Revell has withdrawn their Haunebu kit

[TomZ]

Just saw that Revell has withdrawn the Haunebu kit from the German market after protests that it gives the impression that it existed in real time  .

https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/Fiktives-Nazi-Ufo-fuers-Kinderzimmer,revell100.html

We need to be careful that those critics don't find this forum 

TomZ

[zenrat]

I fed the report into Google Translate.

This is what the box looks like with Revell's model kit - for a "flying saucer" from the "Third Reich" that never existed.
The company Revell from North Rhine-Westphalia is in Germany one of the major manufacturers of plastic model kits: cars, battleships, aircraft: "Whether children or adults, here everyone can pursue his passion and dreams come true," it says in the self-presentation ,

But one of these offers from Revell has now triggered massive criticism. Military historians, political scientists and last but not least the German child protection federation went in the discussion with NDR info with the company from the North Rhine-Westphalian Bünde sharply into the court. The company spreads falsehoods about the Nazi past and feeds right-wing extremist and esoteric conspiracy theories in the nursery.

Meanwhile, the model making company has responded to the criticism: A kit that resembles a UFO, will no longer be delivered, said a spokeswoman for the company from frets in East Westphalia on Monday.

"Flying saucer" for 49.99 euros
The stumbling block is a kind of "flying saucer", which is available in the toy trade under the name "Flying Saucer Haunebu II" for € 49.99: a weapon-like round body, marked with the bar cross of the Luftwaffe of the "Third Reich", made of twin guns fires on fantasy planes. According to cardboard imprint recommended for children over twelve years.

The text gives the impression that it is genuine Nazi war equipment with supernatural abilities: "Work began on the rotary airplanes in 1934. Their propulsion and the neutralization of centrifugal forces in the interior were carried out via Vril energy fields - airworthy specimens of up to 6,000 km / h fast Haunebu II started in the middle of 1943, but due to the war did not go beyond the test phase. " It is the "world's first space object". According to the packaging, the content also includes a "decal for true-to-life decorations".

Historian: This "wonder weapon" never existed
But this alleged miracle weapon of the Nazis has never existed, as the historian Jens Wehner of the Military History Museum in Dresden NDR Info confirmed on demand: "This is objectively wrong, as far as is known in science, was never worked on this object." His criticism: The presentation on the Revell cardboard write to the National Socialism a superior technology that can not be confirmed by established science. This could sow doubts in the sense of Nazi ideology in the accepted historiography.

Revell wants to change the packaging text
Confronted with this criticism by NDR Info, the Revell company admits mistakes: "We basically agree with the Military History Museum: in fact, it is a legendary, extraordinary aircraft whose existence and feasibility are not proven, but unfortunately the packaging does not do that We apologize for that. "

One will correct the text as much as possible. At the same time, the company dissociates itself from any kind of glorification of wars and National Socialism and rejects any promotion of right-wing extremist legends or conspiracy theories.

Abstruse conspiracy theories in the net
But that's not the criticism off the table. After all, if you enter the terms "Haunebu" or "Flugscheibe" into a search engine or the mask of large video portals, it is only a few clicks away from right-wing esoterics or conspiracy theories. According to the Hamburg constitutional protection, right-wing conspiracy theories can also be found in circles of the Reich Citizens, some of whom are right-wing extremists. One of the most abstruse theories is, for example, the assumption that parts of the National Socialist elite would have saved themselves with the help of such "Reichsflugscheiben" before the end of the Second World War. These "Reichsflugscheiben" were developed according to this theory as a "miracle weapon". A "miracle weapon", as it can be seen on the Revell cardboard.

"Revell should delete the model from the product range"
The Dortmund political scientist and right-wing extremism expert Dierk Borstel demands that Revell delete the kit completely from the product range - even after a change on the box. His argument: "Offers that positively rewrite right-wing legends or indirectly to relevant conspiracy theories should certainly not be found in the assortment." He warns that fantasies about "Reichsflugscheiben" have so far circulated only in small circles of right-wing extremist esotericism. If a reputable company now offers such objects, this speaks in favor of extending these ideas: "This is a matter of concern and a warning sign for our democratic culture," says Borstel.

Criticism also from the Kinderschutzbund
The German Child Protection Association also sticks to its criticism and appeals to the manufacturer's sense of responsibility: "As a child protection organization, we generally reject toys that can lead to ideologization." Politics and ideology have no place in the nursery, "says Federal Managing Director Cordula Lasner-Tietze.

[AS.12]

The whole episode reminds me of the Barbara Streisland Effect as named on Slashdot years ago; the more you draw attention to something allegedly undesirable the more desirable it becomes to people who hadn't even heard of it before.

In this case they wanted to suppress the propagation of esoteric 'right-wing extremist legends' by... announcing them to the press?  Now Haunebu is a word that's on the BBC.

Had these agencies just quietly contacted Revell with their concerns then the model might have been dropped from the next catalogue, or renamed to something innocuous as suggested on the Revell thread.  Instead, it's headline news and those who are complaining look like paranoid killjoys.

.

[tahsin]

It seems people out of Germany tend to minimise the possibility of Nazism making a return. Not much helped by modelling magazines that did not stress it was fiction on a satisfactory level. No doubt their vision clouded by their new found attraction to What-if. Was looking for that stress in each review I saw.

[Thorvic]

Revell have redrawn the kit to correct the Box and literature about the kit to make it a fictional subject as opposed to a Cancelled Project, the kit will probably be re-issued later in the year with revised packaging

[tahsin]

Nice of them, saves me ranting on how some German printing house made a house clearing and the books were translated. So that we in Turkey were treated to the imminent arrival of reinforcements from Sirius. For Nazis, in the year of 1968. In a book printed 2000 or so.

[Thorvic]

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/RV3903

See back out again, probably with revised history bumpf

[jcf]

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/RV3903

See back out again, probably with revised history bumpf

Yep, a tempest in a tea saucer. 

[NARSES2]

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/RV3903

See back out again, probably with revised history bumpf

Yep, a tempest in a tea saucer. 

I wonder if the original issue (subsequently withdrawn) will have any "collector value" in a few years time ? And no, I'm not going to buy one just in case