Taboo against toys of controverial historical subject matter

[Vince]

That's what it really boils down to in my mind. How can all the points that need to be repeated keep being sounded? I'm of the opinion that every high school student in the US should have to watch Schindler's List to be able to graduate. It's a start.

Fat chat that would happen, though.

Schools should show 'Nuit et Brouillard' from Alain Resnais.

Sure Schinlder's List show great insight in the holocaust, but this is a documentary made shortly after WWII (1955) and shows the real horrors of the holocaust.
You can only try to grasp some of the horrors, it's hard to try to realise these things really happened.
And if enough people keep denying the holocaust, like many try, in some decades it will be some sort of fable, a gruwesome fairy tale that only exists in old books and old black and white movies. real or not ?
So it is necessary to keep reminding people these things really happenend in the hope they will never happen again.
Documenteries like this can help and even those collectibles ...

They show this documentary in some schools, but they should show it to every minor ...
If you have never seen it. Rent it today or download it and watch it right now!

 

[chamildav]

Lanzmann's documentary "Shoah" would be a better choice for teaching older children about the holocaust and the general potential for mans inhumanity to his fellow man. Most adults would also benefit from viewing it.
Dolls are dolls. Even creepy ones. Having a HJ doll doesn't make you anything like a nazi or right wing extremist. On the contrary, it most likely makes you a student of history with an interest in the political history of Weimar and Nazi Germany. Some of us may need to get a grip and try to judge others interests a little less harshly. But what do I know, I'm probably a right wing extremist.

 

[metaphorge]

I actually know 4 Polish guys (nothing against the Polish, hey I'M 50%, but born and raised in the states, they just happened to be) who claim the holocaust was a sham and that Jewish people need to still be purged. They were taught this from people in Poland they claim.

I wonder if any of those "people from Poland" that taught them that ever bothered to vist the town of Oświęcim?

I did when I was in Poland earlier this year.

My girlfriend and I lucked into having a cab driver that had lived in the area since he was a kid drive us from Auschwitz I to Birkenau, his parents were forced laborers in war industry there in the forties. He talked about how odd it seemed that all these trainloads of people kept arriving at Birkenau... and never leaving.

Holocaust deniars are a special breed of idiot. I don't think such speech should be banned, but I do think those that spout those lies need to... well, this is a family board, so I will refrain from going into detail further about what I think of such people.

Let's just say that I found the issue of Spawn where the KKK leader was transformed into a black man and was subsequently lynched by his own Klansmen to be oddly satifying.

Frankly, it galls me that they presume that owning a Hitler or Goering or Himmler figure implies a reverence for these people, or at least that eBay has caved to "community sensibilities" making the same presumption. No hall of villiany for you, Mr. 1:6 Military History Enthusiast.

Doesn't suppressing WWII Nazi Party imagery just give it an inappropriate appeal? Have they never seen Apt Pupil? Or do they want people to remember, but remember their way? What eBay is doing is political correctness run amuck. It's what happens in any monopoly -- arrogance reigns.

I agree with you 100%, though I think the amount of pressure eBay received on this issue at the turn of the century should be noted. I think in the end it was a business decision for them; they stood to lose more money from reactionary boycotts than they did to gain from the auctions, so they caved. This sort of thing happens far too often.

Schools should show 'Nuit et Brouillard' from Alain Resnais.

Sure Schinlder's List show great insight in the holocaust, but this is a documentary made shortly after WWII (1955) and shows the real horrors of the holocaust.
You can only try to grasp some of the horrors, it's hard to try to realise these things really happened.
And if enough people keep denying the holocaust, like many try, in some decades it will be some sort of fable, a gruwesome fairy tale that only exists in old books and old black and white movies. real or not ?
So it is necessary to keep reminding people these things really happenend in the hope they will never happen again.
Documenteries like this can help and even those collectibles ...

They show this documentary in some schools, but they should show it to every minor ...
If you have never seen it. Rent it today or download it and watch it right now!

I haven't seen that one yet (I have seen Shoah, btw, and agree that it's excellent. I'll have to check into it.

I suggested Schindler's List because I feel that the dramatic presentation fosters more empathy for the victims and leaves a greater overall impact than a documentary would. I've personally found it's a little easier to maintain emotional distance from a documentary's grainy film footage.

 

[Gruff Old Bear]

Metaphorge, I never heard about pressure on eBay in 2000. That's news to me. I guess I should have known. Odd, the most fervent collector of authentic Nazi memorabilia I know is Jewish, and a very, very prominent physician. If I told you where he is Chief of Medicine your jaw would drop. He is not a young man. The experience of his generation makes his penchant something I cannot question; he's entitled to digest the Holocaust whatever way he thinks works.

