I was looking through the scenario listings for Civ 2 today, and noticed a lot of WW2 scenarios. It is explicitly obvious that something was tragically missing from all of these "summaries" of the historical context to the war. In fact I would go as far as to say that most ignore the real context for WW2 and Nazism- race.
How can you list the events of WW2 and give no mention to the Holocaust? I understand that it is just a game. BUT, this is not just any event, this is living history. We all live in a world tainted by these happenings.
All of these scenarios go to great length to provide a sense of realism to the gameplay. This in my mind exacerbates the situation. How can you glorify the German position in the "Final Days" of the war? How many millions had been slaughtered by this stage in concentration camps? How many millions of Slavs were slaughtered by the SS in the East? Perhaps you should think about an SS genocide unit?
I have no problem inventing scenarios that take the Nazi position i.e taking the place of Rommel etc. But to glorify the conflict in the process, and to do it in such a false manner. Look at the Eastern conflict from the position of the German foot soldier. They were being wiped out. Because of the atrocities committed by the SS in Russia and the Ukraine (not to mention the holocaust), any German prisoners were executed. On top of that they lived in the most horrendous conditions imaginable - freezing cold, little food, the constant fear of death. German soldiers feared being sent to the Eastern Front ... it was a punishment. It was a case of fight or die ... there's nothing glorifiable about that.
So where is the glory? The tendency seems to be to glorify the "elite" of the Nazi machine (the "fuehrer", the General's, the Field Marshal's). This is reprehensible from any standpoint. The holocaust and the other human atrocities of the war are indebted (in part) to the bureaucratic chain of command that starts with this elite. They bought into the racism of the Nazi movement more than any other, and therefore should be the one's held primarily responsible. They should not be deified as "warriors " or "heroes".
The unethical silence on these matters (holocaust, genocide), while at the same time deifying the role of the perpetrators is reprehensible in my opinion. This is living history and therefore should be treated as such. We're not talking about ancient or medieval times. We're talking about the complete separation of a world were, on the one hand, babies and children were being tossed onto burning pyres alive, and on the other, the "glorious" perpetrators of these atrocities marching victoriously into battle. I'm sorry, these two extremes cannot be conjoined. Auschwitz cannot be ignored and war is not glorious (especially in this "living" Nazi sense) - ask a conscript on the Eastern front.
My question is this: Can we hide behind the declaration that this is just a game? What does that say about "we" who play these scenarios, and more pertinently, (U)those who write them?(/U) Are these scenarios really real, given there complete lack of proper historical context?
Does anyone else think about these matters when they indulge in these ignorant and therefore sick fantasies of others?
How can you list the events of WW2 and give no mention to the Holocaust? I understand that it is just a game. BUT, this is not just any event, this is living history. We all live in a world tainted by these happenings.
All of these scenarios go to great length to provide a sense of realism to the gameplay. This in my mind exacerbates the situation. How can you glorify the German position in the "Final Days" of the war? How many millions had been slaughtered by this stage in concentration camps? How many millions of Slavs were slaughtered by the SS in the East? Perhaps you should think about an SS genocide unit?
I have no problem inventing scenarios that take the Nazi position i.e taking the place of Rommel etc. But to glorify the conflict in the process, and to do it in such a false manner. Look at the Eastern conflict from the position of the German foot soldier. They were being wiped out. Because of the atrocities committed by the SS in Russia and the Ukraine (not to mention the holocaust), any German prisoners were executed. On top of that they lived in the most horrendous conditions imaginable - freezing cold, little food, the constant fear of death. German soldiers feared being sent to the Eastern Front ... it was a punishment. It was a case of fight or die ... there's nothing glorifiable about that.
So where is the glory? The tendency seems to be to glorify the "elite" of the Nazi machine (the "fuehrer", the General's, the Field Marshal's). This is reprehensible from any standpoint. The holocaust and the other human atrocities of the war are indebted (in part) to the bureaucratic chain of command that starts with this elite. They bought into the racism of the Nazi movement more than any other, and therefore should be the one's held primarily responsible. They should not be deified as "warriors " or "heroes".
The unethical silence on these matters (holocaust, genocide), while at the same time deifying the role of the perpetrators is reprehensible in my opinion. This is living history and therefore should be treated as such. We're not talking about ancient or medieval times. We're talking about the complete separation of a world were, on the one hand, babies and children were being tossed onto burning pyres alive, and on the other, the "glorious" perpetrators of these atrocities marching victoriously into battle. I'm sorry, these two extremes cannot be conjoined. Auschwitz cannot be ignored and war is not glorious (especially in this "living" Nazi sense) - ask a conscript on the Eastern front.
My question is this: Can we hide behind the declaration that this is just a game? What does that say about "we" who play these scenarios, and more pertinently, (U)those who write them?(/U) Are these scenarios really real, given there complete lack of proper historical context?
Does anyone else think about these matters when they indulge in these ignorant and therefore sick fantasies of others?
