Hard to say how you should treat this issue. Everyone's situation is different, depending upon job and where you live.
-
-
Very well said, I agree 100%. I remember about a year or so ago my girlfriend (who lives with me) hosted a meeting of her book club. Anyway, one of the participants, a German citizen in her 50's was looking for the bathroom and inadvertently walked into my study and saw my collection. She nearly had a stroke. Of course, I did not apologize and told her that if she didn't like it she could leave. She is the product of political correctness gone astray. My girlfriend is still mortified by the event.Originally posted by o.r.k. View PostWhen you go home
Tell them for us and say
For your tomorrow
We gave our today
--Inscription in the 5th Marine Division cemetery,
Iwo Jima 1945Comment
-
Let me conclude I've found the vast majority of the public don't feel negative at all I guess Bob is right all depends just I've lived in the US all these years and it's kind of shocked me a little bit the attitude of some remarks expressed here from American Gents.
EricComment
-
Americans do tend to be a bit sensitive about the whole Nazi thing. But it's not without cause. What I tend to find more odd is of all the WW2 reenactors, so many want to be SS.Originally posted by Hoss View PostComment
-
I find it very annoying when people criticize Germans for being sensitive about their own terrible history.Originally posted by WalterB View PostComment
-
We all have 'terrible history' at some point, why should they feel resposible for the crimes of their fathers?Originally posted by RelicHunter View Post
I think it has been shoved down their necks for too long and that is not very democratic.
Jock
Comment
-
hoss you see the thing is your view on collecting german stuff is not what the general public thinks!the VAST majority of the public think that collecting this stuff is just plain nuts(hell most of my mates think im crazy for having any of it!) and when guys play dress up in full SS uniforms they of course think that the people doing the dress up MUST be nazis! they probably arent but people think like that!Originally posted by Hoss View Post
my youngest sister went out with a VERY famous hollywood actor and i was SH**TING myself that pics of me with my collecting my would turn up on the front page of the Sun or Mirror or some such rag! (my parants had paparazzi camping out there house for weeks!) i had to go to my boss and tell him my worries! he was very understanding and thanked me for the heads up!as it turned out that didnt happen but i was very worried for a number of months and this is the thing,a story about any government employer who dress up as a "nazi" at the weekend is a great story for them and will sell papers but that reflect badly on the govemrent dept that the person works for!and Hoss you might think this is crazy but thats the way society looks on collector like us!!Comment
-
I find it very annoying when fools post without any knowledge whastoever.Originally posted by RelicHunter View PostWhen you go home
Tell them for us and say
For your tomorrow
We gave our today
--Inscription in the 5th Marine Division cemetery,
Iwo Jima 1945Comment
-
.When you go home
Tell them for us and say
For your tomorrow
We gave our today
--Inscription in the 5th Marine Division cemetery,
Iwo Jima 1945Comment
-
On the same Token, Jock, I know of someone who was also DV'd who got the kick for having "Nazi dagger and things" in his room.Originally posted by Jock Auld View PostJustin,
I had a mate that was in the UK military and was developed vetted (DV).
All I remember is that it cost a lot of money from a financial point of view.
I also remember seeing him chalk white after the interview (series of) and after a brew I asked him what had rattled his cage.
Unbeknown to me he had a Class A drug problem before he joined up, which naturally he had not coughed up to when joining.
He was at this point and still is a respected SNCO still serving.
The key point is that he addmitted to his past and a s a result his character was not in doubt.
He kept and got the job he was going for.
Honesty is the best policy if try to hide anything 'they' will normaly find out.
If you feel you have nothing to hide then you haven't!
Good Luck with your future!
As an aside the only way re-enactment hurts is by the improving and quantity of plausible fakes?
