Neubob, reality check. (Also for others who don't understand)

[Hawklore]

Check it out Neubob, do some research, don't judge..

Originally posted by Neubob
Well, Reaper, that's your perogative, and I'm not getting offended as a Jew. I'm also a Russian and I know that he re-enacts as a Russian soldier as well as a Nazi. I just find the whole concept slightly impossible to understand. There are guys out there that cringe, or hit the deck every time they hear a starter pistol go off, still unable to get over the PTSD from decade's past, and yet you've got this population of 'preservers of history' who put on costumes and replay some of the crappiest moments ever endured by humans. Afterwards they have cold drinks and go home.

And if they want to preserve history, why not preserve all of it. It's not all just fun and games on the battlefield with soldier killing soldier. There's a lot more to history, a lot of stuff that less glamorous. If they're gonna preserve the battles, they should also preserve the other behavioral patterns of that particular historical bulletpoint. Rape, genocide... All that good stuff I mentioned earlier. Unless, of course, they want to preserve history selectively, at which point their preservation becomes purely vain and completely devoid of credability. The preservation then becomes nothing more than playing war--only with historically-accurate costumes. Personally, I prefer paintball. It does less to mock the death and suffering, and adds an element of athletecism... But that's me.

I'm glad he has a good time doing it. I have a good time making fun of something I think is sanctimonious. We all have our hobbies. I just don't have all the spare time and a dog to act as my side kick.

All right Neubob, reality check..

I reenact as a Russian Soldier in both the Soviet Army, and the Russian Liberation Army.

I neither represent a Nazi, nor a Commie, I enjoy singing the songs, learning the language.

There is nothing wrong with Communism, it's how people use it.

There is nothing wrong with Democracy, it's how people use it.

The Russian Liberation Army, fought both the 'Nazis' and the 'Soviets'.

In Czechoslovakia, the Cossack unit I portray actually turned on the SS and fought with the resistance in Czech.

They hated communism, they hated fascism.

Some of them may of turned out to use it to their advantage, but the majority did not.

The Russian Liberation Army, remnants of the White Army, and pro-Tsar people.

If one is so sensitive to see a German uniform and helmet and say Nazi, they need to get a reality check.

Learn your History before accusing me of being a Nazi, Check out the collar tabs, look it up.

Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army, Cossack.

Now there was a Cossack SS cavalry troop, I'm not denying it, but It's not what I'm representing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Liberation_Army

Genocide, Rape, PTSD, it all happened, and people are still suffering from it,

We ARE not just re-living the battles, we can't, they were in Europe, we are in the U.S.

If you look at today's society, and today's kids, how else do you get them interested in History?

Come to a Living History event, where we tell stories of the awful thing the Nazi's did, and awful things the communists did, and the awful things the GIs did..


To judge the entire community of re-enactors from a few things you've seen done by other reenactors would make you no greater then Hitler himself...

Don't judge until you've seen it all.

I'm not angry at you Neubob, I'm saddened at your reaction.

[lasersailor184]

You would honestly go out of your way to show that you aren't a reenactor for the germans or the russians?  That means you are embarassed about what you do.


Don't be.

[Neubob]

I'm pretty sure I understand, Hawklore. Sad as it may make you, you represent niether my first nor my biggest exposure to re-enacting, and I have been to these events before, albeit largely unwittingly. I know that you're not re-enacting the politics of the leaders, or nations represented. I never actually accused you of being a Nazi, ever. That would have been too  primitive for my sense of humor. I'm aware that you're just re-enacting the battles.

I think it's pointless, and a non-sensical approach to preserving history. You want to preserve history, donate some money to a museum. When I was a kid, I loved to visit museums, and although I knew about people re-enacting battles, I never once asked my dad to take me to see a battle. It never occured to me. Museums, to me, always seemed more real, more objective, and yes, more complete in that they showed all aspects of whatever the subject matter--even aspects that you and your cronies cannot bring yourselves to re-enact because it addresses the policies of the leadership, verses the honor and dignity of the fighting men. If you at least claimed to be an entertainer, instead of a 'preserver of history', I wouldn't have said a word.


In my eyes, all you're doing is playing a grown-up version of the same game my friends and I used to play with waterguns in the woods behind my house. At best, your costumes and props make it just slightly less rediculous. At worst, your pantimining in these giant, co-ordinated acts just mocks the violence that most of those veterans never want to re-live. Your obsession with guns and costumes and pretending that you're a German or Soviet soldier is far stronger than your obsession with historical accuracy, and while it's nice that you have a hobby, it won't stop me from thinking that it's absurd. But that's just the way things are. I'm sure that many of the things I do are considered absurd by others. It's something we all have to live with. You don't agree with me, I know. That's fine with me. As Lasersailor eluded, it shouldn't effect your opinion on the matter. If this is what makes you happy, then good for you. Just don't try to convince me that you're engaged in something bigger or more meaningful than an elaborate game of dress-up. In return, and I'm willing to start now, I won't say another word on the subject.

And as far as reality checks go, spend a few years in public school.

[StarOfAfrica2]

The greatest tragedy of our short history on this planet is that we never LEARN from it.  We keep making the same mistakes over and over again.  Why?  Because we gloss over our failings and write our histories to show us as positively as possible.  Some of us refuse to let that happen.  So we remind people that there is more to history than what you read in a book.  If you think re-enactors spend all that time (not to mention the money it costs) just to play an elaborate game of "cowboys and indians" or "cops and robbers" or whatever, you are just showing your ignorance.  Just because you believe something to be true doesnt make it so.  You have no proof to back up your statements other than your own ideas formed with no actual experience.  I take re-enactment very seriously, as do most people who take it up.  It is definitely a hobby that requires dedication.  More than that, it is an important supplement to historical education.  If you dont agree, no one is forcing you to.  In that case, simply take your insults and your derogatory tone elsewhere and no one will bother you.

[Skuzzy]

This would have been better served via PM's.  Just FYI.

I really get a bit irritated when people use a public forum for personal messaging.