There are a lot of stories currently about Harlan Crow's collection... People that fought the Nazi's picked up trophies and perhaps displayed them as evidence of the victory of good vs. evil, but unfortunately as time passes such things "could" be seen as investments, like any other historical artifacts. Trading in them though could nevertheless be outlawed, I guess, much as blood diamonds, ivory and endangered species. Why individuals want to own or collect Nazi memorabilia bemuses and appalls many people but people like having a trophy and rich people like to buy such things and put them on display, when in reality * they should either be in a museum or locked away for academic study. * Edit - meaning historically significant or highly prized personal Nazi paraphernalia.
Charismatic persons are always hard to summarise. Most of what is recorded about them by contemporaries can leave people who are unaffected by their spell - or those studying them in the future - bewildered as to what exactly led so many people to follow them, Pied Piper like, often to their own destruction. Like other would-be continental or world conquerors - for many - in his own era and now - Napoleon was the epitome of a charismatic leader - but he was mocked by many of his contemporaries and fought by coalitions of Allies until ultimately defeated. It wasn't long though before he re-emerged as an example of the epitome of greatness and a hero to some, whilst still being responsible for the loss of countless lives amongst those he opposed as well as those who followed him blindly towards his next goal. Yet there are offices of leaders adorned with his bust and polarised sides as to whether or not he was ultimately good or bad... It's harder to see how Hitler could be reprieved and repedestalled, but for instance it isn't hard to find outright lies told about Stalin being a "good man" or a "beneficent father to his people", or that Stalin only "did what had to be done". Likewise so many other charismatic leaders and tyrants now. Ultimately History and historians and the tales that people tell will determine how the future treats Hitler and these other leaders. We won't be there to see it, but in a thousand or two thousand years time there will probably be many other rulers and - would be rulers - that emulate Hitler or seek to do things his way and those that will follow such "strong" leaders, ultimately to their own demise and destruction. It's one of the lessons that such followers never seem to learn until it is too late, no matter how idolised their heroes are, or were, they lost and had they won - even one more battle - someone or something else would have defeated them - because they were actually evil and no amount of revisionist history or lies can make an evil ruler such as they were a good thing for their followers or for anyone else. All that can really be said for them is that they made others look good in comparison, at the time of Hitler's defeat Stalin might have seemed the lesser of two evils... and the worst of humanity only up to that point. Had Hitler died actually at the height of his power and at the point of his one of his greatest victories he'd perhaps still be a great hero to more than just his acolytes and one of his successors would have taken all of the successive, but inevitable defeats. A big part of those playing the "what ifs" seems to entail desperately trying to figure out a way to change history so that the "Great plan" succeeds, whatever that means. Presumably those that read "wot Hitler wrote" - but still follow him - are okay with it, just as those that follow such leaders now have an idea in their own heads as to what their own leaders ultimately have in mind, given their manifestos and propaganda. They are not merely following a tune in some procession that leads off a cliff. If any lesson at all can be learnt, it's to not stick around too long after your greatest victory, all political careers ultimately end in defeat and it's better to go out on a high than in a hole or a bunker. -- x -- Edit -
I've no idea what motivates the man in question but more often that not it's the collecting and not the collection itself that drives one on. Always the next thing to be got. I disagree cos it's, seemingly, all lumped together : Owners, collectors; rich, poor; items 'procured', inherited, gifted or purchased; the item and the doctrine. Things my father brought back from the war & other things actually owned by/awarded to another relative, are still with the family. Why should we shove them into museum basement along with 10s of 1000s of similar items? So that 'many people' can be assured we aren't Neo-Nazis? Just like the campaign medals, they are of no academic value whatsoever. I grew up with the items on display, in fact a few bits and bobs were added over the years. They were reminders of our family's history, nothing more than that. Who knows, they might end up being sold in the future by descendants who have no interest in keeping them. They are more likely to help fund a care package than my collection of charity pin badges. Over the years I contributed to Mr Kilmister's bank balance, thus enabling, I suppose, his own collection ... Does a collection like that equate to sympathies for the regime which created them, as some seem to be suggesting? One person who knew, vaguely as it turned out, about my interest in WW2 / my participation in a WW2 forum, thought it all a bit dodgy. Esp given part of my family background. But more probably because of hers. She was uncomfortably vocal at the school gate for a period of time. Sad really. Who knows what she would've done had she known that I once owned a copy of Mein Kampf and actually read it. Well, tried to.
