Tea Party Republican Candidate's Nazi Reenacting Past Explained

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Rich Iott, the Tea Party Republican running against Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), has responded to the publicizing of the fact that one of his hobbies is dressing up and pretending to be a Nazi in reenactments.

In a statement, Iott said he never "meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war, especially the Jewish Community." He called suggestions otherwise "blatant distortions and attacks." He also said that he's participated in reenactments of different eras, and that he and his son have participated in some of these events together.

Read Iott's entire statement:

"Anyone who knows me would tell you that I am a proud American who loves this country and loves Freedom and those who have died fighting to preserve it. The despicable accusations and distortions of the truth that have been leveled at me, sadly exemplify why people have lost faith in the political process and with the media as well. "Never, in any of my re-enacting of military history, have I meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war, especially the Jewish Community. I have 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. I also believe we need to 'never forget' what happened to Jews during that war. In fact, my respect for the militaryand our veterans and my concern for the victims of war is one of the reasons I have actively studied military history throughout my life.

"Historical re-enacting is a hobby enjoyed by millions of men - and women - around the world. I have been involved in historical re-enacting from many different eras since I was in college. When my son was old enough to participate, it became a hobby that the two of us could do together and I'm grateful for the father-son bonding we shared as we participated in the events."

"This election needs to be about issues, not false character attacks. Middle class families are struggling and honest people are out of work, which is why I hope my opponent will join me in condemning these blatant distortions and attacks and pledge to focus on the issues that Ohioans so desperately want Washington to address."

link

Edited October 10, 2010 by El Buscador

[웃 910]

Wow! What is he reenacting when he role-plays being a Nazi?

[Danno 1,228]

Reenacting is bad

Acting is good.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

from Joshua Green's Atlantic article:

Iott, whose district lies in Northwest Ohio, was involved with a group that calls itself Wiking, whose members are devoted to re-enacting the exploits of an actual Nazi division, the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, which fought mainly on the Eastern Front during World War II. Iott's participation in the Wiking group is not mentioned on his campaign's website, and his name and photographs were removed from the Wiking website.

When contacted by The Atlantic, Iott confirmed his involvement with the group over a number of years, but said his interest in Nazi Germany was historical and he does not subscribe to the tenets of Nazism. "No, absolutely not," he said. "In fact, there's a disclaimer on the [Wiking] website. And you'll find that on almost any reenactment website. It's purely historical interest in World War II."

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 says the group chose the Wiking division in part because it fought on the Eastern Front, mainly against the Russian Army, and not U.S. or British soldiers. The group's website includes a lengthy history of the Wiking unit, a recruitment video, and footage of goose-stepping German soldiers marching in the Warsaw victory parade after Poland fell in 1939. The website makes scant mention of the atrocities committed by the Waffen SS, and includes only a glancing reference to the "twisted" nature of Nazism. Instead, it emphasizes how the Wiking unit fought Bolshevist Communism:

Nazi Germany had no problem in recruiting the multitudes of volunteers willing to lay down their lives to ensure a "New and Free Europe", free of the threat of Communism. National Socialism was seen by many in Holland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and other eastern European and Balkan countries as the protector of personal freedom and their very way of life, despite the true underlying totalitarian (and quite twisted, in most cases) nature of the movement. Regardless, thousands upon thousands of valiant men died defending their respective countries in the name of a better tomorrow. We salute these idealists; no matter how unsavory the Nazi government was, the front-line soldiers of the Waffen-SS (in particular the foreign volunteers) gave their lives for their loved ones and a basic desire to be free.

Historians of Nazi Germany vehemently dispute this characterization. "These guys don't know their history," said Charles W. Sydnor, Jr., a retired history professor and author of "Soldiers of Destruction: The SS Death's Head Division, 1933-45," which chronicles an SS division. "They have a sanitized, romanticized view of what occurred." Sydnor added that re-enactments like the Wiking group's are illegal in Germany and Austria. "If you were to put on an SS uniform in Germany today, you'd be arrested."

