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Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:01 pm
by scrann
we was working off the picture above , its all we could find . no pictures exist of the mrs ( yet ) she hates having her picture took :roll:

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:08 pm
by dink
Thanks for replying Scrann :D ah well least I know its not only me that had probs sourcing more info on it, and as for the Mrs you'll have to be sneaky and use stealth tactics to get a piccie :lol:

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:22 am
by scrann
the whole group has tried and failed , one day though

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:11 pm
by Wilhelm
I am looking for more "Foreign Volunteers" for Beltring 2008 :D

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:34 pm
by dink
scrann wrote:the whole group has tried and failed , one day though
Well if I unearth anything in my readings I'll let you know :D though its not promising :lol: never know though :lol:

Re:

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:44 pm
by Hans Gowert
Helmut Von Moltke wrote:I am for Foreign volunteer reenactment. What's so wrong about them? Some Politically correct people claim they are traitors, but the Foreign volunteers mostly only fought the Soviet Union, not the Western Allies. The foreign volunteers only did for what they believed in, protecting Europe from communism. No matter how the NS regime might be, these were normal soldiers who thought, rightly or wrongly, that they fought for their countries, their traditions, culture, continent, and loved ones. If you take into account that the Soviet Union had destroyed religion, sent millions to the Gulags, and German propaganda says that they were attacking Europe, many obviously would join the Waffen-SS. For example, what of the Latvian and Estonian volunteers? They weren't betraying anyone, their country was invaded by the Soviet Union. I would be seriously hated by some left wing P-C guys for saying this blasphemy, but let me just point out, just because I understand, have nothing against the reenactment of foreign volunteer DOES not mean I am a neo-nazi skinhead, I'm anything but that.

I hope that this was a reasonable post to this thread.

K
I voted yes, because what helmut said here is exactly how i put it, i totally agree with you helmut.

The BFC is a different cause of concern really with the british public. There has been a programme about it and shed light that they were traitors and were tried for treason, so i can understand by not doing BFC :)

Tom

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:01 am
by Wilhelm
The Brits do not have problems with foreign volunteers so long as
they are not British.
The Belgians do not have a problem so long as I do not reenact
Wallonie or Flanders Legions.
In Holland God forbid anyone reenacting Landsturm Nederland!
So as you see, it changes from country to country.

I reenacted BFC five times in 2007, three times in the UK and twice
in Belgium. Without any problem because I was very careful how I
brought it over to the public and reenactors alike.
I even took part in the Wedding at Beltring as BFC, without any
problem. In Belgium I attend a dinner in a hotel and walked around
the city in BFC uniform. The Belgians I chatted to found it very interesting.

As for Helmut von Moltkes comments, they apply to the BFC too!
Reading the propaganda leaflets the BFC handed out, they were to
fight communism too. In fact the BFC served only briefly at the front,
and that was the Eastern Front..... so, volunteers like any other :wink:

Cheers, Bill.

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:44 am
by Franz repper
Odd as it may seem but we here in Finland have no problem with our SS veterans

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 3:23 pm
by Wilhelm
Like I had already said, it changes from country to country.

Two countries where the foreign volunteers were seen as heroes
when they returned, were the "Division Azul" in Spain and the "Azad Hind"
in India, the congress party brought out a postage stamp in 1962
marking the 20th anniv. of the Free Indien Legion.

Cheers, Bill.

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:25 pm
by axis88
Hello!
In Russia we have problem with SS & Foreign vol's uniform. Many mobs hated SS and Vol's, few fuctionars from our association against it, but I hope soon we shall change it. It is a part of our history and we to nobody shall allow to throw out it.

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:44 pm
by Mikkel
I'm danish, and I portray a danish SS freiwiligen. 24. Regiment Danmark of the 11. SS Nordland Division.
I'm also members of MHS in Sweden where i portrayt a slightly different dane, but still i'm portrying what I myself (most likely) would have done back then, IF i had joined.
I simply can't see myself as a dane, playing a german without being able to speak 100% fluent german (I do speak some german, but far from anything that would make my portrayal of a german realistic.).
My idea of 'total reenactment' also includes the spoken part. What good is it, if we can only walk around and look beliveable? The illusion would for me, scatter, when a 'wrong' language was spoken.

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 9:02 am
by Wilhelm
Mikkel wrote:I'm danish, and I portray a danish SS freiwiligen. 24. Regiment Danmark of the 11. SS Nordland Division.
I'm also members of MHS in Sweden where i portrayt a slightly different dane, but still i'm portrying what I myself (most likely) would have done back then, IF i had joined.
I simply can't see myself as a dane, playing a german without being able to speak 100% fluent german (I do speak some german, but far from anything that would make my portrayal of a german realistic.).
My idea of 'total reenactment' also includes the spoken part. What good is it, if we can only walk around and look beliveable? The illusion would for me, scatter, when a 'wrong' language was spoken.
I agree with you 100% in your comments, and this is the reason why
I feel uncomfortable reenacting a German in Germany. Although I speak
German, my English accent is still noticed by Germans.
That is why I evolved the interest in the BFC, so I could portray a
credible impression within Germany.
Since then, I have also reenacted BFC in the UK, although I prefer
reenacting "Das Reich" in the UK.

Cheers, Bill.

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 9:12 am
by Crazy Feldgendarme
Bill i voted yes because i believe no part should be lost from the historical aspect of the war. As long as it is done with due regard for the feelings of the people of the host or represented country or indeed veterans of whatever side then i see no reason not to do this.

Your portrayals are always done with this in mind i am well aware, see you at Detling i hope for another beer and natter in the bog mate. :wink:

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 10:28 am
by Wilhelm
I am of the opinion that all impressions should be done carefully and
always take into consideration other peoples feelings.

I thought I was safe reenacting British Infantry in Germany for
example, until Germans came up to me and said that they were
deeply offended by an impression of a unit that occupied them.

I explained that it was difficult to portray Wehrmacht on the open
roads within Germany due to the law and regulations, and that we
were portraying British Infantry because of our interest in WW2 and
that we respected all veterans of all nations.

The mops were happy with this explanation, and "feelings" were restored.

Cheers, Bill.

Re: Foreign Volunteers- For or Against?

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 9:45 pm
by Salacious Crumb
Wilhelm wrote:I am looking for more "Foreign Volunteers" for Beltring 2008 :D
You can count me in!
The uniform is stil in the "workshop" :mrgreen: but will be ready in a few weeks.
Sneak preview of my sewing skills 8) :
Image