Confederate re-enactors are one thing, this is another

[david johnson]

"Racism or any type of embracement of Nazi ideology of any kind is strictly prohibited by this re-enactment unit," the website reads.

i believe them.  i wonder if they have had to expell anyone?

dj

[Xenophanes]

(CNN) -- A Republican candidate running for U.S. Congress says his past donning of a Nazi outfit was part of a historical lesson -- and defended his background in military re-enactments.
Rich Iott, a Tea Party favorite running for election in Ohio's 9th Congressional District, explained his position during an interview on CNN's "AC 360" Monday night.
Iott participated in World War II re-enactments for several years in the past decade and created a German alter ego. He has said he started participating in the events as a way to bond with his son. Iott has also participated in Civil War and World War I re-enactments.
"The whole purpose of historical re-enacting is to educate people one-on-one," Iott said. "And that is done by going out and participating in re-enactments."
When asked whether he thought the men being impersonated were "valiant men," Iott said, "I don't think we can sit here and judge that today. We were not there the time they made those decisions. Were there bad people? Absolutely. Were there atrocities committed? Absolutely there were. There are people that want to deny the Holocaust ever happened in this country and around the world."

The website for Iott's re-enactment group -- which impersonates members of the 5th SS Panzerdivision, Wiking -- does not mention the Holocaust directly.
According to Wiking's website, it is a nonprofit group with a "common interest in the German side of the war and want to tell the story of the average combat soldier of the German military."
"Racism or any type of embracement of Nazi ideology of any kind is strictly prohibited by this re-enactment unit," the website reads.
But the website does not mention what historians have said about the division -- that the group was involved in war crimes and atrocities, including the death marches and massacres of Jews in the spring of 1945.
When asked if Iott knew of the atrocities associated with the SS, the candidate replied, "What happened in Germany during the second World War is absolutely one of the low points in human history. In fact ... [the website] talks about what happened and that we don't support that. We don't support the political or the ideological motives of that time. We're talking strictly about the history. It's important for us to remember that history."
Iott's political opponents were quick to condemn him as a "Nazi enthusiast."
"It's an unbelievably disturbing story here about this Nazi enthusiast," Ryan Rudominer, national press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has said.

Actors play Nazis: do we condemn them?

Just as with Civil War re-enactors, there are usually two sides to a battle. Someone has to play the other side. The Confederacy fought to preserve slavery.

"Never again" is a meaningless slogan if the memory of the events is not preserved.

The controversy is basically just politics.

[Wendell_E]

"Never again" is a meaningless slogan if the memory of the events is not preserved.

We'd all forget the events if they're not re-enacted?

[Xenophanes]

We'd all forget the events if they're not re-enacted?

It's a way of preserving the memory. How much of the Civil War, the First World War, and the Second World war would you "remember" without movies?

[bwv 1080]

Actors play Nazis: do we condemn them?

Just as with Civil War re-enactors, there are usually two sides to a battle. Someone has to play the other side. The Confederacy fought to preserve slavery.

"Never again" is a meaningless slogan if the memory of the events is not preserved.

The controversy is basically just politics.

as I said before, my only objection is that they are perpetuating a myth about the war in the East

[Xenophanes]

as I said before, my only objection is that they are perpetuating a myth about the war in the East

Just what is that myth? Your OP mentions atrocities participated in by some members of the Wiking division in 1945. I have no idea what events were reenacted.

Many Russians wanted to ally with Germany against Stalin.  The Germans were be even worse, of course,  but they could not know that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Liberation_Movement

One of the liberationists, General Andrei Andreyevich Vlasov, is memorialized in New York:

"A memorial dedicated to General Vlasov and the participants in the Russian Liberation Movement was erected at the Novo Deveevo Russian Orthodox convent and cemetery in Nanuet, New York, USA. Twice annually, on the anniversary of Vlasov's execution and on the Sunday following Orthodox Easter, a memorial service is held for Vlasov and the combatants of the Russian Liberation Army."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Vlasov

[knight66]

Frankly it is difficult to know just where to start with this issue.

Actors are paid to portray characters. So, for instance we don't associate Dame Judy Dench as having sympathies with Lady Macbeth because she acts out the part.

However; here we have a form of LARPING, which is a channel for acting out a fantasy and those who persistently enroll as say SS officers are really indulging a part of themselves.

Mike

[Xenophanes]

Frankly it is difficult to know just where to start with this issue.

Actors are paid to portray characters. So, for instance we don't associate Dame Judy Dench as having sympathies with Lady Macbeth because she acts out the part.

However; here we have a form of LARPING, which is a channel for acting out a fantasy and those who persistently enroll as say SS officers are really indulging a part of themselves.

Mike

There are many amateur actors, volunteers, not paid.

I have no idea how the reenactment organizations are organized.

The particular politician has apparently done a number of other parts dealing with other wars, too. Of course, he's a Republican, so I wouldn't suggest voting for him.

Dame Judi is one of our favorite actors.

[david johnson]

"The Confederacy fought to preserve slavery."

one of the oldest pc myths    my home state voted to stay in the union, but when lincoln ordered them to send troops across the mississippi to fight their relatives, they said 'no thanks'.  many of the original politicians wanted slavery, the common folks only wanted no yankee troops blowing stuff up.