PCM Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 This article in Tuesday's Las Vegas Review-Journal says that four years of FBI investigations failed to turn up any evidence that the late Ralph Engelstad was a Nazi or had any links to the Nazi party. The article was barely mentioned on the back page of today's Grand Forks Herald. I don't imagine this means there's any hope that the BRIDGES Web site will take down any of its offensive material regarding Engelstad, such as the image below. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND Fan Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 Very pleased to read this! Thanks for passing this on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WYOBISONMAN Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 He still had a damn odd fetish for all things Nazi....so I would be pretty unconvinced that he did not have such leanings. Why on earth would he find that stuff so enchanting? I find it twisted and a bit perverse. Ralph is no role model for anyone....and he is an embarassment for the State of North Dakota. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airmail Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 and he is an embarassment for the State of North Dakota. Yeah. Okay. Whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdahl Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 He still had a damn odd fetish for all things Nazi....so I would be pretty unconvinced that he did not have such leanings. Man, I went to the Holocaust Museum once. Those jerks were REALLY a bunch of Nazis, I mean they had room after room full of Nazi memorabilia. Why were they so fascinated unless they had secret Nazi leanings? (For those with inferior educations, my point is that one can be a Nazi history buff without being a sympathizer, as the FBI concluded about Engelstad in the article linked above). Were Mr. Engelstad's parties a stupid embarrassment to himself? Yes, absolutely. They were also 15 years ago, apologized for, and long since forgotten by everyone who didn't have a personal interest in finding reasons to criticize UND. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND Fan Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 WYOBISONMAN - While I disagree with your assessment of Ralph (I knew him to some degree), I respect your freedom to make such a comment. He was certainly an eccentric with many odd traits including speaking exactly what was on his mind - but he was not a Nazi admirer. He was one of the more genuine and generous people there has ever been. Not because he gave a lot of $ to UND, because he "took care of" many, many people who had misfortune/loss of loved ones, etc. There are dozens of these examples that no one knows anything about. Very few hit the press other than his taking care of Joe Louis' widow. Again I respect your opinion. But, please give us an honest answer to this question: Would you have made that same comment had Ralph handed $100 million to NDSU? Remember, answer this honestly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted May 28, 2003 Author Share Posted May 28, 2003 He still had a damn odd fetish for all things Nazi....so I would be pretty unconvinced that he did not have such leanings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 He still had a damn odd fetish for all things Nazi....so I would be pretty unconvinced that he did not have such leanings. Why on earth would he find that stuff so enchanting? I find it twisted and a bit perverse. Ralph is no role model for anyone....and he is an embarassment for the State of North Dakota. People collect a variety of war-related memorabilia. There's a strong market out there for weapons, uniforms, equipment, medals, etc. from WWII. Ever been to the Imperial War Museum in London? Any military museum on a military post? West Point? The odds are great you'll find a variety of Nazi-era exhibits. Soethby's, Butterfield's and Christie's have all auctioned Nazi-era vehicles, weapons, books, art, etc. in the past. One of my favorite generals of all time is Rommel, right after Patton and Sherman. In your book, that might make me a nazi too, not that your views interest me in the slightest. Of course, since you're a Bison fan, we can always expect your own myopic biases to get in the way of fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sicatoka Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 Mr. Engelstad's collection includes a Pope-mobile. Was Ralph the Bishop of Rome? Mr. Engelstad owned a car previously owned by Liberace. So could Ralph play the piano if enough candle stands were on and around it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinnesotaNorthStar Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 I know someone that collects various artifacts from the Civil War, Union and Confederate. This must mean he agrees with everything the south stood for at that time like slavery, right WYOBISONMAN. Please think before you speak (or post). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted May 29, 2003 Share Posted May 29, 2003 What most news stories almost always fail to mention is that Engelstad was a student of military history and collector of historical vehicles. He was planning an exhibit of World War II vehicles in his auto museum at the Imperial Palace. This would have included cars once owned by Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, Emperor Hirohito of Japan and Benito Mussolini of Italy, as well as Adolph Hitler and other infamous figures of the Nazi Third Reich. If I am not mistaken I think Ralph had all of these vehicles in his auto collection. I saw his auto collection in 1997 when I visited and stayed at the Imperial Palace. I am so sick and tired of people maligning Ralph. By the way the picture of the Girl in the Nazi uniform is on a web page http://www.discovernd-racism.com/ run a loser by the name of Glenda Misken. In case no one knows who she is; she is a two bit knuckle head that lost a law suit for trying to discredit a UND professor. So consider the source... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND Fan Posted May 29, 2003 Share Posted May 29, 2003 WYOBISONMAN - You haven't answered my question yet. I would expect that we will have an honest answer to that question before we see any more posts from you in this Forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted May 29, 2003 Author Share Posted May 29, 2003 If I am not mistaken I think Ralph had all of these vehicles in his auto collection. I'm sure that you're right, Goon. However, if I remember correctly, the plan to have a special room dedicated to the World War II cars was scrapped after the controversy about the Nazi-themed parties. It became the source for the urban legend about Engelstad's "secrect war room." I read an article in which Engelstad explained that the reason the room and the cars in it were kept secrect was because while in the process of buying cars for the display, he didn't want potential sellers to know who was bidding on their cars. If they knew it was Engelstad, the asking price would suddenly go up significantly. That's why he dealt with third parties who bought the cars for him. That brings us to another urban legend. The painting of Engelstad in the SS uniform with the inscription "To Ralphie from Adolph" was given to him by one of his car buyers as a joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinnesotaNorthStar Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 WYOBISONMAN - You haven't answered my question yet. I would expect that we will have an honest answer to that question before we see any more posts from you in this Forum. I'll answer for him...no. If Englestad had given NDSU the same amount of money and an arena, they wouldn't bad mouth him and they would defend him like those of us at UND. They'd proabably actually research the topic before posting such nonsense, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinnesotaNorthStar Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 http://www.discovernd-racism.com/ run a loser by the name of Glenda Misken. In case no one knows who she is; she is a two bit knuckle head that lost a law suit for trying to discredit a UND professor. So consider the source... I checked out the site...pretty funny. I loved her peice on Ralph. I never knew he grew up in Theif River Falls, Wisconsin. I love these overzealous activists who never do any research, and constantly get facts wrong. BTW, one of these tools is in my Global Nav. class this summer...PETA is more tolerable than these people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BisonMav Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 PCM Posted on May 28 2003, 02:54 PM What most news stories almost always fail to mention is that Engelstad was a student of military history and collector of historical vehicles. PCM hit the nail on the head. The news media makes him look like a Nazi. This article made him look like a Nazi sympathizer. I sent the article to several co-workers, most of them had no NDSU or UND ties. The general feedback from them, just reading the article was that he was a Nazi. I do not know if Ralph was or was not, I have not had any interest in looking into his story. The FBI is not all knowing either, Wounded Knee, OJ Simpson. I am not here to be critical of Ralph, but the media is another story. If more articles like what DMB wrote "Very few hit the press other than his taking care of Joe Louis' widow", the publics perception of Ralph may be different. The Political Correct BWL media is very biased IMO. The media unfortunate in some cases, does have a huge impact on society. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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