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/10/why-is-this-gop-house-candidate-dressed-as-a-nazi/64319/

[Ban Hammer 13,360]

whoopie.

i'm sure all of those that reenact civil war battles must be racist rednecks too.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

whoopie.

i'm sure all of those that reenact civil war battles must be racist rednecks too.

I have to agree, as much bias as I have for true nutters in the Tea Party, this strikes me as a silly attack on the man. If he was a member at some point in the actual US Neo-Nazi movement that would be a different story.

Edited October 10, 2010 by ready4ONE

[peejay 327]

whoopie.

i'm sure all of those that reenact civil war battles must be racist rednecks too.

And their great-grandpappies prolly owned slaves and belong to white supremacy groups as well!

IMO it is probably hard to find reenactors that even want to participate for the losing side. Most do it as a hobby and nothing sinister is behind it.

I went to a city sponsored Memorial Day concert at Herman Park in Houston in the eary 1980's that had a WW2 reenactment of the Battle of the Bulge as part of the show. I thought it was really cool and there was nothing political about it. The event was all about Veteran's Day and honoring veterans. Trashing the guys that played the Wehrmacht in the reenactment is nothing more than a cheap shot.

More of Steven's liberal political B.S.

Edited October 10, 2010 by peejay

[Danno 1,228]

At this very moment, the Democrats have hired guns sifting through every Tea Party candidates past... just hoping to find a photo of him or her iN a Halloween costume which might suggest the person has secret desires to be a Nazi... or a,Klansman....or some other photo-rich scene.

As they say..."Desperate times call for desperate measures".

[scandal 951]

At this very moment, the Democrats have hired guns sifting through every Tea Party candidates past... just hoping to find a photo of him or her iN a Halloween costume which might suggest the person has secret desires to be a Nazi... or a,Klansman....or some other photo-rich scene.

As they say..."Desperate times call for desperate measures".

Of course they are, and there's nothing desperate about it.

In this day and age of smear-politics that's what they all do, Democrats and Republicans alike.

Surely you haven't forgotten Karl Rove so soon? Can you spell "S-W-I-F-T B-O-A-T"?

[Danno 1,228]

Of course they are, and there's nothing desperate about it.

In this day and age of smear-politics that's what they all do, Democrats and Republicans alike.

Surely you haven't forgotten Karl Rove so soon? Can you spell "S-W-I-F-T B-O-A-T"?

Opposition research is a bi-party activity.

To claim victory with no more than a guy in a reenactment event is..... well scraping the barrel.

As for the Swiftboat veterans for truth, Carl was glad to get their help but you can hardly say he assembled the 527 members of that group, some in Kerry's Chain of command.

All believing him not fit to be president after his false testimony on capital hill when he got back and some contending some of his medals were bogusly earned.

That movement was bigger than Carl Rove.... though a God-send to him fur-sure.

Edited October 10, 2010 by Danno

[웃 910]

Opposition research is a bi-party activity.

To claim victory with no more than a guy in a reenactment event is..... well scraping the barrel.

As for the Swiftboat veterans for truth, Carl was glad to get their help but you can hardly say he assembled the 527 members of that group, some in Kerry's Chain of command.

All believing him not fit to be president after his false testimony on capital hill when he got back and some contending some of his medals were bogusly earned.

That movement was bigger than Carl Rove.... though a God-send to him fur-sure.

It's Karl Rove with a K........

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Of course they are, and there's nothing desperate about it.

In this day and age of smear-politics that's what they all do, Democrats and Republicans alike.

Surely you haven't forgotten Karl Rove so soon? Can you spell "S-W-I-F-T B-O-A-T"?

The original story was in the Atlantic Journal. I don't think it is comparable to the smear campaign to dishonor Kerry's heroism. The article in the Atlantic was being very straightforward about the facts - that Iott has a 'fascination' with Nazi German history and then goes on to show how that fascination is expressed in the group's POV with regard to history. While this revelation may help his Democratic opponent, I seriously doubt it will have any detrimental impact on those who've supported him all along. IMO, while he may not be Nazi sympathizer, his reenactment group have a distorted view of history.

