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

[QUOTE=gudman;48785467]That's more of a systemic problem with Stalin's empire-building policies rather than his direct involvement.[/QUOTE] Although, let's face it, the wonderful purges did not help, either. The fact that anyone who had any initiative was seen as danger was a problem of it's own.

[QUOTE=gufu;48786016]Although, let's face it, the wonderful purges did not help, either. The fact that anyone who had any initiative was seen as danger was a problem of it's own.[/QUOTE] Yeah, sure, but I'm talking about the events that happened during the war. The lack of experienced and able commanders played a role in this, but that's more like an aftermath of an event that already happened.

[QUOTE=Dubeard;48783595]Being a part of reenactments would be awesome to have these moments (Along with the reenactment itself)[/QUOTE] I reenact the American Civil War, the American Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars. Meeting a veteran from back then today would frankly be terrifying. [editline]29th September 2015[/editline] Oh yeah and I do Renaissance but that's more faires and battle pageants.

[QUOTE=Zang-Pog;48784047]Soldiers are the worst of humanity and war isn't something we should do [highlight](User was banned for this post ("baiting arguments" - Orkel))[/highlight] [highlight](User was banned for this post ("baiting arguments" - Orkel))[/highlight][/QUOTE] Like us lower-enlisted decide fuck all when it comes down to it, and like if you should blame anyone you should blame the cunt that ordered the dude to do the bad shit (if he even did any) There is a chain of command did you know????? [editline]29th September 2015[/editline] Just like with every large gathering of people not everyone is a rapist/murderer.

I wonder if he felt more comfortable talking to about all this because you guys were in 'uniform' dressed like how he used too.

I'm curious what was the story he was telling at the start, something to do cognac? [QUOTE=Snapster;48786137]I wonder if he felt more comfortable talking to about all this because you guys were in 'uniform' dressed like how he used too.[/QUOTE] I think the uniforms are less to do with it and more that he knows he can tell these stories and these guys aren't going to flip the fuck out and go on a tirade like those two dudes on the first page.

[QUOTE=Zang-Pog;48784047]Soldiers are the worst of humanity and war isn't something we should do [highlight](User was banned for this post ("baiting arguments" - Orkel))[/highlight] [highlight](User was banned for this post ("baiting arguments" - Orkel))[/highlight][/QUOTE] War is the most disgusting thing, but you shouldn't just make judgements like that. Soldiers usually join with very good intentions, such as protecting the shorelines, that they were baited into thinking they were the force of all good (like this dude), or just want or need some benefits. You just can't judge people off the bat like that.

[QUOTE=Rangergxi;48785093][video=youtube;PiLVAz-Jczg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiLVAz-Jczg[/video] This thread eh? Come on man. The Red Army was actually pretty great. They just caught by surprise which caused them to be outnumbered by like 2-1 in the initial invasion and left without any air power. They also had most of their officers purged, leaving their tanks&Equipment in the hands of people who had no experience. This whole "hoards of illiterate peasants with american guns" thing you're kinda alluding to is just wrong. Also, the fact that Germany is portrayed as tyrannical comes from the fact that they were basically an autocratic government that had a very aggressive foreign policy. Annexing your neighbors and striking first generally does that. Not to say that the Soviets were any better... they probably were planning on invading Europe.[/QUOTE] They actually did plan on taking all of Europe. If it hadn't been for US and British forces, the soviets would of continued past Germany

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;48785206]Hilariously enough, a lot of those plans were faltered by none other than fucking Stalin. Granted you gotta wonder if there would be anyone else right for the job, considering you need an iron fist to keep a situation like Barbarossa-Era USSR running smooth[/QUOTE] Stalin, for all his idiocy, irrational paranoia, and brutal rulership, actually did one thing Hitler couldn't, and that was to trust his generals. Well, only after Barbarossa was an operational failure and millions of Soviet soldiers were captured, killed or wounded :v: Hitler, meanwhile, strangled his officers' initiative later in the war or just replaced the competent ones because they were competent enough to realize how little Hitler knew about anything military related. By the end of the war the Red Army was a component and highly proficient military, something Churchill apparently couldn't comprehend when he called for plans to fight the war machine that engaged and defeated 80% of the entire German military Yeah by the way your reenactment uniforms are fucking stellar. I love me some good ol WWII reenactments.

To be honest, I'd love to do WWII reenacting, either of the Red Army or the Waffen SS. But I don't think such a thing exists in Canada because our gun laws don't exactly allow us to have the correct weapons in a lot of cases.

[QUOTE=Vasili;48784716]Either the old man doesn't understand most of the questions, or he's avoiding answer them fully for a number of reasons. Given him being former SS, I'm more inclined to think there's something sinister about his passed.[/QUOTE] History lesson inbound, Not every SS member was a fanatical sadistic murder, in fact yes some units of the SS were either completely free of war crimes or in actuality no worse than the allies, and I'm not talking about the Soviets.

