Collecting Nazi memorabilia is it wrong ?

[Badge]

What are your views ?

[Adrian]

What are your views ?

To some it might seem wrong, to others it doesn't - each to their own as they say. It all depends on your views and what reasons you collect it for. If you collect to glory in the regime and the crimes commited then I believe it is very wrong. If you collect to study the memorabilia, learn about the items and are interested in history and research then I really don't see anything that makes it inappropriate. The pre 1945 items we collect are part of history, they don't make them anymore, why not preserve them for future generations and pass our knowledge and discoveries on?
This is a question that has been asked many, many times over the years. There are no definitive right or wrong answers, just differences of opinion based upon your collecting ethics.
What are your views?

[talltom]

The pre 1945 items we collect are part of history, they don't make them anymore, why not preserve them for future generations and pass our knowledge and discoveries on?

what about those god damn fakes
to answer you question i think if you collect to study the items that should be accepted by everyone but if you collect it because your veiw is that the nazis where the best think ever created thats bad (and you should be shot) i don't think a lot of people understand the fact that a lot of germans during ww2 weren't actually nazis they were just serving their country its the fact that the nazis did so many bad thinks that every german had to pay for in the future

tom

[Adrian]

what about those god damn fakes

Read the first four in my quoted sentance Tom!

[Dean]

I collect because WWII was one of the most historical events in recent times.Things could have gone one way or the other. I, myself am a history buff and think the remnants of ww2 should be preserved for future study. If people hate reality of ww2 and want to bury it then they have a chance of occuring again in the future so it is important to remember the past and preserve it.So, I dont see why there is a question about collecting and remembering the horrible atrocities that took place unless they want them to reappear in the future.
~Dean

[sandgroper]

I think it is a fascinating part of history, not a good part, ultimately the rise to power of the nazis cost the lives of 50 million people - including two of my uncles both KIA fighting in the Royal Australian Army. Both of these blokes, like so many others, never got to live long happy lives due to Hitlers rise to power in Germany. It is the artifact itself that holds the fascination for me, the fact that the whole empire that brought about it's creation is now confined to the pages of history. I get the same feeling when I see a Roman arrowhead or visit historic buildings here in my own country from the days when the sun never set on the British empire, just apreciating their place in history and having something physical to visit or hold or even own just ads that extra something to my already great interest in history in general. Because I feel this way does not mean I want to feed people to lions or exterminate whole races. If people did'nt have these interests in history, then a lot of museums would be big empty buildings with not a whole lot to see. You only have to read through this forum to see that the majority of us here have many historical interests, the nazis being just one of them.

[talltom]

Read the first four in my quoted sentance Tom!

opps bit blind today

tom

[slados28]

No, collecting Nazi memorabilia is not wrong. Much in the same way that museums aren't wrong in preserving artifacts from long forgotten wars/atrocities and disasters etc. It's not about good or bad, condoning or condeming... it's about history and remembering and preserving the memory of both sides of human nature without injecting your own sensibilities or others prejudice into the whole thing.
Censoring and burying past history, which is effectively what one does if one wishes to discredit or tarnish the reputation, or distort the real intent behind, activities such as collecting ww2 items, is something I would call being blatantly [censored] of the importance of preserving history and it's importance in attempts at trying to understand why the world has become what it is today...

If someone disapproves of you collecting so-called "Nazi memorabilia" and thereby of you actually learning from and preserving these pieces of history I say you should ignore them altogether.... they're really not worth it.

If they don't get it by now they'll never get it...

[sebfrench76]

One of the main fact is :where do you live?
In France,collectors of 3rd reich stuff,are sometimes considered like nazi-nostalgics,and in England,they're just history enthusiasts...
It depends on the weight of the sufferings you went through....It's ok for me with the Heer relics,but i cannot hold a nazi item...Sorry,i'm a bit sensible...
I'm 44,French,and generally,my heart goes to the allied memorabilia,cause,aside all political consideration,they made my parents free!

[slados28]

I guess we're a bit luckier where I live even though we were also occupied for 5 years during ww2.
My bottomline is this though; It's not hurting anyone, it's not like you're out there parading around in the streets yelling "Sieg Heil!" dressed in a SS uniform rubbing it in people's faces or anything, as long as it's not about glorifying the Nazis and their ideology I can see no logical reason for dissaproving of this hobby... Although I can and certainly do understand that feelings can sometimes (perhaps very often) be somewhat irrational and, probably more often than not, do not adhere to the practice of logical reasoning (something that I personally believe in and practice daily).

To each their own... in my mind history is history, the degrees to which we've been affected by this particular period would of course vary greatly but I don't feel that this should prevent people from collecting Nazi/German ww2 artifacts, neither should anyone EVER be feeling ashamed of doing so...