Nazi memorabilia: is it wrong to collect it?

@HannahSky learn the nuance

@deadgerbil I meant you're cringe

@deadgerbil slippery slope with that fascination people have

@JimboSaturn One Nazi stuff that we brought back to the US is our interstate highways. Those highways were the reason the Germans were so effective in moving their armies, supplies, and military equipment to overcome resistance. The autobahns in Germany have no speed limits.

Another Nazi stuff is rocket engineering. The Germans opened the way for us to move into space.

The Germans are definitely a superior culture. Can't blame them for viewing themselves as the master race.

The Russians are formidable also.

@sree251 Actually the German Rail Network was more important in moving war supplies than the road network.

@Anniedlr You could be right. I never thought about that.

@JPWhoo
You have your perspective, and others have theirs. The German people, led by Hitler, strove for the betterment of their fatherland. WW2 was the result of many conflicts within Europe. It was not about Jews. The modern highway is a Nazi artifact, and so is the rocket that is sending astronauts into space. And they are all good.


You have your perspective, and others have theirs. Confederate statues, flags, rifles, swords, and other memorabilia grace American towns and homes today. We have parades and re-enactments of of American historical events every year. It's our cultural history, and we are proud of what we are.

@PicturesOfABetterTomorrow Collecting in itself is one thing, but it's the intention of said collector that really matters.

@JustNik Yes why not allied artifacts as well? Just collecting the Nazi ones seems like an obsession.

@JimboSaturn I admit I’d be lookin at em sideways, but 🤷‍♀. In the grand scheme, it’s good things get saved. I’d try to think of it that way.

@Alfarrobas Thank you for the comment

@TexChik They will always be historical items. At what point do they become something else too?

Agreed. It's just kinda creepy to keep that as a personal collection.

@jshm2 What about museums exhibiting Nazi memorabilia? They say they do it for educational and historical purposes, but what if an individual wants to do it for the same reason? Is anyone being harmed?

If someone is obsessed with Nazis, it still does not make them a criminal. Child pornography will show children being harmed, and it is likely from the same era the person watching it is. Even if one were an admirer of Nazis, they can't be a real Nazi because Nazism is dead.

“This is why even rapists and murderers who are found not guilty end up shunned from civilised circles.”

This makes no sense. If they are found not guilty, why would they be shunned? Who are the civilized circles?

@jshm2
The difference is that when someone buys child porn, they're funding an industry that harms children. They're creating a demand for more children to be harmed. But when someone collects artifacts from Nazi Germany, who is being harmed? The NSDAP has already been disbanded, so it's not like the money is helping to prop up Nazi Germany. It would be like saying by collecting artifacts from the Viking Age, we're funding Vikings.

@BohemianBabe You meant to tag jshm2. I very much agree with your view on the matter.

@emiliya most groups in history have done barbaric things in barbaric times. The Nazis, being entirely 20c, don't have that excuse

@ImperialAerosolKidFromEP Aren't we always in barbaric times?

@whowasthatmaskedman Why do they have poor taste? It is history.

@emiliya It is. But not the better part of it. I get that people collect all sorts of things as value investments, because rarity drives up the price. But (if you will pardon the poor taste) if I decided to collect the skulls of your specific dead ancestors as a curiosity I am sure you would consider that an affront. The Nazi Germany era is one that, while it needs to be remembered to learn a lesson from, doesnt deserve to be commemorated as merchandise..😷

@Guardian Perhaps a pin cushion in the likeness of Der Führer.

Or even toilet paper with the swastika flag on every sheet.

@Guardian Of course! It could be any memorabilia, any items formerly belonging to Nazis.

Weapons, medals, coins, badges, uniform are particularly interesting.

@sree251 That is very true!!

@caesar7 God, those uniforms. Hitler knew what he was doing when he hired Hugo Boss.

@caesar7 You didnt happen to know a tall thin guy with long hair by the name of "Oddball".. Did you?😷

@ImperialAerosolKidFromEP Why is that? Would it be a problem?

@emiliya because I'd have to wonder why, if it was produced to overtly promote Nazism

@NativePortlander1970 Why?