What does Hitler's swastika mean? Cult symbolism and its meaning

The swastika, that is, a cross with curved ends, has been known to many peoples, including the Slavs, for a long time. The ends of the swastika can be bent either clockwise or counterclockwise. Its color can be different, there are different options for shapes and locations. The fascist swastika was banned at the Nuremberg trials as Nazi symbols. Our Red Army soldiers also once wore a swastika on their uniforms.

This symbol, the swastika, has been used by the ancient Aryans, Slavs and other peoples since time immemorial. Hitler simply made the swastika a symbol of his party, and when he came to power, a symbol of the Third Reich.

Denotes the symbol of the Sun, Solstice.

The swastika is one of the most widespread graphic symbols, which has been used by many peoples of the world since ancient times. This symbol was present on clothing, coats of arms, weapons, and household items. In Sanskrit, svasti means happiness. In America these are four letters L, four words Love, Life, Luck, fate, luck, Light.

Hitler made the swastika a symbol of Nazi Germany and since then the attitude towards it has changed. She became a symbol of Nazism, barbarism, and misanthropy. The Nazi swastika was a black hoe-shaped cross with the ends pointing to the right and turned at an angle of 45 degrees. After the Second World War, the image of the swastika was banned in a number of countries.

The German swastika appeared during the reign of Hitler. He approved it as a symbol of the Aryan nation.

But the swastika appeared before Hitler’s Germany, and among many peoples it symbolized the symbol of the Sun, solar energy. True, these two swastikas differ in that the corners of the cross are turned in the other direction.

A swastika is a cross with continued sides, both clockwise and counterclockwise.

It gained great popularity after the Second World War, when the Nazis made the swastika with the sides turning clockwise their symbol and became famous throughout the world...

In fact, the swastika appeared a very long time ago and was a symbol among many peoples, mainly from the positive side - it meant movement, the sun, or both: the movement of the sun, as well as light and, in many ways, well-being...

Germany acquired this symbol in the summer of 1920, then Hitler approved it as a symbol of the party of which he was the leader...

By the way, Hitler thought that this symbol, the swastika, actually reflected the struggle of the Aryans and as a celebration of victory Aryan race...

Is the swastika the oldest graphic symbol? or?, which was used by almost all nations in the world, but Nazi Germany used the swastika as a sign of Nazism and because of this coincidence everyone thinks that it is banned.

The German swastika is not just any swasti used by all nations as a symbol of the Sun and prosperity.

The Nazi swastika has distinctive features - it is a quadrangular cross with corners bent at 45 degrees and turned to the right. For comparison, the suasti (Kolovrat among the Slavs) is turned to the left. Well, the color scheme different nations to indicate the symbol of the sun is different

The Nazis took the idea of ​​the swastika from Indian culture.

In India, the swastika is a visual embodiment of the sound Om:



The Nazis, without the knowledge of the Hindus, took the idea of ​​this sign from them and distorted the meaning of the symbol.

Even the word Aryan is taken from the Indian Arya, which means supreme, pure.

In India, this word was used in a positive sense: polite, sophisticated, learned, and the Nazis called Aryans upper class of people.

Many Germans behaved somewhat like Indians. Himmler practiced yoga, called himself a Kshatriya (the second most important caste in India) and claimed to have fought a just war.



The Nazis received new spiritual knowledge from India from the spy Savitri Devi. She conveyed to Hitler all the information about the customs of India, and the SS leader remade everything to suit his tune.



Repeating the traditions of the Hindus in his country, Hitler wanted to become the last avatar of Vishnu - Kalki. God in this incarnation had to destroy everything unclean and repopulate the planet. This was Hitler’s key idea - he wanted to remove the unworthy and leave people of the highest rank on the planet - the Aryans.

Is swastika prohibited?

The swastika is now prohibited only in the Hitlerite version. I’m from Kyiv, and I once saw how strange people in identical outfits with an image very similar to a swastika gathered in front of the Verkhovna Rada building. It turns out that these were fans of Hinduism. In this way, they showed that you can come to terms with everything, and that you need to be wiser (I talked to them).

And you should never blindly believe in anything! The Germans believed Hitler, and what did this lead to? Analyze, don’t be fooled and be fair. No philosophy or idea is worthy of existence if it divides people.

The German swastika is the opposite symbol of the sun. It is not prohibited everywhere. I know for sure that it is still prohibited in Germany. In many computer games the swastika was replaced by another symbol, especially for Germany.

In general, the swastika is a symbol of the Sun, good luck, happiness and creation. It has been used at all times and by all peoples, but it probably began to be banned after the Nazis began to use it.

The swastika is a graphic symbol. Different peoples had their own images of the swastika at different times. The most commonly used is the 4-pointed swastika. The German swastika was approved by Hitler himself as a symbol of the workers' party. She represented

Swastika (Skt. स्वस्तिक from Skt. स्वस्ति , svasti, greeting, good luck) - a cross with curved ends (“rotating”), directed clockwise (卐) or counterclockwise (卍). The swastika is one of the most ancient and widespread graphic symbols.

The swastika was used by many peoples of the world - it was present on weapons, everyday items, clothing, banners and coats of arms, and was used in the decoration of churches and houses. The oldest archaeological finds depicting the swastika date back to approximately 10-15 millennium BC.

The swastika as a symbol has many meanings; for most peoples, all of them were positive. For most ancient peoples, the swastika was a symbol of the movement of life, the Sun, light and prosperity.

Occasionally, the swastika is also used in heraldry, mainly English, where it is called fylfot and is usually depicted with shortened ends.

In the Vologda region, where swastika patterns and signs are extremely widespread, village elders in the 50s said that the word swastika - Russian word, which comes from sva- (one’s own, following the example of matchmaker, brother-in-law, etc.) -isti- or is, I exist, with the addition of the particle -ka, which must be understood as reducing the meaning of the main word (river - river, stove - stove, etc. . d.), that is, a sign. Thus, the word swastika, in this etymology, means a sign of “one’s own,” and not someone else’s. What was it like for our grandfathers, from the same Vologda region, to see the sign “our own” on the banners of their worst enemy.

Near the constellation Ursa Major (Dr. Makosh) highlight the constellation Swastikas, which to date is not included in any astronomical atlas.

Constellation swastikas in the upper left corner of the image of the star map in the Earth's sky

The main human energy centers, called chakras in the East, were previously called swastikas in the territory of modern Rus': the oldest amulet symbol of the Slavs and Aryans, a symbol of the eternal circulation of the Universe. The swastika reflects the Highest Heavenly Law, to which all things are subject. This fire sign used by people as a talisman that protects the existing order in the Universe.

Swastika in the cultures of countries and peoples

The swastika is one of the most archaic sacred symbols, found already in the Upper Paleolithic among many peoples of the world. India, ancient Rus', China, Ancient Egypt, the Mayan state in Central America - this is the incomplete geography of this symbol. Swastika symbols were used to designate calendar signs back in the days of the Scythian kingdom. The swastika can be seen on old Orthodox icons. The swastika is a symbol of the Sun, good luck, happiness, creation (the “correct” swastika). And, accordingly, the swastika in the opposite direction symbolizes darkness, destruction, the “night Sun” among the ancient Russians. As can be seen from ancient ornaments, in particular on jugs found in the vicinity of Arkaim, both swastikas were used. It has deep meaning. Day follows night, light follows darkness, rebirth follows death - and this is the natural order of things in the Universe. Therefore, in ancient times there were no “bad” and “good” swastikas - they were perceived in unity.

This symbol was found on clay vessels from Samarra (the territory of modern Iraq), which date back to the 5th millennium BC. The swastika in levorotatory and dextrorotatory forms is found in the pre-Aryan culture of Mohenjo-Daro (Indus River basin) and ancient China around 2000 BC. In Northeast Africa, archaeologists have found a funerary stele from the kingdom of Meroz, which existed in the 2nd-3rd centuries AD. The fresco on the stele depicts a woman entering the afterlife; a swastika also appears on the clothes of the deceased. The rotating cross also decorates golden weights for scales that belonged to the inhabitants of Ashanta (Ghana), and clay utensils of the ancient Indians, and Persian carpets. The swastika was on almost all amulets of the Slavs, Germans, Pomors, Skalvi, Curonians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Mordovians, Udmurts, Bashkirs, Chuvash and many other peoples. In many religions, the swastika is an important religious symbol.

