why do we like the german warmachine so much?

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by mart:
I have been interested in WW1 and WW2 for as long as I can remember and I have always had a "thing" for the german military.
Have you ever wondered why you feel like that?
<hr></blockquote>

There's no denying the mystique of German, and to some extent, Japanese, WWII forces. Both these nations tried to wage 'quality war,' lacking the resources to defeat their enemies by sheer quantity. No doubt about it, a Zero or Me 262 holds more fascination than a Wildcat or Thunderbolt; same thing for Panther vs. Sherman. Many people here have mentioned the uniforms and symbols of the German forces; well, the Nazis were quite good at all aspects of propaganda and these things were deliberately designed for strong visual and symbolic appeal. It's no surprise that the fascination of these forces, their arms and acoutrements, would linger.

 

Well, aquick overlook of the responses so far didn't show this one yet: My interest in the German army started because...

I glued together these nice little Matchbox 1/76 kits which were sold at the local toyshop. And I liked the looks of the German stuff, better than the Allied material.

Later I got interested in how this material was actually used, organised, etc.

Then during my study this "Knittel thing" started, writing a biography of a man that was hardly mentioned in any book, except for giving his name to Kampfgruppe Knittel. No fascination for the SS, no idea what it would result in, just curious about the story behind a name. It got out of hand and now the whole SS-PzAA1, LAH and their opponents are involved.

Amsterdam groet Rotterdam

Cheers,
Timo

 

Great topic. My interest in the war stems from my fathers obcession with WW1 aircraft. He started me looking through books as soon as I could read and I could recognise almost any post 1915 fighterscout serving with the French, Brits or Germans during WW1. Soon I started playing computer games and that took it further. Again my fathers interest in WW2 aircraft came through when I was around 8 and I could recognise almost any WW2 aircraft (except japanese or Italian) by the age of 10. This was taken a step further with aircraft and then I became interested in tanks etc. I started collecting de-activated weapons and militaria stuff and so became interested (or rather obcessed) with firearms. I went into re-enacting last year when I was 15. The reason I went for the German army was dead simple. I found a Hitler Youth unit and since I was only 15 it seemed like the best unit to join. It was also the only unit who would accept anyone below 16. That is basically why I became interested in the German armed forces, it was only after I joined that I began to learn about uniforms etc and realised how much cooler German gear was than allied.

 

Are you the same Stefan as the one who frequently posts on the feldgrau research- and soldatenheim forums?

 

Nope, I have never actualy visited thowe forums.

I was also going to say that I have tried to limit the number of people who know about my re-enactment to close friends and famiy. My girlfriend thinks I am totally mad, but then again she has since the day we met so thats not really important. My best friend thinks I am crazy also but thats nothing new. Once a guy heared about it and called me a Nazi which made me furious so I sort of, well, showed him the error of his ways so to speak and then mentioned my great grandmother was Jewish and my grandfather fought against the Germans so I was hardly in a good position to be a Nazi.

 

Stefan :

Very odd here in southern Oregon. Civil War re-enactment is very strong here, but try anything WW 2 related and.........well just forget it !
Have you checked the folks at www.soldat.com
some pretty cool things going on with these guys as they have a huge get together yearly, places to be announced. Wonder what their security is like with so many attending and with so many folks with the wrong ideas.....?



E

 

Security isnt that big a thing at most of these re-enactors meets and so on. There is never anything to stop idiots, but then again you could hardly monitor the 'open-mindedness' of people entering. It is not really relivant but someone once said 'so many so called 'open minds' should be shut for rennovation'.

 

Before the Euro takes over, here is my 2DM worth.

First--well said Andreas.

Why Bish, I didnt know you had that dark side in you?

Seriously, i'm in total agreement with your last paragraph.

Pzgdr: I know many people of the Jewish faith who are ardent collectors of WW2 German Military and political items.

If your friends do not respect your right to study or have the interests you do have, then they really arent your true friends. I've never lost a friend due to my interests in Germany and WW2, but have in fact made many new friends because of my interests in WW2 and Germany.

That student who browbeat you because of your interest was ignorant, to say the least. Your other statements were well said and I congradulate you for the way you handled things

Jon: Very well written, and I must admit, I too liked the Klingons the best, then the Romulans next.

Andreas, I think they accept it as a valid hobby because Germans are practical people and im glad I have met and become friends with many Germans as well as good people from England, Canada, Australia, USA, Belgium, Brazil, France, Austria, Holland, Denmark, and Sweden just to name a few.

