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WORLD WAR II GESTAPO ARREST!
BY KING & COUNTRY LTD.
Reviewed by: Stuart A. Hessney
IS IT just me, or do any readers out there agree that the new "Gestapo Arrest!" set by King & Country Ltd. is a shocking
example of poor taste?
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. K&C's 1:30-scale, matt-finished set (ref. WSS91; £82.95 U.K./$99 U.S.) depicts uniformed men from the Gestapo's "Sicherheitsdienst" (Security Service, or SO) taking a suspected member of the French Resistance into custody for interrogation during World War II.
Guilty or innocent, the Frenchman is probably going to be tortured. And apparently he has already been badly beaten. He has a black eye, he's spattered with his own blood and his hands are bound behind his back. His captors include an officer
holding a pistol, a SO man with an automatic weapon, and a driver seated behind the wheel of a French-made, Citroen
Traction 11CV. The four-door sedan has a detailed interior and Gestapo markings on its exterior. It might as well be a hearse knowing the patheticlooking Frenchman's chances of survival in Nazi custody.
In my view, this set from Andy C. Neilson and company at K&C (Website:
www.kingandcountry.
com) starkly exemplifies the hobby's historic conflict between the inherent childlike innocence of toy figures and some
manufacturers' quest for gritty and sometimes horrifying realism.
RISKY BUSINESS
The Gestapo was established in 1933 as a branch of the Prussian Secret Police known as Department 1A. In Adolf
Hitler's Nazi Germany, the Gestapo's powers quickly expanded as it was granted carte blanche to investigate and
deal with "all tendencies dangerous to the state." The Gestapo was dreaded for abusing its power of "schutzhaft" ("protective custody") -- a euphemism for imprisoning people without iudicial oversiaht. Prisoners could look forward to being
beaten, tortured and/or executed.
Administered as part of Heinrich Himmler's "Schutz Staffel" (SS), the Gestapo grew to as many as 45,000 members during WWII. Among other atrocities, the secret police organization was responsible for creating and running concentration camps that claimed the lives of millions of Jews and others.
In occupied countries, the Gestapo battled movements like the French Resistance, an umbrella title for numerous organizations that opposed both the Germans and France's collaborationist Vichy government. Resistance groups
included armed guerrillas such as the maquis in the countryside, publishers of underground newspapers, and escape networks that assisted Allied military personnel.
Resisting the Nazis was a risky business for anyone directly involved -- as well as the people around them -- because
the Germans had no qualms about using brutal means to subdue opposition. The Nazis would execute people simply
suspected of being guerrillas, take hostages and execute several citizens in retaliation for one German casualty.
Pronouncing guilt by association due to resistance activities in a given neighborhood, the Nazis also engaged in terrible massacres such as killing the residents of Oradour-sur-Glane and razing their French village.
EXPLOITATION?
K&C's "Gestapo Arrest'" set is well-made and certainly interesting. But in my opinion, it is a distasteful exploitation of evil.
Look, I'm no babe in the woods. I realize modeling history is the cornerstone of this hobby. No one needs to tell me axioms like, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
Makers such as CBG Mignot of France, England's W. Britain and Germany's Heyde enjoyed sales success a century ago because they produced toy soldiers based on their nations' current events.
In recent years the hobby has witnessed rippedfrom-the-headlinesfigures like K&C's own Osama bin Laden, Good Soldiers' Saddam Hussein, and Figarti's U.S. soldiers and Iraqi insurgents. Contemporary topics sell and naturally always will. It's a perfectly logical and legitimate marketing tactic.
When it comes to the WWII era, German-related toy soldier items are so prevalent in the marketplace because they sell well. And not just your average army troops, but the dyed-in-the-wool Nazis too.
For instance, ask any K&C dealer how they do with sales of the Leibstandarte range depicting the black-clad SS bodyguard, Hitler and his cronies? A vendor might hem and haw with a hint of shame when replying, but truth be told the reality is that those swastika-waving, goosestepping Nazis are bestsellers.
Part of the fun of toy soldier collecting is pitting the good guys against the bad guys in displays. And, of course, let us not forget that one man's "bad guy" might be another's "good guy."
Still I'm dismayed by the apparent popularity of Hitler and his Nazi henchmen. And, as TS&MF editor, it's my prerogative to express my opinion that K&C's "Gestapo Arrest!" set is too lurid and over the top.
Some might argue that if a child sees this set and asks questions, it could open the door to a history lesson. But let's face it -- this set is designed as a collectible for adults -- adults who shouldn't need to be reminded of the history
behind it, and should know better.
Where does it all end? Where do we draw the line? Is there a line? What's next -- a Holocaust set depicting Jews being marched off to the gas chamber? Gosh, let's hope things never go that far!
Some readers might agree with me. Others might be keen to lambaste me. As always, I look forward to readers' letters to the editor with their thoughts on this issue.
