Nazi hobbyist as congressional candidate? And it’s OK?
Rich Iott is the Republican candidate to represent Ohio’s Ninth Congressional District, a seat now held by Democrat Marcy Kaptur. But as Josh Green of the Atlantic points out, Iott has had a rather unusual hobby for someone with ambitions of serving his country in Congress.
He likes to dress up in the uniform of the Waffen SS.
GOP congressional candidate Rich Iott, second from right, in the uniform of a Waffen SS officer.
For several years, in fact, Iott was a member of a group calling itself the Wikings, created to honor those who fought in World War II in the 5th SS Panzer Division. The division comprised volunteers to the Nazi cause drawn from outside Germany. As the Wiking site explains:
Nazi Germany had no problem in recruiting the multitudes of volunteers willing to lay down their lives to ensure a “New and Free Europe”, free of the threat of Communism. National Socialism was seen by many in Holland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and other eastern European and Balkan countries as the protector of personal freedom and their very way of life, despite the true underlying totalitarian (and quite twisted, in most cases) nature of the movement. Regardless, thousands upon thousands of valiant men died defending their respective countries in the name of a better tomorrow. We salute these idealists; no matter how unsavory the Nazi government was, the front-line soldiers of the Waffen-SS (in particular the foreign volunteers) gave their lives for their loved ones and a basic desire to be free.
Idealists, in the name of a better tomorrow, motivated by a basic desire to be free. Lovely.
As the Wiking site goes on to explain, “It is our aim to bring you a bit of actual history behind the men who fought against the “Bolshevik scourge”; volunteers who came from the various Northern European countries allied with Hitler’s Germany who only had a desire to see an end to Soviet Communism.”
Iott explains his former hobby by likening it to Civil War re-enacters, noting that “you couldn’t do Civil War re-enacting if somebody didn’t play the role of the Confederates.”
“I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that here was a relatively small country that from a strictly military point of view accomplished incredible things,” Iott told Green. “I mean, they took over most of Europe and Russia, and it really took the combined effort of the free world to defeat them. From a purely historical military point of view, that’s incredible.”
Iott’s explanation, strained as it is, might be slightly more convincing if he and his friends had chosen to emulate a standard unit of the German Army, or Wehrmacht. The moral culpability of draftees conscripted into the German military is at least arguable.
Instead, they chose to emulate a division of the Waffen SS, a volunteer arm of the Nazi Party that played a prominent role in the wholesale slaughter of 6 million Jews and millions of other “undesirables.” In fact. the infamous Josef Mengele served in the 5th division early in the war, and it was directly implicated in several mass murders of Jewish captives.
Armed with this information, the people of the Ohio Ninth will no doubt cast their own judgment on Iott at the ballot box this November. But what I find fascinating is the reaction to the discovery. Here we’ve got a congressional candidate as a member of a group touting Nazi SS volunteers as idealists fighting for freedom, yet prominent right-wing blogs (here and here and here, for example) are defending Iott as a victim of liberal smears.
Green is creating an issue where one really doesn’t exist, we’re told, because dressing like the Waffen SS is “basically like the reenactors who play the Red Coats in American Revolution reenactments.” This is just another example of “shoddy political hackery” by liberal journalists, a “pathetic attack” by leftists ready to “smear anyone for anything if they think it might help them hold onto power.”
In other words, they’re all right with this behavior, and are willing to defend it.
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763 comments Add your comment
Dusty
October 10th, 2010
10:20 pm
Sooo, Pale Neo- Carlinist…baseball games are a minimum of 9 innings. I would never have guessed! Have a french fry.
paleo-neo-Carlinist
October 10th, 2010
10:21 pm
Pete, just so we’re clear, you defend (with great vigor) a person(s) who emulate and honor Waffen SS, a KNOWN “anti-Semitic” organzation, which waged war against ‘the Ameican government’ (and killed hundreds, if not thousands of American G.I.s), yet you believe I am a “A closeted Anti-Semitic uneducated blowhard standing ready to sabotage the American government any chance he gets.” my desire to ovethrow the U.S. government aside, I think “sabotoge” is an interesting word. seems wannbe Congressman Iott is pretty good a sabotaging his own career, and it’s not like the Democratic Party and its minions in the mainstream media had to do more than dial this one it.
