The Swastika FAQs

Here are factual answers to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the false equivalence of the Swastika and the Hakenkreuz. As always, links and references are provided.

What is the difference between the Swastika and the Hakenkreuz?

Swastika - a Sanskrit word meaning  “that which brings good luck and well-being” and important to Dharmic traditions (Hindus, Buddhist, Jains and Sikhs). 

The word Swasti occurs in the Vedas as well as classical Hindu literature. It has various meanings – health, luck, success, prosperity, etc. and has been continuously used since at least 10,000 years. It is an extremely sacred symbol for over 2 billion people globally.

Hakenkreuz - a German word, which translates to “Hooked-Cross”.  It was used by Hitler and the Nazis. 

To the Jewish people, this Nazi symbol represents the most genocidal evil; one which was responsible for the extermination of over six million Jews, one and half million Roma and others. This symbol brings fear, trauma and pain in the hearts and minds of these communities even today.

So, isn't the Nazi Symbol, Swastika?

No, Hitler and the Nazis NEVER used the word Swastika! The word they had for their symbol of terror is Hakenkreuz. 

It was the English translators, one of them being NY Times, who first started using Swastika as a translation of Hakenkreuz when the correct translation is “hooked cross”. Before they suddenly switched to drag in the Swastika from a culture and people that had absolutely nothing to do with the holocaust, the NY times did use the original word, Hakenkreuz and even called Hitlers followers, Hakenkreuzlers. 

Why would Hitler use a Hindu symbol? Hitler despised India and despite his enmity with the British thought they were better fit to rule over India than the Indians themselves. A few quotes…

• “Indians could not even walk and that it was the British who taught them  ..”
• "If we took India, the Indian people would soon long for the good old days of English rule"
• He spoke about the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule  as …. “carried out by the "lower Indian race against the superior English Nordic race", and referred to Indian freedom fighters as "Asiatic jugglers”

To understand the history and how the Hakenkreuz came to be called the Swastika, please see this excellent meticulously researched documentary. 

Maybe the word used was different, but they still look the same?

Not quite. While there is a distinct similarity between the Swastika and the Hakenkreuz, it is possible to tell the difference. Sugar and salt are identical too but we don’t refer to salt as sugar!

Those who revere the Swastika would never spray paint or use it as a hate symbol as Swastika is a sacred, auspicious symbol. For us, it is traumatic and painful to therefore see Swastika referred to as a hate symbol.

J. J. Kelman,  a doctoral student in Holocaust studies who has been researching the issue, says in this article “As long as the Swastika is only seen as evil, it remains “a “forbidden fruit,” and that intoxicating allure could best be dealt with not through deletion, but by dilution.

If you dilute the hate of the Hakenkreuz with the love of the Swastika—the Swastika of the Buddhists, Jains, Hindus, and millions around the globe—then who self-censors? Currently self-censorship is taking place in the West by those who wish no one any harm, and even the Holocaust survivors that I have spoken to feel horrible about that. In the East, no Swastika nor Hakenkreuz is scrawled on Jewish property. Whereas western neo-Nazis feel energized to draw Hakenkreuz on Jewish property, at least in part, because few in the West view the symbol as anything other than a nefarious sign. Instead, if seen as a symbol of good luck, neo-Nazis may be forced to find another symbol. They will undoubtedly find one, but we should be happy to make their efforts as difficult as possible.”

Is this symbol only sacred for the Hindus?

No, in fact it is a sacred and revered symbol in many ancient cultures and is found all over the world! Here are some pictures showing this.

Can we call it the Nazi Swastika then to differentiate?

No, because that translates to Nazi well-being or Nazi good luck! Is that what we want to say? There is no such thing as a bad Swastika. It is like saying bad well-being or bad good luck which is absurd!

Hitler never used the word Swastika, it is a Sanskrit word, not German. It was, unfortunately, the Christian Cross he misused.

So the question is, if Hitler or the Nazis never used the word, Swastika, why are we?

So how do we tell the difference?

