Aachen Stadt I

The uniforms sure are clean for a battlefront aid station

I think the soldier is faking it in order to get patted down by the nurse.

hmmm, lots of time on their hands, no dates, a good way to meet men

One of my friends does that! She's one of the blondes in the Nov 2008 picture gallery on the website. She is a burlesque dancer and vintage fashion aficionado, and got into the reenactments through her boyfriend. Even though they own historically accurate German WWII uniforms, its an expression of their German and Austrian heritage and not Naziism.

"...Aachen Stadt I does not endorse the politics of the Nazi party; in fact they say right up front that they will not tolerate racist ideology..."

Don't believe it! In election 1933 there were more than a quarter for hitler, after then there was no chance to fight against the Nazi's. The last jews were deported in 1942. No racism?
Between 1934 and 1945 they were all silent or Nazi's, and it's easy to say they weren't.

A non-jewish German

Jaikai perhaps you confuse actual history with this reënactment group...?

Sure back in the days there was racism galore. In fact about the whole white population of this world was nearly blatant racist- you could say that that was part of white culture back then- in Germany particularly, but also in all the surrounding countries and in the US.

...But that doesn't have to mean that Reënactmentgroup Aachen Stadt I also is racist.

My little difficulty with these reënactment groups that focus on rather modern history is that I wonder ....Why reënact that...? It lies so close to nowadays-reality that there seems to be hardly a point to play how it was done back then- Play war with weaponry and equipment that lies close to what is used nowadays- play a dresstation from back then that is something like a MASH-unit one war later that looks like what is done nowadays... Okay that last thing is not entirely true, but anyhow--- Why don't these recent-history reënactors volunteer for the Real Thing? They could do Golden jobs where it is needed in Afghanistan, Africa or elsewhere...? Why not let them do medical assistance where it is actually needed instead of only playing...?

Maybe because they all have day jobs?

Nice concentration camp-prisoner clothes fabric background on their website. Also, they should proof read. It's "Deutsches Rotes Kreuz", not "Deutches Rotes Kreuz".

It strikes me as a little perverse and/or morbid to "reenact" battles that are still in living memory. Why not reenact Vietnam battles? Heck, why not Iraq?

MadMolecule There are plenty reënactment groups that focus on the Korean War and on the Vietnam War all over Europe and the US. Last time I visited a Gathering of these groups in Europe, there were also some folks that were trying to start up a "Kosovo-War" group as a split-off from a group that reënacted the Spanish Civil War.... I think those Kosovo-reënactors are a Sick Bunch, but that is only my personal opinion...

Foreigner1: People reenact Korea and Vietnam? I had no idea. I live in the US South, and the only reenactors I'd ever heard of are American Revolution and the US Civil War-- both distant enough in time to be romanticized.

It still seems weird to me. Especially the Kosovo part.

Foreigner1 -
I applaud your use of the diaeresis in your writing "reënact". That isn't seen enough anymore. We should further coöperate on such matters. :-)

MadMolecule-- We Americans are too isolated. Historical reënactment is popular worldwide. The Napoleanic Wars, The War of Spanish Succession, The Crimean War, and even the Gallic Wars of Ancient Rome are popular subjects in Europe.

All- When I first the posting, I assumed it was a group doing this in Europe. As I said above, I know there are plenty of reënactors in Europe, but I didn't know WWII was on the table at this point... it seems like the wounds are still very fresh for that. Once I went to their site, it became apparent that the group is in California and probably generally consist of the girlfriends/wifes of guys doing WWII reënactment -- it's a way to be involved together in that. No issues with that at all.

One thing worth pointing out: If you click on "members" and then the women's individal pictures, you will get individual "character bios" for each. The political beliefs on some of these may make some uncomfortable.... They probably realistically represent those of women in Germany at the time, but in the current age of political correctness, might be misunderstood.

Here in Europe they are completely nuts- There is a Belgian Native Americans Reënactment group - Winyan Tapeka. And then there are a whole bunch of groups that love to play out the Good Old American West, with trappers, homesteaders, cowbows, the Lot. And this goes on from Stone Age upto Star-Trek/Star-Wars.

But in the US they are just as nuts- Mediaeval groups in Mid-US...? Sure... :lol:

I wrote an article about it a few years back.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/4393

What's a Belgian Native American?

Johnny Cat that is a Belgian citizen (someone who has the Belgian nationality) that reënacts like he or she or it is a North American native American (a North American indian) most likely in a timesetting somewhere around the 1850's....

I read some of the "members" opinions about the war. some of them are actually very bold (compared to the context that is Germany under nazi rule), especially in case of a Gestapo reenactment group checking their website. :-D

I think we should all put a group together to reenactment of The Spanish Inquisition... because nobody would ever expect that!

If you mean the Monty Python version of the Spanish Inquisition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHGOl-jfUK0 , I'm all for it. :lol:

...After checking out that site of this group---

Mensch- Die sind richtig Doof......

Das sind eben Amerikaner, die kämpfen wie Weiber! :-D

Is it really too current? Approximately 1,000 U.S. WW2 vets die each day. Most are in their 80's and 90's. Ask a person in their teens, 20's or 30's for that matter what they know about WW2...the answer will probably be: not much. If we don't remember and understand the reasons why WW2 happened, we're destined to make the same mistakes again.

WW2 living history seeks to preserve the history and educate the public about the most destructive war in history. This group is part of the California Historical Group, www.chgww2.com Take a look and judge away...that's what most of you seem to doing anyway!