RW-(the original)
October 10th, 2010
10:21 pm
Actually baseball games are a minimum of 4 1/2 innings.
Dusty
October 10th, 2010
10:25 pm
RW,
I withold your french fry until you explain that 4 1/2 innings.
RW-(the original)
October 10th, 2010
10:28 pm
Dusty,
If a game is weather delayed after the visiting team has batted in their half of 5 innings and the home team is leading, the home team is declared the winner should the game not be able to be resumed.
Thus 4 1/2 innings
paleo-neo-Carlinist
October 10th, 2010
10:30 pm
Dusty, yep, that’s my story and I am sticking with it. it’s not like football, where you can “take a knee” and let the clock run out. I coach a youth team down here in Atlanta – and I always tell my kids, “baseball is a very fair game. if, you can get the other team out 18 times (we only play 6 inning games), and you score more runs, you win! if not, you lose. it’s that simple. I suppose, after a particularly tough loss, we could “re-enact” an inning or two, and in liew of errors, strike outs or missed cut-offs, we could “honor the sacrifices” of our team and spin the loss into something other than it was, but I don’t want give Pete any other reasons to deride Atlanta. and lest Pete think this is a German things, might I trade my French fry for a Bavarian pretzels mit spicy mustard?
Dusty
October 10th, 2010
10:31 pm
Ohhh RW,
You get two french fries. I will play baseball with you anytime, all four and a half innings. But I usually get way ahead in the first inning so don’t make any bets.
paleo-neo-Carlinist
October 10th, 2010
10:31 pm
RW, I stand corrected. a “regulation” game is a minimum of 9 innings.
Scout
October 10th, 2010
10:35 pm
Some good paraprosdokians :
Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
War does not determine who is right – only who is left.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America ?
Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.
You do not need a parachute to skydive. You definitely need a parachute to skydive twice.
I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not sure.
And my personal favorite:
To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
Dusty
October 10th, 2010
10:41 pm
Errrr paleo-neo-carlinist,
I’m no “re.enactor!!!! No Bavarian pretzels from me. Straight ol’ American french fries from ‘Burger King!! But you can have one (since you play by regulation!)..
Scout
October 10th, 2010
10:43 pm
I was thinking about the old times of my youth the other day and remembered one special word that is used so seldom anymore. It had so much meaning. I used to hear my Mom say it often.
Come in now, it’s time for “supper”.
Supper
RW-(the original)
October 10th, 2010
10:49 pm
Scout,
I grew up in the South with Yankee parents. My friends said dinner was what I knew of as lunch and supper was what I called dinner. If that’s true I guess the North won that one too.
Dusty
October 10th, 2010
10:54 pm
Scout, I use to hear ” supper”. That was when we ate dinner in the middle of the day and supper at night. But now we have lunch at noon and dinner at night.
It’s a nice word…supper…but like you said, not used much any more. Maybe I will have ham and hominey (grits) tomorrow night and call it supper. But all I have to do is put food on the table. They will come by any name…
paleo-neo-Carlinist
October 10th, 2010
10:57 pm
Ok then, one more observation from a civil war reenactor named Stephen Crane – “to seduce here victims, nature had to formulate a beautiful excuse. she made glory. this made men willing, anxious, in haste to come and be killed.” seems to me the “foreigners” who volunteered to serve in with the Wikings of the 5th Panzer Division would have done well to read The Red Badge of Courage before they were seduced into ridding Europe of “undesirables”.
Dusty
October 10th, 2010
11:01 pm
RW, I think most people in the South had a big midday dinner until many women went to work. They carried a lunch with them. No time to fix a big dinner until they got home.
That’s my conclusion. (Not going to let the North win that one!)
RW-(the original)
October 10th, 2010
11:04 pm
Dusty,
This is when we need final arbitration from josef and Hillbilly D.
Dusty
October 10th, 2010
11:16 pm
Yes, Yes RW…but will I be able to sleep tonight awaiting their decision? But you do know that both of them are REAL Southerners.?..yes sir So I am already ahead!!!!
Sleep or not, I am all out of french fries so it is off to bed for me. Until tomorrow!!!!
