Swastika is a Sanskrit word, derived from the roots su and asti, and means “that which brings good luck and well-being.” The word swasti appears in the Vedas and across classical Hindu literature, as illustrated by this famous Mantra from the Rigveda:
Om Swasti Na Indro Vriddhashravah Swasti Nah Pusha Vishva-Vedah।
Swasti Nastarkshyoarishta-Nemih Swasti No Brihaspatirdadhatu॥
Translation - Om! May Indra, who is provided with great speed do well to us, may Pushan, who is the knower of the world, do good to us and may Tarkshya who devastates enemies do good to us! May Brihaspati, the Lord of Vedic knowledge or speech, give us spiritual delight gotten from the light of knowledge and wisdom.
So how did a auspicious Hindu swastika was turned into symbol of hate and racism.
It has been estimated that the usage of the swastika dates back millennia, it was extensively used by Indus-Saraswati civilization and many other ancient civilization around the world with different names and meaning.
There are archaeological evidence dating back to at least 4,000 BCE showing its usage in Asia, Europe/uk, Africa, Australia and by Native Americans Infact the use of recognizable swastika dating to 13,000 BCE was found in Mezine Village(Ukraine).
in 1871 during excavation archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered the epic city of Troy on the Aegean coast of Turkey
he also found innumerable forms and designs of the swastika among the ruins; and soon the symbol became famous and was used in various commercial ads and military uniforms as a good luck sign.
It was used by the followings:
Finland used this symbol on the fighter plans in 1918.
France used it as air force symbol
Sweden artist in 1872 features a swastika clearly visible in Thor's belt.
(founded in 1914), a major shipping company in Iceland, had it.
Russian currency ruble had swastika on it in 1917.
US army had swastika on their uniforms.
British use it as saving stamp and, on their building.
This shows us that swastika was used globally as a symbol of luck, until 1930s, Hitler come to limelight.
Hitler’s decision to use Hakenkreuz is link with his upbringing at the Benedictine Monastery in Austria, where he repeatedly saw the hooked cross all around him.
This Hooked croos can be found in many parts of eupore in ancient churches and this was also used by German nationalist organizations groups in Germany before Hitler.
German language has many words associated with the cross and unsurprisingly none of them is swastika.
So you might be wondering if Hitler and Nazis called it Hakenkreuz and not swastika than why has the entire western world referred to it as Swastika.
This propaganda was started by a Irish priest James Vincent Murphy in 1939 when he intentional translated Hakenkreuz as Swastika.
But when you translate Hakenkreuz in English it is Hooked coroos.
It doesn’t end there major news publication specially new york times played a important role in this, before 1933 they always referred to the nazi symbol as Hakenkreuz. But later they decided to change Hakenkreuz with swastika despite knowing the differences.
What would be the reason?
It was perhaps due to Christianity’s attempt to distance itself from Nazism, specially after the news of atrocities on the jews started making the headlines out of Germany.
Infect in 2020 Germany’s council of catholic bishop public admitted they did not oppose the war with a clear ‘no,’.
#swastik #swastika #hitler #germany #hindu #hinduism #hindutva