Kitschy-Kitschy-Coo - The Irony of Nazi Collectibles

The Irony of Nazi Collectibles

I also moderate a political newsletter, and was doing a piece on kitsch in politics, which had me adding a bunch of Nazi links. That got me thinking about, well, many things, but for clarity I will try to focus on two points for now *wink*

Number one, the many sorts of things that are collectible based on the history of the Third Reich. There are propaganda items like post cards & even the Hitler stamps to mail them. There are weapons & military items as well as personal diaries & artifacts. There are even corporate items to collect that are associated with Hitler, such as Volkswagen, Chase Bank & many others.

Which brings me to point two:

Many places, online anyway, will not allow the sales of Nazi items. eBay for one, prohibits many if not all - even when they have historical value. I do understand the reasoning, no one wants to encourage the neo-Nazis, but is it right to censor collections?

Is it right for others to tell you what you can & can’t collect in the privacy of your own home? Or to tell sellers what they can & cannot sell? The items are not illegal, so why stop it?

If everything, everyone’s collection had to be viewed in politically correct terms, what would we have to choose from? Smurfs & stuffed vegetables?

To be blunt, there are other scary collectibles out there, such as personal items from murder victims & serial killers.

It’s all a part of history.

And given the fact that pieces of the Berlin Wall, mementos of the 9/11 attacks, and even wind from the recent Florida hurricanes, among other things, have been sold at sites like eBay, it makes a person wonder what other hideous historical collections there are out there...

As Gillo states, "kitsch is the art of bad taste," taste being subjective, rather anything can be seen in that light. Even causes such as AIDS & Breast Cancer.

Where do we draw the line with ‘collectibles in bad taste?’

When we start to censor collectors & collections we damaging our rights to a free society.

You might think that it is only right to stop the sales of Nazi items. You might think someone out to stop the capitalization on human tragedies. You might even think that those who have collections based on serial killers are as sick as the murderers themselves. But don’t you see? This is exactly how Hitler started his Third Reich. Where does it stop?

First they came for the Nazi collectors
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Nazi collector.
Then they came for the serial killer collectors
and I did not speak out
because I was not a serial killer collector.
Then they came for the Capitalizers
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Capitalizer.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me. **

Remember, the image of a bloody Christ disturbs many as well. If these things can be deemed censorable, will your collection of religious items be next? If someone can find a reason to complain about your collection, it could be censored.

...perhaps under this theory, even the Smurfs are in danger of being placed on that list.

** Based on the work by Pastor Martin Niemöller.

Article by Pop_Tart


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