I am not trying to flame you here, but you are factually incorrect.
Having studied this period intensely for the last 15 years, including
receiving a degree in history with a heavy concentration in pre to post
WWII events (political, social, and military) in Europe, I can safely say
that your statement is fundamentally wrong. As with every major
historical event, simple baseline statements like this can not be made.
They are as unhelpful as they are incorrect.
The German people will have to carry around the burden of their guilt for
WWII for quite a long time, but the other nations that were all too happy
to help the Germans do their worst should not be forgotten either.
Nationalists in every country Germany occupied helped out far too much,
from rounding up and executing Jews to providing front line troops to
continue the slaughter. Some of the most "helpful" were France, Poland,
Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Rumania, what was Yugoslavia,
and what was the western portion of the Soviet Union. Even the neutral
Swiss contributed by laundering plunder from the murdered and conquered.
The slaughter of the enemies of the Nazi and puppet regimes (of which the
Jews totaled probably less than 30%) could not have been carried out on
such a scale without lots and lots of help from people who can hardly be
called German.
The point here is that "evil" is something that is not directly related
to a uniform or MV. A uniform can not pull a trigger, but the individual
wearing it could even if stark naked. "Evil" therefore comes from a
black heart and defective mind, not some threads and metal. If someone
wants to reenact, collect, or simply admire a piece of history based on
its historical quality, that is fine by me. But if someone wants to
wear, drive, of read such materials as a means of promoting the "evil"
those items served, then such people should be shunned by anybody
considering themselves to be a decent human being. I am also painfully
aware that there are plenty of people in this country that would be MORE
than happy to kill someone with a different skin color, set of beliefs,
etc. without putting "SS" collar tabs on their collar or a white hood
over their heads. Don't believe me? Just watch the news...
In regards to the "SS" guys at the meet, if they were there to make
political (racial) presentations more than reenactment they should be
banned from future rallies. Freedom of speech is NOT an absolute right
in a private organization so far as I know. The organizers therefore
have every right to bar such activity. If some people want to spout off
hate in a MV they can form their own rally to do that.
A little more than 2 cents.
Steve
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