"The Nazi Board Games of World War II" Topic
8 Posts
All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.
Please use the Complaint button (!) to report problems on the forums.
For more information, see the TMP FAQ.
Back to the WWII Media Message Board
Areas of InterestWorld War Two on the Land World War Two at Sea World War Two in the Air
Featured Hobby News Article
Featured Link
Top-Rated Ruleset
Featured Showcase ArticleCan you buy a 15mm pre-painted Sherman for $3 USD at your local store?
Featured Workbench Article
Featured Profile Article
Featured Book Review
|
Please sign in to your membership account, or, if you are not yet a member, please sign up for your free membership account.
Tango01 | 11 May 2017 12:31 p.m. PST |
"During World War II, the Nazis fueled children's enthusiasm for both their war effort and genocide partly by stocking toy stores with cheerful-looking but insidious board games. As budding potential members of the Hitler Youth rolled dice, they competed with miniature weaponry to conquer Allied lands and clear gaming boards of pieces depicting caricatures of helpless or greedy Jews. After the war, German families tossed out the incriminating games in untold numbers, but in the last few years dozens have surfaced in institutional collections and on the market. At the International Museum of World War II in Natick, Massachusetts, swastikas line the path to the central victory zone on a swastika-shaped pachisi-style board made in wartime Germany. On another propaganda game in the collection, children could play at encircling the British coastline with tiny U-boats. Kenneth Rendell, the museum's founder, says that Nazi power derived partly from such shrewd product design. Manufacturers applied symbols of anti-Semitism and death to toys, along with all manner of other household furnishings, from Christmas ornaments to lightbulb filaments. The racist objects, even if they never directly incited heinous acts, would have inured the owners to the prospect of violence all around them…" Main page link Amicalement Armand
|
Marc33594 | 11 May 2017 2:48 p.m. PST |
Interesting article. I only wish they had shown more of the insides and components. Thank you Armand |
miniMo | 11 May 2017 3:47 p.m. PST |
One was up for auction recently and mentioned over on Board Game Geek Panzerkampfwagen Vor! link Looks like players race their tanks across the board. |
Sobieski | 11 May 2017 4:07 p.m. PST |
I've seen one; a rather ugly "Evict the Jews" game. |
robert piepenbrink | 11 May 2017 6:31 p.m. PST |
Thanks, Tango! I wonder whether any of them were adapted "regular" games, the way you can buy themed Risk or Monopoly? Or whether any were adapted to serve new masters in East Germany? A pity Kovalic never finished the Dork Tower "History of Gaming" series. |
darthfozzywig | 11 May 2017 7:51 p.m. PST |
"Sturmgeschütz and Ladders" |
Jeigheff | 12 May 2017 4:53 a.m. PST |
It looks like some of these game had the players competing with each other, but still on the same side. I can see how that would serve a propaganda purpose. Still, at least one of the old German WWII games (that I read about somewhere else) was a two-player game. I don't remember its title. It was a naval warfare game that pitted a German player against a British one. I recall that both players drew event cards which helped or hurt them. If this naval warfare game had some play balance and if it was possible that the Germans could lose, it's interesting that the Nazis permitted it to be published. |
Tango01 | 12 May 2017 10:23 a.m. PST |
A votre service mon ami!. (smile) Amicalement Armand
|
|