Would you buy Nazi items if you knew they were authentic and really from Nazi Germany?

No, I would not collect such items, in spite of any historical value. Too repugnant.

I wouldn’t buy the dinner china from Hell. I don’t care what value people might put on it.
I regard Nazi memorabilia the same way.

Is this as opposed to buying Nazi paraphernalia that I know is fake, or as opposed to not buying Nazi paraphernalia at all?

No, I wouldn’t. I have no desire to collect things that represent one of the greatest collective evils in the history of mankind, but that’s just me. I don’t necessarily see anything wrong with collecting it, in an absolute sense, I just wouldn’t. And I would hope anyone who did collect that sort of thing would do it because it had historical meaning and significance, not because they admired the history. If they collected such things because they supported the ideology then I would in no way whatsoever condone it.

I’m not interested in historical paraphernalia, but if I was then yes.

I’m not affiliated with the Nazi party nor do I support their beliefs, by the way.

The way I see it:

We killed them, now we get to keep their shit as souvenirs. The spoils of war and all that. I own an Austrian rifle from WWI that was pressed into service in WWII. It has Nazi markings stamped on the stock and the original ammunition it came with has Nazi markings on it. Are these objects inherently evil? No. Am I a naughty, naughty person for keeping them? No (although my naughtiness is debatable). Do I sympathize with Nazis? Make that one a hell no.

Also, slightly off topic, but it sortof illustrates my point… a friend of mine knew an old man who served as a US GI in Europe during WWII. Every day after the war, he would wear a former Nazi cap, kind of like this one. One day, he was out grocery shopping when a guy about my age came up to him and basically called him a Nazi after telling him to take off the hat. Old man basically told the kid that he earned the right to wear that hat after he personally took it off the previous owner who didn’t need it anymore. (Because he shot his Nazi ass)

Furthermore, would I buy Nazi paraphernalia? Depends on what it was. I’d love to have Does this make me a Nazi sympathizer? No. Does it mean I support Nazi ideology? Hardly.

No, but if it had historical significance, I would help a museum buy it.

It depends on the motivation. I can understand the desire of purchasing if it is for historical aspects. If it is to be used for acting out some inner desire for siding with the Nazi beliefs, then it is creepy.

For the historical value, yes. Does that mean I like what the Nazis did? No. I collect old things. I have two bibles from the civil war. One belonged to a Confederate soldier, the other to a union soldier. They’re just objects that were used during those times.. They mean nothing, but history.. No matter how bad it was.

I would have no interest in Nazi things. I also would not want to traffic in them or assign value to them.

I have no interest in Nazi items. It hurts my soul to know what they did to people.

I wouldn’t pay for any Nazi memorabilia but when my dad helped tidy up Adolf’s bunker, he saved Hitler’s brain! :-0

I am not interested in collecting that.

Depends on who my money would be going to. If it were to a museum or foundation of some sort that stands for remembering the Holocaust in an authentic, respectful way, then yes, I would buy it for its historic value.

I don’t collect nazi memorabelia. I just am fascinated with things of historical significance. If giving the chance to buy something like a dagger, weapon. helmet, medal, etc. I would just for historical meaning. What the Nazis did make me sick but it’s not like the money is going to the Nazis. I would prefer the mony go to a holocaust memorial fund.

I have quite a few items in my attic that my pap brought back from WWII. It seems my pap sold some of the items while he was alive but I still have some of his leftover stuff. I have quite a few of his photos of concetration camps and such as well.

@Paradox Photographs that soldiers took at the concentration camps have significant if not immeasurable historic importance. Quite a bit different than collecting swastikas, insignias and swords. If you have something like that in your possession, photographs that your grandfather took of the concentration camps, I would seriously suggest that you look into finding out if and who might be interested in seeing those photos. There are most likely historians who would be very interested if they are not photographs that have been seen before. It could be quite a contribution to the history of the Holocaust; maybe not, but I think you should at least look into it.

They not be anything that hasn’t been seen before, but it seems worth a try, if it adds to the history.

@lillycoyote I’m in the process of moving out of my house because the county is taking it to pay for nursing home costs (for my grandmother). I was aware of the Nazi propaganda my pap brought back but from cleaning out the attic I’ve found some very interesting pictures to say the least. I’m not sure what I plan on doing with this stuff but this is the least of my worries right now.

@Paradox I understand that. I have been through something similar myself. You can only do what you can do. It was just a thought.

No. Not due to them being Nazi items, but simply because I haven’t got much interest in that period of history so for me personally it would be a waste of money.

Should any other individual wish to collect Nazi memorabilia, whatever their rationale for such may be, then they’re free to do so.

Well, I would be more likely to buy them if they were authentic than if they weren’t. I’m not a collector of historical artefacts, but I appreciate the significance of such items.

It’s not the sort of thing I’d display on the mantlepiece, but as part of a collection (private or museum-owned) I think such memorabilia would be appropriate.

No and I wouldn’t buy fake or replica ones either. It’s the symbolism that is repugnant to me, regardless of the authenticity of the items.

No, it’s one thing to see things like that in a museum but I wouldn’t want to own them.

I’d buy that for a dollar. Tongue firmly planted in cheek.

I wouldn’t buy anything because it far more useful in a museum, but if I happened to stumble upon some authentic Nazi paraphernalia, I would definitely keep it.

I’d keep some, we as people need reminders of past atrocities to prevent ourselves from committing such acts again, and it never hurts to have a personal reminder. I know several Jewish families that keep authentic Nazi items more or less for that specific purpose, and to serve as a reminder to those of their households and their guests to not discriminate, and keep in touch with the “value of human life.”

And to be quite honest, I think their uniforms are impressive (no, I wouldn’t march around nor were it unless a WW2 reenactment was going down), and I’d love to own a MP44, I shot one in the past and its on my top ten list of WW2 weapons to try to get my hands on (and a luger, and a trench knife, and a…).

@lillycoyote I’m not sure what to do with all this stuff right now. I’m not sure what my grandpap would have wanted me to do. Maybe I’ll save some of those pictures (the ones inside of the concentration camps) to show some of the idiots who denied that the Holocaust really happened or was a conspiracy theory.

I would if I was a historian, even more so if I was one studying that part of history. (This would also include authentic Jewish items.) Add the Spanish Inquisition to my list. I once saw…an apparent ’‘genuine’’ pear of anguish in Montréal, but I didn’t have 3700 dollars.
Otherwise, I’ve not much interest for such things. I’m good with my replicated Feudal Japan weaponry.

They belong in museums or memorials with good explanations about the perverse ideology behind these items.

Nope I like things from history but not that.