Owning/exploiting Nazi Symbols

[Homicidalheathen]

In art, for me.....anything goes. I don't have to buy it.

[Msterbeau]

And again yes....

How do you folks feel about the ever contraversial "Confederate Flag"? (if this was addressed earlier I apologize... I have only skimmed at this point)

We did talk about this before... I'll dig it up.

Edit: Here it is.

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

I actually have a heirloom SS ring with the deaths-head symbol along with the "SS" runes (yes both symbols being co-oped from previous culture) Although i think looks very cool, and has direct relevance to me as such its difficult to justify wearing in public even though it was willed to me from my grandfather. Not so much i dont think out of "respect for the holocaust" (which im pretty well read-on). But that the imagry still conjures up "you are a racist bastard" reactions which , similar to yelling fire in a crowded room, i think is probably ill-advised.

CHRIST!!!!!!!!!!!! do you know what those are worth! Each one was given out specific... and if you track down you yours was given too....

<sigh>

anyway, I dont have much "nazi"stuff except for a Muslim nazi Fez from Bosnia (yeah... the bosnians joined the SS so they could kill Jews and Serbs...

I do have quite a book collection, and I know a couple of militaria dealers so if anyone has anything they want appraised or identified... Ill give it a shot.

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

PS... it was perfectly OK for a Nazi to be gay as long as they impregnated women and were "butch". Most Nazis who were gay did this. Most gays who were killed by the Nazis refused to go along with the "breed" policy... or had some other "disqualification from the human race like being a socialist or a Jew as well as being Gay"

Women were also allowed to be gay as long as they had children too,...

[Draco1958]

I can see history buffs wanting to own paraphernalia and swastikas, et. al., but WEARING them? You're just asking for it... at least in this day and age.

Re-enactors might wear it. Yankee Air Museum did their yearly air display and had WWII re-enactors in American and German uniforms and equipment including tanks and armor cars. Sometimes in order to be accurate, the symbol will be used but in a historical sense.

[Scary Guy]

LOL forgot about the other thread. Yeah that pretty much covers it.

Since then I've met a good friend of mine. He claims he's not a racist and is a nice guy. He knows a few racist jokes (which you might not like racist jokes but they're still jokes and still funny, even if you don't want to admit it). He's of German/Itallian decent and his grandfather was a Nazi. He's got a pretty skewed vision of what the Nazi's were (they were alright but Hitler turned it into something completely wrong and that most Nazis hated him, which seems inaccurate to me). He's got both an SS flag and a Nazi flag. I'm not defending his taste in decoration, but he's no Nazi I can assure you.

I've always hated what the Nazis stood for, but loved the symbology and art.

Speaking of Nazi-esque bands, Hanzel ünd Gretyl are coming to town. They're not Nazi's and aren't even German. As far as I know they're not racist in any form.

Unfortunately with what Hitler has done the symbology will always be viewed with a negative stance now.

[sass_in_the_pants]

Interesting topic.

I squirm at historical/religious symbols used in fashion. They're exploiting history and faith just to hawk a few more crappy t-shirts? Ugh. I wish the fashion world would show a little class, just a little.

Interestingly, a friend of mine from Berlin, his grandfather was a Nazi. The Nazis came to his house, put their pistol in his newborn baby's mouth and asked his grandfather if he was a Nazi. He said yes and "enlisted" that day in the military. He now knew the price of non-compliance. My friend's family held on to his grandfather's old things - his uniform, his papers, other miscellaneous items. They don't display it. They hide them in a dark corner of the basement and pray for a flood. They hate their past. It shames them. I asked my friend why don't they just get rid of the shit. Burn it, trash it, whatever. He said they can't, because then they might forget. They might forget what did happen, which means they wouldn't be able to prevent what might happen again. I know that he, for one, an avid history lover, shudders to see any Nazi symbols. His shame wells up again, and he can't understand why someone would openly CHOOSE to associate themselves with something so terrible.