Military Idiocy

About 2 months back - shortly after I had arrived in Poland - the local AIESEC chapter invited me to a military parade in a town called Darlowo. Boy was I in for a surprise.

Walking to the city center I quickly realized this wasn't really an army organized parade, rather it was a bunch of amateurs who - dressed up in army uniforms and all kind of medals - paraded their gear and vehicles around.

The first 30 minutes or so were quite enjoyable and fun, but then I saw the first guys in Nazi SS uniforms. Swastikas and Totenkopf symbols everywhere. I was quite shocked. Why anybody would want to look like a mass-murdering bastard is beyond my imagination. Also, it is quite illegal to sport these symbols of destruction and genocide in Germany and I have therefore not seen these symbols around - except in movies, theater plays and other art which normally serves as a reminder of the terror and bloodshed we have caused.

There were Polish Nazis, German Nazis, hell knows where else they came from. On every corner was a Nazi. Nazi symbols and uniforms were on sale everywhere. It was despicable...