Why? It looks like old WWII bring back war trophies. I’d love to have something like that, but my two grandfathers in the war didn’t serve in battle. One was a Navy mechanic/machinist in Hawaii, and the other was in the Coast Guard though he served on the USS Aultman.
It’s all context. A swastika at a white power rally is a bad thing. A 70 year old item of a defeated country brought back by a US soldier is a historical relic. There are a lot of people also collect these things or make models etc because they are huge history buffs. Not everyone who has an interest in studying the Nazis are racists.
And while the red background, white circle, and black swastika is a Nazi design the swastika itself is a symbol with a lengthy history that has nothing to do with Nazism.
That’s merely an addendum to your point that it’s all context. I have a copy of Kipling’s Just So Stories, a replica of the original 1902 printing, and a swastika is clearly visible in one of his drawings. After World War II (or possibly even during) he ordered that swastikas would never appear in his books ever again.
Good for you then, because the only history buffs in my country (Sweden) who would even consider collecting that kind of stuff would also be neo-Nazis.
In more fairness, Sweden’s neutral stance during the war didn’t stop them from helping the Allies and they did give refuge to virtually 100% of Danish Jews and a great deal of Norwegian Jews as well.
YES - thank you. I love the swastikas rich, non-Nazi history. It is one of the oldest, most widely used symbols in the world, from Native Americans to Buddhists to Christians.
It was a popular Art Deco motif. And yes, I have seen a nice leather bound set of Kipling’s books with the title plate surrounded by swastikas. I have a screw drive from the 20s or 30s with one it.
Exactly. IIRC they even let men and equipment pass through to Russia. Not exactly helping - but not exactly doing anything either. They did harbor Jewish refuges though.
Their ore exports also went to forge German arms. You can’t be neutral and pretend you were on the side of the angels. Neutral is neutral. No foul, but also, no credit.
There are definitely people who collect this sort of thing to remember history rather than to celebrate it. Alan Page, the first African American member of the Minnesota Supreme Court (and a former star for the Vikings) has a huge collection of Jim Crow memorabilia. There was an article about it in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune a few years ago (PDF):
