A Trip to German-Occupied France

Last weekend, 1940s enthusiasts gathered in the North Yorkshire town of Pickering to rekindle the spirit of a decade long past. For three days the streets were filled with WW2 soldiers, men in hats and suits, and women with elaborate hair styles. Fur coats were all the rage among the ladies and if you didn’t have one you just made up for it by flinging a lifeless fox over your shoulder. It was amazing to see to what great lengths people went to make it a real experience. I felt like we stood out a little bit in our everyday clothes.

We went to Pickering on Sunday and for the first half of the day, the weather couldn’t have been worse. It was raining and didn’t look like it’d stop any time soon. Hiding in cafés was a great solution but after four coffees we had to look for equally dry alternatives. We found them in the form of covered markets which sold 1940s clothing, WW2 medals and bags as well as modern army surplus gear. I’m a little bit funny about putting on these “vintage” clothes (they smell weird), so no flingy shoulder foxes for me!

Most of the time we were surrounded by well dressed, happy families and British soldiers with swing music playing in the background. It seemed like everyone was having a blast and I found the ease of mind the British approach the 1940s with rather refreshing. When we hopped on the steam train from Pickering to the close-by village Levisham, this refreshing approach was taken to a whole new level.

For the weekend, Levisham had been turned into the German-occupied French village Le Visham. Consequently, there were several men in full-on Nazi uniforms. Just as we stepped off the train, one of them arrested a “Frenchman”. Near the station, the “Germans” had put up their camp and a large flag featuring a swastika was gently moving in the wind. I stood and stared with huge eyes for quite a while. In Germany, the post-war criminal code makes the public showing of swastikas and other symbols used by the Nazis such as the SS-bolts illegal, unless it is for scholarly reasons. Swastika flags and people dressed as Nazi officers were a tiny bit of a shock to my German system...

A bunch of soldiers in full gear, carrying guns is a pretty daunting sight. One of the dressed-up German officers was even demonstrating weapons used by the Nazis. I expect a weapon to be loud but it feels a little different when one is being fired right next to you. My ears were ringing a bit when we had a glass of red wine in a nearby tent… hey, when in France!

The British seem to love a little bit of wartime nostalgia and fancy dress. I never thought Germans were allowed to feel nostalgic about the 1940s for obvious reasons... Maybe I will go back next year again and try to blend in a little better.

On that note, I have to go cry my heart out watching the next episode of Band of Brothers...