Nazism

[123everton]

How is it thar the swastika has become an acceptable symbol to some in the former conquered eastern countries?
Two Czech soldiers have just been found displaying the swastika whilst on duty for N.A.T.O, the Czechs were treated terribly by the Germans in WW2, is this not an act of treason?
They should be made to visit the graves and the surviving family members of Kubciz and Gabczik so they can understand what real soldiering's about,

[tamborine]

mouth zipped!

http://pedestrianinfi...islamic-swastika.html

[VHG]

The swastika has been used for hundreds (if not thousands) of years before the nazis adopted it in WW2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

See it here as part of a hindu temple.

http://candygaucho.fi...9/09/indiashare21.jpg

[123everton]

LOL, to be fair Tambo, I think only Vichy France held the Muslim areas, apart from Bosnia were they treated the Serbs in a beastly manner.

[123everton]

Im aware of the history of the swastika, it was used in Britain to advertise war boonds in 1914, it's not the connotation being referred to here.
Also Nazism is distant ideology in the east, these cultures both Buddhist and Hindu can display swastikas as part of their religious furniture without confusion as it's always been their own.

[123everton]

Carabint, the sastika in it's correct context is acceptable, there are differences in it's presentation in a Buddhist temple for example.
I've been to a convent in China and the shutters were adorned wholly with swastkas, it was not a bit fascist.
I haven't got a link to the story (came up on ticker on the Russia Today channel) there was no suggestion that these soldiers were Buddhists.

[fredpuli47]

Who said it was acceptable? These two knew what they were doing, I suspect. It can't be a part of Czech culture now,even if it ever was before World II

[Toureman]

Like everton above, the swastica is a good luck emblem in China I have 2 Chinese oil lamps that have four swastikas around the top cut out of silver.

[jno]

I imagine the answer is that WW2 was a long time ago and young people are ignorant. (I am not young, but even for me the war was something that was over before I was born.) What exactly was in the minds of these soliders I don't know. Maybe their parents or grandparents actually approved of the German occupation? Some people did, just as there were many French who approved of the Vichy regime and did well under it. Maybe they just think it's a cute symbol. Maybe they actually are Nazis. I don't know.

[123everton]

It's bizarre to bear the emblem of an organisation that despised you.

[ABerrant]

The Czech soldiers did not display swastikas. Although not in any way diminishing the utter stupidity of their actions they each displayed separate and distinct SS insignia - namely that of the 9th Waffen-SS Panzerdivision "Hohenstaufen" and that of the 36th Waffen-SS Sturmbrigade "Dirlewanger".

http://www.militaryph...owthread.php?t=168519

[123everton]

That's actually worse, Nazis came in a variety of attitudes, the SS had only one.
The amount of people who died at the hands of Heydrich "The Hangman, The Butcher Of Prague" 200 men died immediately in the village Lidice after his assassination, the women and children were sent to concentration camps.

[ABerrant]

You say that the SS had only one attitude but it is documented that many SS officers regarded the Dirlewanger Brigade, named after its leader Oskar Dirlewanger and comprised of criminals, the criminally insane and volunteers (prisoners) from Nazi-occupied Europe, with disgust and contempt. It is alleged that during 1944 an SS judge and investigator attempted to prosecute Dirlewanger for war crimes owing to atrocities (including gang rape, torture and the practice of bayoneting babies) committed by his brigade. Himmler was forced to detail companies of military police to protect nearby German units from being targeted by Dirlewanger's men. One regiment even lynched their own commanding officer, Ewald Ehlers, a former Commandant of Dachau.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Dirlewanger

[123everton]

OK ABerrant, there were two type of SS, sadistic murderers and incredibly sadistic murderers.
Interesting point though, I'd never heard of them.

[zbearspirit]

I think that the display of the swastika in this incident is to do with 'white power'. Ultimate uncompromising and total. These individuals will accept certain aspects of this symbol but not others. In a way it reminds me of the 'takeaway', society who will be attracted to something, take out of it what they want and disregard the rest. If an ss officer could be transported to modern times he would probably assess Czech's as being one step up from jews.