 

Gents:

I just say DO IT !

Erich, who has had too many people tell me that I am a Nazi-type.........over the past 35 years..........tongue sticking out.......pstt...

E

 

I actually have to confess that I once called a guy a nazi myself who claimed that he was also just harmlessly interested in WW2 like myself. At first I believed him. But then he began telling me about how great all those nazis were, and how bad all Jews and how Germans were a superior race. Was my reply justified? I believe so.

Unfortunately, often some people with an interest in WW2 are also Nazis. It's not always easy to seperate.

 

Andreas,

How very true. And even more difficult in research: sometimes people who have the info you need are also revisionists and/or have extreme right-wing views. The question is: do you contact them anyway?

I can live with veterans who still have dubious ideas about "back then", for example because they're from a brainwashed generation (an SS-grenadiere from 1944 was 6 years old when Hitler came to power). But people from the post-war generation, often not even German, thats another thing.

If even former LAH soldiers tell me that its impossible to deny that what happened to the Jews was horrible, then why would 20-years old kids believe it was all a lie?

Unfortunately several well known authors have this dark side.


Just my 2 cents,

Timo

 

I can relate to most things said in this topic. I am also only 16yrs old but have recieved a lot of crap about my interest. My sister always calls me a a Nazi because of the handles/screen name i use...Mussolini for this and (Naa)Benito for MSN. She - like many other people including my parents - have generally no idea about WWII or my reasons for studying it. I first became interest when i joined a PBEM Wargame around the age of 10. In the game, i was in charge of the Afrika Corps, though as part of Italy. Since i had almost no idea about anything of the theatre, i began to do some research on the German and Italian Units/Commanders and got hooked onto Erwin Rommel...whom i wrote my major history project about as a freshman. Since i was part of Italy in the game - and have always wanted to visit Italy - i decided to stick with Italy (as further study of the time period got me hooked onto it) in other wargames and research. I am no genius or anything, but i know more about WWII then any of the people we sometimes call friends.
I still get crap about it - both the wargames and WWII - because they lack the knowledge and understanding, even when i try to explain my reasons. I will still try to get them to understand as, like the main title of the page, Least We Forget....

 

Andreas, have you ever been to Bad Harzburg? There are several hotels there, buit one in particuler--you get a good view of the War Memorial at the top of the hill/mountain.

Anyway, the hotel Susanne and I stayed at was managed by the onlt German I have ever met that I disliked.

The prejudiced turd, spoke only German even though I knew he spoke English and asked my fried things like:

What are you doing here with this Ami?
What brings you to this part of the country?
she answered
He then blurted out that she was a nazi JUST because she has an interest in Uboats.
Needless to say--I only half understood what he said but when he blatently called her a nazi, I turned red with anger and glared at this jerk. I wanted to punch him in the mouth so badly i could taste it.
He had no call to call her a nazi.
He looked at me glaring at him and just cringed and handed the keys to our rooms to Susanne and stared at me like I was about to attack him.
I wanted to but didnt for many reasons. I didnt feel like being arrested by the Polizei for one--and mainly I didnt want to get Susanne in trouble.
Needless to say--she disliked him intently too.

His breakfast sucked too.

Before checking out of his hotel, I managed to permanently "borrow" the fonbuch from my room--just to tick him off.
I also made sure he saw the Luftwaffe officers M-43 cap I had picked up earlier that day when Susanne and i were doing business with Herr Menzel at his Antique and Militaria shop in Lubeck.
He saw it with wide eyes and Susanne and I laughed as we left the hotel.

I stick up for my friends and more than proved it to her that day.

 

Well done Carl.

I don't think I've ever been to Bad Harzburg but my dad was born in Goslar, which is close by. It's a nice region, the Harz. A pity it had to be spoiled by such an idiot. I think that personally I would have looked for another hotel. There's a very good one in Goslar that I could recommend (if it still exists) called "Achtermann". I can guarantee you, their breakfast is superb!

Another town I know that is not far away from there is Bad Homburg, where I believe a 5 ton truck of mine is still standing with mechanical failure.

 

Thank you Andreas, and I made a big mistake on the town, Herr Menzel is in Goslar--I dont know what I was thinking of when I said Lubeck. Menzel is in Goslar.

I think the hotel you mentioned still exhists.

Library is closed I will be back here on monday or tuesdat to tell you more.