people who find things to be offended by
on 05/28/2011 at 01:22 PM
Ah, but Peiper, you’re missing the subtle nuance of the article!
“We are asking people not to turn up in German officer or SS uniforms, because we do not want to offend the Jewish community on our doorstep.”
The ban was introduced after complaints that a minority had turned up the annual event in SS regalia, with one even impersonating Hitler’s henchman Herman Goerring.
Mock battles will still take place at Bury, Rawtenstall and Ramsbottom stations over the weekend between ‘Allied’ and ‘Axis’ volunteer troops.
So you can dress up as a regular German soldier, but anyone on that side of the re-enactment who is playing an officer had better wear a Bulgarian or Romanian uniform. Or a Russian one, if the re-enactment is of some early battle. Iraq, “Free India”, or the then new nation of Thailand would work as well. Not that any of those troops may have actually been in the particular battle being re-enacted, but only that those people wouldn’t be portraying actual Nazis or Storm Troopers. But they’d still be Axis Powers officers.
Yes, it all seems a bit silly, but I’m sure it’s not only Jewish people who could find offense. Any POW or Resistance type who suffered at the hands of the Gestapo would also have a card to play.
And I just love the comments at the link “but no Germans ever made it to England!” Yeah, well, use the old noggin then - the original battle must have taken place elsewhere, and is about to be re-enacted locally.
Hey, I know! They should re-enact Dunkirk, only in reverse. Fill up every boat in the UK with muzzies and africans, and send them over to France, without any guns or equipment. Perfect!
And I guess this means Prince Harry won’t be attending then?
One wonders, one does, if it would acceptable for the re-enactment Axis officers to wear this patch instead of the old double lightning bolts?
But if your re-enactors are really sticklers for authenticity, then I guess there really ought to be only one guy in charge wearing that one.
History really hurts sometimes, don’t it?
Most people can identify at best the 3 main members of the Axis during WWII, when in fact there were 6 main nations involved, not including the USSR before Operation Barbarosa. And nearly 30 other countries were on their side to a greater or lesser, lesser extent. Nor should we forget the dozens of “merely” collaborative governments, nor the dozens of divisions - more than half a million men under arms - of foreigners who volunteered to be part of the Waffen SS. Not the regular army, the SS.
I didn’t have one single problem with Prince Harry. I think there’s just ppl who wait under rocks for something to offend them. The prince meant no harm and it was a costume party. Heck, he wasn’t even wearing a regulation uniform but he did have the arm band. I thought, big deal. I know some ppl who never bought a Japanese car. Or not that they knew was Japanese. Never had a problem with that kind of feeling. But hey ... not everybody in the SS for example, was a Nazi party member. Hard as that is to understand given their indoctrination and all. But these folks should not be allowed to dictate something as innocuous as a war re-enactment. Why aren’t ppl bothered by the Soviet flag when it’s occasionally displayed? Just as oppressive and just as murderous. The only difference being that their oppressions weren’t directed at one race or one religion as a state sponsored activity in the same way that the Nazi state was. And it’s pretty damn arrogant of them to decide that just because THEY are offended, that ppl who aren’t should bow to their feelings. Where’s it end?
Remember that really dumb French/English fleet thing a few years ago? You know, celebrating Nelson’s victory except the Brits not wanting to offend the French, altered something. I can’t remember what it was now. But it was really dumb. This is the very same pc thing.
The whole damn world has become a politically correct dictatorship.I just put the Prince Harry bit in there to be a wiseass punk. I miss Rich K a little, even though he could be a little irritating with all his off topic links and stuff.
I’m not too sure about that ‘not all SS were Nazis’. C’mon, if they didn’t want to be Nazis, there was always the regular army, right?
Yes, PC sux. It’s gotten so far past the point of any positive value that it’s become a hindrance just to regular day to day life. Time for it to go. But for that to happen, the Always Offended types will have to settle down and shut up, and all others will have to hand in their various Perpetual Victim cards. So don’t hold your breath.
I’m not too sure about that ‘not all SS were Nazis’. C’mon, if they didn’t want to be Nazis, there was always the regular army, right?
No. What I said was that not all were members of the party. Indeed, there was an attraction to the Waffen SS and you didn’t have to be a rabid anti Semite but chances are were. From what I’ve read, not that many joined because they were personally anti-Jewish. That seemed to come (for many) from training and indoctrination. Which shouldn’t have been difficult given Europe’s general antisemitism anyway.
I’ve read accounts of young Jewish boys, not understanding the threat or meaning, who said how how sad they were that they couldn’t join the Hitler Youth. Of course, that would be before Crystal Night. Lots of things changed after that event. They spoke of the fancy uniforms, the pomp and parades and how good that black uniform looked with it’s silver trim and such. And truth to tell, it was an attractive uniform. They (Waffen) were an elite force and to a degree better equipped then the army. There was an elan, no other way to put it, that attracted many young men and boys. You might ask with some justification, why do so many young men join the Marines as opposed to the Army? The training is tougher then reg. Army. Far more spit and polish and I can say from what I saw, Marines had far more discipline then we did in the Navy. The Waffen SS had all the attributes of special fighting units in America and England and France. And like their special combat groups, not all could qualify, not all could pass the test of endurance in training etc. So it attracted the young who were up to the challenge. Of course, they also had some very strange ideas promoted by Himmler that belonged more to the Twilight Zone then to reality. By that I mean the occult.
Didn’t the Nazis capture and occupy a small British island for a year or so?
Sure did. I forgot about that. The Channel Islands.
05/28/2011 at 03:22 PM
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