Synopsis
The main topic is battle reenactment groups in Europe and the insight perspective of their activities. We have special interests in German participants. In Germany they are not allowed to wear nazi uniforms and nazi insignia. Even only possesing this kind of artifacts can be an offense and it’s considering Neonazism. So they exercise this somehow bizarre hobby in other countries. They participate in reenacted battles in Slovenia, Czech republic and other non-German locations.
Besides historical aspect there is a big fascination of military and militant values, maybe also ideological and political. It’s hard to tell where praising of Neonazism begins and boundary is thin. We follow Slovenian group Triglav who organize and host annual battles with guests from Germany, Italy and other countries. Battles are made as real as possible with training ammunition, flame throwers, tanks and jeeps. The group is preparing for the next big battle with other European fellow groups, dressing up as “partisans and Germans”. All of them consider the battle very seriously, meeting in advance at militaria fair in Belgium, contacting by e-mail and phones, buying uniforms on ebay, receiving guns by DHL and driving their army jeeps to annual repair service. A boundary between reality and fiction might be blurred and do we really know what is happening in participants minds and how will this end?
Besides historical aspect there is a big fascination of military and militant values, maybe also ideological and political. It’s hard to tell where praising of Neonazism begins and boundary is thin. We follow Slovenian group Triglav who organize and host annual battles with guests from Germany, Italy and other countries. Battles are made as real as possible with training ammunition, flame throwers, tanks and jeeps. The group is preparing for the next big battle with other European fellow groups, dressing up as “partisans and Germans”. All of them consider the battle very seriously, meeting in advance at militaria fair in Belgium, contacting by e-mail and phones, buying uniforms on ebay, receiving guns by DHL and driving their army jeeps to annual repair service. A boundary between reality and fiction might be blurred and do we really know what is happening in participants minds and how will this end?
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