Children light oil lamps during Diwali on New Year's Eve.

The swastika in India has traditionally been viewed as a solar sign - a symbol of life, light, generosity and abundance. She was closely connected with the cult of the god Agni. She is mentioned in the Ramayana. Was made in the shape of a swastika wooden instrument to produce the sacred fire. They laid him flat on the ground; the depression in the middle served for a rod, which was rotated until a fire appeared, lit on the altar of the deity. It was carved in many temples, on rocks, on ancient monuments of India. Also a symbol of esoteric Buddhism. In this aspect it is called the “Seal of the Heart” and, according to legend, was imprinted on the heart of the Buddha. Her image is placed on the hearts of initiates after their death. Known as the Buddhist cross (shape similar to the Maltese cross). The swastika is found wherever there are traces of Buddhist culture - on rocks, in temples, stupas and on Buddha statues. Together with Buddhism, it penetrated from India to China, Tibet, Siam and Japan.

In China, the swastika is used as a symbol of all the deities worshiped in the Lotus School, as well as in Tibet and Siam. In ancient Chinese manuscripts it included such concepts as “region” and “country”. Known in the form of a swastika are two curved mutually truncated fragments of a double helix, expressing the symbolism of the relationship between “Yin” and “Yang”. In maritime civilizations, the double helix motif was an expression of the relationship between opposites, a sign of the Upper and Lower Waters, and also signified the process of the formation of life. Widely used by Jains and followers of Vishnu. In Jainism, the four arms of the swastika represent the four levels of existence. On one of the Buddhist swastikas, each blade of the cross ends with a triangle indicating the direction of movement and crowned with an arch of the flawed moon, in which the sun is placed, like in a boat. This sign represents the sign of the mystical arba, the creative quaternary, also called the hammer of Thor. A similar cross was found by Schliemann during the excavations of Troy.

Greek helmet with swastika, 350-325 BC from Taranto, found in Herculanum. Cabinet of medals. Paris.

Swastika on Russian territory

A special type of swastika, symbolizing the rising Sun-Yarila, the victory of Light over Darkness, Eternal life over death, was called brace(lit. "rotation of the wheel", Old Church Slavonic form Kolovrat was also used in Old Russian).

The swastika was used in rituals and construction. So, in particular, many ancient Slavic settlements had the shape of a swastika, oriented to the four cardinal directions. The swastika was often the main element of Proto-Slavic ornaments.

According to archaeological excavations, this is exactly how some ancient cities in Russia were built. Such a circular structure can be observed, for example, in Arkaim - one of the famous and ancient buildings on Russian territory. Arkaim was built according to a pre-designed plan as a single complex complex, moreover, oriented towards astronomical objects with the greatest precision. The design formed by the four entrances in the outer wall of Arkaim is a swastika. Moreover, the swastika is “correct”, that is, directed towards the Sun.

The swastika was also used by the peoples of Russia in homespun production: in embroidery on clothes, on carpets. Household utensils were decorated with swastikas. She was also present on the icons.

In light of the often heated and controversial discussions around the ancient symbol of Russian National Culture - the Gammatic Cross (Yarga-Swastika), it is necessary to recall that it was one of the symbols of the struggle against the centuries-old oppression of the Russian people. Not many people know that many centuries ago “the Lord God indicated to Emperor Constantine the Great that with the cross he would win... only with Christ and precisely with the Cross would the Russian People defeat all their enemies and finally throw off the hated yoke of the Jews! But the Cross with which the Russian People will win is not simple, but, as usual, golden, but for the time being it is hidden from many Russian Patriots under the rubble of lies and slander.” In news reports based on the books of Kuznetsov V.P. “The history of the development of the shape of the cross.” M. 1997; Kutenkova P. I. “Yarga-swastika - a sign of Russian folk culture» St. Petersburg. 2008; Bagdasarov R. “The Mysticism of the Fiery Cross” M. 2005, talks about the place in the culture of the Russian People of the most blessed cross - the swastika. The swastika cross has one of the most perfect forms and contains in graphic form the entire mystical secret of God's Providence and the entire dogmatic completeness of Church teaching.

Icon "Symbol of Faith"

Swastika in the RSFSR

It is necessary to remind and remember from now on that “Russians are the third Chosen People of God ( “The Third Rome is Moscow, the Fourth will not happen”); swastika - a graphic image of the entire mystical mystery of God's Providence, and the entire dogmatic completeness of Church teaching; The Russian People are under the sovereign hand of the victorious Tsar from the Reigning House of Romanov, who swore to God in 1613 to be faithful until the end of time and this people will defeat all their enemies under the banners on which the swastika - the gammatic cross - will develop under the face of the Savior Not Made by Hands! In the State Emblem, the swastika will also be placed on a large crown, which symbolizes the power of the Anointed Tsar both in the earthly Church of Christ and in the Kingdom of God’s Chosen Russian People.”

In 3-2 millennia BC. e. swastika braiding is found on Eneolithic ceramics from the Tomsk-Chulym region and on gold and bronze items of the Slavs found in the burial mounds of the Stavropol region in the Kuban. In the second half of the 4th millennium BC. e. swastika symbols are common in the North Caucasus (where the Sumerians - the Proto-Slavs - come from) in the form of huge models of the Sun-mounds. In plan, the mounds represent already known varieties of swastikas. Only magnified thousands of times. At the same time, a swastika ornament in the form of a wickerwork is often found at Neolithic sites in the Kama region and the Northern Volga region. A swastika on a clay vessel found in Samara also dates back to 4000 BC. e. At the same time, a four-pointed zoomorphic swastika is depicted on a vessel from the area between the Prut and Dniester rivers. In the 5th millennium BC. e. Slavic religious symbols - swastikas - are ubiquitous. Anatolian dishes depict a centripetal rectangular swastika surrounded by two circles of fish and long-tailed birds. Spiral-shaped swastikas were found in Northern Moldova, as well as in the area between the Seret and Stryp rivers and in the Moldavian Carpathian region. In the 6th millennium BC. e. swastikas are common on spindle whorls in Mesopotamia, in the Neolithic culture of Tripoli-Cucuteni, on the bowls of Samara, etc. In the 7th millennium BC. e. Slavic swastikas inscribed on clay seals of Anatolia and Mesopotamia.

An ornamental swastika net was found in stamps and on a bracelet made from mammoth bone in Myozin, Chernigov region. And this is a find from the 23rd millennium BC! And 35-40 thousand years ago, the Neanderthals who inhabited Siberia, as a result of two to three million years of adaptation, acquired the appearance of Caucasians, as evidenced by the teeth of adolescents discovered in the Altai caves of Denisov, named after Okladchikov and in the village of Sibiryachikha. And these anthropological studies produced by the American anthropologist K. Turner.

Swastikas in post-imperial Russia

In Russia, the swastika first appeared in official symbols in 1917 - it was then, on April 24, that the Provisional Government issued a decree on the issue of new banknotes in denominations of 250 and 1000 rubles. The peculiarity of these bills was that they had an image of a swastika. Here is a description of the front side of the 1000-ruble banknote given in paragraph No. 128 of the Senate resolution of June 6, 1917:

“The main pattern of the grid consists of two large oval guilloche rosettes - right and left... In the center of each of both large rosettes there is a geometric pattern formed by crosswise intersecting wide stripes, bent at right angles, at one end to the right, and at the other to the left... The intermediate background between both large rosettes is filled with a guilloche pattern, and the center of this background is occupied geometric ornament the same pattern as in both rosettes, but larger.”

Unlike the 1,000-ruble banknote, the 250-ruble banknote had only one swastika - in the center behind the eagle. From the banknotes of the Provisional Government, the swastika migrated to the first Soviet banknotes. True, in in this case this was caused by production necessity, and not ideological considerations: the Bolsheviks, who were preoccupied with issuing their own money in 1918, simply took ready-made cliches of new banknotes (5,000 and 10,000 rubles) that were being prepared for release in 1918, created by order of the Provisional Government . Kerensky and his comrades were unable to print these banknotes due to known circumstances, but the leadership of the RSFSR found the clichés useful. Thus, swastikas were present on Soviet banknotes of 5,000 and 10,000 rubles. These banknotes were in circulation until 1922.