[Danno 1,228]

The original story was in the Atlantic Journal. I don't think it is comparable to the smear campaign to dishonor Kerry's heroism. The article in the Atlantic was being very straightforward about the facts - that Iott has a 'fascination' with Nazi German history and then goes on to show how that fascination is expressed in the group's POV with regard to history. While this revelation may help his Democratic opponent, I seriously doubt it will have any detrimental impact on those who've supported him all along. IMO, while he may not be Nazi sympathizer, his reenactment group have a distorted view of history.

How did they determine he has a "fascination" and not just a keen interest?

Anyone who gets involved in reenactments would by definition have a stronger than normal interest in the subject, it is a very expensive hobby.

Since I have not seen any evidence that his interest is on the dark side I will assume he is like thousands and thousands of other people, simply interested some "aspect" of the subject with no connection or fondness the philosophy.

Why do we not see such concern when actual member of the Communist party are marching for the Democrats last week?

Need we post the endless millions across the Soviet union, and Asia who were murdered in the name if Communism?

These groups were actually a "partner" in the assembly in Washington last week.

Where was the outrage against them?

Edited October 11, 2010 by Danno

[one...two...tree 2,762]

How did they determine he has a "fascination" and not just a keen interest?

from the original Atlantic article...

The group's website includes a lengthy history of the Wiking unit, a recruitment video, and footage of goose-stepping German soldiers marching in the Warsaw victory parade after Poland fell in 1939. The website makes scant mention of the atrocities committed by the Waffen SS, and includes only a glancing reference to the "twisted" nature of Nazism. Instead, it emphasizes how the Wiking unit fought Bolshevist Communism:

Nazi Germany had no problem in recruiting the multitudes of volunteers willing to lay down their lives to ensure a "New and Free Europe", free of the threat of Communism. National Socialism was seen by many in Holland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and other eastern European and Balkan countries as the protector of personal freedom and their very way of life, despite the true underlying totalitarian (and quite twisted, in most cases) nature of the movement. Regardless, thousands upon thousands of valiant men died defending their respective countries in the name of a better tomorrow. We salute these idealists; no matter how unsavory the Nazi government was, the front-line soldiers of the Waffen-SS (in particular the foreign volunteers) gave their lives for their loved ones and a basic desire to be free.

Historians of Nazi Germany vehemently dispute this characterization. "These guys don't know their history," said Charles W. Sydnor, Jr., a retired history professor and author of "Soldiers of Destruction: The SS Death's Head Division, 1933-45," which chronicles an SS division. "They have a sanitized, romanticized view of what occurred." Sydnor added that re-enactments like the Wiking group's are illegal in Germany and Austria. "If you were to put on an SS uniform in Germany today, you'd be arrested."

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

So for a time when I was at Ft. Knox the Patton Museum there used to do reenactments of WW2 "battles" using their considerable collection of military vehicles and some of the reenactors were dressed as GERMANS! So I guess that would mean they were NAZIs because ALL Germans were NAZIs right? I mean at least then they were. Right? Silly me, but I always guessed it was because it would be difficult to stage a WW2 reenactment without some GERMANS (Nazi's)since they were, um, the ENEMY. Imagine the Movie "A Bridge Too Far" but without Germans...could have turned out better at the end.

Now some people, imagine this, collect GERMAN weapons from that era (reportedly pretty good quality, but who would really know since Mausers have only been state of the art for like 110 years) and uniforms and other miltaria...even the Patton Museum has a large collection of GERMAN (Nazi) vehicles. OMG!!!! OH NO! Right here IN AMERICA! The land of the free.

I seem to recall some photos of Obama popping out in some sort of native gear...yeah that's right...Obama is really a native African Witch Doctor and has a bone through his nose. I abandoned my run for the Presidency for fear that the photos of me in my Ukrainian friend's grandfather's Cossack uniform would surface.

Give me a break. Are Dems THIS desparate? I guess, YES, they are. Prepare yourself Dems...I have revised my seats lost in the house prediciton to 83...up from 74 last week. I am so looking forward to November 2. You?

Edited October 11, 2010 by Gary and Alla