Hi. Had a chance to pick up a re-release of Dragon's E-100 last week and was just looking through the instructions today, (and drolling a tad bit, hoping that I can keep my hand, and glue off it it, till I get other models caught up). Anyway, I noticed that one of the figures standing in the group of officers and dignitaries in the back round on the box art has his face blanked out, or I should say 'blacked' out. On examining the instructions I noticed that this was not so, and the face looked to be Hitler's. Now on re-examining the box art I noticed that this wasn't done as an after-thought, but was intentionally done when the box was made. Even the small pictures on the side of the box of the same picture on top shows the same thing.

Anyway, speaking strickly as an amateur historican here, I thought this was curious that such a person, no matter how famous or evil they happened to be when alive, can still have this kind of 'pull' on future generations 60 to 70 some years later. You would think we would have gotten over this man's 'magnetic type of attraction' by now. After all, evil as he was, he was still nothing more than a man.

More than likely it has something to do with sales in Europe, or some such thing.

Just curious if anybody else had noticed this.

Take care, Sgirty

Sgirty, I didn't know this about that kit but this sounds to be along the sames line as a lot of aircraft kit don't include the swastikas anymore, even on Finnish aircraft that weren't nazi.

Personally, and I may be called too "political" here, I don't want to see ANY representations of hitler. (I don't even believe he deserves having his name capitalized.) My biggest reason for feeling this way is to keep some of the neo nazi cooks out there from idolizing hitler any more than they allready are. I know there are plenty of figures of hitler, I just don't have to like it.

I'm really sorry if I step on any toes with this post, it's just the way I feel.

Many years ago i had a Tshirt with a picture of hitler saluting on it, the text read "My plants are now this high" refering to the hight of his hand and refering to a certain type of herb it was a joke, until some univited salesman knocks on the door and beratted me for wearing my t shirt (i only wore it around the house) I gave him a close up of a size ten Dr martin boot.but its not illegal to show his picture anymore it used to be in the 50's.I was in the book shop the other day the military and history sections look like his fan club, pictures of him everywhere. :-) ps I was a punk then no political connections.

The Monty Python skit where the failed Austrian painter is running for the North Minehead Bye-Election is hilarious. And that was in the 70's.

Paul

Hi. Understand what you mean here Halfyank. There are always idiot folks, and groups, both here and around the world, that want to latch on to somebody famous, esp. if that person, or organization, has a history of evilness connected to it, just to pump up their own non-existant egos and draw 'attention' to themselves. Whether it be Hitler, the "Hell's Angles', the Klu Klux Klan, or any number of other organizations, both past and present.

When I wrote this note I was just thinking of the Harry Potter books and how the various witches in this fictional story were in awe of the one 'whose-name-must-not-be-mentioned' because of his evilness and wickedness. And like a character in this book said, not to mention this person's name, or show his picture, is to me, still a back-handed form of keeping this person on a pedestal, whether the more modern generations mean to so or not. Giving him more power than he ever deserved, both in a historical sense, and now.

I think it's about time we put the person of Adolf Hitler, and his henchmen, in their proper historical perspective and look upon this period for what it was and hopefully learn from it. He wasn't the first mad and evil person who happened to come along at 'just the right time' in 'just the right place' and gain control of a modern progressive country, and for sure, he won't be the last. (If current history is any indication since 1945.)

Take care, Sgirty

Hey sgrity, et al.

I know ebay won't let swastika items auctioned on their site because of laws in Germany and perhaps other countries. This may be why the box art was blacked out. Could be a management decision as well. I agree with you that not mentioning a persons name or hiding their face is a form of reinforcing the mystique about the person and adding to the fear and apprehension of a person or idea. By hiding the dreaded or hated thing, you effectively cut off any meaningful discussion on the qualities or aspects of the dreaded thing. Hitler was evil. That much is clear. The problem with mystifying his personality is we are unable to learn from his example (used here in the negative). Obviously, we don't want repeat performances of his show. Europe refused to learn from WWI and as a direct result, had to repeat the process again in WWII, the sequel. If Europe had caught on earlier aout who this house-painter was and exactly what he was telling the entire world he was about to do, he would not have been able to do it.

As an aside, I do a bit of video editing and I made a video of WWII combat footage of the blitzkrieg put to the Sinatra song, "I did it my way". Hitler figures prominently in the video. As does the map of europe steadily enveloped in the Nazi tide. At the tail end of the song, during a non-vocal portion, I showed young German boys grown up into dead stormtroopers, I showed civilians become stacked corpses, and I showed GIs and military cemetaries. The whole point of this video was to emphasize that IDEAS HAVE CONSEQUENCES and we better have this firmly rooted in our consciousness as we consider the events of our time. The policies of our day. After the song ends I have the BBC broadcast announcing Hitler's death followed by the statistics of dead and wounded. Then the phrase "Ideas have consequences" appears in white on a black screen and fades out.

A friend of mine said the video looked like a tribute to Hitler, right up until the very end. I really wanted to get people offended and then turn it back on them. Make them stare it in the face and come to realize why he was evil. And how an evil mind infected millions. One man's idea, unhindered, cost the lives of millions from every corner of the globe.

Hi, ambrose82. You could have searched for a long time and not come up with a better song for your documentary that 'I did it my way' more or less. Very appropriate. And it sounds like a very powerful film.

But we must not forget. He didn't do it alone. Not by any means. He had lots and lots of help. From both sides of the proverbial fence. The basic backing of the German people of that and earlier generations (no offense here) till the war turned, the policy of appeasement from the allied Euorpean nations, and the financial and material backing of various businesses all around the world, both before and all throughout the war, as well.

Guess that's basically what's behind the 'touchy-ness' of it all in the post-war era. Way TOO many skeletons in everybody's closet that nobody whats to be reminded of. Thank God the professional historians are still digging and publishing. Right?

Take care, Sgirty

I believe both France and Germany ban the use of any Nazi symbols and memoribilia to be sold and/or displayed, including the net. In order not to have a separate package for Germany and France I'm sur ethey simply just blacked out the Hilter face to make the package legal.