I’ve always wondered why Stalinist era Soviet imagery is acceptable whereas Nazi imagery is not. In almost every large city in America and Western Europe, there are nightclubs or bars with Soviet themes with Communist posters, artwork and decor. I understand that the neither the patrons nor the owners are actually Communists, or support what the Stalin regime had done. Its done purely for kitsch factor, and for the impressive visual display of the propaganda artwork. Clothing splashed with the visage of Stalin, Mao, Che, etc are also popular, and are never under scrutiny by the politically correct.
However, you will never see a Nazi/SS product with similar intent. I remember there was a Nazi themed nightclub in South Korea, and was fiercely attacked by Western media for “insensitivity”. The Koreans going to this place were not nazis by any stretch of the imagination, and were enjoying the decor and style in much the same way an American partygoer would drink at KGB or whatever Soviet style bar there is.
You could argue that these Koreans were mocking the lives of the people killed under Hitler, but what about all the people who died in the Gulag?
From a strictly artistic point of view, both styles are equally attractive. From a historical point of view, both parties were equally brutal. So why the difference in acceptance? Will nazi memorabilia ever be “kitsch”?