War Nostalgia Gone Wrong?

[GatwickDepress]

"It doesn't actually matter if the leader of the Nazi dress up group is, in fact, an actual Nazi sympathiser" is probably one of the more darkly surreal takes I've read on this site.

Sometimes I really do breathe a sigh of relief that this forum does not reflect the real world. You can prance around in your Goebbels cosplay all you want, but woe and betide anyone who dares talk too loudly in a carriage.

 

[John Luxton]

Were they wearing the same uniforms on previous occasions and/or behaving in the same way?

Maybe; if I saw recognised who was known for behaving in a way that appears to endorse nazi views, I would certainly not be keeping that information to myself.

They gave the impression that they had attended before without problem and from what someone earlier in the thread pointed out the trouble only appeared to start when a drunk decided to pick a fight with them. Without that happening this probably would not have been news.

If someone is drunk in a public place causing trouble, well then they are the problem.

As for someone's politics providing they don't go around spouting hate I tend to take a fairly neutral view.

If they are causing a problem then its definitely a case of inform the police.

I certainly wouldn't go challenging them on a face to face visit and causing an issue, there are people paid to do that.

 

[NorthWestRover]

As for someone's politics providing they don't go around spouting hate I tend to take a fairly neutral view.

Wearing an SS uniform is spouting hate. Neutral on nazism, lol.

 

[John Luxton]

I recall seeing photos a couple of years ago from a counter-protest to an AfD demonstration in Dresden. Germans carrying placards that said "Bomber Harris, your work is not finished!".

Whilst my own cursory investigations suggest that the AfD (Alternativ Für Deutschland) are some distance away from being full-blown neo-nazis, those protestors at least suggest that your average German in the 2020s would not be offended by a British military uniform from any historical period.

From what I gather AfD are more traditional old time conservatives.

There is an increasing tendency to brand anyone who isn't a Liberal or Socialist a fascist or nazi - it is rather ridiculous really and both are very misused terms.

As for Bomber Harris he has been a bit of a controversial figure here in the UK.

I did read somewhere that there was a reluctance to honour Harris and Bomber Command after the war because of his controversial tactics, hence the Bomber Command Memorial was only dedicated in 2012.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Sep 2023 ==

Wearing an SS uniform is spouting hate. Neutral on nazism, lol

Well then there are a lot of well known actors out there who are guilty for all those war films.

Most re enactors are just acting roles.

There is only an issue if the reenactors cease to be acting and are actually spouting hate. Merely wearing a uniform means nothing.

Obviously the leader of this enactment group appears to have questions to answer in this case - but it might not be true of all people who re-enact SS or other German troops.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Unless it's part of an academic or professional TV/film production, no one should be dressing up in SS uniforms and if they are, there is something seriously wrong with them.

Some random neo-nazi rally dressed up as a re-enactment is not "acting". And films about WW2 are not what we are talking about.

There are two possibilities - the kind one is that the people dressed up like this were ignorant fools who thought it was funny. The more likely is that they are neo-nazis who wanted to glorify Hitler. If it's woke to call that out, hello I'm woke.

 

[Krokodil]

One could say the same of those that dress up as English Civil War Cavaliers and Roundheads.

Are all roundheads neo republicans and all cavaliers royalists?

I know it is not quite so common in the UK but I understand there are re-enactment groups for the American Civil War.

Is the decision as to which side the troops depict based on political orientation / beliefs?

This passage from an army banter site sums it up quite well in my view:

The closer the chosen period to modern day, the more elite the unit, the more dictatorous the country, the bigger the walt. Thus a New Model Army pikeman is a smaller walt than a 95th Rifleman who is in turn a lesser walt than a WW2 Home Guard who is in turn a lesser walt than a Waffen SS who in turn is out-walted by a Vietnam War era Green Beret - who, in turn, is out-walted by a present day SAS-posing bank manager.

 

[Western Sunset]

"The Renactors Parade is open to anyone in 1940’s regalia. Anyone wishing to participate in the foot procession should convene at the Lobster pub and line up along Wyndham Street before 4 p.m."

If they have the event again, presumably they'll change the wording on the website advertising it...

 

[John Luxton]

This passage from an army banter site sums it up quite well in my view:

Couldn't quite understand what a "Walt" is until I looked it up.

So what you are saying that really a Waffen SS reenactor is lower down the pecking order of disapproval than a Green Beret or SAS soldier?

 

[GWVillager]

I’m not sure if this has been said before (sorry if it has), but I remember the ELR’s 1940s weekend featuring different stations as being occupied by different countries. Rawtenstall was supposed to be in occupied France and, as such, had a huge number of Nazi re-enactors. I have a book of the line dating from 2011 and it features several photographs of this event.

As this was what I grew up with, I never really thought anything of it until now and, indeed, was a bit shocked to see this article suggesting they were so unpopular. Clearly, the acknowledgment of Nazis is no longer the common view on heritage railways, which is probably for the better (though the experience of travelling “internationally” was great!).

 

[Krokodil]

Couldn't quite understand what a "Walt" is until I looked it up.

So what you are saying that really a Waffen SS reenactor is lower down the pecking order of disapproval than a Green Beret or SAS soldier?

I was quoting. I don't think that they've given enough weight to their third test (how dictatorial the regime is).