The Red Army also used swastikas. In November 1919, the commander of the South-Eastern Front V.I. Shorin issued order No. 213, which introduced a new sleeve insignia for Kalmyk formations. The appendix to the order also included a description of the new sign: “Rhombus measuring 15x11 centimeters made of red cloth. In the upper corner there is a five-pointed star, in the center there is a wreath, in the middle of which is “LYUNGTN” with the inscription “R. S.F.S.R. “Star diameter - 15 mm, wreath 6 cm, size “LYUNGTN” - 27 mm, letter - 6 mm. The badge for command and administrative personnel is embroidered in gold and silver and for the Red Army soldiers is stenciled. The star, “lyngtn” and the ribbon of the wreath are embroidered in gold (for Red Army soldiers - with yellow paint), the wreath itself and the inscription are embroidered in silver (for Red Army soldiers - with white paint).” The mysterious abbreviation (if it is, of course, an abbreviation at all) LYUNGTN precisely denoted the swastika.

Over the course of a number of years, the author’s collection was replenished, and in 1971 a full-fledged book on vexillology was prepared, supplemented by historical background information explaining the evolution of flags. The book was equipped with an alphabetical index of country names in Russian and English languages. The book was designed by artists B. P. Kabashkin, I. G. Baryshev and V. V. Borodin, who painted flags specifically for this publication.

Although almost two years passed from being type-set (December 17, 1969) to being signed for printing (September 15, 1971), and the text of the book was as ideologically verified as possible, a disaster happened. When receiving signal copies of the finished edition (75 thousand copies) from the printing house, it was discovered that the illustrations on a number of pages of the historical section contain images of flags with swastikas (pages 5-8; 79-80; 85-86 and 155-156). Emergency measures were taken to reprint these pages in an edited form, that is, without these illustrations. Then the ideologically harmful, “anti-Soviet” sheets were manually (for the entire circulation!) cut out and new ones were pasted in, in the spirit of communist ideology.

The Ynglings claim that the ancient Slavs used 144 swastika symbols. Also, they offer their own decoding of the word “Swastika”: “Sva” - “vault”, “heaven”, “S” - direction of rotation, “Tika” - “running”, “movement”, which defines: “Coming from the sky” .

Swastika in India

Swastika on a Buddha statue

In pre-Buddhist ancient Indian and some other cultures, the swastika is usually interpreted as a sign of favorable destinies, a symbol of the sun. This symbol is still widely used in India and South Korea, and most weddings, holidays and celebrations are not complete without it.

Swastika in Finland

Since 1918, the swastika has been part of the state symbols of Finland (now depicted on the presidential standard, as well as on the banners of the armed forces).

Swastika in Poland

In the Polish army, the swastika was used in the emblem on the collars of the Podhala Riflemen (21st and 22nd Mountain Rifle Divisions

Swastika in Latvia

In Latvia the swastika, which is local tradition had the name “fiery cross”, was the emblem air force from 1919 to 1940

Swastika in Germany

• Rudyard Kipling, whose collected works were always decorated with a swastika, ordered it to be removed in the latest edition in order to avoid association with Nazism.

After World War II, the image of the swastika was banned in a number of countries and can be criminalized.

The swastika as an emblem of Nazi and fascist organizations

Even before the Nazis entered the German political arena, the swastika was used as a symbol of German nationalism by various paramilitary organizations. It was worn, in particular, by members of G. Erhardt's troops.

In the mind of Hitler himself, it symbolized the “struggle for the triumph of the Aryan race.” This choice also combined the mystical occult meaning swastikas, and the idea of ​​the swastika as an “Aryan” symbol (due to its prevalence in India), and the already established use of the swastika in the German far-right tradition: it was used by some Austrian anti-Semitic parties, and in March 1920, during the Kapp Putsch, it was depicted on the helmets of the Erhardt brigade that entered Berlin (there may have been Baltic influence here, since many soldiers of the Volunteer Corps encountered swastikas in Latvia and Finland). In 1923, at the Nazi congress, Hitler reported that the black swastika was a call for a merciless fight against communists and Jews. Already in the 1920s, the swastika became increasingly associated with Nazism; after 1933, it finally began to be perceived as a Nazi symbol par excellence, as a result of which, for example, it was excluded from the emblem of the scout movement.

However, strictly speaking, the Nazi symbol was not just any swastika, but a four-pointed one, with the ends pointing to the right and rotated 45°. Moreover, it should be in a white circle, which in turn is depicted on a red rectangle. This very sign was on the state banner of National Socialist Germany in 1933-1945, as well as on the emblems of the civil and military services of this country (although, of course, other options were used for decorative purposes, including by the Nazis).

In 1931-1943, the swastika was on the flag of the Russian Fascist Party, organized by Russian emigrants in Manchukuo (China).

The swastika is currently used by a number of racist organizations

Swastika in transcripts of Soviet teenagers

The acrophonemic convention of the meaning of the Nazi swastika of the Third Reich - widespread in decoding among Soviet children and teenagers from films and stories about the Great Patriotic War (WWII) - is an encrypted name for state political figures, leaders and members of the Socialist German Workers' Party in Germany, according to letters of surnames known in history: Hitler ( German Adolf Hitler), Himler ( German Heinrich Himmler), Goebbels ( German Joseph Goebbels), Goering ( German Hermann Göring).

Swastika in the USA

Symbols were a powerful weapon in the Nazi transformation of society. Neither before nor since in history have symbols played such an important role in political life or been used so consciously. The national revolution, according to the Nazis, not only had to be carried out - it had to be visible.

The Nazis not only destroyed all those democratic social institutions founded during the Weimar Republic, they destroyed everything external signs democracy in the country. The National Socialists absorbed the state even more than Mussolini managed to do in Italy, and party symbols became part of state symbols. The black, red and yellow banner of the Weimar Republic was replaced by the Nazi red, white and black with a swastika. German National emblem was replaced by a new one, and the swastika took center stage.

The life of society at all levels was saturated Nazi symbols. No wonder Hitler was interested in methods of influencing mass consciousness. Based on the opinion of French sociologist Gustav Le Bon on what to control large groups people best with the help of propaganda aimed at the feelings rather than the intellect, he created a gigantic propaganda apparatus that was supposed to convey the ideas of National Socialism to the masses in a simple, understandable and emotionally. There are many official symbols, each of which reflected part of Nazi ideology. Symbols worked the same way as other propaganda: uniformity, repetition and mass production.

The Nazis' desire for total power over citizens was also manifested in the insignia that people from the most different areas. Members of political organizations or administrations wore cloth patches, badges of honor, and pinned badges with symbols that were approved by Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry.

Insignia were also used to separate those “unworthy” to participate in the construction of the new Reich. Jews, for example, had their passports stamped with the letter J (Jude, Jew) to control their entry and exit from the country. Jews were ordered to wear stripes on their clothes - a yellow six-pointed “Star of David” with the word Jude (“Jew”). This system was most widespread in concentration camps, where prisoners were divided into categories and forced to wear stripes indicating their belonging to a particular group. Often the stripes were triangular, like warning road signs. Different categories of prisoners corresponded different colors stripes. Blacks were worn by mentally disabled people, alcoholics, lazy people, gypsies and women sent to concentration camps for so-called antisocial behavior: prostitution, lesbianism or for using contraceptives. Homosexual men were required to wear pink triangles, while members of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect wore purple ones. Red, the color of socialism so hated by the Nazis, was worn by “enemies of the state”: political prisoners, socialists, anarchists and freemasons. The stripes could be combined. For example, a Jewish homosexual was forced to wear a pink triangle on a yellow triangle. Together they created a two-color “Star of David.”

Swastika

The swastika is the most famous symbol German National Socialism. This is one of the oldest and most widespread symbols in human history, which has been used in many cultures, at different times and in different parts Sveta. Its origins are controversial.

The most ancient archaeological finds depicting a swastika are rock paintings on ceramic shards found in southeastern Europe, their age is more than 7 thousand years. The swastika is found there as part of the "alphabet" that was used in the Indus Valley in Bronze Age, that is, 2600-1900 BC. Similar finds from the Bronze and Early Iron Ages were also discovered during excavations in the Caucasus.

Archaeologists have found swastikas not only in Europe, but also on objects found in Africa, South and North America. Most likely, this symbol was used completely independently in different regions.

