Democrats criticize GOP over House nominee who dressed as Nazi during battle reenactments

[TomCADem]

Source: Washington Post

A GOP nominee for the House of Representatives drew sharp criticism from Holocaust survivors Saturday for having participated in a Nazi reenactment group devoted to a Waffen SS division, and Democrats seized on the Ohio businessman's activities as the latest indication that the Republican Party is backing fringe candidates.

The Atlantic magazine reported Friday that Rich Iott, a member of the National Republican Congressional Committee's "Young Guns" program, participated in the reenactment group for several years starting in 2003. Iott told the Atlantic he joined the group with his son as "a father-son bonding thing" and left three years ago after his son lost interest.

In a statement Saturday responding to what he called "despicable accusations and distortions of the truth," Iott said he has "immense respect for veterans who served our country valiantly, particularly those who fought to rid the world of tyranny and aggression by relegating Nazism to the trash heap of history."

The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants, which represents about 80,000 families, said Iott's "failure to apologize is particularly shameful and desecrates the memory of all victims of the Nazis, Jew and non-Jew."


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/09/AR2010100903350.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[tomg]

1. This is nuts on so many levels.

So I will just pick one: "a father-son bonding thing." Guy needs some serious help with his parenting skills.

[KurtNYC]

10. another: There are re-enactments of WWII battles ?!

I have been to Civil War re-enactments and met lots of history buffs at them. But the Civil War was rifles and sidearms, some cannons and gatlin guns, some Calvary. The people who go have roots with either the North or the South but how does an American pick and embrace the Nazi side of WWII ?! How do you re-enact the Blitz ?! The Battle of the Bulge or the firebombing of Dresden ?

(un) Holy Hitler-Lovers Batman !

[mommalegga]

12. Yes doing WWII re-enactments is a bit problematic

I mean, where do you get tanks? :shrug:

The best I think WII re-enactors could do without looking silly is perhaps small pitched battles..
Like for instance what Richard Winters did in his taking out of German artillery on D-Day

[tomg]

18. I seem to recall a Monty Python

skit where a group of charwomen re-enacted the Normandy invasion.

[cspanlovr]

2. What exatly do they "reenact?"

Oh, I know, rhe looooonnnnnnnnnnggggggggg, haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrd, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

[saigon68]

3. They reenact herding Jewish Children into boxcars for Treblinka

and other outrages such as Babi Yar



Women lined up to be executed

He is in the uniform of the Waffen SS

[Lagomorph]

4. This will come out eventually...

http://www.wiking.org/topics/wiking.htm

http://www.panzergrenadier.net/

Mostly, in the end, they provide cannon fodder for the British, American and Russian re-enactors to slaughter after they run around acting like bad guys.

Re-enactors get scarfed up by movie companies to act as extras during battle scenes in movies since they're willing to roll play just about any scenario being filmed.

[Hubert Flottz]

5. Most republicans "Know Nothink"

"Do Nothink" "See Nothink"

[mommalegga]

6. Wha?

So it is wrong to be involved in military re-enactments if your on the "wrong" side?

Gee I sure hope any actors who played Nazis in movies (same sortof thing) are called on it...

I dont think watching a Civil War re-enactment or any other military re-enactment would be fun if only the "good guys" show up.

Wow this is as stupid as it gets when it comes to coming up with criticisms of a candidate and it smacks of desperation.

[safeinOhio]

7. No, stupid as it gets

is what Beck and others on the right say about our President when there are no connections at all to being a communist, socialist, facist, etc, etc.

[Ian David]

9. No. This particular group of reeneactors has a very pro-Nazi mission statement on their webpage. n/t

[mommalegga]

11. Well if thats the case, then they should point that out

in their criticisms...The only thing I have read is he is getting bashed simply for re-enacting..

You have the link to the website?...would like to see it...

FWIW I am a bit of a WWII history buff myself and have more than one book on the shelf regarding Nazism...So I take a little umbrage with this attack if its soley on the fact he did nothing more than re-enacting..But if he belongs to a pro-Nazi org that of course is different.

[mommalegga]

13. This mission statment?

"All members of this nonprofit group have had a common interest in the German side of the war and want to tell the story of the average combat soldier of the German military. Our reenactment unit is based in the midwest area of the United States and is a chartered group of the World War Two Historical Reenactment Society, Inc."


I dont see pro-Nazi message here. Change the word "German" to "Confederate" and I dont think you see a pro-slavery statement.

But I reserve judgement. Again since you appear to have been to the website, can you provide the link please?

