Farid MohammedEssay: The research of swastika1/17/18 The Swastika It is the symbol used to identifycertain group of people by which a sign once invented and known as a sign ofwell being but later on the group used it and become a hatred symbol in certaincommunities; the group or party is known as Nazis led by dictator AdolphHitler.The symbol, of South Asian origin,existed for millennia as a sign of good fortune and wellbeing. The westerncultures were embracing the symbol of swastika.
The community used the swastikaas a popular emblem by the early 20th century. They used it even insports like put it in hockey team jerseys. Canada seemed use it in several team symbols and allof them got disbanded beforethe World War II. There was town in northern Ontario named as swastika by theprovincial government who tried renaming it during the second world war, butthe residents of the city resisted installing it as their name and use it as asign by coming with the message “to hell with Hitler, we came up with our namefirst”; the name hasn’t changed until this day. Now the community is a part of Kirkland Lake,Ont. Today, you can’t say or utter the words “Nazi” or”Hitler” or “the Holocaust” in the West without conjuringor remembering the images of the hooked cross, and vice versa.None of these efforts has takenhold.
“Symbols take on cultural meaningbased on their social context,” says Christopher Todd Beer. “WhenHitler’s Third Reich used the swastika, itbecame embedded in our collective memory to mean white supremacy. In theWestern world,” he continues, “there’s not enough memory of the swastika as a symbol with any other meanings for anyone to reclaim it and have it bewidely accepted.
” (McIntyre,Catherine.)As Hitler was the chancellor ofGerman, and his followers had the political party or community which they namedit As Nazi.The swastikawas his instrument, and not solely the mark of his political party: It was hispersonal emblem–the surrogate of the man and the ideology. Arguably, like anysymbol, it is only as good or bad as the ideas it represents. But as the iconof Nazism, the swastika was transformed from aneutral vessel into something heinously criminal itself.(HELLER, STEVEN. “INTRO SPECTIVES Swastika Guilt.
“)When Adolph Hitler, the frustratedartist, was placed in charge of propaganda for the fledgling National SocialistParty in 1920, he realized that the party needed a vivid symbol to distinguishit from rival groups. He sought a design, therefore, that would attract themasses. He used the swastika as a symbol of racial purity with a red backgroundon it to win over the workers.He had convenient and effective easybut irony reason for choosing the hooked cross. It was used by the Aryansnomads of India in the long time like Second Millennium B.C. by referring Nazistheory that these kind of tribe were the German ancestors and Hitler concludedthat the symbol had been always anti-Semitic. “The hooked cross seemed tosymbolize to the action of insecure lower-middle classes which had beenstruggling in uncertainty first chaotic postwar years.
” (The Americancorrespondent- William Shirer)The flag had a suggestive sense ofpower and direction. It showed all Nazis concepts within the simple symbol theyhad. (The swastika: page 14)As Nazis goal were to punish theinnocent Jew people, the people got very scared once they see the symbolanywhere and it reflected hatred between certain kind of groups.TheSwastika Flag used as the National Flag as a symbol of the acceleration of theNazis anti-Semitic agenda which included the September 15, 1936, “Law for theProtection of German Blood and Honor.” By which laws revoked or nullified.
TheJews’ citizenship in the Reich. They could not vote, marry Aryans, or employ indomestic service, female subjects of German or kindred blood who are under theage of 45 years. They were treated as they had no right for anything.TheJews found themselves excluded from schools, libraries, theaters, and publictransportation facilities, their Passports were stamped with the word “Jew.”They couldn’t change their names as they were not allowed to so Jewish men hadto add the middle name as “Israel,” Jewish women the name “Sarah.” Jewish willsthat offended the sound judgement of the people could be legally voided.Furthermore, their businesses were taken away from their owners and placed inthe hands of German trustees.
Theincident of Bremen made Nazi to raise their banner of hatred as their nationalsymbol while making the Jews into second class subjects of Germany. Hitlerbelieved that the Jews as the untermenschen. (The Swastika: page 15)TheMein Kampf is one of the books where Hitler said some words about the symbol; Meinkampf means my fight in English.InMein kampf, Adolph Hitler wrote this:”Imyself, meanwhile, after innumerable attempts, had laid down a final form; aflag with a red background, a white disk, and a black swastika in the middle.After long trials I also found a definite proportion between the size of theflag and the size of the white disk, as well as the shape and thickness of theswastika. (Heidtmann, Horst. “Swastika.”)The group now is banned in severalplaces including their place of origin Germany.
But we can find such kind ofpeople a lot in America and they don’t have that power as they used to be.And for the symbol of swastika, it canbe seen a lot in America rather than any other countries because of the freedomrights and protection, they think they could be safe for them.
