Views on Collecting Nazi Memorabilia

Recently I was looking at buying some war memorabilia, mostly Nazi memorabilia including belt buckles, 3 daggers and an SS officers uniform. I'm in no way a sympathizer or supporter of what the Nazi party was involved in but am fascinated by what occurred and to be honest find the German uniforms to be the most stylish of all the countries involved in WWII. Yet people seem to think that by purchasing such memorabilia I agree with what occurred.

Anyone have opinions on the matter or themselves purchased any Nazi Memorabilia ?

Morlar

Deleted User wrote: »

Recently I was looking at buying some war memorabilia, mostly Nazi memorabilia including belt buckles, 3 daggers and an SS officers uniform. I'm in no way a sympathizer or supporter of what the Nazi party was involved in but am fascinated by what occurred and to be honest find the German uniforms to be the most stylish of all the countries involved in WWII. Yet people seem to think that by purchasing such memorabilia I agree with what occurred.

Anyone have opinions on the matter or themselves purchased any Nazi Memorabilia ?

Do you mean militaria collectors who specialise in NSDAP party collectibles or militaria collectors who collect Third reich era militaria ?

There is a difference there and most collectors would probably not use terminology like 'nazi collector' as it's technically inaccurate, sensationalist and feeds into a shallow tabloid view of the hobby. I am guessing you mean TR era militaria ?

Most collectors I know do not specialise in NSDAP party items. There are some out there but there are probably as many who specialise in Postschutz or RAD or any of the myriad other civil and military or political organisations from the TR era.

There is a lot of specialising however, I think many collectors start off collecting everything and then narrow their focus over time due to the fact that you can't afford everything and you need to specialise your collecting interests at some point to have a more in depth and interesting collection.

There are for example people who only collect field kits dental items. Literally, only multiple examples of dental related items from assorted field kits.

The most obscure collector book I heard of was a book specifically about the landing gear of a particular plane. So it takes all sorts.

In my experience collectors collect for many reasons. Some do it for profit and there is money to be made from the right deals. Most of the ones I know & associate with are also history buffs, and the items they collect in their field are to enhance knowledge of the era in some way or another. A good few TR collectors eventually sell up and move over to imperial or even british items as they are less likely to be expertly faked and in the case of british in particular they are more easily researchable (medals).

I think having the items in your hand can make the history more real, for example I collect photographs, documents and photo albums. To me there is nothing like going through a photo album which illustrates (for example) a particular unit of a particular branch of service at a particular time, or of specific campaigns. Then when you read about that campaign, or phase of the war, the written accounts come alive and it is all the more interesting for the fact that you have in your possession unpublished and unknown photographs of those events that you are reading about. It is also interesting to be contacted by people related to, or in some other way, connected to the photographs.

The collectors forums I use have a 0 % toleration policy for actual skinhead types who collect. If you look through the members lists you will see 'expelled' after lots of names who have made 5 or 6 posts. They tend to drift in and last 5 minutes and are never heard from again. Of actual skinhead types I'd say only a tiny percentage even collect anything at all. Even those tiny percentage who do, tend to be clueless (historically speaking) in terms of what it is they think they have a poltiical allegiance to.

Collectors in general tend to be male, and politically slightly right of centre. For example most of the US based forums would be big into 'no gun control' and not into 'big govt'. There are a surprising number of current or ex military and current or ex law enforcement. So, generally stable backgrounds and responsible professions, 99% male (unfortunately) and usually in the 25+ age group. There are exceptions these are just general observations. Most collectors I know and deal with would look down on 'skinhead collector' types from a great height, as they tend to be seen as the ones who buy the pure repro crap from ebay.

It's an interesting hobby if you do pick it up. There is also a dedicated militaria forum on boards - 'Rec-Collectibles and collectibles - Militaria'. I'd say if you are new to this hobby post up pictures of items you are thinking of buying to check the price is right and the item is genuine. Every single collector I know has been burned at some point. Usually when they start collecting and it can put people off the hobby for good.

jonniebgood1

Deleted User wrote: »

...... am fascinated by what occurred and to be honest find the German uniforms to be the most stylish of all the countries involved in WWII. Yet people seem to think that by purchasing such memorabilia I agree with what occurred.