People are fascinated with Nazi history and collecting artifacts because it is undoubtedly one of the most important, dramatic and horrific events in history, certainly of the past century or two. Collecting that stuff does not make you a fascist or sympathetic to Nazis at all, I mean, c'mon Lemmy? A NAZI? HaHaHa! He's just fascinated with death and horror for its pop culture shock effect, intended to frighten the squares, which pleases him no doubt! (Playing No Sleep til Hammersmith NOW.!) Anyway... WW2 was a Very Big Deal in history, which changed all of us in profound ways, which we often don't realize. Most of humanity (esp Europe, N.America and Asia) experienced profound changes in thinking after 1945, thinking about everything. Many people first began to question things that were previously believed wholeheartedly, like patriotism and loyalty to your homeland, unquestioning support whenever 'your' nation 'goes to war', the near-universal eagerness of young men to go to war, and total obedience to authority during wartime. These were the expectations and norms of behavior of all Europeans Japanese, and many Americans during the 19th century, and well into the 1900s. The 1914-18 war affected these for the young somewhat, particularly in England, but older generations still held 19th c 'patriotic' values. After 1945 such unquestioning faith in your nation and its authorities began to vanish due to the Nazis.
I always think of James S (who used to mooch here a lot) when the 'suspicion of collectors' thing comes up. Remarkable collection of Nazi flags, banners, pennants. German WW2 binoculars by the score. All alongside an in-depth knowledge and intense loathing of the Holocaust, camps, Nazis etc Was among the staunchest when some denialist nut rolled up.. I've a mate that collects U-boat stuff. Crazy amounts of money on badges, photographs, lighters, crockery - you name it. I could only describe him as completely apolitical, and even his WW2 interest stops almost totally at the surface of the water. One interesting thing about collectors is often that they can't easily explain why they collect something beyond 'Look at these things. They're fascinating.' It's called being a human, I think. We zoom in on things that intrigue. I seem to see the suggestion that all this Nazi stuff should be destroyed or sent to vaults more often lately. Strikes me as a denial of history, and even liberty to own whatever you like. Naturally there's going to be a slightly higher amount of wronguns in Nazi collection world, but in my experience mostly just harmless nerdery. Personally I'd own a lot more strange swastika-riddled bits of ephemera if the prices weren't so high & the fakery so ubiquitous. I still haven't filled any mass graves.
Well, especially the trade with Nazi devotional objects is often disreputable, if you look at certain "collectors". This is often associated with absurdly high prices: a few years ago, the marshal's baton of Erhard Milch was auctioned for an incredible 500,000€. Fun fact: Marshal's staffs were manufactured in Hanau. Some surviving pieces are stored there in the local museum under lock and key since decades: they did not want to attract "pilgrims" of a certain clientele.
There was a fascinating legal flare-up over a Goering-connected baton (19 years ago now! I'd have thought 8 or so...). The purchaser was a senior Dublin legal type. Baton - £60k A dagger, said to be a Goering-Dietrich presentation - £52.5k Goering bits & pieces - £5750 The whole deal was over £160k, so presumably some other bits & bobs. Mention of another dagger in later news. Settled out of court, but if nothing else it confirmed there's still a lot of cash being splashed by perfectly respectable types, and even at the highest level it's still sometimes sketchy. (And that's 2004 prices. Dread to think what's the deal now,) Donitz's baton sitting in Shrewsbury's little military museum made me smile. No idea how it got there, presumably surrender-connected, but it was did seem right & proper that it found such a 'small' resting place. I also thought 'Yeah. I'd quite like to own that.'
My dad has a small box of stuff that he brought back at the end of the war. A swastika pennant and badges cut from mostly Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine uniforms (he ended up at a seaplane base in Schleswig Holstein). Trophies, no more, no less. Grandfather took a bundle of cloth from a salt mine...allegedly the stuff of Wehrmacht officer greatcoats...Grandmother made huge curtains of it and it hung shaded at their north facing french window on the North Downs...I rescued the lot when the house sold, and I ought to move it on but the thought of it being made into a replica uniform for a strutting neo-whatsit re-enactor rather puts me off. The selvedge is interesting.
Adolf Hitler's fake passport at The National Archives web archive: UK Government Web Archive "This fake passport for Adolf Hitler was made by the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The work of this group was to organise resistance in countries taken over by the Germans during the Second World War. After the war, examples of the documents they made were preserved to illustrate their work. SOE relied on the use of undercover agents or spies. They sent nearly 500 agents into France alone. To assist these agents, SOE ran a forgery section that made fake documents ranging from passports to firearms licences, travel permits and work passes. They often made use of the skills of counterfeiters and forgers recently released from prison. This passport shows what the forgers were capable of producing. It also hints at their sense of humour and their opinion of Hitler and his beliefs. They've given Hitler's passport a red 'J' (which stood for 'Jew' on a German passport). He has a visa allowing his entry into Palestine, which was under British control at that time. The passport also describes Hitler's occupation as a 'painter'. "
Sprog α Likes his stupid backwards-reading books manga. Just noticed these while sorting him a few more metres of shelf space. It's all very... Japanese.