The meaning of the swastika can vary depending on the culture. In Ancient China, for example, the swastika denoted the number 10,000 and then infinity. In Indian Jainism, it denotes the four levels of existence. In Hinduism, the swastika, in particular, symbolized the fire god Agni and the sky god Diaus.

Its names are also numerous. In Europe, the symbol was called “four-legged”, or cross gammadion, or even simply gammadion. The word “swastika” itself comes from Sanskrit and can be translated as “something that brings happiness.”

Swastika as an Aryan symbol

The transformation of the swastika from an ancient symbol of the sun and good luck to one of the most hated signs in the Western world began with the excavations of the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. In the 70s of the 19th century, Schliemann began excavating the ruins of ancient Troy near Hisarlik in the north modern Turkey. On many of the finds, the archaeologist discovered a swastika, a symbol familiar to him from ancient pottery found during excavations in Koningswalde in Germany. Therefore, Schliemann decided that he had found the missing link connecting the Germanic ancestors, Greece of the Homeric era and the mythical India glorified in the Mahabharata and Ramayana.

Schliemann consulted with the orientalist and racial theorist Emil Burnauf, who argued that the swastika is a stylized image (viewed from above) of the burning altar of the ancient Aryans. Since the Aryans worshiped fire, the swastika was their main religious symbol, Burnauf concluded.

The discovery caused a sensation in Europe, especially in the recently united Germany, where the ideas of Burnauf and Schliemann met with a warm response. Gradually, the swastika lost its original meaning and began to be considered an exclusively Aryan symbol. Its distribution was considered a geographical indication of where exactly the ancient “supermen” were located in one or another historical period. More sober scientists resisted such a simplification and pointed to cases where the swastika was discovered outside the region of distribution of Indo-European languages.

Gradually, the swastika began to be given an increasingly anti-Semitic meaning. Burnauf argued that Jews did not accept the swastika. Polish writer Mikael Zmigrodski published the book Die Mutter bei den Völkern des arischen Stammes in 1889, which portrayed the Aryans as a pure race that did not allow mixing with Jews. That same year, at the World's Fair in Paris, Zmigrodski organized an exhibition of archaeological finds with swastikas. Two years later, the German scholar Ernst Ludwig Krause wrote Tuisko-Land, der arischen Stämme und Götter Urheimat, in which the swastika appeared as an obviously anti-Semitic symbol of popular nationalism.

Hitler and the swastika flag

The National Socialist Party of Germany (NSDAP) formally adopted the swastika as its party symbol in 1920. Hitler was not yet chairman of the party, but was responsible for propaganda issues in it. He understood that the party needed something that would distinguish it from competing groups and at the same time attract the masses.

After making several sketches of the banner, Hitler chose the following: a black swastika in a white circle on a red background. The colors were borrowed from the old imperial banner, but expressed the dogmas of National Socialism. In his autobiography Mein Kampf, Hitler then explained: “The color red is social thought in motion, the white represents nationalism, and the swastika is the symbol of the Aryan struggle and their victory, which is thus the victory of the idea of ​​creative work, which in itself has always been anti-Semitic and will always be anti-Semitic.”

Swastika as a national symbol

In May 1933, just a few months after Hitler came to power, a law was passed to protect " national symbols" According to this law, the swastika could not be depicted on foreign objects and commercial use of the sign was also prohibited.

In July 1935, the German merchant ship Bremen entered the port of New York. A Nazi flag with a swastika flew next to the German national flag. Hundreds of trade union and American Communist Party members gathered on the pier for an anti-Nazi rally. The demonstration turned into riots; agitated workers climbed aboard the Bremen, tore off the swastika flag and threw it into the water. The incident led to the German ambassador in Washington demanding a formal apology from the American government four days later. The Americans refused to apologize, citing the fact that disrespect was not shown to the national flag, but only to the flag of the Nazi party.

The Nazis were able to use this incident to own interests. Hitler called it "a humiliation of the German people." And to prevent this from happening in the future, the status of the swastika was raised to the level of a national symbol.

On September 15, 1935, the first of the so-called Nuremberg Laws came into force. It legitimized the colors of the German state: red, white and black, and the flag with the swastika became the state flag of Germany. In November of the same year, this banner was introduced into the army. During World War II it spread to all Nazi-occupied countries.

Swastika cult

However, in the Third Reich, the swastika was not a symbol of state power, but primarily an expression of the worldview of National Socialism. During their reign, the Nazis created a cult of the swastika, which was more reminiscent of a religion than a common one. political use characters. The huge mass gatherings organized by the Nazis were like religious ceremonies, with Hitler playing the role of high priest. During party days in Nuremberg, for example, Hitler exclaimed from the stage “Heil!” - and hundreds of thousands of Nazis answered in unison: “Heil, my Fuhrer”! With bated breath, the huge crowd watched as huge swastika banners slowly unfurled to the solemn drumbeat.

This cult also included special veneration of the banner, preserved since the “Beer Hall Putsch” in Munich in 1923, when several Nazis were shot dead by the police. The legend claimed that a few drops of blood fell on the cloth. Ten years later, after coming to power, Hitler ordered the delivery of this flag from the archives of the Bavarian police. And since then, each new army standard or flag with a swastika went through a special ceremony, during which the new banner touched this banner, sprinkled with blood, which became a Nazi relic.

The cult of the swastika as a symbol of the Aryan race was supposed to eventually replace Christianity. Since Nazi ideology presented the world as a struggle between races and peoples, Christianity with its Jewish roots was in their eyes further proof that previously Aryan regions had been “conquered” by Jews. Towards the end of World War II, the Nazis developed far-reaching plans to transform the German church into a "national" church. All Christian symbols were to be replaced by Nazi ones. Party ideologist Alfred Rosenberg wrote that all crosses, Bibles and images of saints should be removed from churches. Instead of the Bible, there should be Mein Kampf on the altar, and to the left of the altar there should be a sword. Crosses in all churches should be replaced by "the only invincible symbol - the swastika."

Post-war time

After World War II, the swastika in the Western world was so associated with the atrocities and crimes of Nazism that it completely obscured all other interpretations. Today in the West, the swastika is associated primarily with Nazism and right-wing extremism. In Asia, the swastika sign is still considered positive, although some Buddhist temples from the mid-20th century began to decorate only left-handed swastikas, although previously signs of both directions were used.

National symbols

Just as the Italian fascists presented themselves as the modern heirs of the Roman Empire, the Nazis sought to prove their connection to ancient German history. It was not for nothing that Hitler called the state he conceived the Third Reich. The first large-scale state formation was the German-Roman Empire, which existed in one form or another for almost a thousand years, from 843 to 1806. The second attempt to create a German empire, made in 1871, when Bismarck united the North German states under Prussian leadership, failed with Germany's defeat in the First World War.

German National Socialism, like Italian fascism, was an extreme form of nationalism. This was expressed in their borrowing of signs and symbols from the early history of the Germans. These include the combination of red, white and black colors, as well as the symbols that were used by the militaristic authorities during the Prussian Empire.

Scull

The image of a skull is one of the most common symbols in human history. It had different meanings in different cultures. In the West, the skull is traditionally associated with death, with the passage of time, with the finitude of life. Drawings of the skull existed in ancient times, but became more noticeable in the 15th century: they appeared in large numbers in all cemeteries and mass graves associated with the plague epidemic. In Sweden, death was depicted in church paintings as a skeleton.

Associations associated with the skull have always been a suitable symbol for those groups who either wanted to scare people or emphasize their own contempt for death. A well-known example is the West Indian pirates of the 17th and 18th centuries, who used black flags with the image of a skull, often combining it with other symbols: a sword, hourglass or bones. For the same reasons, the skull and crossbones began to be used to indicate danger in other areas. For example, in chemistry and medicine, a skull and crossbones on a label means that the drug is poisonous and dangerous to life.

The SS men wore metal badges with skulls on their hats. The same sign was used in the Life Hussar units of the Prussian Guard back in the time of Frederick the Great, in 1741. In 1809, the "Black Corps" of the Duke of Brunswick wore a black uniform with a skull without a lower jaw.

Both of these options - a skull and bones or a skull without a lower jaw - existed in German army during the First World War. In elite units, these symbols meant combat courage and contempt for death. When, in June 1916, the Engineer Regiment of the First Guard received the right to wear a white skull on the sleeve, the commander addressed the soldiers with the following speech: “I am convinced that this insignia of the new detachment will always be worn as a sign of contempt for death and fighting spirit.”

