Comments on: More On So-Called “Nazi Bears”

By: Carol Maltby

Carol Maltby — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 03:11:58 +0000

I’ve been collecting German images from the 1930s-40s featuring a polar bear posing with regular people. I’ve got about 6 so far. They pose with both adults and children, and I have both winter and summer scenes. My assumption is that they are a folkloric custom of some sort, but I’ve never run into any useful information on them.

By: Daedalus

Daedalus — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:16:47 +0000

Yes the Germans where big on awards, but a front line combat unit did not where them. There where a few of the SS Officers who did or they wore the Iron Cross. But I do not see this as strange as for the awards not being shown.

I could scan many war time photos where they do not have any awards at all on there Uniforms, other than a Iron cross. I like the other man that wrote have and study the Army’s of WWII. But as always there is the one out of the norm.
I would like to see the back of the photo, most of the older photos had a stamp on the back that would tell quite a lot and help solve the issue.

By: FunkyBunky

FunkyBunky — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:17:05 +0000

I recently saw a period photo of Churchill and the Phillies Phanatic proving the green guy must be real. Maybe we’ll get lucky and Josh will do a Destination Truth show on guys in suits. He might actually find something other than Ryder’s terrorized face.

By: UmbrielPA

UmbrielPA — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:38:58 +0000

As Mr. Huffines notes, the lack of wartime awards on the uniforms in the first photo is key. The Germans were very big on proficiency badges and service commendations — and modern reenactors almost always feature such embellishments on their uniforms. To me that indicates that this is an authentic pre-war photo. An early-war training facility is also a possibility, but in that case I would expect the NCOs to have some field experience, and decorations to indicate it.

As DavidFullam notes, the bear suit in the second photo does closely resemble the first, and the wooded setting is also consistent. The coats of the soldiers in the second photo would conceal any service awards, but their garrison caps are of a type that became less common as the war went on, being largely replaced by a visored cap in 1943.

My best guess is that the bear suit was a sort of mascot for a particular regiment — possibly reflecting the coat of arms of its home city, or some local folk custom as others have noted. After the war began there would have been less time and inclination for zany hijinks such as these, and the suit probably stayed in a locker somewhere — maybe ultimately being sewn into a coat for service in Russia after the shock of that first nasty winter.

Also, find a larger print of the first photo if you can — The smirk on the face of the third guy from the left is particularly amusing.

By: Andrew Minnesota

Andrew Minnesota — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:42:04 +0000

Clearly Biscardi impersonating a Yeti impersonating a bear…duh.

By: Ivan_Bear

Ivan_Bear — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:40:48 +0000

At the very least the officer on the far right of the photo is most certainly a Nazi. He is wearing corporal strips on his sleeve. This was allowed by members of the military (army and SS) who were party members before Hitler came to power. It was an honor because Adolf was a corporal in the First World War.

By: Daedalus

Daedalus — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:03:00 +0000

The NCO? is a Warrent Officer by what I can see. And the group looks to be from the Ukraine There was a division of troops from the Ukraine and fought under the Bear Unit mark. Now I can’t be for sure but it does look like this is what it might be! And I have come across this before in the past.

I will do some more checking to see what I can find in my files.

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:03:23 +0000

For another new period image of German folks (a woman and a male soldier) with a person in a polar bear costume, see here.

By: greybear

greybear — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:27:22 +0000

The bear costme looks like it could be from the Steiff studio, a soft toy manufacturer specialising in teddy bears. Bear in mind (pun intended) that if the photograph is indeed authentic the soldiers would be very young and might have had toy mascots from the factory. My father was in the RAF and took his soft toy cat with him, tucked into his flight jacket. Many of his friends had teddy bears, although it would not have been considered patriotic to have a German one.

By: korollocke

korollocke — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:55:19 +0000

I am German and this is something from the Fanta Soda promotions, Fanta (has 80 flavors all over the world) was and is a product of Nazi Germany. I am one of the few Germans that seem to admit to our history. The soda plants there couldn’t get any materials to make the usual soda so the man in charge made fruit soda to keep the company (a US company) from going under and the factories making cash for the USA and now hot chicks ask if you want it, go figure. The bear still lingers as the Icee Bear from the frozen drinks. There even a Pez dispenser of it.