RW-(the original)
October 10th, 2010
11:22 pm
G’night Dusty.
NWOhioVoter
October 10th, 2010
11:47 pm
Rich Idiot honors a group the included Mengele and knowingly hunted and sent innocent people to their death. He never worked a real job in his life. He inherited a grocery company from his father, sold out the stockholders, employees, and made millions off of the hardwork of those he left high and dry. He is a “CREEP” all the way around!!!!
Scout
October 11th, 2010
1:46 am
“Come Home, It’s Suppertime” Johnny Cash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w2lzQ7tgjg
Fletcher Armstrong
October 11th, 2010
3:13 am
Shocking. And it’s really only the tip of the iceberg. There are many, many more who have reenacted the roles of SS officers, death camp goons, and the very worst Nazi criminals.
Hollywood actors Brian Cox and Michael Wolf have reenacted the role of Hermann Goering. David Bamber, Richard Basehart, Jim Chlopeicki, and Steven Berkoff have all reenacted the role of Adolf Hitler. Martin Semmelrogge. Wolf Kahler, Erwin Leder, and Marian Glinka have reenacted the roles of various SS officers. Haymon Maria Buttinger, Olaf Lubaszenko, and Peter Appiano have reenacted the roles of various Auschwitz guards. The list goes on and on. Check it out: http://www.imdb.com.
I was especially disappointed to learn that Brian Cox had played the role of Hermann Goering in a movie reenactment of the Nuremberg tribunal. I had always been a big fan of his. I am so distressed to learn that he is a Nazi.
Shocking! And these Hollywood movie actors don’t even try to hide their Nazi ties. Just like that Republican Rich Iott is proud of his ties to the Tea Party, the Nazi SS, and the Republican Party.
I live in the American South, where Civil War reenactments are a way of life. Until now, I thought these reenactors were just trying to help us all learn an important part of our national history. Now I know they are really just a bunch of would-be slave traders! Shame on all of them!
Southern Comfort
October 11th, 2010
4:19 am
paleo
I’m not trying to tap dance around the issue. Did you see the link I posted earlier about the WW II Re-enactment Society? The Wikings are part of a group that re-enacts and demonstrates the way of life for WW II soldiers. After reading some of their site, they appear to be no different than the groups that re-enact Civil War battles and encampments or Revolutionary War era stuff.
With that said, I feel it is disingenuous to re-enact only part of history. That’s what is wrong with our history books and lessons today. Nobody wants to talk about or teach the bad things that happened in history. If we fail to recognize or learn from the bad things that happened, how do we keep them from happening again? If they are uncomfortable with portraying the brutality that occurred under Nazi rule, then maybe they should not be re-enactors at all. You also have to remember that there would be many who would be offended if they did portray those things. It’s a lose-lose situation. One in which I personally would not be a re-enactor.
Joel Edge
October 11th, 2010
5:28 am
Sure, why not. We have a bunch of Communist in office now. At least this guy is honest about what he’s doing. A d#@n sight more honest that some people that just give lip service to freedom and democracy, and then do the opposite.
RB from Gwinnett
October 11th, 2010
6:12 am
I sure wish you liberals would make up your mind whether a candidates personal life is relevant or not. It’s hard to keep up with your selective outrage.
BTW, the man wears the uniform of a group that thought socialism was a good idea and you people are trying your darndest to make us socialists. I don’t get what your problem is with that.
Joel Edge
October 11th, 2010
6:44 am
RB from Gwinnett@ 6:12
Thank you. I made the suggestion on a newsgroup that Nazis and Socialists were pretty much the same animal and got gasps and attacks of outrage. I’m glad I’m not the only one.
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
7:04 am
RB and Joel –
so, I guess that means that, since North Korea’s formal name is the Democratic Republic of North Korea, that makes it a democracy …
you guys crack me up …
Joel Edge
October 11th, 2010
7:06 am
USinUK@7:04
I agree. What does that say about the Democratic Party. Doesn’t seem to be a lot of Democracy there. I guess if they had the courage of their convictions, they would change the name.