This was in Rockford? Damn, a reason to actually go to Rockford now :v: I might look into do this, I mean, its only an hour or so away.

[QUOTE=T553412;48784918]Say whatever you want about the Nazis, they knew how to dress. Well, I reckon that's what happens when you hire motherfucking Hugo Boss to design your wardrobe, but still...[/QUOTE] Hugo Boss did not design the German combat uniforms.

Sounds really wrong to say it but i would love to roleplay as a Nazi SS, the autocracy you got in a group should be awesome.

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;48784953]Man now I feel pretty awful for bringing this video up, I didn't mean to cause such a huge controversy like this[/QUOTE] Do not doubt your choice to share this piece of history with us for a second. I wanna thank you for doing so, I found it really interesting and special.

[QUOTE=Slim Charles;48786146]I think the uniforms are less to do with it and more that he knows he can tell these stories and these guys aren't going to flip the fuck out and go on a tirade like those two dudes on the first page.[/QUOTE] Honestly as a reenactor you have to prepare for stupid people and stupid questions. As much as I love answering children's questions about the Revolution and giving the British perspective on independence, or a Southerner's view on secession and the federal government, I hate answering people's questions on modern day politics. Usually I just pretend I don't know what they're talking about. You can't look at a historical people from a modern day perspective. Their views and beliefs were very different from ours. That's one of the first things you need to learn as a reenactor.

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;48784565]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 [B]hyper-organized army was crushed by a relatively hodge-podge one[/B] 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] Both very very debatable points, this is only totally accurate with the opening months of Barbarossa. Sorry to get on your case but people get the impression that the Wehrmacht was this total unstoppable efficient fighting machine, which is exaggerated of course. [editline]2nd October 2015[/editline] Interesting video and an interesting hobby though man, would love to see more haha

[QUOTE=Slim Charles;48786112] Just like with every large gathering of people not everyone is a rapist/murderer.[/QUOTE] Yeah but saying the Wehrmacht was warcrime free is a bit ridiculous. They looted, raped and murdered civilians [I]without punishment[/I]. [QUOTE=EdvardSchnitz;48786292]They actually did plan on taking all of Europe. If it hadn't been for US and British forces, the soviets would of continued past Germany[/QUOTE] Well almost certainly. They also would have added Japan to the communist bloc if it weren't for America.

[QUOTE=Rangergxi;48828961]Yeah but saying the Wehrmacht was warcrime free is a bit ridiculous. They looted, raped and murdered civilians [I]without punishment[/I]. Well almost certainly. They also would have added Japan to the communist bloc if it weren't for America.[/QUOTE] Every army commited warcrimes though, so in that regard the Wehermacht was indeed no worse or better than anyone. History is written by the victors so you rarely hear about the stuff the western allies got up to but believe me when you root around for it you'll find some pretty awful shit that also went unpunished by us even if it is somewhat 'understandable', especially true when they got into Germany (Dresden firebombings for a start). Unfortunately It was just part and parcel for the time made even worse by the fact that soldiers never really got diagnosed with Combat stress disorder so you'd have people on the front lines completely fucked mentally doing all kinds of shit. For the most part though, the western conflict remained fairly civil if you factor out the hardcore SS divisions.

[QUOTE=Fr3ddi3;48786972]History lesson inbound, Not every SS member was a fanatical sadistic murder, in fact yes some units of the SS were either completely free of war crimes or in actuality no worse than the allies, and I'm not talking about the Soviets.[/QUOTE] That, and the fact that Wiking was mostly formed of Volunteers from the scandinavian countries Later on in the war, SS units became entirely made up of people from other countries that were just plain forced to fight.

[QUOTE=Moustacheman;48791915]You can't look at a historical people from a modern day perspective. Their views and beliefs were very different from ours. That's one of the first things you need to learn as a reenactor.[/QUOTE] hell, to me this seems like something everyone needs to remember when discussing anything relating to history, too many times i've seen people condemn people and groups in history purely because they don't have tbe same set of modern philosophies and morals as we do

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;48830026]hell, to me this seems like something everyone needs to remember when discussing anything relating to history, too many times i've seen people condemn people and groups in history purely because they don't have tbe same set of modern philosophies and morals as we do[/QUOTE] Definitely, if anything our modern philosophies and morales in a way are developed from the era before and so fourth. It's the same with technology to get down to the nitty gritty, but yeah; that's something people in the modern age need to realise, but then I'm sure there are always going to be ignorance in our society, with nations having a long history of fighting and violence it's something that just comes natural