An interesting topic and dicussion.

It is also important to note that there is a destinction between actual Nazis and the Wehrmacht army. The Wehrmacht was divided into the army (heer), Navy/Warmarine/Kriegsmarine and the Airforce/Luftwaffe.

So it's important to not confuse Gestapo, Einsatzgruppen, Schutzstaffe/SS, or the earlier SA etc with the regular Wehrmacht army. Just as there is a disitinction between the Red Star army and the political commisars/officers, or the Cheka, OGPU, GPU, NKGB, NKVD and MGB etc. 

Most regular soldiers, where just that, soldiers. Fighting for their country. Some volunteered, others having no choice but to enlist. Not necessarily having any political views or affiliation. No, I am not making the excuse of "just following orders", but not all soldiers, no matter what side, commited war crimes, or crimes against humainity. Well, not beside fighting (maybe killing opposing soldiers) and carrying out a war. That in itself could of course be considered a crime, but then there should be no soldiers in any game ever again, if that is a perimeter.

The symbol of the Wehrmacht was not the same as the nazi symbol of a swastika. The Iron Cross also has nothing to do with Nazis. It was a medal and reward given to soldiers for exceptional deeds, It was used long before the Nazis came to power, at least as long back as the 1800's.

Just like the Red Star army symbol is not a symbol for USSR or communism per se (it can be and has been at times, but not necessairily is automatically). Also not to be confused with the hammer and sickle (sometimes they are mixed into one symbol). In fact the Red Star was the symbol for the Russian Airforce 1992-2010, even after USSR was disbanded. In fact in December 1991 what was left of the Soviet parliament had voted to end itself. Still I see people refer to Russia as Soviet Russia, or being communists to this day. 

I quote:

In Soviet heraldry, the red star symbolized the Red Army and military service, as opposed to the hammer and sickle, which symbolized peaceful labour.

Different countries across Europe treat the symbol very differently. Some former Warsaw Pact nations have passed laws banning it, claiming that it represents "a totalitarian ideology", but other Eastern European countries hold a very positive view of it as a symbol of antifascism and resistance against Nazi occupation. Red Star has also been used in a non-communist context and before the emergence of this movement, in symbols of countries and states since the 19th Century. It appears for example on the flags of New Zealand and the U.S. state of California. Red star has also been used as logo by private agencies and corporations, such as the oil giant Texaco and beer multinational Heineken.

There was even a Red Star symbol with a Swastika in it used briefly by the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League (in the 1920's). Imagine that, a red star AND a swastika in the same symbol.

Not to mention that a red star is in the symbol of the "Ministry of Defense" of the Republic of Belarus.

Red star can also be seen in the coats of arms and/or flags of Panama, California, California Lone Star flag (already in 1836), Birmingham Alabama, flag of Tunisia, flag of Washinton D.C:, flag of Acre State Brazil, flag of Algeria and Northern Cyprus etc, the list can go on. Still when many see the symbol of a red star they immediately associate it with Communism or former USSR. The same goes for the Iron Cross, although it has a long history, as soon as some people see it, they immediately think "Nazi". 

We could even have a long discussion about the Swastika itself and how it is an old cultural and relgious symbol from long before nazis ever existed or was a thing. How it was used by some Eurasian, African and American cultures. I have seen it in mosaics (in temples), sometimes swapped around like a mirror image (but sometimes in the same orientation), when I have been to S/E Asia, but also in the mosaic floor in old buildings in Europe, but that topic has been beaten to death and getting nowhere anyway. Unfortunetly since that symbolk was hijacked and used by the Nazis it can not be used here these days.

Most intelligent people I think know all of this already, but still I see a lot of misconceptions and debate arising as soon as someone even post just a photo of a Luftwaffe airplane or a German WWII tank plastic model kit online (by someone just being proud of having painted and built an historical accurate military vehicle and want to show off their art-skill). Sometimes they have built and posted an American Tank, or airplane, sometimes an Englsih or Soviet, another time a German vehicle. I think on Instagram if you post a German WWII vehicle with historically accurate symbols/decals on, it will either be taken down, or you have to blur any symbols on the vehicle. Some people will be sure to report your photo straight away.

No, I kid you not. Here is a German YouTuber (who seems to post on instagram as well) and scale model builder taking up this exact topic in one of his videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfDwvv6yQ7c



Some people often get triggered way too easily and seem to know way too little about what they actually get triggered over. That exist on any side of the political spectrum. Some will get all triggered as soon as they think they see symbols or propaganda for left-wing view/opinions, others as soon as they see symbols of the right-wing view. Some will get triggered as soon as they think they see signals of inclusion, virtue signaling etc, others will get triggered as soon as they think they see sexism or the so called patriarchy.

I do however understand why companies want to avoid even risking getting dragged into all of this. They want to be able to advertise on all various online platforms and across the globe without being censored or banned from doing so. In my opinion it's silly that it is this way, but it is what it is, at least currently. One can only hope that things will change, for the better (although I currently don't see much evidence pointing in that direction, quite the opposite). It seems a lot of people just get more and more polarized and single minded. The whole idea of being open-minded, or be able to see things from more than one perspective, seems to be a thing of the past. It's an "either you agree with me, or you are my enemy" mentality. It seems extremists on either side are the ones that have taken over and are heard and seen the most.

Another topic is why platforms like YouTube censor (sometimes shadow ban) or demonitize private YouTubers videos containing news and images about war, crime or other catastrophies. While at the same time media corporations YouTube channels can report and show images of all of that and still have ads. To me that is definetly double standards, but also a topic for another discussion and only remotely relevant to the topic in this thread.