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Swastika Laundry in Dublin
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Sailing into Ireland in 1978 as we approached the port at Dun Laoghaire I was quite shocked to see a huge factory chimney with a large black swastika emblazoned upon it. I later found out that the chimney was at the 'Swastika Laundry' and was their logo. Is it still there today?
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The swastika is a very old symbol dating back thousands of years, and pre-Nazi was always a symbol of peace.
According to http://www.gentleswastika.com/Introduction.html, the swastika was the only form of cross found in early Xian catacombs and churches (though it predates Christ). Indeed, ancient Celts used it - being of Indian origin, the swastika would have been familiar to them, so it's not really surprising that one should appear in Ireland.
The Nazi's took the symbol and subverted it - it's them who are out of step, not the users at the Swastika Laundry, which according to an internet search looks as though it may now have closed. Nothing, from waht I can gather, to do with any connotations of the logo though!
According to http://www.gentleswastika.com/Introduction.html, the swastika was the only form of cross found in early Xian catacombs and churches (though it predates Christ). Indeed, ancient Celts used it - being of Indian origin, the swastika would have been familiar to them, so it's not really surprising that one should appear in Ireland.
The Nazi's took the symbol and subverted it - it's them who are out of step, not the users at the Swastika Laundry, which according to an internet search looks as though it may now have closed. Nothing, from waht I can gather, to do with any connotations of the logo though!
It was on the Shelbourne Road and was at one time the official laundry to the Dail Eireann.....As far as I can gather it closed in the 80s.
The whole swastika/dublin debate could open some very old wounds about De Velera signing books of condolence on Hitlers death and the alleged neutrality of Eire during WW2.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/northern_ireland
/history/64247.stm
/history/64247.stm
Oh during the war it was very touchy for a while.....In some more bitter parts of NI they will tell you that they left road and house lights on in Eire to guide the bombers up to Belfast!
In less bitter parts of NI they'll tell you how bombs were accidentally dropped on the Republic of Ireland and how this 'supposedly' neutral country intercepted U-Boat messages which they forwarded to the Allies, allowed American warplanes to use Irish airspace and repatriated downed Allied pilots whilst detaining their German counterparts until the end of the war. Many Irishmen joined (and still join) the British Army. In this light it might be suggested that De Valera's, perhaps naive, signing of the book of condolences (which was never covered up) was to help deflect attention from his country's obvious bias towards the Allies and to avoid any questions this might pose to Ireland's neutral status in the future. As for Churchill's comments at the end of the war; De Valera's riposte was that Ireland itself had stood up to British aggression for several hundred years. The British Government had even considered the idea of invading 'neutral' Ireland to prevent a German invasion of Britain through Northern Ireland whilst German plans to invade a 'compliant' Ireland never materialised. At the time of the Second World War, Ireland was a relatively young independent state still finding its feet after decades of turmoil, including a civil war, so criticism of its decision to remain neutral (especially given the neutral status of Switzerland, strategically placed between two axis powers) seems a little harsh. It should also be remembered that the far more powerful USA didn't join the war until it was on their doorstep.
Cheers sft42! I only went off on that rant because as a resident of "That Little Island", I constantly have to listen to misquoted and poorly remembered histories used to justify outrageous politics (on BOTH sides). Too few people on this island (and others) are willing to listen, preferring instead to stick to tired (and often incorrect) mantras of oppression and treachery of the past. I do, however, relish the feeling that I live in a part of the world where history is visibly being made.
I also apologise for hi-jacking the question!
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