Being interested in the German perspective is only natural just for the fact it is a bit more unknown and "mysterious" for the lack of a better term. I have always wondered what made them tick and do what they did. Im sure German interest in the American perspective is seen as well.

[BillH76]

28. Good point, well stated. nt

[24601]

34. They need t get into the differences between the Wehrmacht, the

Abwehr, the SA, the SS, and the Gestapo. They were not all the same and shouldn't be treated as such. Our schools really teach much about this and it's no wonder when people just don't know

[Lagomorph]

33. I can't find it...

Could you provide the link or an extract?

I found this, though...


Our unit consists of members in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois (in the USA), and even a couple in Canada. As of now, we can field a full array of small arms (which fire blanks) and engineering equipment, but we Wikinger are always on the look out for more men and equipment! For those members that want to expand their reenacting experience, we also have full automatic weapons for rent! As dedicated living historians, we are also very much into preserving the little odds and ends that the German combat soldier would use day-to-day, such as the music, food, personal effects, etc. Detail in this hobby is as important to us as it is in the building of a good model Panzer. Racism or any type of embracement of Nazi idealogy of any kind is strictly prohibited by this reenactment unit and our parent organization WWIIHRS, please review our disclaimer on the main page!

[Angry Dragon]

14. Welcome to DU

I find his taste distasteful

[COLGATE4]

24. That's a silly comparison. What the Nazis (and in particular the

SS did) is so horrific that it's inconceivable that any rational adult would for a second want to dress up like them and play war games as them. Movie actors don't believe that shit - they just work for a paycheck. There's no desparation in attacking a candidate who by word and deed shows he admires Nazi murderers.

[pepperbear]

36. +1

[Alcibiades]

26. First off, it's the Waffen SS

not the Wehrmacht. If you have so many books about Nazi-era Germany on your shelf, you ought to read them, and learn why this is an important distinction.

Secondly, imagine how it would be received if the President had had the bad taste to wear a Nazi uniform. The right has spent three years attempting to paint Obama as a socialist, Nazi, or both. Remember the furor over Obama wearing an ethnic outfit? No more outrageous than a Scots-American wearing a kilt, but there you have it. Now the right has had a field day trying to make the president into some sort of Nazi based on their imaginings, and yet they then turn around and put forward someone who has not only worn a Nazi uniform, but a Waffen SS uniform, and they are supposed to get a pass?

I don't think any American should be sanguine about people who dress up as our nation's enemies, particularly the Nazis, no. Most of the folks who "reenact" the Civil War are there to celebrate the south, and a particular revisionist version of the history of the Civil War. I would like to think this case is different, but there are some people who have their concerns. It's worth asking: is someone who dresses as a Nazi somehow pro-Nazi? The right has been shameless about associations that are far less tenuous than this.

[BillH76]

29. You're right. There are other pics of him in Wehrmacht garb, but

this one is definitely SS:
http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/news/local/Iott-Nazi-controversy

I'll bet he has a whole closet full of Nazi outfits.

[Alcibiades]

31. Then, there's this gem:

"Historical reenacting is something millions of people participate in throughout the world,"

But not in Germany: this sort of thing is illegal there, and I don't know any Germans who would be willing to put on any of those uniforms, much less a Waffen SS uniform. If the Germans don't choose to "celebrate the average German soldier" in this way, why would an American want to?

My grandfather was a combat infantryman in WWII and Korea, fighting in North Africa and Italy. He spoke highly of his German counterparts, especially their disciplined willingness to advance under fire. It never would have occurred to him to "honor" them in this way. He was a vary serious fellow, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and a lifelong New Deal Democrat. His take on Civil War reenactors was that it was all silly and trivial. He took war observances seriously, but these took the form of putting flowers on the graves of our ancestors, not dressing like a Nazi.

[pepperbear]

35. They claim not to embrace Nazi ideology, yet they choose to portray....

one of the most brutal divisions in the history of the Third Reich. It really isn't OK for a candidate for high office to participate in that kind of activity.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/waffenss.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffen-SS

secondly, it is not the same as an actor portraying a role in a film. the actor gets paid, and movies tend to demonize the exploits of the Nazis, as they should. Their ideology was evil and they lost. The majority of Germany thinks so, too. Hollywood sleeps at night, as does Berlin.

I have met quite a few historical interpreters and reenactors. I was in the trade for years, so I actually know what I am talking about. A fair number of those folks are rabid right wing faux libertarian teabag drones. This kind of thing from a Republican is hardly a surprise, but because he has to represent everyone in his district, including, you know.....Jews, maybe it's not so good for him to show up drunk in a tent singing "Lille Marlene" on a Saturday night. I'd think twice about voting for someone who enjoyed playing a Nazi on weekends.