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
7:14 am
Joel – yep … the way they’ve taken over all the means of production for every industry across the country …
you guys should demand your money back for the GOP word-of-the-day calendar … they only gave you one word and obviously didn’t teach you what it means.
josef nix
October 11th, 2010
7:16 am
Pete
In case you check in today or tonight, thank you for answering my question and the tone you used to do so. I respect that. I centered on Hegyeshalom for my specific reasons, I do intend to follow up on this.
DUSTY, RW
I grew up using dinner to refer to the big, hot meal of the day which was most generally served in the country at noon and was oriented to fare to hold you up in the field and followed by a rest. Supper was the evening meal, usually somewhat lighter and often cold and leftovers from dinner. Lunch was not used except in a somewhat stilted sense of the light meal “the ladies” might be having when gahering for bridge (in the morniing) Granny always had “tea” in the afternoon at around 4 or five and it was served with light sandwiches or tea cakes. The use of dinner for an evening meal was a more formal affair. The difference can be seen if you look at the meaning of the root verbs “to dine” and “to sup.” Interestingly, sup is of Germanic origin and was in use before the Norman invasion and the imposition of French as the “court language” and with it the verb “to dine.” The Anglo-Saxon peasant “supped,” and the French lord “dined.”
I still use both terms and in our home language very rarely use “dinner” to refer to the evening meal, but l”lunch” has taken over for the midday meal.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
October 11th, 2010
7:25 am
Jay, what about the “Marxist” running against O’Donnell? Any articles coming forth on him?
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
October 11th, 2010
7:25 am
Didn’t Prince Harry do something stupid like this as well?
Normal
October 11th, 2010
7:26 am
Guten Morgen, y’all!
Hope you had as great a weekend as I did! My lady and I took a long North Georgia bike ride, had lunch in Dahlonega, and wandered around in the mountains. It was wonderful! After today though, I have to park it for five to six weeks. I’m having a ligament replaced in my right thumb tomorrow….BUT, yesterday will always be one of those remembered times in our lives. I just can’t express what a joy it was!
Normal
October 11th, 2010
7:28 am
Oh, I forgot…
http://news.icanhascheezburger.com/2010/10/08/political-pictures-navy-you-get/
Joel Edge
October 11th, 2010
7:29 am
USinUk@7:14
Nice work. Fall back on the attacks. I’m a registered democrat and have been all my life. The whole point of my post was: don’t look at the name, look at what they do. You can’t deny that the current incarnation of the Democrat Party is largely government control oriented. You can call me a Republican all you want. Until the Democrat Party stops being the party of more government, it’s going to have a hard time amongst voters.
No amount of “we need to explain or position better”, or “bitter clinging to guns and religion” is going to fly. Even the current complaint of “foreign money” isn’t getting any traction. Even from traditionally friendly media. No amount of name calling will correct that.
@@
October 11th, 2010
7:31 am
732 comments!!??!!
Well, jay, it looks like you accomplished your goal.
732 comments about nothing of great import.
How sad is that?
Mick
October 11th, 2010
7:31 am
usinuk
So, how was your sojourn to america? Are we a socialist haven yet?
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
October 11th, 2010
7:32 am
Mr. Obama’s neighborhood…..”it’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood….”
Like rats deserting a sinking ship – White House staff exodus exposes Obama to charges of disarrayMore senior staff including defence secretary Robert Gates, and senior advisor David Axelrod, leave their jobs
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
October 11th, 2010
7:33 am
If a guy dresses up like a construction worker, cowboy, cop, et all, does that make him q u e e r and a “Village People” fan?
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
7:33 am
“Didn’t Prince Harry do something stupid like this as well?”
um. I may be nit-picking, but I think there’s a world of difference between a one-off dressing-up for a costume party (and being soundly pummeled by the international press) and participating in an organized group and dressing up as a nazi every flipping weekend.
Kamchak
October 11th, 2010
7:34 am
We have a bunch of Communist in office now.
And
I made the suggestion on a newsgroup that Nazis and Socialists were pretty much the same animal…
There are your signs.
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
7:35 am
joel – “Nice work. Fall back on the attacks.”
“You can’t deny that the current incarnation of the Democrat Party is largely government control oriented.”
actually, yes, I can. and I do.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
October 11th, 2010
7:36 am
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
7:33 am
So I guess the voters will decide the severity of his decision, right?