After the war, German units that refused to recognize the Treaty of Versailles chose the skull as their symbol. Some of them became part of Hitler's personal guard, which later became the SS. In 1934, the SS leadership officially approved the version of the skull that is still used by neo-Nazis today. The skull was also the symbol of the SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf". This division was originally recruited from concentration camp guards. The ring with a “death’s head”, that is, with a skull, was also an honorary award that Himmler presented to distinguished and deserving SS men.

For both the Prussian army and the soldiers of the imperial units, the skull was a symbol of blind loyalty to the commander and the willingness to follow him to death. This meaning also transferred to the SS symbol. “We wear a skull on our black caps as a warning to the enemy and as a sign of our readiness to sacrifice our lives for the sake of the Fuhrer and his ideals,” said SS man Alois Rosenwink.

Since the image of the skull was widely used in the most different areas, then in our time it turned out to be the symbol least associated with Nazi ideology. The most famous modern Nazi organization to use a skull in its symbolism is the British Combat 18.

iron Cross

The Iron Cross was originally a military order established by the Prussian King Frederick William III in March 1813. Now this is the name given to both the order itself and the image of the cross on it.

The Iron Cross of various degrees was awarded to soldiers and officers of four wars. First in Prussia's war against Napoleon in 1813, then during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, and then during the First World War. The order symbolized not only courage and honor, but was closely associated with the German cultural tradition. For example, during the Prussian-Austrian War of 1866, the “Iron Cross” was not awarded, since it was considered a war of two fraternal peoples.

With the outbreak of World War II, Hitler revived the order. A cross was added to the center and the colors of the ribbon were changed to black, red and white. However, the tradition of indicating the year of issue has been preserved. That's why Nazi versions of the Iron Cross are marked with the year 1939. During World War II, approximately 3.5 million Iron Crosses were awarded. In 1957, when the wearing of Nazi symbols was banned in West Germany, war veterans were given the opportunity to turn in their orders and get back the same ones, but without the swastika.

The symbolism of the order has a long history. Christian cross, which began to be used in Ancient Rome in the 4th century BC, originally meant the salvation of mankind through the martyrdom of Christ on the cross and the resurrection of Christ. As Christianity became militarized during the Crusades in the 12th and 13th centuries, the symbol's meaning expanded to include the crusader virtues of courage, loyalty and honor.

One of the many orders of chivalry that arose at that time was the Teutonic Order. In 1190, during the siege of Acre in Palestine, merchants from Bremen and Lübeck founded a field hospital. Two years later, the Teutonic Order received formal status from the Pope, who endowed it with a symbol: a black cross on a white background, called a cross patté. The cross is equilateral, its crossbars are curved and widen from the center to the ends.

Over time, the Teutonic Order grew in number and its importance increased. During crusades In the 13th and 14th centuries in Eastern Europe, the Teutonic Knights conquered significant territories on the site of modern Poland and Germany. In 1525, the order underwent secularization, and the lands that belonged to it became part of the Duchy of Prussia. The black and white knight's cross existed in Prussian heraldry until 1871, when a stylized version with straight bars became the symbol of the German war machine.

Thus, the iron cross, like many other symbols that were used in Hitler's Germany, is not a Nazi political symbol, but a military one. Therefore, it is not prohibited in modern Germany, unlike purely fascist symbols and is still used by the Bundeswehr army. However, neo-Nazis began to use it during their gatherings instead of the banned swastika. And instead of the prohibited banner of the Third Reich, they use the military flag of Imperial Germany.

The Iron Cross is also common among biker groups. It is also found in popular subcultures, for example, among surfers. Variants of the Iron Cross are found in the logos of various companies.

Wolf hook

In 1910, the German writer Hermann Löns published historical novel called "Werewolf" ("Werewolf"). The book takes place in a German village during the Thirty Years' War. It's about about the struggle of the peasant son Garm Wolf against the legionnaires who, like insatiable wolves, terrorize the population. The hero of the novel makes his symbol the “wolf hook” - a crossbar with two sharp hooks at the ends. The novel became extremely popular, especially in nationalist circles, because of its romantic image of German peasants.

Lens was killed in France during the First World War. However, his popularity continued in the Third Reich. By order of Hitler in 1935, the writer's remains were transferred and buried on German soil. The novel "Werewolf" was reprinted several times, and this sign was often depicted on the cover, which was included in the number of state-sanctioned symbols.

After defeat in the First World War and the collapse of the empire, the wolf hook became a symbol of national resistance against the policies of the victors. It was used by various nationalist groups - the Jungnationalen Bundes and the Deutschen Pfadfinderbundes, and one volunteer corps even took the name of the novel "Werewolf".

The wolf hook sign (Wolfsangel) has existed in Germany for many hundreds of years. Its origin is not entirely clear. The Nazis claim that the sign is pagan, citing its similarity to the Old Norse rune i, but there is no evidence of this. The “wolf hook” was carved on buildings by members of the medieval guild of masons who traveled around Europe and built cathedrals back in the 14th century (the Masons or “freemasons” were then formed from these artisans). Later, starting from the 17th century, the sign was included in the heraldry of many noble families and city coats of arms. According to some versions, the shape of the sign resembles a tool that was used to hang wolf carcasses after a hunt, but this theory is probably based on the name of the symbol. The word Wolfsangel itself is first mentioned in the heraldic dictionary Wapenkunst of 1714, but denotes a completely different symbol.

Various versions of the symbol were used by young “wolf cubs” from the Hitler Youth and in the military apparatus. The most famous examples of the use of this symbol: patches with a “wolf hook” were worn by the Second SS Panzer Division Das Reich, the Eighth Panzer Regiment, the Fourth SS Motorized Infantry Division, and the Dutch SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Landstorm Nederland. In Sweden, this symbol was used in the 1930s by the youth wing of Lindholm’s movement “Youth of the North” (Nordisk Ungdom).

At the end of World War II, the Nazi regime began to create a kind of partisan groups that were supposed to fight the enemy who entered German soil. Influenced by Lens's novels, these groups also began to be called "Werewolf", and in 1945 their distinctive sign became the "wolf hook". Some of these groups continued to fight against the Allied forces after the surrender of Germany, for which today's neo-Nazis began to mythologize them.

The Wolfhook can also be depicted vertically, with the points pointing up and down. In this case, the symbol is called Donnerkeil - “lightning”.

Working class symbols

Before Hitler got rid of the socialist faction of the NSDAP during the Night of the Long Knives, the party also used the symbols of the labor movement - primarily in the SA assault troops. In particular, like the Italian fascist militants a decade earlier, the revolutionary black banner was seen in Germany in the early 1930s. Sometimes it was completely black, sometimes it was combined with symbols such as a swastika, a wolf hook or a skull. Nowadays black banners are found almost exclusively among anarchists.

Hammer and sword

In the Weimar Republic of the 1920s, there were political groups that tried to combine socialist ideas with the völkische ideology. This was reflected in attempts to create symbols that combined elements of these two ideologies. Most often among them there was a hammer and a sword.

The hammer was drawn from the symbolism of the developing labor movement at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The symbols that glorified workers were taken from a set of ordinary tools. The most famous were, naturally, the hammer and sickle, which in 1922 were adopted as symbols of the newly formed Soviet Union.

The sword has traditionally served as a symbol of struggle and power, and in many cultures it was also an integral part of various war gods, for example, the god Mars in Roman mythology. In National Socialism, the sword became a symbol of the struggle for the purity of a nation or race and existed in many variations.

The symbol of the sword contained the idea of ​​the future “unity of the people,” which workers and soldiers were supposed to achieve after the revolution. For several months in 1924, left-wing radical and later nationalist Sepp Oerter published a newspaper called Hammer and Sword, whose logo used the symbol of two crossed hammers intersecting with a sword.

And in Hitler's NSDAP there were leftist movements - primarily represented by the brothers Gregor and Otto Strasser. The Strasser brothers published books at the Rhein-Ruhr and Kampf publishing houses. Both firms used the hammer and sword as their emblem. The symbol was also found in the early stages of the existence of the Hitler Youth, before Hitler dealt with all socialist elements in the Nazi movement in 1934.