The GOP doesn't seem to be laughing, either:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/1010/Cantor_repudiates_Republican_involved_in_Nazi_reenactment.html?showall

Oh, and if it were a Democrat, I'd be disappointed, but I'd be saying the same thing.

NOPE. Can't condone it.

Not if he wants that job.

[Ian David]

8. "I'm not a Nazi. I am you." n/t

[pattmarty]

15. It's 2010 and the fucking crazies have finally taken over in this country.........

.........I am agnostic, but I will say "God help us all". The trouble NOW is the fucking nuts are actually going "mainstream". When I was growing up in the 50's we had the John Birch society and a few other orgs with all the nutjobs. In the 64 election Goldwater was painted as "extremist" and he was defeated by the (at the time) greatest margin in US history. Today Goldwater would be considered equivalent to people like Kemp, Buchanan or Bob Dole, who are nutty but what I would call somewhat "reasonable". The Angle, O'Donnell and Paladino types are becoming mainstream today. How many "true" liberals do we have today? What, maybe 10 (in public life) like Sanders, Franken, Kucinich and Kaptur? The REAL liberals are slowly being squeezed out and these crazy motherfuckers are taking over. I have no idea what we can do at this point to stem this, I really don't. When the citizenry BELIEVES in people like Beck and Limbaugh and not people like Goodman and Bill Moyers we are truly fucked.

[ananda]

23. Worth repeating.

".........I am agnostic, but I will say "God help us all". The trouble NOW is the fucking nuts are actually going "mainstream". When I was growing up in the 50's we had the John Birch society and a few other orgs with all the nutjobs. In the 64 election Goldwater was painted as "extremist" and he was defeated by the (at the time) greatest margin in US history. Today Goldwater would be considered equivalent to people like Kemp, Buchanan or Bob Dole, who are nutty but what I would call somewhat "reasonable". The Angle, O'Donnell and Paladino types are becoming mainstream today. How many "true" liberals do we have today? What, maybe 10 (in public life) like Sanders, Franken, Kucinich and Kaptur? The REAL liberals are slowly being squeezed out and these crazy motherfuckers are taking over. I have no idea what we can do at this point to stem this, I really don't. When the citizenry BELIEVES in people like Beck and Limbaugh and not people like Goodman and Bill Moyers we are truly fucked."

[pattmarty]

32. Thx

[breadandwine]

16. Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!

Iott's Nazi reenactment group was only trying to fight za communists!

Here is a direct quote from their website:

"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."


"who ONLY had a desire to see an end to Soviet Communism."

http://www.wiking.org/topics/history.htm

The Nazis were only trying to fight the Bolshevik scourge!

And round up za untermenschen!!!!

Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!



I used to know a couple of Jews who were Hassidic and therefore recognizably Jewish and they were driving through Pennsylvania and stopped at a back-woods truck stop. A guy with a thick German accent came at them with an axe, shouting, "Kfite a big place here FOR A LITTLE PLACE IN DA VOODS!" ("Quite a big place here for a little place in the woods.")

Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!

(Fortunately a state trooper took away the guy's axe.)


I know of a town in New Jersey where a kid who was the son of German immigrants used to leap up in history class in Junior High School shouting "Hitler will live!" and go running out of the classroom.

Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!


I know of an Acutalizations seminar (an offshoot of EST) in New York City where they teach people to actualize their personal potential. A young German guy in the class named Otto leaped up in the seminar shouting "I suddenly realize who I am! I want you to acknowledge me!" He implied that he thought he was Hitler reincarnated. Later he told someone there that he thought he was "possessed by evil."


Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!




Here's the video some of you have seen of a Republican running for Stark County treasurer who thinks he's a Nazi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7XwV_h9wWM&feature=player_embedded#!

Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!


Here's the Wiking website's recruitment video (the group Iott belonged to):

http://www.wiking.org/

(Click on "Wiking Recruiting Video" at left.)

Wiking Recruitment Video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZa-dVFE0vg&feature=player_embedded#at=17

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/ohio-tea-partier-spent-weekends-playing-nazi-games.php

This is happening RIGHT NOW - in the United States.


Here's from "Crooks and Liars" ---

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/ohio-tea-party-candidate-nazi-re-enactor

Quoting from the Atlantic article, Iott, with his disclaimers, calls Nazi Germany "incredible" ---

"Iott, a member of the Ohio Military Reserve, added, '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. 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 participated in the group under his own name, and also under the alias 'Reinhard Pferdmann,' which has also been removed, and which Iott described as being his German alter ego. 'Part of the reenactor's (experience),' Iott said, "is the living-history part, of really trying to get into the persona of the time period. In many, not just in our unit, but in many units what individuals do is create this person largely based on a Germanized version of their name, and a history kind of based around your own real experiences. 'Reinhard' of course is 'Richard' in German. And 'Pferdmann,' 'pferd' is a horse. So it's literally 'horse man.'"

