The Nazi Gold Train

[Otter]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/news/a17087/confirmed-nazi-loot-train-found/

The latest I could find, might be a grain of truth in it.

 

[Fading Fast]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/news/a17087/confirmed-nazi-loot-train-found/

The latest I could find, might be a grain of truth in it.

A respectable source - but that only makes me more surprised there isn't more media noise over it.

 

[Otter]

Even if it is "just" an armoured train, how often do you come across one of those these days ?

 

[Fading Fast]

Even if it is "just" an armoured train, how often do you come across one of those these days ?

Agreed. Even empty, still an incredible find.

 

[pawineguy]

Agreed. Even empty, still an incredible find.

A major new network has it on their front page and I guess we'll get details at a press conference tomorrow from Poland.

 

[Stand By]

I don't have that impression.

I think you just missed the point that Big J was making, is all.

 

[p51]

From CNN within the last hour:

"At the moment, the train has not been located, but we believe the evidence presented to be strong enough to look into the matter seriously,"
-Arkadiusz Grudzien, assistant to the mayor of Walbrzych

 

[Haversack]

Otter wrote: "Even if it is "just" an armoured train, how often do you come across one of those these days ?"

Surprisingly enough, the Russians have just recommissioned four armored trains that had been in use up to 2009. The following, (admittedly from Russia Today), has videos of them.

https://www.rt.com/news/311714-russian-military-armored-trains/

 

[Big J]

Interestingly, Polish government now thinks the train might have dangerous cargo, asks hunters to stop searching.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34072660

Do they know something we don't?

 

[Stanley Doble]

They suspect it may contain booby traps or possibly explosives that passed their Best Before date 60 years ago. So, I don't blame them for advising caution.

Personally I will believe it when I see it.

 

[Otter]

You are correct Stanley, some explosives become increasingly sensitized over time, particularly the picrite based ones. These begin to sweat picric acid which is quite shock sensitive.

Haversack, I didn't know that, it was an interesting article.

 

[Stand By]

As we were taking about nazi uniforms and such, I just saw this article.
I will confess that I have no idea who this "celebrity" is (never heard of her before), but apparently I can only presume that she is someone enough to have made it onto Celebrity Big Brother.
Anyway, get a load of her in her nazi outfit and photoshop photo of Auschwitz (now removed from her Facebook page but, being the internet, nothing is ever deleted) and her quotes on her thoughts on Hitler.
I don't know what to say. As I said: despair.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Big-Brother-kick-contestant-Tila-Tequila.html

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Funny considering that she isn't exactly "aryan" looking herself.

I've never heard of her either so I did a Google search and not surprisingly, she's a total trainwreck.

 

[Oldsarge]

In any case, I am following the train story with interest. I hope it isn't booby-trapped because I've had friends in EOD and really hate it when they have to go deal with stuff like that. Having it full of gold would be amusing . . . and very profitable for the two who 'found' it!

 

[Big J]

Polish government is '99% sure' nazi train has been found.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34090165

 

[Big J]

As we were taking about nazi uniforms and such, I just saw this article.
I will confess that I have no idea who this "celebrity" is (never heard of her before), but apparently I can only presume that she is someone enough to have made it onto Celebrity Big Brother.
Anyway, get a load of her in her nazi outfit and photoshop photo of Auschwitz (now removed from her Facebook page but, being the internet, nothing is ever deleted) and her quotes on her thoughts on Hitler.
I don't know what to say. As I said: despair.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Big-Brother-kick-contestant-Tila-Tequila.html

I've only known her as a 'glamor model', so I'm not surprised that she's an idiot.
To be clear, being a glamor model and being smart are by no means mutually exclusive, but I don't care how hot you are, you gotta be pretty stupid to be a 'hitler fan' if you're going to be one of the people he would have had shoved into an oven.
I'm all for glamor models and porn stars, against idiocy.

 

[MisterCairo]

Funny. The "Himmler" guy is wearing a SS hat but an Army tunic...
Heck, at the big Battle of the Bulge re-enactment at Indiantown Gap, PA (I think in 1994), there was one of each: Hitler, Himmler, Rommel and Goering. I don't know who those guys were, But lots of people took photos of them (mostly German re-enactors, but a few allied types took photos with them like they were capturing them). I was there with a 'GI' unit, and we just rolled our eyes and went the other way the one time we saw them. I have been to re-enactments all over the place and that's the only time I ever saw anything like that.

I've never been to a re-enactment event, but, and forgive me if this is a stupid question, is it not usually the case that BOTH sides are represented? If there're Churchills and Montgomerys and Eisenhowers, why wouldn't there be Rommels and Himmlers and Goerings?

 

[Big J]

I've never been to a re-enactment event, but, and forgive me if this is a stupid question, is it not usually the case that BOTH sides are represented? If there're Churchills and Montgomerys and Eisenhowers, why wouldn't there be Rommels and Himmlers and Goerings?

That's a good question.

I always thought that the point of it (having not done it myself) was to show/experience to some degree the experiences of the regular soldier, and thus in some way preserve and honor the memory of regular guys (rather than celebrity generals).

And this raises some difficult questions. Does the memory and experiences of 'regular' guys in the German army deserve to be remembered? The Germans certainly wouldn't allow their citizens to dress up as members of Werhmacht unit and do any re-enactment or living history at a public (or private even!) event, so why should Americans (for example) take it upon themselves to portray these guys in a sympathetic light (after all, re-enactors never round up locals and shoot them as a reprisal for partisan attacks, or check 'ordinary' people for their papers, in case they are a jew, and then telephone the 're-enactment Gestapo' to drag them off to an extermination camp, do they?).

IMHO, it's important to remember the nazis as the threat to humanity and freedom that they were, and we should take great care not to reduce them to a comic book pastiche of themselves (like the BBC comedy 'Allo, 'allo did). Because if we reduce them to over-simplistic comedy 'bad guy' figures, we lose all the lessons about the banality of evil, and devalue the sacrifices of The Greatest Generation at the same time, I think.

 

[Otter]

The Brass doesn't usually get that close to the front lines !

 

[Big J]

The Brass doesn't usually get that close to the front lines !

Hey! That's a great idea! Let's dress up as generals (I wanna be Patton!), check into a nice hotel, and 'living history' the **** out of it!