Post by Bonobo on Jul 23, 2011 10:45:33 GMT 1
In Poland, public display of Nazi symbols, including the Nazi swastika, is a criminal offence punishable by up to eight years of imprisonment.
But always?
Swastika on Polish memorial
23rd July 2011
Authorities in the Tatra national park unveiled a plaque informing people just why they might encounter the swastika symbol in the mountains despite it being synonymous with Nazi evil.
In particular the Nazi emblem appears on a memorial stone to a Polish composer and conductor who died in a mountain avalanche in 1909. The stone carries the man’s name, Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, at the top and a small swastika at the foot.
The memorial also stands near a popular tourist route so the chances were high that a walker would encounter the stone and be left wondering why they had found a Nazi memorial in Poland given the litany of sins perpetrated on the Polish people by the Germans.
“By placing the information on the plaque we can to explain to tourists who might come across the stone unexpectedly about the original meaning of the symbol,” said Angelika Pawlikowska, from the Mieczyslaw Karlowicz Association based in Zakopane.
“Without the explanation they wouldn’t know the stone was marking the tragic death of the prominent composer and the original meaning of the swastika,” she continued.
The explanatory plaque will stand next to the Karlowicz memorial.
An ancient symbol originating thousands of years ago in what is now modern India, the swastika enjoyed a brief surge in popularity in late 19th-century Europe as a symbol of peace and good luck before finally being adopted by the Nazi party. It has since then suffered from an image problem from which it has never recovered.
The swastika also appears as a common decorative element in some old highland houses and appears on a number of various mountain trails.
In the pre-Nazi era it also appeared on the uniforms of Polish regiments from the region such as the Podhala Rifle Regiment, and before the war a swastika even adorned a monument at a Polish military cemetery near Krakow.
As further testament to its popularity among people in the mountains locals also drew it at the foot of letters to friends.
Karlowicz was once a pioneer of tourism in the Tatra Mountains before his death aged 33.
Pre-Christian Europe and folk culture
Baltic
The swastika is one of the most common symbols used throughout Baltic art. In Latvian the symbol is known as either Ugunskrusts, the "Fire cross" (rotating counter-clockwise), or Pērkonkrusts, the "Thunder cross" (rotating clock-wise), and was mainly associated with Pērkons, the god of Thunder and justice. It was also occasionally related to the Sun, as well as Dievs (the god of creation), Laima (the goddess of destiny and fate). The swastika is featured on many distaffs, dowry chests, cloths and other items. It is most intricately developed in woven belts.[citation needed]
Slavic
Swastika in Kruszwica, Poland
The swastika shape was also present in pre-Christian Slavic mythology. It was dedicated to the sun god Svarog[41][42][43][44][45] (Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian Сварог) and called kolovrat, (Slovenian kolovrat, Bosnian kolovrat, Croatian kolovrat, Polish ko³owrót, Belarusian колаўрат, Russian and Ukrainian коловорот, Serbian коловрат/kolovrat) or swarzyca. In early medieval Europe, the use of swastikas for decoration of pottery and other wares was most frequent in Slavic lands. It first appears within the context of Slavic artefacts in the lower Danube region (modern Wallachia and Moldavia) where early Slavs had contacts with Sarmatian peoples. This practice was then not merely adopted, but "transformed into a new, distinct quality of the symbolic culture of the Slavs."[46]
For the Slavs the swastika is a magic sign manifesting the power and majesty of the sun and fire. It was usually called "The wheel of Svarog." It was often used as an ornament decorating ritualistic utensils of a cult cinerary urns with ashes of the dead.[41][42][43][44][45] It was the symbol of power (the swastika seen on the coins of Mieszko I) both lay and divine, because it was often placed on altars in pagan temples.[citation needed]
At the start of the Renaissance, swastika ornaments disappeared from utensils but swastikas were being used by Slavs. It became a popular ornament on Easter eggs and in wayside shrines in folk culture.[43][44] This ornament still existed in 1940-50.
But always?
Swastika on Polish memorial
23rd July 2011
Authorities in the Tatra national park unveiled a plaque informing people just why they might encounter the swastika symbol in the mountains despite it being synonymous with Nazi evil.
In particular the Nazi emblem appears on a memorial stone to a Polish composer and conductor who died in a mountain avalanche in 1909. The stone carries the man’s name, Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, at the top and a small swastika at the foot.
The memorial also stands near a popular tourist route so the chances were high that a walker would encounter the stone and be left wondering why they had found a Nazi memorial in Poland given the litany of sins perpetrated on the Polish people by the Germans.
“By placing the information on the plaque we can to explain to tourists who might come across the stone unexpectedly about the original meaning of the symbol,” said Angelika Pawlikowska, from the Mieczyslaw Karlowicz Association based in Zakopane.
“Without the explanation they wouldn’t know the stone was marking the tragic death of the prominent composer and the original meaning of the swastika,” she continued.
The explanatory plaque will stand next to the Karlowicz memorial.
An ancient symbol originating thousands of years ago in what is now modern India, the swastika enjoyed a brief surge in popularity in late 19th-century Europe as a symbol of peace and good luck before finally being adopted by the Nazi party. It has since then suffered from an image problem from which it has never recovered.
The swastika also appears as a common decorative element in some old highland houses and appears on a number of various mountain trails.
In the pre-Nazi era it also appeared on the uniforms of Polish regiments from the region such as the Podhala Rifle Regiment, and before the war a swastika even adorned a monument at a Polish military cemetery near Krakow.
As further testament to its popularity among people in the mountains locals also drew it at the foot of letters to friends.
Karlowicz was once a pioneer of tourism in the Tatra Mountains before his death aged 33.
Pre-Christian Europe and folk culture
Baltic
The swastika is one of the most common symbols used throughout Baltic art. In Latvian the symbol is known as either Ugunskrusts, the "Fire cross" (rotating counter-clockwise), or Pērkonkrusts, the "Thunder cross" (rotating clock-wise), and was mainly associated with Pērkons, the god of Thunder and justice. It was also occasionally related to the Sun, as well as Dievs (the god of creation), Laima (the goddess of destiny and fate). The swastika is featured on many distaffs, dowry chests, cloths and other items. It is most intricately developed in woven belts.[citation needed]
Slavic
Swastika in Kruszwica, Poland
The swastika shape was also present in pre-Christian Slavic mythology. It was dedicated to the sun god Svarog[41][42][43][44][45] (Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian Сварог) and called kolovrat, (Slovenian kolovrat, Bosnian kolovrat, Croatian kolovrat, Polish ko³owrót, Belarusian колаўрат, Russian and Ukrainian коловорот, Serbian коловрат/kolovrat) or swarzyca. In early medieval Europe, the use of swastikas for decoration of pottery and other wares was most frequent in Slavic lands. It first appears within the context of Slavic artefacts in the lower Danube region (modern Wallachia and Moldavia) where early Slavs had contacts with Sarmatian peoples. This practice was then not merely adopted, but "transformed into a new, distinct quality of the symbolic culture of the Slavs."[46]
For the Slavs the swastika is a magic sign manifesting the power and majesty of the sun and fire. It was usually called "The wheel of Svarog." It was often used as an ornament decorating ritualistic utensils of a cult cinerary urns with ashes of the dead.[41][42][43][44][45] It was the symbol of power (the swastika seen on the coins of Mieszko I) both lay and divine, because it was often placed on altars in pagan temples.[citation needed]
At the start of the Renaissance, swastika ornaments disappeared from utensils but swastikas were being used by Slavs. It became a popular ornament on Easter eggs and in wayside shrines in folk culture.[43][44] This ornament still existed in 1940-50.
