@Ledlecreeper27 what were your sources for the person saying it was a Nazi uniform? From the sources I gathered, including the video; I haven't heard of him saying that he was wearing a Nazi uniform. - Comrade Amicchan (talk) 19:59, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
Both sources you added (the FRSO article and the video) refer to the uniform as a Nazi uniform and it said the student himself called it a Nazi uniform (he only said it was a GDR uniform when admins asked, but he told other students it was Nazi). Even if it wasn't actually Nazi, he seemed to think it was. Comrade Ledlecreeper27 (talk) 20:32, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
Oh, well then just specify that he claimed he was wearing a Nazi uniform. - Comrade Amicchan (talk) 20:44, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
EDIT: I don't see where the article said that he said that he himself was wearing a nazi uniform. - Comrade Amicchan (talk) 20:47, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
"david arrived to school wearing a costume reminiscent of a nazi uniform, telling other students he was “a german soldier from the 1940s”" Comrade Ledlecreeper27 (talk) 20:54, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
Ah, I found the line in the Twitter post; but the FRSO article does not contain this line or even mention their name. - Comrade Amicchan (talk) 21:06, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
Either way, It does not matter if the sources refer to the uniform as Nazi or not; materially, based on the video, it is a GDR uniform and the salute, regardless of intention, was not the roman salute, which the Nazis used. - Comrade Amicchan (talk) 00:09, 17 April 2023 (UTC)
I've read the Fightback News article on this incident and I'm not sure there's much of a story there. Seems that FBN jumped a bit too fast on the story without having all the facts, because it's factually not a Nazi uniform.
On the other hand, if we decide to criticize FRSO for this -- and keep in mind what we write on pages is interpreted as prolewiki stance by readers like all of our articles -- I'm not sure what the angle would be. They thought it was a Nazi uniform, but it wasn't... and then there's nothing to criticize. The only criticism we could make is that they didn't do due diligence and investigated the case before writing their article and interviewing the students. Which to me isn't really a big issue and doesn't count as opportunism on their part.
Keep in mind the student in question definitely played up the ambiguity. He described his uniform as "a German soldier from the the 40s". He also performed a salute that wasn't the nazi salute, but also didn't seem to be the GDR salute. Hitler has also been photographed doing an extended arm salute at 45° (usual one is a bit higher), but with the fingers pointing straight out, and the student kept the angle but closed his fist. Again, super ambiguous and this doesn't happen by accident.
It's a whole lot of "yes that looked like a nazi thing, but actually if you look closely it wasn't!" to defend this student. If I'd been there and seeing this live, I would have first thought he was a fascist who didn't have enough courage to actually wear the right uniform.
The only criticism we could make is that they didn't do due diligence and investigated the case before writing their article and interviewing the students. Which to me isn't really a big issue and doesn't count as opportunism on their part.
The problem is that the students might not realize the uniform is not a Nazi one; leading to the reinforcement to the bourgeois conflation of Nazi Germany and Socialist Germany (under the totalitarianism nonsense). I do think they should correct themselves on this matter.
He also performed a salute that wasn't the nazi salute, but also didn't seem to be the GDR salute.
What does the GDR salute look like?
Hitler has also been photographed doing an extended arm salute at 45° (usual one is a bit higher), but with the fingers pointing straight out, and the student kept the angle but closed his fist.
Huh. That's gotta be real irritating to distinguish the regular military salute from the fascist one.
It's a whole lot of "yes that looked like a nazi thing, but actually if you look closely it wasn't!" to defend this student. If I'd been there and seeing this live, I would have first thought he was a fascist who didn't have enough courage to actually wear the right uniform.
I was thinking a similar thought; given that the dude apparently supported Blue Lives Matter. - Comrade Amicchan (talk) 00:54, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
You're gonna have to teach me how to quote in talk pages haha
Regarding the salutes (and the goose stepping), I'm not a DDR historian but there are archive pictures online. Here is the NPA in a parade: https://c8.alamy.com/comp/PA03N7/parade-of-the-peoples-police-departments-volkspolizei-marx-engels-platz-east-berlin-germany-PA03N7.jpg, showing they did not perform the goose step on the regular (which is associated with nazi germany these days).
However, they did perform the goose step, there's two pictures on Getty: one described as a "tourist attraction", and the other during the changing of the guard at the anti-fascist memorial (also for tourists or public display?). Seems to me that goose stepping wasn't a common occurrence and reserved for specific ceremonies.
And here they are saluting: https://media.gettyimages.com/id/541073579/photo/german-democratic-republic-otto-grotewohl-11-03-1894-politician-spd-sed-gdr-first-prime.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=Y2kirlNxWCwnFPMUDmOT_zUPIWXAPhODk6uVXhN_VIs=. Otherwise they also seemed to use the typical salute we associate with soldiers today, same one as above but with the palm facing down.
I haven't been able to find the salute the kid did and never saw it in my life before, which makes me wonder where he got it from.
Here's Hitler with an (almost) right angle salute: https://imagenes.diariodenavarra.es/files/image_477_265/uploads/2021/03/19/60ae33ce4702a.jpeg, which shows precedent.
It's unfortunately difficult to get this information regarding the NPA specifically in the DDR as most searches have an anti-communist bias equating the NPA to the Wehrmacht and of course most results are about the nazis as soon as you enter the word "german".
You're gonna have to teach me how to quote in talk pages haha
Oh, I use the {{quote}} template.
It's unfortunately difficult to get this information regarding the NPA specifically in the DDR as most searches have an anti-communist bias equating the NPA to the Wehrmacht…
And liberals call themselves "anti-fascist"…
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I saw the pictures, so now I understand the salutes you're talking about. I guess I'll move that particular text out of the opportunism header; since that is the only mistake they seem to have made (relative to that event of course; they're still opportunist AF.)