Human Rights Watch Researcher Collects Nazi Memorabilia?Heheh,
can't imagine where he gets his anti-Israel bias.
His hobby, inspired he said by a German grandfather conscripted into Hitler’s army, was revealed on a pro-Israel blog, Mere Rhetoric Mere Rhetoric, which quoted his enthusiastic postings on collector sites under the pseudonym “Flak88” — including, “That is so cool! The leather SS jacket makes my blood go cold it is so COOL!”
Okay, that Flak88 name should be a huge red flag, although the Times fails to mention why. "88" is neo-Nazi code for "Heil Hitler", as H is the 8th letter of the alphabet.
Update: Okay, commenters urged me to do some research, and at least according to this
wikipedia page,
Germany's high-altitude needs were originally going to be filled by a 75 mm gun from Krupp, designed in collaboration with their Swedish counterpart Bofors, but the specifications were later amended to require much higher performance. In response Krupp's engineers presented a new 88 mm design, the FlaK 36. The eighty-eight would go on to become one of the most famous artillery pieces in history. First used in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, the gun proved to be one of the best anti-aircraft guns in the world, as well as particularly deadly against light and medium tanks.
Still I find it pretty creepy that a researcher for HRW's nick is a gun that no doubt killed many American aviators.