Gear

Most of the symbols used in the Third Reich have existed in one form or another for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years. But the gear belongs to much later symbols. It began to be used only after the industrial revolution of the 18th and 18th centuries. The symbol denoted technology in general, technical progress and mobility. Because of its direct connection with industrial development, the gear became a symbol of factory workers.

The first in Hitler's Germany to use the gear as its symbol was the Technical Department (Technische Nothilfe, TENO, TENO), founded back in 1919. This organization, where the letter T in the shape of a hammer and the letter N were placed inside the gear, provided technical support to various right-wing extremist groups. TENO was responsible for the operation and protection of such important industries as water supply and gas. Over time, TENO joined the German military machine and began to report directly to Himmler.

After Hitler came to power in 1933, all trade unions were banned in the country. Instead of unions, workers were united in the German Labor Front (DAF, DAF). The same gear was chosen as a symbol, but with a swastika inside, and workers were required to wear these badges on their clothes. Similar badges, a gear with an eagle, were awarded to aviation maintenance workers - the Luftwaffe.

The gear itself is not a Nazi symbol. It is used by workers' organizations different countries- both the socialist direction and those not related to it. Among the skinhead movement, which dates back to the British labor movement of the 1960s, it is also a common symbol.

Modern neo-Nazis use the gear when they want to emphasize their working-class origins and contrast themselves with the “cuffers,” that is, clean-cut employees. In order not to be confused with the left, neo-Nazis combine the gear with purely fascist, right-wing symbols.

A striking example is the international skinhead organization Hammerskins. In the center of the gear they place the numbers 88 or 14, which are used exclusively in Nazi circles.

Symbols of the ancient Germans

Many Nazi symbols were borrowed from the neo-pagan occult movement, which existed in the form of anti-Semitic sects even before the formation of the Nazi parties in Germany and Austria. In addition to the swastika, this symbolism included signs from the pre-Christian era of the history of the ancient Germans, such as “irminsul” and “hammer of the god Thor.”

Irminsul

In the pre-Christian era, many pagans had a tree or pillar in the center of the village, around which religious rites were performed. The ancient Germans called such a pillar “irminsul”. This word consists of the name of the ancient Germanic god Irmin and the word “sul”, meaning pillar. In northern Europe, the name Jörmun, consonant with "Irmin", was one of the names of the god Odin, and many scholars suggest that the Germanic "irminsul" is associated with the World Tree Yggdrasil in Old Norse mythology.

In 772, the Christian Charlemagne razed the pagan cult center in the sacred grove of Externsteine ​​in modern Saxony. In the 20s of the 20th century, at the instigation of the German Wilhelm Teudt, a theory arose that the most important Irminsul of the ancient Germans was located there. A relief carved into stone by 12th-century monks was cited as evidence. The relief shows an irminsul, bent under the image of Saint Nicodemus and a cross - a symbol of the victory of Christianity over paganism.

In 1928, Teudt founded the Society for the Study of Ancient Germanic History, whose symbol was the “straightened” irminsul from the relief in Externstein. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, the Society fell into the sphere of interests of Himmler, and in 1940 it became part of the German Society for the Study of Ancient German History and Heritage of Ancestors (Ahnenerbe).

The Ahnenerbe, created by Himmler in 1935, studied the history of the German tribes, but the results of research that did not fit into the National Socialist doctrine of racial purity could not be published. The irminsul became the symbol of the Ahnenerbe, and many employees of the institute wore small silver jewelry that reproduced the relief image. This sign is still used today by neo-Nazis and neo-pagans.

Runes

The Nazis considered the Third Reich to be the direct successor of ancient German culture, and it was important for them to prove the right to be called the heirs of the Aryans. In pursuit of evidence, the runes caught their attention.

Runes are the writing signs of the pre-Christian era of the peoples inhabiting the north of Europe. Just as the letters of the Latin alphabet correspond to sounds, each runic sign corresponded to a specific sound. Runic writings have been preserved different options, carved on stones at different times and different regions. It is assumed that each rune, like each letter of the alphabet, had its own name. However, everything we know about runic writing comes not from primary sources, but from later medieval records and even later Gothic script, so it is unknown whether this information is correct.

One of the problems for Nazi research into runic signs was that there were not too many such stones in Germany itself. Research was mainly based on the study of stones with runic inscriptions found on European North, most often in Scandinavia. Scientists supported by the Nazis found a way out: they argued that the half-timbered buildings widespread in Germany, with their wooden posts and braces, giving the building a decorative and expressive appearance, repeated the way runes were written. It was understood that in this “architectural and construction method” the people supposedly preserved the secret of the runic inscriptions. This trick led to the discovery in Germany of a huge number of “runes”, the meaning of which could be interpreted in the most fantastic way. However, beams or logs in half-timbered structures, of course, cannot be “read” as text. The Nazis solved this problem too. Without any reason, it was announced that each individual rune had a certain hidden meaning, an “image” that only initiates could read and understand.

Serious researchers who studied runes only as writing lost their subsidies because they became “renegades”, apostates from Nazi ideology. At the same time, quasi-scientists who adhered to the theory sanctioned from above received significant funds at their disposal. As a result, almost all research work was aimed at finding evidence of the Nazi view of history and, in particular, at searching for the ritual meaning of runic signs. In 1942, runes became the official holiday symbols of the Third Reich.

Guido von Liszt

The main representative of these ideas was the Austrian Guido von List. A supporter of occultism, he devoted half his life to the revival of the “Aryan-Germanic” past and at the beginning of the 20th century was a central figure among anti-Semitic societies and associations involved in astrology, theosophy and other occult activities.

Von List was engaged in what was called “medium writing” in occult circles: with the help of meditation, he immersed himself in a trance and in this state “saw” fragments of ancient German history. Coming out of his trance, he wrote down his “visions.” Von List argued that the faith of the Germanic tribes was a kind of mystical “natural religion” - Wotanism, which was served by a special caste of priests, the “Armans”. In his opinion, these priests used runic signs as magical symbols.

Further, the “medium” described the Christianization of Northern Europe and the expulsion of the Armans, who were forced to hide their faith. However, their knowledge did not disappear, and the secrets of runic signs remained by the German people over the centuries. With the help of his “supernatural” abilities, von List could find and “read” these hidden symbols everywhere: from the names of German localities, coats of arms, Gothic architecture and even the names of different types of baked goods.

After an ophthalmic operation in 1902, von List saw nothing for eleven months. It was at this time that his most powerful visions visited him, and he created his own “alphabet” or runic series of 18 characters. This series, which had nothing in common with the scientifically accepted one, included runes from different times and localities. But, despite its anti-science, it greatly influenced the perception of runic signs not only by the Germans in general, but also by the Nazi “scientists” who studied runes in the Ahnenerbe.

The magical meaning that von List attributed to runic writing has been used by the Nazis from the time of the Third Reich to the present day.

Rune of Life

“Rune of Life” is the Nazi name of the fifteenth in the Old Norse series and the fourteenth in the series of Viking runes of the runic sign. Among the ancient Scandinavians, the sign was called “mannar” and meant a man or a person.

For the Nazis, it meant life and was always used when it came to health, family life or the birth of children. Therefore, the “rune of life” became the emblem of the women’s branch of the NSDAP and other women’s associations. Combined with a cross inscribed in a circle and an eagle, this sign was the emblem of the Union German families, and together with the letter A - a symbol of pharmacies. This rune replaced the Christian star in newspaper birth announcements and near the date of birth on tombstones.

The “Rune of Life” was widely used on stripes that were awarded for merit in a variety of organizations. For example, the girls of the Health Service wore this emblem in the form of an oval patch with a red rune on a white background. The same badge was issued to members of the Hitler Youth who had undergone medical training. All doctors initially used the international symbol of healing: the snake and the bowl. However, in the Nazis' desire to reform society down to the smallest details in 1938 and this sign was replaced. The “Rune of Life”, but on a black background, could also be received by SS men.

Rune of Death

This runic sign, the sixteenth in a series of Viking runes, became known among the Nazis as the "death rune". The symbol was used to glorify the killed SS men. It replaced the Christian cross in newspaper obituaries and death notices. They began to depict it on gravestones instead of a cross. They also placed it at the sites of mass graves on the fronts of World War II.

