Collecting this time period..........Why Not Me ?

[BOB COLEMAN]

After retiring, I had a good business and personal friend visit with his wife. His father and mother were both survivors and marched West from Auchwitz to Dachau where they were liberated. I was a little concerned about them seeing the collection room but was pleasantly surprised that they understood the history the collection represented and knew I was not a "Nazi." My usual comment to the uneducated is it is always better to utilize the equipment of your enemy than the reverse. As a kid, I had a SA sturmfahne hanging on my bedroom wall. It was visible from the street and no one ever thought I was weird. It was a different time before the dawn of the hated "political correctness."

[Wilhelm Saris]

More then once I had to defend myself in the past why I collected TR uniforms and
insignia, especially with elder people that had the Germans around from
1940-1944 in the Netherlands, where I live. Some were offended, others not and had
a look in my collecting room. Most often I could convince them for the reasons for
collecting. My second handicap was my name Wilhelm and the knowledge my mom
was born in Germany! "He's a chip from the old block". I heard them thinking.
Personally I didn't or do not care what one says (said) about me or what their thoughts
were. Wasn't I named "hun" in my younger days at school? Now I do collect other items
and some try to offend me, as what idiot collects Japanese female kimono and Asian
chopsticks. Only a fool does!

My house even was searched by the police in the 1970's, as the one or the other thought
I was a right-winged nazi, as what idot was collecting all those swastika's.
Since the 1980's I do not collect anymore, but write articles and books. Still there are
people that do not understand my writings either: why bothering so much about a worn
uniform. Who cares! My simple answer: I have some knowledge and what I know I put onto
paper. When I do not write about it, in a number of years all is forgotten and the truth is
even more twisted.

There always will be persons that have their thoughts about collectors of TR material(s).
This won't change!

[bigmacglenn]

Excellent Thread, Gentlemen...I can relate to much of this from my own experiences beginning as a Boy in German Elementary School in Lampertheim, Germany in the mid-1970s...Several of my teachers were WH & LW Vets, another in the Afrika Korps...I would drag home all sorts of Relics and the neighbors would either shake their heads, laugh, or stop and stare in silence...they eventually became accustomed seeing me and my Neighborhood Pals running around in assorted WH, US and Bundeswehr Gear...My Mother tolerated it -I was a determined kid- but there were moments when I took Flak from my own Family as I lacked the Maturity to fully understand the Criminal Dimension & Horrors of the Nazi Era...While I was merely playing "War"...They were reminded of the Real Thing, and there wasn't a single family on the entire Block that didn't have relatives killed or missing...Many were Refugees from East Prussia, Silesia...My next door neighbor Herr Kling was captured in Normandy, had a finger shot off, spent the rest of the war in a Texas POW Camp...I found myself fascinated with the older men's stories and would engage in conversation about the war, which was rather unusual for a kid back then, as the Topic was still quite "Tabu" and anything 3rd Reich-connected was still being thrown in the Trash... Living with my German Oma -a former BdM Girl and Armaments Worker (Lost 2 Brothers killed in the War)- I'd often chat with her visiting friends or show off my latest finds to the 20th Panzer Division Veteran who fixed things for her around the house (Spent 10 years as a POW in Russia, returning in 1955!)...When I was 12 I had to spend time in the Hospital, and my roommate happened to be a 72 year old Veteran of the 100,000 Man Reichswehr & Wehrmacht, and he told me stories of his "Dienstzeit" including his experiences on the Leningrad Front...I learned at a young age that everyone had a story to tell...an important story at that...at a time when the German Experience/Perspective was rarely -if ever- asked about or heard from...Today I am 51 and have served in the Military myself...As part of my Heritage, I feel a sort of "kinship" with that particular generation...For me personally, I "connect" in studying the History, I "Experience" the Memorabilia, and Share Knowledge as an Act of Stewardship & Responsibility - Of Remembrance...
cheers, Glenn