Never good for the Hobby

[kradman]

Leader of group which sparked fury for wearing SS uniforms at 1940s festival is pictured performing Nazi salute near Hitler's 'Eagle's Nest' mountain retreat in Bavaria | Daily Mail Online

[MG42UK]

I think it’s a moot point, and very subjective. On the one hand most ‘normal’ people would probably consider anyone who collects Militaria, weapons and associated items ‘odd’, and I’m sure a lot of us keep our hobby relatively private for those reasons. On the other hand, you get full-on SS re-enactors, stalls at shows festooned with swastikas and other Nazi imagery, which I have to say I find ‘odd’ and am uncomfortable with. Within the confines of an event people walking around in Wehrmacht/SS uniforms has its place, but on the public road not a good look. There is also the obvious fact that if you enjoy dressing up as a Nazi in your spare time, you may have more than a little liking for their ideology and politics, and these groups may well be a convenient ‘beard’ for some such individuals to live out some weird fantasy every weekend (case in point from the story the OP linked to: Leader of group which sparked fury for wearing SS uniforms at 1940s festival is pictured performing Nazi salute near Hitler's 'Eagle's Nest' mountain retreat in Bavaria | Daily Mail Online).

Conversely, many SS troops joined-up to fight Bolshevism, and to protect their homelands from the Soviets, and were no more ‘Nazi’ than other Axis troops. There is also a rich and fascinating history with these units that doubtless drives a genuine interest and fascination with many re-enactors and others, more generally, in our hobby.