Swastika Spotting At Chelmsford’s County Hall, Manchester Central Library And Other Worthy Places
GET a load of those Swastikas etched onto the walls of Chelmsford’s County Hall, built between 1928 and 1939 by J Stuart of Portland stone.
A member of the public has lodged a Freedom of Information request asking why it “was still commissioned given the symbol’s negative connotations”. Essex County Council has yet to answer.
But Dr Mark Curteis, curator of social history and art at Chelmsford City Council, informs the BBC:
“The swastika is still a symbol of peace.”
Is it? Hansi loved it. But do you?
In 2005, after Prince Harry had dressed as a Nazi for a laugh, Germany’s Liberal group vice-president Silvana Koch-Merin said: “All of Europe has suffered in the past because of the crimes of the Nazis, therefore it would be logical for Nazi symbols to be banned all over Europe.”
They haven’t been.
Responding to the call for ban, Hindu Forum spokesman Ramesh Kallidai said:
“It’s the second most sacred symbol in the Hindu tradition which has been used for 5,000 years to ward off evil.”
Wearing a Swastika necklace and gesticulating is Francoise Dior, the 35-year-old wife of Colin Jordan, leader of the British National Socialist Party. Francoise is due to appear in court on charges alleging she unlawfully incited members of the National Socialist Movement to set fire to synagogues and conspired with others to set fire to a synagogue in Stanmore, Middlesex.
The swastika is not all that effective as a barrier to evil.
“Hindus use the swastika merely as a religious sacrament, to express their devotion to God, surely nobody can have any objections to that. You find it in houses, temples and in portraits of Hindu gods. A swastika is even painted on the head of a baby who’s just had his first hair-cutting sacrament. Just because at a particular moment in history one section of society used it, or a mirror image, to unleash xenophobic ideology does not mean Hindus should be punished.”
The Nazis stole it. From the Hindus and the Krit Motor Car Company (1909-1916):
This is the Coronado US navy base in southern California, as seen on Google Earth.
This is a block of council housing building in Devizes, Wiltshire:
This is Manchester Central Library, UK. Built 1930-4.
Swastika is a town in Ontario, Canada. The town was named after the Swastika Gold Mine, staked in 1907 (via).
Coca Cola had one in 1925.
Constructed between 1903 and 1905, the Laguna Dam on the Colorado River has many.
Dublin’s Swastika Laundry traded into the 1960s.
In 2013, these were what Jewish graves in Auckland looked like.
So. Not everyone who uses the swastika is a Nazi. But many are.
Posted: 26th, February 2014 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