They possibly were the most stylish. Hugo Boss made some German uniforms. It was in the news recently about the links for some reason.

The German fashion firm Hugo Boss has apologised for its maltreatment of forced workers during World War II when it supplied the Nazis with uniforms.

It issued the apology to coincide with the publication of a new history of the company during the Hitler years, which it commissioned itself. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15008682

You should'nt be put off by narrow minded people if you are interested in collecting particular items.

ollaetta

I agree with Morlar. There is quite a difference between collecting "Nazi memorabilia" and a militaria collector who specialises in Third Reich era items.

I collect WW2 militaria but I have always found the Third Reich stuff more interesting than that of the Allies. For many collectors the Germans had way smarter uniforms and equipment, arguably better medals and a rake of civilian awards/day badges etc. that simply did not exist on the Allies side. I often think it's a bit the same with the Confederate army in the American Civil War, the losers are more interesting?

I collect German helmets because I've been fascinated by them since I first saw them in the war comics years ago. For me the American M1, for example, doesn't compare as variations of the helmet were widely used all over the world for decades after the way. Similarly, the British "turtle" helmet which made it into in the 70s and, yes I know the Stahlhelm cropped up in other armies too but not to the same extent.

By and large, the Third Reich stuff stopped dead in '45 and became immediately collectable (and copyable, regrettably!) and popular. It's a pity that the hobby is easily associated with knuckle dragger right wing types but I find most people can understand the difference. I had a Polish guy working in my house a few years ago and I was concerned what he might think. Turned out he had no problem with it whatsoever and, in fact, sickened me with tales of what his grandfather had picked up from the battlefields.

The day I let others opinions stop me doing something is the day that I die. I just find it quite ridiculous that people seem to think that if you purchase a Nazi uniform or jacket that you are somehow saying that the holocaust was okay.

jam_mac_jam

I do feel its a bit creepy, however that's an emotional responce rather than a logical one. There is nothing wrong with it really, as said earlier there is a huge difference between the type of people who do it and their reasons to do so. Most people its for historical interest, I have bought Soviet medals for my son, doesnt mean that I support the Gulag so its exactly the same thing. I remember reading before that there are Jewish collectors, I cant remember where.

Morlar

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

I remember reading before that there are Jewish collectors, I cant remember where.

Of course there are, and dealers too.

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/28/magazine/evil-for-sale.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-79270661.html

From anecdotal experience I'd say it's fairly common.

irishh_bob

heres a question for the room

is it an offence to give someone the likes of nazi memorabilia as a gift , look past how odd and unusual it would be if you can

genuine question

ps , no im not a nazi sympathiser

sgb

People collect Roman items and that regime over many centuries did some horrifying things, so it's more of a time line question, In a hundred years time if will be perfectly acceptable to collect Nazi items

Mahatma coat

Where would colletin Propaganda posters fall on the spectrum??

When I lived in Australia I had a reasonable 'collection' most of them were repro, but I did have some Genuine articles of the more common posters and a fair few Newspaper clippings which I acquired from an Old Hungarian bloke who lived near me.

I found the recruitment Advertisements most interesting as they were very different in their aproach to anything I had seen from the allied side, if shown side by side to a neutral observer with no knowledge of the context the Allies IMO would come across as the more racist and supremacist.

Morlar

Mahatma coat wrote: »

Where would colletin Propaganda posters fall on the spectrum??

Usually at the expensive end !!

I know for example SS Foreign legion recruitment posters are very expensive. They are heavily faked though, faked then expertly aged. I wouldn't know enough about them to buy one unless it was peer reviewed, or came from a first hand source.

There was a guy on a forum I use not too long ago had an original SS Nordic recruitment poster and he had it professionally restored, but the restoration process ruined the aesthetic value of it. It looked like a Mary Davis election poster if you know what I mean. So I would always recommend keeping them au naturel if possible.

Mahatma coat wrote: »

When I lived in Australia I had a reasonable 'collection' most of them were repro, but I did have some Genuine articles of the more common posters and a fair few Newspaper clippings which I acquired from an Old Hungarian bloke who lived near me.