There is the name, the form or the shape and the usage or the context to be considered when differentiating between the Swastika and the Hakenkreuz. We understood the nuances of the name and form in the above two questions but what is equally, if not more, important in the context, usage and intent with which the symbol is drawn and the intent for drawing both symbols is diametrically opposite!

Swastika is drawn as a blessing to bless the place, thing or person it adorns. So it is drawn on a new house, car or even notebook or may be worn as a pendant because it is seen as a blessing inviting auspiciousness and well-being for that place, thing or person.

Hakenkreuz on the other hand is drawn to express hate, invoke fear and intended to hurt.

We can teach our kids to look at where and how the symbol is drawn to understand if the intent is to bless or hate!

Ok, I understand they are different, but why does it matter?

This false equivalence of the Swastika and Hakenkreuz damages our self-esteem and more so our children’s, distancing them from their cultural roots, creating an identity crisis, a loss of pride in their identity and culture.

It leads to a slow cultural and traditional erosion as we do not have the freedom to use one of our oldest and most important symbols of auspiciousness and well-being, for fear of being seen as Nazi supporters.

This can, and is, leading to hate crimes as people of Dharmic faiths (Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists) are accused of being anti-semitic when nothing can be further from the truth! There are several traumatic experiences including that of an elementary child who was accused of being a Nazi supporter by her classmates, teacher and school counselor, all because she drew a Swastika in her notebook as is the Hindu tradition before starting anything new such as a new notebook. There are other cases where police have been called or someone was reported to HR at work because a Swastika in their home showed in a video call. 

Ok, but we have to understand how painful it is for the Jewish people

Absolutely, and who else would understand the Jewish people's pain of persecution than the Hindus who have a millennia long extremely traumatic history of being persecuted, killed, tortured with their homes and temples destroyed, all in their own land.

Hindus have been the friends of the Jewish people for at least a couple of thousand years when the Jewish people first came to Indian shores over 2000 years ago. India, during the Hindu rule of the time, was perhaps the only place where they were never persecuted but always respected and allowed the freedom to practice their faith. There is a long, rich history between the two communities, all the way up to World War II when a group of orphaned Jewish children were sent to India from war ravaged Poland and a Hindu ruler took them under his wing. 

Hindus and Jewish communities have had a good dialogue on this issue since the mid-2000s. Hindu Jewish Leadership summits, which featured top Hindu and Jewish leaders, held in Israel and India, acknowledged that the Swastika is a sacred and ancient symbol and not the same as Hitler's symbol of hate. 

So what is the solution?

We can do the following things -

1. Use the right word for the right thing considering context and intent. You can say the Hakenkreuz or Nazi Hooked Cross but not Swastika for the Nazi symbol -- Use the correct Name
2. Learn to distinguish and differentiate between the two symbols -- Observe the Form
3. Stop and think if the intent is to bless or hate -- Understand Context and Usage
4. Learn for ourselves, teach our children, educate our community and spread the knowledge to our friends, families and other communities!

Word, context and application matter! Words are powerful and knowledge is only that which is in the pursuit of truth. 

History is clearly telling us here that Swastika was never involved with the Nazis. Hitler never used this word. So then the question is, why are we using it?

References

• An enlightening article, that also has among the participants, a Jewish scholar who is a doctoral student in Holocaust studies who has been researching the issue. The author, Steven Heller is also Jewish. Hindus and Jewish have had a good dialogue on this issue since the mid-2000s and the Hindu Jewish Leadership Summits, which featured top Hindu and Jewish leaders and were held in Israel and India, acknowledged that the Swastika is a sacred and ancient symbol and not the same as Hitler's symbol of hate - https://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/the-daily-heller-when-is-a-swastika-not-a-hate-symbol/
• To understand the history and how the Hakenkreuz came to be called the Swastika, please see this excellent meticulously researched documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HspDwwVv1Fk
• CoHNA (Coalition of Hindus of North America) has an initiative meant to bring about awareness regarding the Swastika called Swastika Education & Awareness Campaign (SEAC) with many more resources and information at https://cohna.org/swastika/