Those Germans.... Pt. II

[Chris P.]

There used to be a Dutch TV series called Jiskefet. They had a lot of very funny WWII references. Like a scene in which two elderly woman talking in lenght about taking a person in their house, because the house is too big for them and there are people needing a roof over their head. After a while you find out this person is foreign, so you are lead to think this boy they're talking about might be a refugee. In the end you see him and it's a guy in full SS uniform.

Here's another one with English subtitles if you click on the right symbol

[uwe]

MuSSt you alwaySS gö ön aböut ze wär???



"In the end you see him and it's a guy in full SS uniform."

Oh, that explains it! A Dutch hero then. 



(For historical accuracy: The number of Dutch volunteers in the Waffen-SS was miniscule. Mooyman's post-war life in The Netherlands - and that he didn't have to leave the country - also shows how the Dutch could forgive their own. It is true, he was still a kid, did not help deport Jewish Dutchmen and did not fight against Dutch resistance - just against the defenders of a country Nazi Germany attacked and mutilated breaking all treaties if that is any better -, but still, a Waffen-SS volunteer must have been hard to swallow in post-war Netherlands. Dutch fair play at work.)

[Chris P.]

Well, the husband of our Queen had an SS membership:)

[Basvarken]

MuSSt you alwaySS gö ön aböut ze wär???

Me? You started it!

We did not start it!

Yes you did, you invaded Poland.

[uwe]

No, we were attacked!

[uwe]

Well, the husband of our Queen had an SS membership:)

Everybody and his brother had one.

The Allgemeine SS (the guys in the black uniforms) was the preferred Nazi organisation for opportunistic academics. It had an elite image, you didn't have to spend too much time with them (or do Nazi Party work) and the uniforms looked better. The guys in the brown uniforms - the SA - were blue collar and loud, marching in the streets with torches etc.

Interestingly, the Waffen-SS (no black uniforms except in ceremonial use, either standard Wehrmacht grey-greenish  Feldgrau, like the guys in the satirical tv spot or - later on - camouflage battle fatigues, both with black tell-tale collars) used a different angle to recruit: The Waffen-SS paid better und promoted quicker (minimum draft age was lower too, hence all those kids in late war pics wearing SS camouflage). Also, while in the German Wehrmacht you could rarely rise beyond NCO without a higher education, the Waffen-SS knew no such prohibitions. So the Waffen-SS attracted a lot of people looking for a shortcut in their military career.

[Chris P.]

Wasn't the same trick used in The Netherlands? The Venlo Incident? Like in Poland, we attacked first.

[uwe]

We had an unfortunate habit of slightly overdoing our self-defensive measures, true!