This sign was also used by Swedish right-wing extremists in the 30s and 40s. For example, the “death rune” was printed in the announcement of the death of a certain Hans Linden, who fought on the side of the Nazis and was killed on the Eastern Front in 1942.

Modern neo-Nazis naturally follow the traditions of Hitler's Germany. In 1994, an obituary on the death of the fascist Per Engdahl was published under this rune in a Swedish newspaper called “Torch of Freedom”. A year later, in the newspaper “Valhall and the Future,” which was published by the West Swedish Nazi movement NS Gothenburg, under this symbol, an obituary was published on the death of Eskil Ivarsson, who in the 30s was an active member of the Swedish fascist Lindholm Party. The 21st century Nazi organization “Salem Foundation” still sells patches in Stockholm with images of the “life rune”, “death rune” and a torch.

Rune Hagal

The rune, meaning the sound “x” (“h”), looked different in the ancient runic series and in the newer Scandinavian one. The Nazis used both signs. "Hagal" is an old form of the Swedish "hagel", meaning "hail".

The hagal rune was a popular symbol of the völkische movement. Guido von List put a deep symbolic meaning into this sign - the connection of man with the eternal laws of nature. In his opinion, the sign called on a person to “embrace the Universe in order to master it.” This meaning was borrowed by the Third Reich, where the hagal rune personified absolute faith in Nazi ideology. In addition, an anti-Semitic magazine called Hagal was published.

The rune was used by the SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen on flags and badges. IN Scandinavian form the rune was depicted on a high award - the SS ring, and also accompanied the weddings of SS men.

In modern times, the rune has been used by the Swedish party Hembygd, the right-wing extremist group Heimdal, and the small Nazi group People's Socialists.

Rune Odal

The Odal rune is the last, 24th rune of the Old Scandinavian series of runic signs. Its sound corresponds to the pronunciation of the Latin letter O, and its shape goes back to the letter “omega” of the Greek alphabet. The name is derived from the name of the corresponding sign in the Gothic alphabet, which is reminiscent of the Old Norse “property, land”. This is one of the most common signs in Nazi symbols.

Nationalist romanticism XIX centuries idealized the simple and close to nature life of peasants, emphasizing the love of native village and the homeland in general. The Nazis continued this romantic line, and the Odal rune received special meaning in their “blood and soil” ideology.

The Nazis believed that between the people and the land where they live, there is a certain mystical connection. This idea was formulated and developed in two books written by SS member Walter Darre.

After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Darre was appointed minister Agriculture. Two years earlier he had headed a sub-section of the SS, which in 1935 became the state-run Central Office for Race and Resettlement Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt (RuSHA), whose task was practical use the basic idea of ​​Nazism about racial purity. In particular, in this institution they checked the purity of the race of SS members and their future wives, here they determined which children in the occupied territories were “Aryan” enough to be kidnapped and taken to Germany, here they decided which of the “non-Aryans” should be killed after sexual relations with a German man or woman. The symbol of this department was the Odal rune.

Odal was worn on the collars by soldiers of the SS Volunteer Mountain Division, which both recruited volunteers and took by force “ethnic Germans” from the Balkan Peninsula and Romania. During World War II, this division operated in Croatia.

Rune Zig

The Nazis considered the Sieg rune a sign of strength and victory. The ancient Germanic name for the rune was sowlio, meaning "sun". The Anglo-Saxon name for the rune, sigel, also means “sun,” but Guido von List mistakenly associated this word with the German word for victory, “Sieg.” From this error arose the meaning of the rune that still exists among neo-Nazis.

The “Sig Rune,” as it is called, is one of the most famous signs in the symbolism of Nazism. First of all, because the SS men wore this double badge on their collars. In 1933, the first such patches, designed in the early 1930s by SS man Walter Heck, were sold by the textile factory of Ferdinand Hoffstatters to SS units at a price of 2.50 Reichsmarks per piece. The honor of wearing the double “zig rune” on the collars of the uniform was first awarded to part of Adolf Hitler’s personal guard.

They also wore a double “zig rune” in combination with the image of a key in the SS Panzer Division “Hitler Youth” formed in 1943, which recruited youth from the organization of the same name. The single “zig rune” was the emblem of the Jungfolk organization, which taught the basics of Nazi ideology to children from 10 to 14 years old.

Rune Tyr

The Tyr rune is another sign that was borrowed by the Nazis from the pre-Christian era. The rune is pronounced like the letter T and also denotes the name of the god Tyr.

The god Tyr was traditionally viewed as the god of war, therefore, the rune symbolized struggle, battle and victory. Graduates of the officer school wore a bandage with the image of this sign on their left arm. The symbol was also used by the Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division "30 January".

A special cult around this rune was created in the Hitler Youth, where all activities were aimed at individual and group rivalry. The Tyr rune reflected this spirit - and meetings of Hitler Youth members were decorated with Tyr runes of colossal size. In 1937, the so-called “Adolf Hitler Schools” were created, where the most capable students were prepared for important positions in the administration of the Third Reich. The students of these schools wore the double "rune of Tyr" as an emblem.

In Sweden in the 1930s, this symbol was used by the Northern Youth organization, a division of the Swedish Nazi party NSAP.

Slavic swastika, its significance for us should be the subject of special attention. Confusing the fascist swastika and the Slavic one is possible only with complete ignorance of history and culture. A thoughtful and attentive person knows that the swastika was not originally a “brand” of Germany during the times of fascism. Today not all people remember true story the appearance of this sign. And all this thanks to the world tragedy of the Great Patriotic War, thundering across the Earth under the standard of the subordinate swastika (enclosed in an unbroken circle). We need to understand what this swastika symbol was in Slavic culture, why it is still revered, and how today we can apply it in practice. We remember that the Nazi swastika is prohibited in Russia.

Archaeological excavations on the territory of modern Russia and in its neighboring countries confirm that the swastika is a much older symbol than the emergence of fascism. Thus, there are finds with images of the solar symbol dating back to 10,000-15,000 years before our era. Slavic culture is replete with numerous facts, confirmed by archaeologists, that the swastika was used by our people everywhere.

vessel found in the Caucasus

The Slavs still preserved the memory of this sign, because embroidery patterns are still passed on, as well as ready-made towels, or homespun belts and other products. The photo shows belts of the Slavs from different regions and dates.

By looking up old photographs and drawings, you can verify that the Russians also widely used the swastika symbol. For example, the image of swastikas in laurel wreath on money, weapons, banners, sleeve chevrons of Red Army soldiers (1917-1923). The honor of the uniform and the solar symbol at the center of the symbolism were one.

But even today you can find both direct and stylized swastikas in the architecture preserved in Russia. For example, let's take only one city, St. Petersburg. Take a closer look at the mosaic on the floor of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, or the Hermitage, at the forged vignettes, and the sculpting on buildings along many of the streets and embankments of this city.

Floor in St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Floor in the Small Hermitage, room 241, “History of ancient painting”.

A fragment of the ceiling in the Small Hermitage, room 214, “Italian art of the late 15th-16th centuries.”

House in St. Petersburg on Angliyskaya Embankment, 24 (the building was built in 1866).

Slavic swastika - meaning and significance

The Slavic swastika is an equilateral cross, the ends of which are equally bent in one direction (sometimes along the movement of the clock hands, sometimes against). When bending, the ends on the four sides of the figure form a right angle (straight swastika), and sometimes sharp or obtuse (oblique swastika). A symbol was depicted with pointed and rounded ends.

Such symbols may mistakenly include a double, triple (“triskelion” with three rays, the symbol of Zervan - the god of space and time, fate and time among the Iranians), eight-rayed (“kolovrat” or “rotary”) figure. It is incorrect to call these variations swastikas. Our Slavic ancestors perceived each symbol, even if it was somewhat similar to another, as a force that had its own separate purpose and function in Nature.

Our dear ancestors gave the meaning to the swastika as follows - the movement of forces and bodies in a spiral. If this is the sun, then the sign showed vortex currents in the celestial body. If this is the Galaxy, the Universe, then the movement of celestial bodies in a spiral within the system around a certain center was understood. The center is, as a rule, “self-luminous” light (white light that has no source).

Slavic swastika in other traditions and peoples

In ancient times, our ancestors of Slavic families, along with other peoples, revered swastika symbols not only as amulets, but also as signs of sacred meaning. They helped people get in touch with the gods. Thus, in Georgia they still believe that the rounded corners in the swastika mean nothing more than the infinity of movement throughout the entire Universe.

