Enduring fascination of the Nazis and German armed forces

The thread about some english gentlemen who constructed a Panzer Mark III, caused me to ponder about how our modern society(meaning the West) is enthralled by the Nazis and the Wehrmacht.

6 movies that came out towards the end of 08' had the Nazis as one aspect of it. Another--"Inglorious Bastards" is slated to come out in a few weeks.

The term Nazis is used liberally in the political arena.One cannot go a day without seeing some reference to the Nazis.

Television stations like National Geographic, Discovery, and the History Channel constantly are airing programs about the Nazis. The Military Channel has done quite a bit about Wehrmacht weaponary.


It never ceases to amaze me how often the Germans of WWII come up. The shock of their actions has reverbated right up to our time. The Holocaust, Blitzkrieg, the Swastika, Hitler...these are images and terms that I believe will be with us for a long, long, time.

What distrubs me about all this, however, is how this can pervert our image of Germany. Go to your local Bookstore and look at their section on Germany. Much of what you'll find is Nazi related.I understand why this is so; the aforementioned intense interest dictates that they carry a plethora of Nazi themed titles. But Germany is so much more than Hitler and the Nazis. It is sad to see rich history like the Germans have ignored for a brief 12 year span.

I am fascinated by the Nazis myself, but I have made efforts recently to read more about Germany than just the Nazis. It seems so unfair to a people that has produced a Hagel, Bach, Beethoven, and Goethe, to focus solely on such a small part of their history.

 

I think it is just a part of human nature that we are attracted to the "bad guys". This can be easily seen in almost all modern day and old time movies. The "bad guys" always have the coolest weapons, the "bad guys" normally kick the "good guys" buts until the very end of the movie...etc.

It might also have to do with a "first impression" of sorts. In today's society people have grown up hearing about Germany as this evil figure in WWII before anything else. Many adults today may also have had a relative in the war whom they personally knew and it is hard to look past the Germans' actions in WWII.

 

I believe that it is simply due to the 2nd WW having been the last WW till today. As such Germany/Nazis automatically will jump into peoples mind if they are into history or military.

Since knowledge about other periods of the German history are not by any means widespread to the average citizen of any country (incl. Germans) The Nazis become the centralized topic in regards to Germany.

To bad - but one can't change it

Regards
Kruska

 

I think we have a thread on this subject already somewhere. I will try and see if I can locate it.

 

I don't know what the fascination is? but the same has to be said about all aspects of WWII itself. For me, my """"fascinations"""" w/ all things WWII, began partly due to both of my parents and other relatives and partly due to books, movies, knowing many many WWI and WWII Veterans as I was a kid, their stories and such.

Lastly, the Germans had some of the coolest "toys".

 

Apologies if so. I am too lazy to look these up.

 

I think the there was one with a similar title focusing on the SS that covered many of the same areas.

 

a mans thing from childhood possibly,nearly all kids find fascination with playacting out army games.the germans of all the armed forces are the most interesting troops of 2 wws, no other armies envoke the same interest like the wehrmacht and waffen ss,many books have been written that covers this vast subject,ww2 is probably the last of the great wars,as no other world war will allow the human race to survive and rebuild..ww3 would be fought with atom bombs,ww4 would be fought with sticks and stones...learn from the past...

 

I think this thread also has dissappearing posts too.

 

Well this is just you being mature about it isn't it? Most mass/popular media doesn't encourage such thoughtfulness.

I believe the interest in all things Nazi shown in Allied nations by post war generations is in part due to their alien nature.

You, me and many others here grew up surrounded by the heroes of the war in everyday life. They were, of course, all rather normal in spite of their experience. Aside from their service the only thing typically common to them was a pretty open hostility to those of Axis nations.

Knowing this rather mundane normality gives the Axis an alien air, almost as if they had horns and cloven feet, from which our morbid fascination springs.

 

I too have spent a quite a bit of time studying the Nazis and like you, I have become quite cynical about humans.

It never ceases to amaze me how little people are aware of man's long record of brutality and inhumanity. From the very first days of organized communities, human beings have slaughtered and mistreated each other. Yet, some think this is a recent phenomenon.

The significance of the Holocaust is not the numbers killed-- there had been countless massacres of people recorded up to that point--but the industrialization of murder.That humans would go to such lengths tells you that there is no limit to man's inhumanity.

 

Nazi Germany has no more bearing on Germany present-day, than the Indian wars of the 19th century ought to color someone's view of the modern day USA! Hitler was a unique phenomenon that could only have appeared and taken root in the Germany of that period of the 1920's and 1930's. Germany was defeated, dispirited, humiliated and impoverished by World War 1 and the crushing reparations and losses of the Versailles treaty. Moreover Germany suffered through at least two economic depressions in the period between the wars and there was considerable political instability at this period: Communists and socialists (Hitler's bunch) battled each other in the streets of Berlin and it was by no means certain who would win until Hitler took power in 1933. Hitler promised to restore order and prosperity to Germany and so he did - in only 3 years (1933-1936) Hitler crushed the communists, restored order, threw out Versailles and put Germans back to work.

Only when Hitler started grabbing for territory (first Austria, then Czechoslovokia, and finally Poland) was his true nature revealed - and by then it was too late. Only then did the Germans realize they had put somebody in power who had unleashed a second world war.

The Germans today are conscious of their history and have put many checks and balances in place in government and so their Nazi past is certainly unlikely to repeat itself, in our lifetime or ever. (If this were not true the Soviets would never simply have handed East Germany back its autonomy in 1989 and left the country.)

 

It is not a question of whether Nazism should color the opinion people have of Germany, but of why it continues to do so.

Ask most Americans what comes to mind when you mention Germany and Hitler will be right at the top of the things people list.

 

Hello G.o.a.M,

I don't think that this just applies to Americans in general. Here in China it is a very tight run between Mercedes, BMW and Hitler.

I had a taxi ride some years ago in Shanghai, upon telling the cabdriver that I was German he had a smile all over his face and said Schuetteler, I shook my head because I couldn't grasp the meaning, after several tries the cabdriver stopped the car turned his body around layed 2 fingers under his nose and lifted his left arm and desperatly exclaiming SCHUETTELER!

That the international film industry has contributed greatly to this effect is undisputed were Hollywood might even hold the premium position. So is the book and collector industry

NAZI/SS/Gestapo just sells $$ good and sometimes also helps to downplay other countries doings.!!

Regards
Kruska