I found the recruitment Advertisements most interesting as they were very different in their aproach to anything I had seen from the allied side, if shown side by side to a neutral observer with no knowledge of the context the Allies IMO would come across as the more racist and supremacist.

I agree. Some of the 'wipe out the murdering Jap' types of posters are hard to fathom from today's perspective.

Fr.Jack

A friend of mine seen my collection for the first time and said " don,t like that aul nazi stuff " the same person never read a history book in his life.
Martin

xflyer

German WW2 is highly collectable and highly expensive. Forget the Nazi association unless you have a particular political agenda.

Personally, I desire a WW2 German helmet. The most outrageously expensive are SS Double decal or Fallschirmjager helmets. I would be happy with a genuine Wehrmacht helmet that saw service in the war. When you handle something like that you can only wonder what it saw, where it was.

As it is I have some American helmets and British but there is something about German equipment that somehow seems more interesting.

People get worked up about the Nazis but ultimately most Germans were simply patriots serving their country.

Fr.Jack

It beats me how people think that ordinary equipment from a German soldier can be classed as Nazi. There is people I know that collect Russian equipment and get no hassle at all even though Stalin was one of the biggest mass murderers in history.

kabakuyu

Collect what you want and never mind the people who don't like it.I collect pre 1922 British and Irish militaria and some of my aquaintances seem to have a problem with it (the British connection) they thought I would have been waving a union jack during QE2 visit to Ireland.As has been remarked already it is usually the ones that are not well read that are the most negative.A word of warning, collecting is addictive and prepare to be poor some weeks when there is something that you must have for your collection.I put a few bob away every week and try to buy only good quality items that will hold their value, also invest in some good reference books in the area that you intend to collect in and allways ask for a second opinion and advice from other collectors.

Fr.Jack

The price of anything military related has gone through the roof in the time since I have started collecting. It is an expensive hobby for anybody new and when you suddenly find yourself out of work collecting comes to a standstill.

Martin

mountainyman

Fr.Jack wrote: »

It beats me how people think that ordinary equipment from a German soldier can be classed as Nazi.

Every German soldier swore an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler for 1 thing and the Germans supported Nazism.

Fr.Jack

40% of Germans voted in Nazism.

DublinWriter

Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead has one of the biggest privately held collections of Nazi memorabilia including one of Hitler's own Leibstandarte banners.

mountainyman

Oh well if Lemmy from Motorhead thinks its OK :rolleyes:

Also about the Russian equipment wouldn't say that there is anything like the same interest in the NKVD that there is in the SS.

Fr.Jack

The SS is a completely different subject altogether.

jam_mac_jam

Fr.Jack wrote: »

It beats me how people think that ordinary equipment from a German soldier can be classed as Nazi. There is people I know that collect Russian equipment and get no hassle at all even though Stalin was one of the biggest mass murderers in history.

Well the OP said specifically Nazi stuff, I dont think anyone is refering to just German army equipment. He is asking about an SS uniform and while I am sure there were lovely people in the SS its not exactly regular German Army stuff.

Fr.Jack

I stated my opinion on collecting equipment of the German soldier nothing to do with the SS

Stovepipe

Personally, I don't give a **** what you collect as long as it's not glorifying Nazism. Some and I repeat, some collectors of Wehrmacht/SS/LW/KM stuff that I have met, in my time, have had a rather morally loose attitude to German war crimes of the Second World War. Same applies to some collectors of UK-origin militaria, I once met at a reenactment event, whose casual racism was appalling. Maybe there's something about WW II stuff that just attracts the wrong element.

regards
Stovepipe

Fr.Jack

Well Darko I think you have got your answer, that if you collect Militaria,Nazi stuff you will always be seen as a sympathizer.

Judgement Day

I agree with the posters who think that the German/Nazi uniforms, medals etc. were far more impressive than those of the Allies - no question, for style the Germans won outright. I've never got into collecting militaria, well you can't collect everything, but if I did, I wouldn't collect Nazi material as I find the reminders of that awful regime too ghoulish - for my taste. Each to his own and my only items of militaria are my mother's WAAF dog tags/cap badge and some photographs of her in uniform.

Here's Michael Caine in "The Eagle has Landed" modelling some very smart gear!