The Indian swastika is now inscribed not only on the temples of various Aryan gods, but is also used as protective symbolism in household use. This sign is drawn before entering a home, painted on dishes, and used in embroidery. Modern Indian fabrics are still produced with designs of rounded swastika symbols, similar to a blooming flower.

Near India, in Tibet, Buddhists are no less respectful of the swastika, drawing it on statues of Buddha. In this tradition, the swastika means that the cycle in the Universe is endless. In many ways, even the whole law of the Buddha is based on this, as recorded in the dictionary “Buddhism”, Moscow, ed. "Republic", 1992. Back in the days Tsarist Russia, the emperor met with Buddhist lamas, finding much in common in the wisdom and philosophy of the two cultures. Today, lamas use the swastika as a sign of protection against evil spirits and demons.

The Slavic swastika and the fascist one differ in that the first is not included in a square, circle or any other outline, while on the Nazi flags we observe that the figure is most often located in the center of a white circle-disk located on a red field. The Slavs never had the desire or purpose to place the sign of any God, Lord or power in a closed space.

We are talking about the so-called “subordination” of the swastika so that it “works” for those who use it arbitrarily. There is an opinion that after A. Hitler drew attention to this symbol, a special witchcraft ritual was performed. The motive of the ritual was the following - to begin to rule the entire world with the help of heavenly powers, subjugating all peoples. The sources are silent as to how true this is, but many generations of people were able to see what could be done with the symbol and how to denigrate it and use it to their advantage.

Swastika in Slavic culture - where it is used

Among the Slavic peoples, the swastika is found in different signs, which have their own names. In total, there are 144 species of such names today. The following variations are popular among them: Kolovrat, Charovrat, Posolon, Inglia, Agni, Svaor, Ognevik, Suasti, Yarovrat, Svarga, Rasich, Svyatoch and others.

In the Christian tradition, swastikas are still used to depict various saints on Orthodox icons. An attentive person will see such signs on mosaics, paintings, icons, or a priest’s robe.

Small swastikas and double swastikas depicted on the robe of Christ Pantocrator Pantocrator - a Christian fresco of the St. Sophia Cathedral of the Novgorod Kremlin.

Today, swastika symbols are used by those Slavs who continue to honor the horses of their ancestors and remember their Native Gods. So, to celebrate the day of Perun the Thunderer, there are round dances around swastika signs laid out (or inscribed) on the ground - “Fash” or “Agni”. There are also many famous dance"Kolovrat". The magical meaning of the sign was passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, understanding Slavs today can freely wear amulets with swastika signs and use them as talismans.

The swastika in Slavic culture was perceived differently in different places in Russia. For example, on the Pechora River, residents called this sign “hare”, perceiving it as a sunbeam, a ray sunlight. But in Ryazan - “feather grass”, seeing in the sign the embodiment of the element of wind. But the people also felt the fiery power in the sign. Thus, the names “solar wind”, “Ognivtsy”, “Ryzhik” (Nizhny Novgorod region) are found.

The concept of “swastika” was transformed into a semantic meaning - “that which came from Heaven.” Here are contained: “Sva” - Heaven, Svarga Heavenly, Svarog, rune “s” - direction, “tika” - running, movement, the arrival of something. Understanding the origin of the word "Suasti" ("Svasti") helps determine the strength of the sign. “Su” - good or beautiful, “asti” - to be, to remain. In general, we can summarize the meaning of the swastika - “Be kind!”.

As we can see, there is no indication in the law about the use of Swastika symbols, so why do law enforcement agencies sign it to this law. All this happens due to a simple ignorance of one’s own history and one’s own language.

Let's understand the terminology gradually.

First, let's look at the term Nazism:
National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus, abbreviated as Nazism) is the official political ideology of the Third Reich.

Translating the essence of the title: Carrying out socially oriented changes for development, (although not always) within one nation. Or abbreviated as Change of Nation - Nazism. This system existed in Germany from 1933 to 1945.

Unfortunately, our politicians did not study history at all, otherwise they would have known that from 1917 to 1980, the Socialist system, which was called International Socialism, was officially adopted in our country. What is translated: Carrying out socially oriented changes for development, (although not always) within one multinational people. Or abbreviated as International Change of the Nation - Internationalism.

For ease of comparison, I will also give the Latin form of recording these two regimes, Nationalsozialismus and InterNationalsozialismus

In other words, you and I, ladies and gentlemen, were exactly the same Nazis as the inhabitants of Germany.

Accordingly, according to this law, all symbols of the former USSR and modern Russia are prohibited.

And besides, I will give some statistical data. During the Second World War, more than 20 million people died in Russia. This is a clear reason to have a negative attitude towards the Political regime of Germany in the 30s. During the 1918 revolution in Russia (during repressions), more than 60 million people died. In my opinion, the reason for a negative attitude towards the Soviet regime is 3 times greater.

But at the same time, the symbol of the Swastika, which was used by the Nazis, is banned in the Russian Federation, and the Bolshevik symbols “Red Star” and “Hammer and Sickle” are symbols national treasure. In my opinion, this is a clear injustice.

I deliberately do not use the term Fascism in relation to Nazi Germany, for this is another, very important misconception. There never was and never could have been fascism in Germany. It flourished in Italy, France, Belgium, Poland, Great Britain, but not in Germany.

Fascism (Italian fascismo from fascio “bundle, bundle, association”) - as a political science term, is a general name for specific far-right political movements, their ideology, as well as the dictatorial-type political regimes they lead.

In a narrower historical sense, fascism is understood as mass political movement, which existed in Italy in the 1920s - early 1940s under the leadership of B. Mussolini.

This can be simply confirmed by the fact that fascism implies a cohesive unification of the church and statehood into one body or board, and in Nationalist Germany the church and the state were separated and oppressed in every possible way.

By the way, the Symbol of Fascism is not a swastika, but 8 arrows tied with a ribbon (Fashina is a bunch).

In general, we have more or less figured out the terminology, now let’s move on to the Swastika symbol itself.

Let's consider the Etymology of the word Swastika, but based on the original source of the language, and not, as everyone is used to, based on the roots of the Sanskrit language. In Sanskrit the translation is also very favorable, but we will look for the essence, and not adjust what is convenient to the truth.

The swastika consists of two words and a connective: Sva (Sun, the primordial energy of the universe, Inglia), the S-preposition of conjunction and Tika (quick movement or circular motion). That is, Swa with Tik is the Swastika, the Sun with rotation or movement. Solstice!

This ancient symbol has been used by Slavic culture since its inception, and has several hundred various variations. Also, this ancient symbol is used by many other religions, including Buddhism. But for some reason, when this symbol is depicted on Buddha statues, no one classifies Buddhists as fascists or Nazis.

What about Buddhism? In the tradition of Russian patterns and ornaments, swastikas are found at every step. And even on Soviet money there was a swastika symbol, exactly the same as in Nationalist Germany, except that it was not black.

So why are we, or rather our (not our) authorities, trying to denigrate this symbol and put it out of use. Unless they are afraid of his true power, which can open their eyes to all their atrocities.

Absolutely all the galaxies that exist in our space have the shape of a swastika, so the ban on this symbol is simply pure absurdity.

Well, enough of the negative talk, let's take a closer look at the Swastikas themselves.
Swastika symbols have two main types of orientation:
Right-sided solstice - rays directed to the left create the effect of rotation to the right. This is a symbol of creative solar energy, a symbol of birth and development.

Left-sided solstice - the rays are directed to the right, creating the effect of rotation to the left. This is a symbol of the energy of “destruction”. The word is deliberately placed in quotation marks, because there is no pure destruction in the universe. In order for a new solar system to be born, first one of the suns must explode, that is, destructure and be cleared of the old program. Then new creation occurs. Accordingly, the left-sided swastika is a symbol of Purification, healing, and renewal. And wearing or using this symbol does not destroy, but purifies.

Therefore, it is important to carefully select this symbol based on the changes you want to achieve.

The Slavic Swastika is one of the most powerful symbols that has ever existed in the universe. It is stronger than Runika, because it is understood in any galaxy and any universe. This universal symbol being. Treat this symbol with Respect and do not attribute it to just one people. And even more so to one extremely small event on the scale of the universe.