BANNING THE SWASTIKA


Prince Harry's swastika gaffe caused worldwide outrage. It has also spawned calls to ban the horrific symbol throughout the European Union. Many are against the idea, but maybe it is time for Germany to become Europe's historical gatekeeper.
The swastika still calls up deep emotions in Germany. Here, a swastika planted into an eastern German forest during Nazi times.
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REUTERS

The swastika still calls up deep emotions in Germany. Here, a swastika planted into an eastern German forest during Nazi times.

"A poor choice of costume." That was the phrase Prince Harry used in his somewhat meek apology for wearing a Nazi uniform -- complete with swastika armband -- at a recent costume party. He showed he was not only an enfant terrible, but also a master of understatement. But while Prince Harry will never sit on England's throne, his "poor choice" at a gathering of the wealthy in England is making political waves that may be felt as far away as Greece, Portugal and Estonia. European Union legislators are -- as a result of Harry's idiotic blunder -- now considering banning swastikas in all 25 member countries.

Is this an overreaction to one ignorant young man's moment of idiocy?

...sixty years after World War II, few symbols are more immediately recognizable and more laden with horrific, historical baggage

than the swastika. It stands for the Nazi machinery of murder, for the genocide perpetrated against European Jewry and the continent's Sinti and Roma population, [and also many working class white Russain peoples] -- not to mention world history's [officialy] most violent [and self decieved] dictatorship. In Germany at least.

A recent BBC survey shows that 45 percent of British adults have never heard of Auschwitz. The number jumps to 60 percent when those under 35 are quizzed.

Thus, it is not surprising that a German lawmaker, European Parliament member Silvana Koch-Mehrin, is proposing the prohibition.

Indeed, it now seems as though Germany -- in a Europe that appears to be slowly forgetting the gruesome message of the swastika -- has become the historical conscience of the continent.

"A symbol like the swastika not only has no place in Germany, but it also does not belong anywhere in Europe," says Koch-Mehrin.

"Seeing Prince Harry in this uniform for a fancy dress party pushed us into a huge discussion about how much knowledge there really is about history. The important question is: Is there enough sensitivity out there about what this symbol means?"

She answers the question herself. "If you can wear such a symbol -- which stands for the murder of millions -- to a fancy party, then you are not sensitive to what it means."

...[either that or you are not acting in the best interests of your country

]0145 ata

Prince Harry's swastika gaffe made headlines in Britain and around the world.


In Germany, a country where school children are confronted with the lessons of World War II on a regular basis and go on field trips to concentration camps, the swastika is already banned.

The use of the Nazi greeting "Heil Hitler" is also against the law as is owning Adolf Hitler's ranting anti-Semitic book, "Mein Kampf."

All are seen as provocative, knee-jerk symbols inappropriate for a nation trying to heal itself of past mistakes.

The swastika ban, then, would serve a number of functions. Not only would it make it illegal

for Neo-Nazis and other right wing groups outside Germany to usurp the symbols, it would also prevent those too dumb to know any better from making a painful and tasteless faux pas.

Furthermore, it would save Citizens from their own heightened sensibilities on anything genocidialy-related. In sum, it would save Europeans from themselves.

"I have experience in countries across Europe. In other countries, too, a swastika is a horror; it represents a time of great tragedy in Europe," says Hajo Funke, Third Reich expert and professor of political science at the Free University in Berlin. "It is in principle right to ban it, because such signs are symbols of

a non-democratic movement -- a movement that set out to destroy democracy.

Even in a democracy such symbols are not welcome."

Is banning things democratic?

But it is exactly these ticklish issues of democracy that are raised by such proposals; and the counter-argument is valid as well. The European Union's own commitment to democracy and freedom of expression makes banning anything somewhat unpalatable. It also seems slightly reactionary, especially when applied to nations with long histories of democracy, like Britain.


or does it?

"Banning symbols cannot ban evil and risks playing into the hands of those who would seek to subvert the very liberties we most champion," Chris Davies, leader of the British Liberal Democrats in the European parliament, told Reuters.

Still, Koch-Merin's proposal has not been summarily dismissed as just another sign of German feelings of guilt over the Holocaust. Franco Frattini, European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, has expressed interest in the proposal and says he will bring the issue before EU ministers next week, though its chances of passing, political experts say, are slim.

Some in Europe don't seem to know what the swastika has come to symbolize. Here, an Italian fashion show in 2001.
DPA

Some in Europe don't seem to know what the swastika has come to symbolize. and this article does not refrence what its original meanings were...


But beyond the questions of democracy, there is another question raised by the proposal: Should Germany's approach to the horrors of World War II become Europe's? After all, it is an approach that often seems irrational, with hysterical reactions from the German press whenever any public figure makes even a slightly politically incorrect reference to the country's World War II past. It has even become difficult for politicians in Germany to criticize Israel

for fear of being called anti-Semitic. #

And, it is also an approach informed by almost constant -- and uncomfortable -- reminders of the past,

whether delivered by moronic, spoiled, rich kids from

England or by day to day interactions when traveling abroad.

it is a burden many Germans and many others are born with

"When I went to Columbia University in New York," says Kirsten Grieshaber, 32, a German journalist in Berlin, "I was a bit shocked in the beginning because there were a lot of Jewish students and almost every one of them approached me and felt the need to talk about (the past). And of course, if they were the descendent of survivors they felt the need to tell me the whole story. And that did get on my nerves. But

you are always an ambassador for your country and ... you have to deal with it.

the UK is not England, England is not a defined land area,,

Real Great Britain

That is just the burden you are born with when you are _______."

Indeed, many ________ have a more emotional response than other Europeans when they are confronted by the swastika. And Koch-Mehrin is the first to admit her own bias and admits that being German automatically heightens her sensitivity to anything World War II related.

...

"As a German it is very surprising to sometimes see how this dark piece of history is dealt with," she says. "When I am traveling or working, I sometimes am confronted with it. When I went to Auschwitz, about five years ago, for instance," she said, "I was surprised that one of the former SS barracks was being used as a place for tourists to drink coffee. I understand that there is a different approach in different countries, but as a German I was more sensitive to this than other foreigners were."

But maybe, just maybe, it is this heightened awareness of what the swastika symbolizes that should be added to the list of German export products. After years of history-related Germany bashing, it could be time for the country to turn the tables.

time to get together and bash some nazi faggot racist English wankrs eh? boys... ; )


History,

Germans know, is not a game.

It's a lesson that Europeans -- including Prince Harry -- could benefit from.

this article was posted and adjusted by the Seeker


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