Jock
I would say that as crazy as it sounds, affiliations to something far right or the dreaded Nazis trumps a Class A drug problem in the DV interviewers eyes.Comment
-
I suppose it all boils down to the individual situation, and how one carries ones self. I've never been seriously accused of being a Nazi, though I do have somewhat of a morbid fascination with the time period. I always have. As for my fellow Americans gallivanting about in SS uniforms, I don't really see it as being much different than doing the same in a Heer uniform. Now, when the idiotic Neo-Nazis get Into the action, I can see where one would make that connection. I choose to focus on my SS impression as my main effort simply because there isn't much in the way of authentic SS reenactors, and moreover, I'm just more interested in that impression.Comment
-
The only even vaguely negative reaction that I've ever had to the hobby in the six years that I've been doing it, was a bit of a cocked eyebrow from a new girlfriend a while back. Once she found out about it, she nervously asked whether or not it had anything to do with my real world political views. When I explained that it didn't, that was enough. In a couple of other dating scenarios, owning that particular uniform had certain "benefits" shall we say...
I lived in Santa Cruz for a number of years, and worked in San Francisco for quite a while. Both very liberal communities, and was quite open about my hobby. Never had any problems. More than enough references about the hobby appear on my Facebook feed for anyone with half a brain to figure it out. I do make a point to be a bit careful where and how I post though, as my real name is unique enough that if you Google me, you will find me. I avoid using it on WWII collecting and reenacting forums, just as a precaution. (I always use my reenacting alias on reenacting forums, since that's the name that most of those folks know me by anyhow.)
Maybe I'm just lucky, I don't know. Most everyone that knows me well knows that I also have a history degree from a notoriously liberal university, so perhaps that gives me the benefit of the doubt in some people's minds. Then again, perhaps it's precisely the fact that I don't live in a conservative area that's worked to my favor. I don't know of any other reenactors out here that have run into negative reactions either. The locals might just be assuming that I have a weird hobby and / or are a bit kinky (neither of which are seen as especially bad things around here), but don't automatically jump to the conclusion that I am a closet Nazi precisely because this is such a liberal area. If there were more fervent conservatives around here, then they might be more likely to assume that I am one of them.Comment
-
I think many here are missing the main fact.... it does not matter what you think about yourself, or how people that you interact with feel about this to your face, because most of the time they are lying to you... the bottom line is that you will never know what the true affect of this will be on you and how it truly affected these people. I'll give you the best advice I have ever learned in my career and I instill this in everyone that I hire or mentor. Truth is that "Perception is Reality"... period. Remember that and learn that.
Again, how "you" feel or think people feel doesn't matter... one day you may have a day and say, geez, I wonder why I lost that big contract to that other firm... my firm was so much more qualified. Or, geez, I had that big meeting and all of a sudden they cancelled... for no reason whatsoever. You see, you will never know the truth as they will tell you some other reason why.... but I can also guarantee that if you march around with this stuff on, people will develop a "perception" of you. A perception that will likely not be a favorable one regardless what you think... and that opportunity cost of this on you, you will never know. And one day it may cost you big time. I committed a much lesser offence in my early career, I thought it harmless and really never thought much about it at the time but it was immediately learned , years ago, I was about to close on this huge contract in Century City and I made the mistake to say to this woman (well, didn't know she was liberal) that I voted for Reagan, and I could not wait to meet him... as he was a tenant on the property... well, right when I said that to her and saw her face wince…. I knew in my gut that I just may have killed the deal... sad... but yes, the next day we lost the deal. I learned then that one must be very careful… something as simple as that can cost you big time… and I never forgot that and never will. Gentlemen, don’t let your ego or how you think get in the way of making the right choices. You say to yourself that it is no big deal but that doesn't mean it isn't a big deal to anyone else. You will always be the last to know and your actions in the past can come back to haunt you.
It is up to each individual to weigh that potential cost to them...my question too many is why risk it? A couple of year ago it happened to another forum member here and it became national news. I think some of you remember that sad situation.
Just some more food for thought.
Jim
Comment
-
What?Originally posted by Tom M View Post
kicked out?
There must have been a bit more to it surely?
If not I'm sure a good lawyer would have it sorted?
Jock
Comment
-
Yeah he got the boot. In the more sensitive jobs where DV is a prerequisite an issue can be raised about your suitability at any time by anyone. Once investigated, assessments are made... he lost his DV, and therefore could no longer legally do his job.Originally posted by Jock Auld View PostWhat?
kicked out?
There must have been a bit more to it surely?
If not I'm sure a good lawyer would have it sorted?
Jock
These services are terrified of the potential media output. If you present a risk to that, you're finished.
This is why I completely agree with Jim (Killerbee). Why risk it?Comment
Comment