Thread: This was kind of wieard to see, nazi razor...

The original symbol was a depiction of the circle of life. The Nazis turned it backward. I guess that should have been a sign from the start up. Arms face left good, arms face right bad.

That was part of my point. There are plenty of pre-Nazi swastikas with right-facing arms.
Then again, the symbol has been used by many different groups independently over the centuries.

Originally Posted by smokelaw1

The "arms" turned to the right or left does not neccesarily mean it is or is not a Nazi symbol, though, if I remember corectly, some of the oldest uses, from Indian culture and other areas, had the "right" turned arms.
Also, isn't the nazo symbol usually tilted on the flag?

Yes that is correct tilted or angled...

I have seen a couple of left facing come up on ebay over the last couple of years. Guys who collect decorated scales drove them to around a hundred bucks.

The closest thing I have seen to a WWll razor was a blade stamped Mussolini with a cameo sized image of the dictator inlaid in the scale. That was probably prewar though. I can't recall whether it had a maker's mark on the reverse tang or a country of origin.

Originally Posted by smokelaw1

The "arms" turned to the right or left does not neccesarily mean it is or is not a Nazi symbol, though, if I remember corectly, some of the oldest uses, from Indian culture and other areas, had the "right" turned arms.
Also, isn't the nazo symbol usually tilted on the flag?

I'm quite sure they used both positions of the swastika on flags: for instance, the nazi german flag had the swastika tilted and so did the military flags (such as the Kriegsmarine one). However, some of the parade flags used in rallies (like the Fuehrer's personal banner and other political flags) had the swastika in a not-tilted position.

The swastika is an ancient symbol that is related to some of the peoples in India and is part of the hindu "pantheon" of symbols. It is beleived to be related to the arians, a race of central european sheperd people that, through time, migrated to India. The tall, blonde and blue-eyed pradigma of the arian race is not without foundation: in India today, in some regions in the north of the Indian sub-continent you will find lots of people with a face that corresponds to the indian type, but have white skin, blond hair and blue eyes. This is due to the chast social scheme that doesn't allow mixing of chasts.
The Nazis, eager to find the symbol to support their claims for the superiority of the arian race, decided to use the swastika as their own symbol... one "funny" thing is that the Indian people was not regarded as an inferior race, but as an extention of the arian race. I know... not funny.
Anyhow, they chose the swastika because it was related to the indian arians, descendants of the central european arians that they claimed to be as well. But, to strip the symbol of any religious conotation, they turned it the other way. And it makes sense, in a way... it might have been a simple decision without any symbolic meaning but the nazi swastika, turned to the right, does "move" to the east as did the original arians when they migrated to India.

Hope this helps. This is just the result of some mild investigation on the subject and a collection of informations that a teacher passed on to us, concernig her PhD thesis about Indian music... and of course, in India, music has a lot to do with religion.

Also remember that the symbol was originally part of a the Nazi Party, which I know little about. When Hitler assigned himself power the symbol changed and you saw it more at a 45 degree angle. This could have been a "party" favor as it were and not a military favor.

Fine distinction I think.

+1 on singlewedge and fpesshana posts,they used booth..

The swastika has been wideley used pre-WW2...

Sweden - Logo of the ASEA Firm
A Swedish company used the swastika until 1933,then changed the logo,they still manufacture electronic products..

Finland used a blue swastika as symbol on aircrafts pre-WW2
Axis History Factbook: Finland and the swastika



//Victor

It's a damn cool symbol– a shame it was ever perverted.

I believe it was a Buddhist symbol from ages and ages ago. That was co-opted by the Nazi party, flipped around and set at an angle to express some sort of "motion" from what i heard...

Its been used by American Indian's for a very long time before the German's ever used the reverse swastika.

As a matter of fact there is a Federal Courthouse in New Mexico constructed in the 1930s where the courtroom is highly decorated with them with this big eagle holding one right behind where the judge sits.