Veteran of the SS Wiking division meets reenactors of SS Wiking - General

[media]https://youtu.be/41jabUslgnY[/media] Video itself isn't that important but his answers are great. I was there to meet the guy, it was so crazy, like, "Hey we got a veteran visiting....of Wiking"

Being a part of reenactments would be awesome to have these moments (Along with the reenactment itself)

Pretty damn awesome. [editline]28th September 2015[/editline] The Soviets where some of the worst soldiers that war had to offer

[QUOTE=EdvardSchnitz;48783642]Pretty damn awesome. [editline]28th September 2015[/editline] The Soviets where some of the worst soldiers that war had to offer[/QUOTE] I mean... the waffen-ss were pretty damn awful too.

Nice interview. thanks for the clip bud!

[t]https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/12033059_10102852365778135_5443576474993078978_n.jpg?oh=8476c5c63756e8361d8791e2d1cad67a&oe=5693DB42[/t] This is us posing with the guy

Well look at that, Soviets missed one.

[QUOTE=Zang-Pog;48784047]Soldiers are the worst of humanity and war isn't something we should do[/QUOTE] Blame the people causing the wars in the first place

[QUOTE=Zang-Pog;48784047]Soldiers are the worst of humanity and war isn't something we should do[/QUOTE] probably the most ignorant thing I've read all day, congratulations

why are you roleplaying as nazis?..

[QUOTE=Flameon;48784435]why are you roleplaying as nazis?..[/QUOTE] Is it wrong? Those that forget history are bound to repeat the mistakes of the past. [editline]28th September 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Zang-Pog;48784421]What's so ignorant about that? Thinking that hurting others is bad is ignorant?[/QUOTE] Having no grasp on why each soldier fights, what they are defending/attacking for, and otherwise doing anything is pretty ignorant.

[QUOTE=Zang-Pog;48784421]What's so ignorant about that? Thinking that hurting others is bad is ignorant?[/QUOTE] I think you're trivializing it a bit much to support your black and white position. There are many reasons why someone might become a soldier, not always by choice. I think it is a tad ignorant to say a soldier is a bad person by definition

I wasn't aware we had to roleplay as Nazis to make sure we don't repeat their mistakes.

[QUOTE=Flameon;48784435]why are you roleplaying as nazis?..[/QUOTE] That's not exactly it but something tells me you aren't going to listen

I'm sure id listen and hear you out, but then again you'd probably think im out to ruin your fun. I think theres some mildly unethical stuff going on in a lot of this war re-enactment stuff. Especially those that flock to particular sides for those wars. Not saying roleplaying as a Nazi makes you one, nor roleplaying as a confederate makes you racist, but you should be aware of the bed-fellas you keep.

[QUOTE=Flameon;48784507]I think theres some mildly unethical stuff going on in a lot of this war re-enactment stuff[/QUOTE] :what: [editline]28th September 2015[/editline] I mean if you count hiding people's canteens in their helmets when they aren't looking as unethical I mean sure

[QUOTE=Zang-Pog;48784522]What he is trying to tell you is that you're more than welcome to have your fun, but if somebody calls you a nazi for dressing up as one can you really blame them?[/QUOTE] That's because we're not though? There's strict rules in these groups, especially Wiking, and any sort of far-right sentiment gets you dropped from the group and possibly banned from the HRS (a lot of board members in Wiking).

[QUOTE=Flameon;48784507]Not saying roleplaying as a Nazi makes you one, nor roleplaying as a confederate makes you racist, but you should be aware of the bed-fellas you keep.[/QUOTE] What makes you think that these fellas dressed up as SS troopers are not aware of the crimes comitted by the faction they're representing?

Yeah, a lot of the big groups have regulations about that kind of shit. They don't treat it lightly, because they realize there's people like you flameon.

[QUOTE=Zang-Pog;48784527]Why are you taking this so personally :v:[/QUOTE] Because it's a hobby of mine, it's something that I put lots of money+energy and thought into, and a lot of the people involved in it are fantastic individuals to be around, that's why.

BUT ZILLMASTER YOU'RE A DAMN JEW HATING NAZI SINCE YOU'RE DRESSING UP AS ONE DON'T YOU KNOW? DISPLAY THE APPROPRIATED AMOUNT OF SHAME ELSE I SHALL FLOG YOU WITH MY HORSE WHIP

Explicit rules against something does not exactly mean that the atmosphere doesn't foster those ideas. I think its worth asking what motivates someone to roleplay one side over another in the first place.

[QUOTE=Flameon;48784552]Explicit rules against something does not exactly mean that the atmosphere doesn't foster those ideas. I think its worth asking what motivates someone to roleplay one side over another in the first place.[/QUOTE] Because there are two sides in a war and someone has to play the other side? It's like playing Hitler in a movie lmao someone has to do it.

[QUOTE=Flameon;48784552]I think its worth asking what motivates someone to roleplay one side over another in the first place.[/QUOTE] ...maybe a family member fought in a particular unit? Maybe they roleplay any side, and they just happen to roleplay as the bad guys from time to time? Maybe they just [I]like the uniforms[/I]? Is not fucking rocket science. You are asking dumb questions

[QUOTE=Flameon;48784552]I think its worth asking what motivates someone to roleplay one side over another in the first place.[/QUOTE] I chose Wiking for a variety of reasons. I feel that Germany during WWII is only displayed as tyrannical, and that every individual soldier was a war criminal, and it would be best to show that every soldier is different from another. A second reason is that I find the Eastern Front to be quite interesting historically/militarily, and the idea of how a hyper-organized army was crushed by a relatively hodge-podge one is fascinating. A third reason is that when I met some of the members at a reenactment a year earlier, they were extremely welcoming and kind people, and I cared less about the unit and more about the people in it. A fourth reason is that axis reenactors tend to have a large number of events since they are crucial to WWII-era reenactments, whilst there are many allied regiments that easily outnumber Axis troops. I mean that's just a few off the top of my head.

[QUOTE=Flameon;48784488]I wasn't aware we had to roleplay as Nazis to make sure we don't repeat their mistakes.[/QUOTE] Roleplaying as a Nazi sucks, you get terrible stat bonuses if roll anything but Aryan Human.

[QUOTE=Zang-Pog;48784542] Also you're not hurting anybody, so there is also that[/QUOTE] I did step on someone's fingers with hobnailed boots off to Nuremburg

I'm not trying to put you on the couch. I guess my question for you Zilla would be the following: short of someone explicitly spouting off Nazi ideology, is there a way someone could approach the reenactment experience in a way that you would think is unethical? @T553412: While I'm with you in theory, even things as innocuous as appreciating the uniform is hard to seperate from the larger ideological context which informs that aesthetics. It isn't just coincidence Neo-Nazis stuck with leather.

[QUOTE=Flameon;48784582]I'm not trying to put you on the couch. I guess my question for you Zilla would be the following: short of someone explicitly spouting off Nazi ideology, is there a way someone could approach the reenactment experience in a way that you would think is unethical? [/QUOTE] this is kind of a loaded question dude I mean of course there is, and there are (rarely) people that do hold far-right beliefs in reenacting, but as zilla noted, Axis groups tend to be pretty hypersensitive to that kind of thing specifically because of people like you getting on their cases about it.

One of my friends went to this and met the chubby German soldier reenactor [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/GG4EE1y.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/vPnHsn1.png[/IMG] I'm really upset I didn't go