TALLINN - There are many reasons people like military antiques. Aesthetic: "A pair of combat boots and a good camouflage hat really can become anyone. And doesn't this charcoal gray Communist heavy coat bring out my brown eyes." Historical: "This shotgun shell was shot by a Nazi gendarme as practice right before Stalingrad. It's like a small piece of a prelude to a horrible event. I mean, you're like right there, shooting a gun, before Stalingrad. Wow." Sick puppy: "All this stuff reminds me of war, death and murder.
Wonderful, wonderful violence. "The customers at Voldemari Galerii in Tallinn's Old Town are "businessmen, artists, actors from local theaters, collectors and people who just want cheap souvenirs," says Vladimir Zaharchuk. He also gets customers from Tallinn's military reconstruction club who come to his shop to pick up weapons and uniforms.
There's an assortment of lurid camp and vintage wear at Voldemari Galerii: a case of Communist-era medals sitting comfortably beside a case of Nazi medals, Soviet Naval hats, old military coats, Lenin figurines, a Hitler statuette, empty shells and elaborate paintings of battle scenes.
Zaharchuk, the shop's 51-year-old owner, served as an officer in the Soviet Navy. He started collecting military antiques six years ago and opened up the shop last year.
He rarely gets any of his pieces locally. But he is an inveterate traveler, and frequents auctions and conventions in Europe and Russia. When I showed up a couple of weeks ago, hoping for an interview, he was in Finland.
Uniform pieces like buttons, stars or epaulettes can start at about a dollar, says Zaharchuk. A painting could cost thousands. Most of his customers, as is often the case with many antique shops, are one-timers. "These things are not a particularly cheap pleasure. Not many people can afford to spend a couple thousand dollars on antiques."
Of course, there is something disturbing about selling Communist memorabilia in a country that is very glad, for the most part, to have gotten rid of Soviet rule. And there's always something unpleasant but weirdly alluring about Nazi memorabilia. As one perceptive humorist once put it, there are two kinds of people who collect anti-Semitic art: anti-Semites and Jews. "Everyone has their own views," he says. "Personally I hated both regimes. And we do hear complaints about some antiques. Some people completely hated the Communist and Nazi period."
Unfortunately, there are the diehards and the true believers as well. "Some are real nationalists and would feel more comfortable during the Nazi regime," he says. "People like this will always be somewhere out there."
Older patrons, those who have lived through a serious battle, may find the place disturbing. For others 's at least for myself - it has a way of bringing out the inner 10-year-old who liked to play dress up and shoot toy guns in his suburban backyard. But it gave me a little bit of a pause when I turned around and saw a boy 's who looked about 10 himself 's with his father, staring with not a little bit of awe, wonder and joy at all these toys. This may not be such a good thing.
When I was here in December, I bought a 90's-era Estonian army hat for 20 euros. (Please don't tell me if I got gypped. I really don't care.) It was a green camouflage hat with a blue-black-and-white bull's-eye in the center.
When I went back home to America over the Christmas holiday, it proved to be quite a hit with some friends who couldn't for the life of them figure out where the thing was from or what political affiliation it held. Everyone was pretty sure that there was some dodgy connection. There were quite a few people who wanted one for themselves. Did I get that in Greenwich Village? Chelsea? Straight people seemed to think it looked very, very gay. Gay people thought it looked very, very straight. In the words of one random drunk girl, "That is weirdly sexy."
"That pseudo-fascist look is totally the thing in Germany right now," said one random acquaintance.
"Wait, were you in Iraq?" said another.
"It kind of makes you look like Bono," said a third.
Voldemari Galerii
Pikk Street 38
Tallinn
