there who collect this stuff for the sole reason of the ideology the items represent. That said, most in our hobby, I think, don't and aren't in anyways radical racist. This thread is a great example of that and it makes me proud to be a member here.
Ade also recently banned a member who was obviously a rasict, which I thank him for. Many of the other fora could careless as so long said members pay their dues.

[Panzersaurus]

Well on the topic of the poll, I have told very few people outside of my family about it. I could probably count the people on one hand actually. I think probably only two people actually. I have never even gotten around to telling my best friend. I guess it's very much a private passion with me. I have alot of Jewish friends and I don't think most of them would take lightly to my collecting. Maybe one day I will be more open about it, but for now I shall enjoy my hobby in private.