Wikipedia:Peer review/HIAG/archive1

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HIAG[edit]

The article deals with a post-WW2 lobby group formed in West Germany by former Waffen-SS members. The topic is multi-faceted, dealing with the post-war integration of veterans into society, politics, historical revisionism and the impact of the organisation on the contemporary popular culture. I'm looking for feedback that could help bring the article to a successful FA nomination in the future.

Thank you, K.e.coffman (talk) 05:46, 8 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Given that the HIAG claimed its aims as providing comradeship, legal assistance, support for those in Allied captivity, help for families, and aid in searches for those still missing, I assume it did those things (as well as other things that are already voluminously documented in the article) and would expect its actions in those respects to be covered in this article. Such coverage is completely absent at present. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 09:05, 26 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

A somewhat belated response -- this content is covered in HIAG#Waffen-SS_advocacy. The background is here:
  • The HIAG bylaws of 1952 described the aims of the organisation as providing comradeship, legal assistance, support for those in Allied captivity, help for families and aid in searches for those still missing. The HIAG campaigned for Waffen-SS veterans to be awarded the legal status of "persons formerly in the public service" under article 131 of the Basic Law, so that they would qualify for the same rights and pensions as Wehrmacht's career soldiers.[1]
The historian David C. Large wrote that, like any public pronouncements, these bylaws did not tell the full story of HIAG's real goals. By investigating how these statutes were applied in practice, he was able to tease out what the organisation stood for.[2] For example, HIAG claimed to represent the entire Waffen-SS membership, surviving and fallen, as well as their families: 500,000 in total. In reality, the organisation's rolls did not exceed 20,000. HIAG attained this number in the late 1950s, and held it until the early 1960s.[2]

References

  1. ^ Large 1987, p. 83.
  2. ^ a b Large 1987, pp. 83–84.
The article by Large is available on JSTOR free of charge (with free registration):
  • Large, David C. (1987). "Reckoning without the Past: The HIAG of the Waffen-SS and the Politics of Rehabilitation in the Bonn Republic, 1950–1961". The Journal of Modern History. 59 (1). University of Chicago Press: 79–113. doi:10.1086/243161. JSTOR 1880378. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
It's the most detailed source that I found on the topic in English. Hope this answers the questions. K.e.coffman (talk) 22:14, 24 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]