Do not watch the Wiking recruitment video. Do not use "full screen." Zat is an order!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZa-dVFE0vg&feature=player_embedded#at=17

Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!
Pay no ATTENTION to zat !!!

[mommalegga]

27. Calm down now Fritz...

Perhaps you didnt see this:

"Disclaimer: This page or anyone involved in its creation, or members of reenactment groups listed here, are in no way affiliated with real, radical political organizations (i.e., KKK, Aryan Nation, American Nazi Party, etc.) and do not embrace the philosophies and actions of the original NSDAP (Nazi party), and wholeheartedly condemn the atrocities which made them infamous. May the victims of this unspeakable horror rest in peace. As we portray the German combat soldier, we are only interested in recreating his daily life, furthering our understanding of what it took to be a soldier, and at the same time having fun reliving history. We honor the men (and women) who really experienced the war, and we salute their courage and loyalty to put their lives on the line in defense of their native soil, no matter what nationality or government."


Also note the Bolshevik phrase is in quotations..implying that the writer is writing it from the soldiers perspective, and not speaking for the organization.

The Waffen SS was composed of non-Germans - Which is a strange choice for this group to emulate as "German" Waffen-SS soldiers for most part mere not German. Many of them were "Untermeschen" They were primarily assigned to combat, not rounding up Jews. Thats was the SS TotenKopf's job. Thats not so say they didnt commit any war crimes. These soldiers fell for the "fighting Bolshevism" propaganda, obviously not aware that their victory would make them Hitlers untermeschen slaves after the war. The Nazis formed these units as they were facing manpower shortages. They convniently put aside the "superman" German soldier ideal so as to get these men to fight..

I do agree that reneacting could romanticize war, but dont see how it disqualifies one from office.

[fasttense]

17. I have no problem if the average citizen wants to reenact a romanticized version of WWII.

But when someone runs for Congress, this gives me great pause. It's difficult to get a real understanding of a candidate. So, the average voter must base their opinion on the information that does come out. Reenacting NAZI wars indicates a desire to embrace romantic and artificial ideas about war. War is not fun, war is not romantic. (As a retired 20 year vet, I can guarantee you war is nothing but hell let lose on the face of the earth.) A person with such romantically distorted views of WWII, may also have overall romantic ideas about war in general. That is fine if you are a truck driver or insurance salesman. But if you are in Congress it could lead to very bad decisions.

NAZIs are associated with some of the worst atrocities ever committed by mankind and to identify with that without wanting some association with the dark-side of human nature, is a twist in reasoning that makes me wonder about the man and his grasp on reality. Such a twist in reasoning is not dangerous in a truck driver, but in a Congressman, it could lead to serious problems.

[Recursion]

19. I see a difference in re-enacting Wehrmacht units and re-enacting Waffen SS units

Waffen SS was specifically not part of the German Army and was used to carry out Hitler's "special" directives as well as fight battles.

[fasttense]

22. Oh my, I did not know that.

So, they picked a unit that had extra-special close ties to Hitler?

It gets more and more difficult to see these people as merely trying to romanticize WWII battles.

I would think if, like they say on their web page, they only want to reenact the typical German soldier's experience, they would pick some German POW units. We had a slew of them here in the US and some of them later became American citizens after the war.

Something is not right about this group.

[COLGATE4]

25. More than close ties to Hitler. The SS was created as Hitler's

own Praetorian Guard. They were the most ruthless, savage killers the world had seen in many centuries, responsible for the death of some 6,000,000 and uncounted millions of gypsies, homosexuals, Russian POW's and civilians from every country they touched. There is absolutely NOTHING good that can be said of them. They are an abomination in mankind's history.

[Recursion]

30. Not just "close ties". The SS "made it big" by killing the brownshirts

during the Night of the Long Knives. After that they were Hitler's personal enforcers -- the people even the Gestapo were afraid of.

[breadandwine]

20. Stop picking on "Reinhard" Iott !! He was just having fun!

Fun cleaning up the neighborhood !!!!

By getting rid of the Bolshevik scourge!!

[breadandwine]

21. And za untermneschen!

Hitler made "a few" mistakes....


Like some of his tanks needed too much petrol!


But as Iott said, he sure was "incredible"!



Vote Republican.

Zay know how to do it.