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Their reprinting of the Associated Press article “Asian Faiths try to save swastika symbol Corrumped by Hitler” on the religion page of the December 4 issue of the Post-Standard did not adequately address the intent behind the use of this symbol in the United States today United States Stands States. People who draw swastikas or scratch them on walls want them to be symbols of hatred. Swastikas stand for the annihilation of Jews – six million of them during the Holocaust, as well as six million other people – Catholics, Roma, people with mental and physical disabilities, gays, Poles, Jehovah’s Witnesses and many others. Whatever the origin of the symbol, it was corrupted and changed forever by being used to kill 12 million innocents. As used today, it is not the message of peace and happiness that it symbolizes in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Patricia Anne Davis, an elder of the Choctaw and Dineh nations, says she understands “the wounds and trauma that Jewish people experience when they see this symbol.” She cannot “understand” the slaughter of six million people. It is a terror that cannot be “understood”. It must be fought constantly, lest the kind of hate that Hitler tamed resurface. This country went to war to defend the world from Hitler’s evil. Millions of people were killed by his perverse takeover of the swastika.
While those who see the swastika as a symbol of goodness can certainly continue to flaunt it in this context, touting it as innocent in the context of Western society is utterly wrong. The Holocaust did not begin with ghettos, deportations and concentration camps. It started with symbols and words of hate. We must not allow that to happen again.
Michael Balanoff
President and CEO
Jewish Federation of Central New York
Syracuse
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