UPDATED YET AGAIN: Nazi Troops in Taipei?
Not Really, But Very Weird
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1 January 2024 (Monday)/Updated 3 January, 5 January, and 6 January)
Nazi Troops in Taipei?
Not Really, But Very Weird
By Wendell Minnick (Whiskey Mike) 顏文德
TAIPEI - At the Taipei 101 with my family last night for the New Year’s celebration, there was a Taiwan man dressed in a German Army uniform.
I asked him if he spoke German: Sprechen Sie Deutsch? He said no and began turning away, then slowly stepped further away, until walking down the road.
He was wearing a Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. Recently, a senior officer at the National Police Agency was seen wearing the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross around his neck, instead of a necktie. If anyone can provide me with a photograph of the NPA officer with his name, you will get a free one year subscription.
A historian familiar with Nazi uniforms said the man in the photograph is not wearing a proper belt nor boots. His hat is a Wehrmacht Luftwaffe (Air Force), but the shirt is a tropical uniform worn by the German Afrikacorps. There is no SS or Nazi Party insignia.
Photograph below by Wendell Minnick.
A fellow expatriate contacted me about the above photograph.
“About the guy wearing the German uniform. I don’t know him, but I do know the members of the former National Socialist Association I stumbled upon at a Cosplay [costume play] event. Some of them have a German military nostalgia group. They have many uniforms and other historical memorabilia.”
He added some are in Taiwan’s military and include members of the military’s Political Warfare section who are trained in propaganda, psychological warfare, morale techniques, etc.
“These guys are raving KMT patriots. They see National Socialism [under the National Socialist German Workers' Party] as completely compatible with the KMT [KMT=Chinese Nationalist Party]. You have to understand that I have a very different idea about the KMT and Taiwan politics than you've been posting about recently.”
“Every once in a while, there will be some news about someone doing crazy Nazi things in public.”
There have been anti-gay rights rallies here in the past where some of the protesters wore Nazi uniforms: Taipei Times.
There is a real possibility this is Cosplay, where folks dress like Tv/Movie characters or historical figures. You can see this at comic/fantasy conventions in the U.S. where people dress up like Star Wars/Star Trek characters.
In Taipei, I encourage foreigners to attend the the 2024 Taipei International Comics and Animation Festival (1-5 February) near the 101 Building. The Japanese Manga characters are amazing. The girls are stunning. And great fun if you have kids as well. You can take pictures of them with sexy Nymphs without looking like a dirty old man.
The KMT Army in China received a great deal of German surplus equipment after World War 2, which might be another answer to their fascination. Below is a Taiwan military journalist that wore a German helmet (replica) with the KMT symbol (the sun) on it. So there is some nostalgia for old KMT uniforms of the Chinese Civil War. I took this photograph at the annual Han Kuang tri-service military exercise (also note the patch on the right that states that the Senkaku Island belongs to Taiwan (not China/Japan):
There have been some cultural misunderstandings over the years, with even motorcycle helmets shaped as German Army helmets with the swastika. This old man used to ride around on his motorcycle in the Xinyi area. (photograph by subscriber):
There was a restaurant in 2014 that served “Long Live Nazi spaghetti” (納粹萬歲麵) in New Taipei City’s Banqiao District: Taipei Times.
Early, in 2000, I did visit the Jail (惡魔島). I thought it would be a gay sado-masochistic (S&M) bar at first, but it was only one of those theme restaurants that were popular in the 1980s and 1990s. I left disappointed.
Customers came inside, were placed in handcuffs and escorted to their “cell” where they ate behind steel bars. There were pictures of concentration camp victims on the walls. A “Gas Chamber" sign hung over the entrance to the restroom. See Taipei Times.
I was polite during my visit, but the Jewish community went apeshit and it was shuttered.
Over the past 20 years, I have seen another Taiwanese man who truly seems mentally ill. He stands in front of post offices and other low level government offices. I do not believe he is dangerous per se, but the first time can be unnerving if you are a Jew.
You may have seen him. He wears an immaculate black SS officer uniform that could be used in a movie; bleach blonde and military haircut.
Ross Feingold (Twitter @rossfeingold), a lawyer and longtime Jewish resident of Taipei, said he has possibly seen the same man in Ximending.
If anyone has his photograph, it would be appreciated: chinainarms@substack.com
WHAT YOU NEVER DO:
Never attack one of these guys. They are Taiwanese and you are NOT. The law favors them in any criminal proceeding.
I made this mistake when I first came to Taiwan after walking into a sleazy pub in Taipei’s red light district, dubbed the Combat Zone (Shuangcheng Street). On the walls were various large international flags as decoration.
The Nazi flag turned my drunken fun-loving persona into a new level of enraged psycho. I told the girl behind the bar that I was 猶太人 or Yóutàirén.
I felt emboldened back in those days, a serious powerlifter at 260 lbs with no neck and 21 inch arms, I tore the flag down and wrapped it up while walking out the door.
Then my stupidity dawned on me.
The area was my stomping ground for meeting U.S. Pentagon folks and U.S. defense contractors. I literally lived five minutes away to facilitate meetings quicker. I needed the area, so I turned around and gave her NT $3000 (USD $100). She smiled and said 沒問題 or Méi wèntí. She probably pocketed the money.
I also did not need the local Chinese criminal gangs, who run the prostution rings, to hunt me down. In Taiwan they fight as a group against one person, it is not mano a mano.