When I posted earlier, I wound up cutting some of what I wanted to say because it just felt too personal. Your Auschwitz-Birkenau slideshow has me sitting here welling up, and I hope you leave it on the web for a while. It brings back a similar visit of my own.

I was going to post earlier that 26 years ago I visited the site of the concentration camp at Buchenwald, and that it is seared in my mind. I could list secondary sources, movies, books I think every schoolchild should see or read. But there is nothing so profound as walking where the doomed once walked. There is something I saw at Buchenwald -- that I've never read about or seen depicted in the West -- that I have never told anyone because to receive it in any form other than the one I did would cheapen it. I can only say there is no bottom to the story of the Nazis. It just keeps going down.

I guess Dave's question about whether to keep the military forum going has been answered.

 

[screamingmetal]

Let's just say that I found the issue of Spawn where the KKK leader was transformed into a black man and was subsequently lynched by his own Klansmen to be oddly satifying.

You must've not seen the Twilight Zone movie or TV series then.

 

[Doomhammer]

I guess Dave's question about whether to keep the military forum going has been answered.

Indeed, and I dare say it's the first time a topic like this one hasn't turned into flaming and had to be closed down.

Impressive pictures metaphorge. Gave me chills.

 

[metaphorge]

Metaphorge, I never heard about pressure on eBay in 2000. That's news to me. I guess I should have known. Odd, the most fervent collector of authentic Nazi memorabilia I know is Jewish, and a very, very prominent physician. If I told you where he is Chief of Medicine your jaw would drop. He is not a young man. The experience of his generation makes his penchant something I cannot question; he's entitled to digest the Holocaust whatever way he thinks works.

I think that, to a much lesser degree of course, that's what many of us are doing with our militaria collections (and not just with World War II and the Nazis, either). I have to admit that I enjoy yanking the head off of my 3r "Chancellor" figure from time to time.

When I posted earlier, I wound up cutting some of what I wanted to say because it just felt too personal. Your Auschwitz-Birkenau slideshow has me sitting here welling up, and I hope you leave it on the web for a while. It brings back a similar visit of my own.

No worries on that photo set going anywhere. I feel that the very minimal contribution that I can give to this world is bearing witness in my own small way. I found the process of photographing the camps made the experience easier to take, as the requisite technical and compositional thought processes helped heep the weight of the place from caving my mind in.

I was going to post earlier that 26 years ago I visited the site of the concentration camp at Buchenwald, and that it is seared in my mind. I could list secondary sources, movies, books I think every schoolchild should see or read. But there is nothing so profound as walking where the doomed once walked. There is something I saw at Buchenwald -- that I've never read about or seen depicted in the West -- that I have never told anyone because to receive it in any form other than the one I did would cheapen it. I can only say there is no bottom to the story of the Nazis. It just keeps going down.

I came to a similar place at the pond in the back corner of Birkenau, right next to the ruins of the gas chambers and the crematoria. I hope that I never visit a place more chilling than that pond.

You must've not seen the Twilight Zone movie or TV series then.

I had; I'm a Spawn dork, what can I say?

Indeed, and I dare say it's the first time a topic like this one hasn't turned into flaming and had to be closed down.

Impressive pictures metaphorge. Gave me chills.

Good on us I say, and thanks to all of you who've posted in this thread for making this such an insightful and civil discussion.

I'm glad you guys appreciated the photographs (I suppose "enjoyed" is not the right word).

 

[2000man]

I think students should be shown all sides of history and the full story to each historical event.

I make no apologizes for any of the toys I own. I own several national socialist figures including many Hitlers. Let them make anything they want to. If somebody objects, let them vote with their wallet. If any toy maker is not making money, sooner or later they will stop.

 

[Webb]

Some organized religions killed/stole/slaved more than Hitler/Stalin/Kim Jong-il together and nobody says nothing about it.

 

[ProgMatinee]

you're saying something about it....

 

[Webb]

you're saying something about it....

Moi ?


The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.

 

[jonny88]

only stupid people who do nothing but complain about stupid things and people who take everything to seriously get mad when something like this is put on the market.

 

[Batty]

A 3 year old thread? Really?

 

[Webb]

A 3 year old thread? Really?

Well you can lock it.if you don't like it.

 

[Agent0028]

Some organized religions killed/stole/slaved more than Hitler/Stalin/Kim Jong-il together and nobody says nothing about it.

Nobody says anything about it.

 

[Webb]

Nobody says anything about it.

Thanks Webster.

 

[Agent0028]

Anytime.