Topic FAQ for the Wehrmacht List

Are you guys Nazis?

Can I be an officer?

Can I start my own unit?

I'm a newbie, is it OK if I wear...?

Swedish wool

Should I use repro or real uniforms and equipment?

Hey, can I wear awards such as the Knight's Cross?

I only want to reenact in an elite unit: do I need to join an SS group?

Blood-group tattoos, yes or no?

Can I keep my beard?

I'm not a white male: can I reenact as a member of the Wehrmacht?

Where do I get a...?

Is it authentic if I...?

What colour should my (insert: helmet, tunic, pants, boots, etc.) be?

And should my pants exactly match my tunic?

What's a "Farb" and how do I get to be one?

You're all neo-Nazis, right?

Nope, no, nein, non! You will meet a wide spectrum of political opinions in WW2 German reenacting, but very few neo-Nazis. Reenacting can be controversial enough without political extremists becoming involved, and most reenactment groups will not tolerate members who make an issue of extreme political, racist or anti-Semitic beliefs. The quickest way to get interfering legislators to take a negative interest in WW2 reenacting is for reenactors dressed in German uniforms to use the hobby as a political platform.

How do I get to be an officer?

If you're a member of a big group (fifty+ members minimum), you have a lot of historical knowledge, you have a lot of reenacting experience and maybe a lot of (real) military experience plus the other members of your group want you to be, then you may be justified in appointing yourself a junior officer and you may be accepted as one by the reenacting community. On the other hand, if you start up your own small unit and appoint yourself a Standartenobergruppensturmbannführer, everyone will think that you're an asshole: the choice is yours (did you get that, Shane?).

Neat hobby! Now can I start my own unit?

Most experienced reenactors would recommend that you join an established group when you begin reenacting, and there are a lot of them about, catering to most interests. This way, you learn the hobby and get to meet like-minded people. Lots of reenactors have a secondary (or even tertiary -- look that one up in your dictionary) impression or belong to more than one group. But if you are really desperate, and can find people who want to do the same thing, then start your own group: but you'd better be goddamned good, or everyone will think you're an asshole (Shane, look at me when I'm talking to you!).

I'm a newbie, is it OK if I wear...?

When you first start out, nobody is going to dump on your head if you have cheap, slightly inauthentic gear, like Spanish or BGS helmets, East German jackboots and so on, but the whole point of reenacting is to be as authentic as possible and if you're wearing your Spanish helmet after you've been reenacting for a while, then there's something wrong. In any case, buying cheap crap can be a false economy. Why pay $100 for a BGS helmet when you can get an authentic original for $150? Also, if you join a big, established group as a newbie, you can be sure that someone will be able to lend you authentic gear until you can afford to get your own.

What about Swedish wool?

This is one of the big controversies in reenacting today. Several US-based companies produce reproduction uniforms that are practically indistinguishable from the real thing. On the other hand, for about half the cost or less, of a new-made repro, a properly converted Swedish wool uniform looks pretty damned close. Most of the established US-based reenactors are moving towards the repros whilst the big European groups remain happy with converted Swedish wool. Ultimately, the choice will be dictated by your group's authenticity standards, but there's no doubt that the new repros are much more authentic...

Should I use repro or real uniforms and equipment?

Obviously you cannot get more authentic than real gear but the price of using it for reenacting is often considerable wear and tear on items which are, by definition, at least 58 years old and may have degraded over the years: real items do tend to fall apart on a depressingly regular basis and are becoming expensive to replace. A second consideration is that some things may be of real historical value and there is only a finite supply: once reenactors have ploughed them all into the mud, there won't be any more. Having said that, there are still reasonably plentiful supplies of all kinds of things, from helmets to insignia, and we're probably ten or fifteen years away from the crunch point where pretty well everything will have to be repro'd. As a rule of thumb, the more beaten-up a piece of equipment is likely to get, the more you should tend towards repro.

Hey, can I wear awards such as the Knight's Cross with Swords, Golden Oakleaves and Diamonds? I always thought it looked neat!

Most groups have standards for awards and some of these do allow for high bravery awards to be given to reenactors. It comes down to a question of taste: bravery awards were given to real people for real acts, which usually involved courage, terror, danger and self-sacrifice, often to the point of serious wounding and death. None of these things happen in reenacting. On the other hand, as nobody is pretending that awards given to reenactors are for actual bravery, then should we care? You have to make your own mind up.

