Observation made at a World War II memorial display

[ThomWV]

I was riding my bike this afternoon and passed through a very small town that was hosting a display memorializing Veterans of the Second World War. The $5 Admission fee went to some Vets group so I was happy to pay. Two or three people ambled about, a aged host was there to answer any question you could imagine about the war. There were about 50 uniforms on display, all on mannequins and each in an appropriate setting. The uniforms weren't all American either, there were German, Polish, Belgian, French (of some sort) and of course each of our services was well represented. Lots of other memorabilia as well.

This is the one thing that I noticed. All of the uniforms, with one exception, were obviously sewn by machine. The German uniforms were each sewn by hand. The stichwork was complimentary, even and straight, uniform too, but with just enough variation that it was clear to see it had all been done by hand.

My mind's eye saw Slave Labor starving to the last perfect gray stitch then off to the chamber. And then the question of what stops any modern society from devolving to such barbarity except the rule of law occurred to me. If the answer is 'nothing' then there is work to be done.

[virginia mountainman]

1. Very good post...

And it could be considered a microcosm of why Germany lost the war...

I own several German WWII era rifles, and pistols, they are incredibly well made, with lots of finely machined steel parts, parts that are time consuming to make...Yes, the end result is a fabulous rifle, or pistol, tanks, or as you noted, a fine uniform, ...

But while all that labor is taking the time, to build all this "super high quality" stuff, the rest of the world, is cranking out simplified rifles, basic pistols, basic uniforms, and basic tanks at much higher rates than the Germans ever hoped to be able to.

[canetoad]

2. Hugo Boss

Provided SS and brownshirt uniforms during WWII using slave labour.

[old mark]

3. I have owned many different WWII era Mauser rifles, and have one

now made in 1944. They were the best design, but were obsolete evven before the war bagan - the design goes back to 1898. They were being superceded by a newer German invention - the "Assault Rifle"(SturmGewehr) - an autoloading rifle using a smaller, lighter cartridge of lower power, having a removable magazine holding more rounds, and having parts made by cheaper, faster industrial processes....Oh, and plastic instead of wooden furniture. Progress.

mark

[AllentownJake]

4. There is already slavery in this country

People are imported from all over the world for agriculture, food processing, construction, prostitution, manufacturing in sweatshops, housekeeping etc.

The conditions aren't as brutal as death camps but we are in denial if we don't think that slavery isn't going on in this country.