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
7:37 am
Mick – “So, how was your sojourn to america? Are we a socialist haven yet?”
my sojourn to DC and Atlanta were fantastic, thank you (I managed to avoid the 2 major storms that hit the mid-Atlantic, thank dog!)
as for the rampant “socialism” running amok in the states … alas … I didn’t see much of it in Starbucks, Kohls, Target, Lenox or Harrys … although, I did look …
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
7:38 am
LegLamp – 7:33 – as they usually do.
stands for decibels
October 11th, 2010
7:40 am
participating in an organized group and dressing up as a nazi every flipping weekend.
But UnU, perhaps we’re being unfair. After all, I’m sure if it were a Democratic aspirant for Congress doing the dressing up, the right wingers on this board would’ve been understanding about the guy’s thespian orientation.
Mick
October 11th, 2010
7:42 am
usinuk
Thanks for the socialist debunking, now maybe rb from gwinnet can get up on the right side of the bed, or is it the left side?
Mick
October 11th, 2010
7:44 am
usinuk
It’s looking pretty good that I’ll be able to pull off another QM2 trip in june this coming summer. One of my favorite places to hang out is in camden.
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
7:44 am
dB – 7:40 – criminey, if it was a Democrat, they would declare it as proof (PROOF! I tell you) that ObamaCare is all about killing the elderly and the weak.
oy.
Mick – 7:42 – hope springs eternal … but I’m not holding my breath.
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
7:48 am
Mick – 7:42 – no WAY! aw, man, that sounds like a lovely trip!! so, you’re all about the music scene in Camden, are you?? hanging with Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronsen, huh??
very, VERY cool!!
stands for decibels
October 11th, 2010
7:51 am
Have any Democrats gone with the riff that since all the former Soviet Republics had the word “Republic” in their name, that obviously Republicans are super-secret Commies?
Mick
October 11th, 2010
7:55 am
Yes – after visiting abbey road, a colleague of mine told me to venture down to camden and as soon as we got off the tube some mate was trying to sell me some great skunk weed. I’m always aware of a sting and said no thanks and went to a little pub that was rockin. I told this guy about my encounter and he said its a good thing I didn’t buy any cause it probably was ground up spinach….camden was cool, felt like home..
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
8:01 am
Mick – 7:55 –
if you smoke it, does it still count as one of your 5-a-day?
Mick
October 11th, 2010
8:07 am
usinuk
I’ll have to ask popeye, maybe that’s what he’s packing in his pipe!
jt
October 11th, 2010
8:14 am
That Nazi uniform is no less insulting than the costume (Saville Row) worn by Hank Paulson, Obama, Bush, Bernanki, Geitner, and other assorted pluto/klepto-crats.
They produce the same measure of misery.
They should suffer the same fate.
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
8:18 am
“the costume (Saville Row) worn by Hank Paulson, Obama, Bush, Bernanki, Geitner, and other assorted pluto/klepto-crats.”
dude. seriously?
you’re honestly comparing a pin-stripe suit with a Nazi uniform??
REALLY???
USinUK
October 11th, 2010
8:18 am
“They produce the same measure of misery”
oh, and even though I’m not Jewish, a gypsey or mentally incapacitated, I found this incredibly offensive.
Jay
October 11th, 2010
8:27 am
And fourteen of those comments on this unimportant topic were yours, @@.