I only want to reenact in an elite unit: do I need to join an SS group?

Historically, the Waffen-SS included several "elite" Panzer and Panzer-Grenadier divisions (although not as many as the Army) but at the same time, the bulk of the Waffen-SS was made up from units that were about as far from elite as it was possible to get. But in reenacting, the real "elite" are the people who do it properly, even if their impression centres around a latrine-cleaning unit. You can put on all the insignia and medals you want, but if your historical knowledge, first person impression etcetera, aren't up to snuff, you'll still be considered an asshole.

I'm an "elite" SS stormtrooper, should I get a blood-group tattoo?

Remember, unless you're reenacting in the nude, nobody's really going to ever see it. In any case, by the middle of the war, only a minority of Waffen-SS members were getting the tattoo. Anyway, it's your call.

I'm a ZZ Top fan, can I keep my beard?

Facial hair was unusual in the German armed forces although not entirely unknown. Beards were usually restricted to Gebirgsjäger operating in a high alpine environment and men who had suffered disfiguring facial injuries. Moustaches, although allowed, were unfashionable amongst young German men during WW2. If you are going to wear one, keep it neatly trimmed and no wider than the mouth.

...and the mullet?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, No, NO, NO, NO!

I'm not a white male: can I reenact as a member of the Wehrmacht?

Reenactors and reenactment groups are divided on this. For many, appearance is everything and they will not accept you as a member if you do not look like you could have been a member of the unit they represent circa 1943 (or whatever): i.e. a white male. Options for women, and men of non-European descent, are therefore limited. Women can reenact as nurses or one of the small range of non-combatant tasks (signallers, flak-assistants, KZ guards etc) that they were given by the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS; non-European descended men can try an impression based on the various foreign units which the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS formed (these actually included Asians, Indians, Arabs and a handful of African- and Caribbean-descended Frenchmen in the LVF). On the other hand, many groups welcome women and non-white participants, provided they adopt the same dress and equipment standards. This is particularly the case in Europe where anti-discrimination legislation is much more widespread and pervasive than the US. The answer is: there are plenty of groups out there who will let you reenact with them, whatever gender or colour you are.

Where do I get a...?

If it isn't being advertised by one of the big vendors, post a question to the list. Someone, somewhere, will know of someone else who once met this guy... you get the picture?

Is it authentic if I...?

The bottom line for most reenactors is photographic evidence showing soldiers wearing or doing something under normal circumstances. If you can come up with this, then you're more or less home and dry. What good reenactors don't like are unusual or exceptional practices being presented as the norm. Sure: it's possible that a few soldaten converted their K98's with 20 round box "trench magazines"; and yes, one or two SS-Fallschirmjäger had "44 dot" jump smocks. But most of them didn't, and you shouldn't either!

Hey Fellas, what colour should my (insert: helmet, tunic, pants, boots, etc.) be?

Again, you've got to look at the evidence. We all know that German wool uniforms (except Luftwaffe obviously) were supposed to be "field grey" but even looking at black and white pictures it's obvious there was a lot of variation. Looking at originals, field grey could mean anything from a steely blue-grey colour to something close to olive drab, and even, at the very end, earth brown. The same is true for helmets: field grey could mean anything from apple green during the early war years to slate grey later on. As for boots, these changed from polished black leather jackboots at the start of the war to undyed, rough-out ankle boots with wooden soles by 1945. All of which means that there is no single right answer: if you're a member of a group (or joining one), go with their policy.

And should my pants exactly match my tunic?

Not necessarily: the German uniform manufacturing system was very decentralised and it was quite possible -- even likely -- that the tunic and pants a recruit was issued would have been made by different manufacturers from different batches of wool. From an authenticity point of view, it shouldn't matter if they do or don't -- all the German supply person cared about was whether you had a serviceable pair of pants, not whether they matched. Of course, your unit may have a different view on the matching items controversy though!

What's a "Farb" and how do I get to be one?

A Farb is a reenactor who is not authentic but there are many different sub-species of the genus. It would be quite possible to put $15,000 into an impression and still be Farby, and equally possible to lay out $500 or so and not be. It's mostly about attitude: if you're striving for authenticity in all aspects of your impression, even if you can't afford to buy your own Jagdtiger, then you're ok; but if you're cutting corners, then watch your back, because someone, somewhere, is going to say it!