paleo-neo-Carlinist
October 11th, 2010
10:16 am
one final comment. SoCo, agree to disagree. although war reenacting is not my cup of tea, as I said, I recognize there are some who enjoy it. what I question is the revisionist history or the sanitizing of the Waffen SS/Nazis. it’s not so much the fact that these guys dress up as Nazis, as it is the fact that they fabricate the illusion that the Nazis and the SS were anything beyond ruthless, sociopathic, killers. as I said, the recruitment and “mission” of the 5th Panzers was akin tot he jihad of al Qeada. inaccurate, revisionist history from the likes of Iott (”from a strictly military history perspective…” yada, yada, yada…). the Waffen SS and the Germans invaded and occupied much of Western Europe and the Soviet Union, but they were little more than neighborhood bullies, and as any true military historian will tell you, the 5th Panzers/Waffen SS were specialists if you will in the erradication of Eastern Europen Jews. not exactly, standing toe-to-toe with the “free world” and slugging it out. HISTORY (not me) has judged them to be war criminals and not “idealists” and “professional soldiers”. Hitler was Napolean with tanks and Stukas, and nothing more. that aside, I have an idea. I am going to start a Vietnam re-enactors group and I want to focus on the Texas Air National Guard. our re-enactments of the Vietnam conflict will include flying obsolete fighter aircraft, hiding out in Alabama and playing golf. I’m trying to see if I can find a “Dick Cheney” uniform, but basically, I just need a dark suit and in lieu of weapons or tactical reenactments, I just have to learn to file for deferments (5) and repeat the line; “military service is not a priority at the moment”. read up on this guy.
Scout
October 11th, 2010
1:39 pm
When are we going to rename our country’s capital to something other than that SLAVE OWNER Washington ?
Pete
October 11th, 2010
8:43 pm
Kamchak @ 9:46 wrote: “Wow, quite the budding Sherlock Holmes you are becoming, sport. Of course the big tip-off should have been the sponsor of this blog–The Atlanta Journal/Constitution. Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back.”
So you are implying that this is only an Atlanta-based discussion? Nope. It’s a local story that has been pushed into the National arena by ill-intentioned Democrats. it had been my impression that responses were allowed from anyone with internet access.
If keeping this an Atlanta-based conversation is your intention, I ask you what business you have talking about and debating about this person’s credentials. It is absoloutely none of your business! You Georgians cannot vote for this Ohio candidate, he is not any representative of your state — so keep your nose where it belongs. If you want to keepo this a local conversation, don’t include national news in an open (to anyone) forum.
Dick Macgurn
October 11th, 2010
9:51 pm
I’m the last person to defend a Nazi but my brother-in-law plays a Nazi in his WWII reenactment club and he’s Jewish.
Narukami
October 12th, 2010
3:36 pm
History is never black & white but rather infuriating shades of gray. However, solid research sheds more light and resolves some of those “gray” areas.
Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of the Waffen-SS soldiers were neither members of the Nazi Party or even volunteers, and this includes Hitler’s bodyguard division, the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte.
In 1943 the 1st SS received a larger transfer of Luftwaffe (Air Force) personnel into their ranks to make good losses suffered on the Eastern Front. These former airmen became members of the Waffen-SS. This was not the only time nor the only SS unit to receive transfers from other branches of the German military. (See: Steel Inferno by Michael Reynolds, c1997, pp21-21)
Likewise, all foreigners serving in the German Army were placed under the control of Himmler and the SS. This is how the father of our former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Shalikashvili became an SS officer.
It should also be noted that the Germany Army is not free f the taint of war crimes. Although they were not named as a criminal organization by the Nuremberg Tribunal does not absolve them of participation in and complicity with war crimes. As reference see: The German Army And Genocide by the Hamburg Institute for Social Research, c1996. Also, The SS – Alibi Of A Nation by Gerald Reitlinger, c1981.
On the other hand…
To insist, as many of these sites do and indeed as the veterans themselves have since 1945, that the members of the Waffen-SS were “soldiers like any other” rings hollow.
On April 22, 1941 Himmler issued a directive listing 179 units he considered part of the Waffen-SS. These units included not only those combat units fighting at the front under the direction of the OKW but also various rear area units to include the Concentration Camp Guards (Totenkopfverbande) and the Einsatzgruppen. See Masters Of Death by Richard Rhodes concerning the activities of the Einsatzgruppen and their inclusion within the Waffen-SS.
Also see: The Order Of The Death’s Head by Heinz Hohne, c1966, pp.524-525.
More to the point…
There is much misplaced admiration for the Waffen-SS (snappy dressers that they were notwithstanding). That the Waffen-SS achieved noteworthy feats of arms on the battlefield during World War Two is without question, however, any honor their exploits may earn them is for ever tainted by the cause they served and by the master they swore loyalty to.
The Waffen-SS were not “soldiers like any others” by any stretch of the imagination.
coach bags
October 12th, 2010
11:37 pm
thank for post!