Heil Quilter!
Wikipedia (yes, yes, I know the warnings) entry on the 45th ID
I still like the late astronomer Carl Sagan’s hypothesis in his book “Comet”. That through atmospheric/optical effects the gleaming core of a comet can sometimes take on distinct shapes and that sometime in the eleventh century a comet passed by earth that had a twinkling swastika-like center, seen by all humanity for a few nights.
The swastika pops up spontaneously, simultaneously, in art all around the world at this time—from Australian rock carvings to the Norman Bayeux tapestry.
Quilts of the Third Reich
I remember years ago when I was in 1st grade we had a project to draw repeating patterns on a piece of paper.
One of the children drew for his last pattern the form of a swastika. I still remember my teacher, whom I adored, going off the deep end over it.
She made him cut the end of the project off his paper, and gave us all a strong lecture on how it stood for people who did terrible things. She was Jewish, but at the time I didn’t understand. You could see from her face how upset she was.
I didn’t understand what the kid did that was so terrible that he had to cut his project up. In essence it was a good lesson for me. It was the first real awareness I had of PC and how people react to certain things above and beyond.
The lesson obviously struck home because it’s one of most strong first grade memories after all these years.
These are exceptionally rare and quite valuable today, though not because of any connection to the Nazi regime.
Quilters, Quilters.... uber alles....
But here in America, people walk around wearing peace signs all the time! One man's hate is another man's tee-shirt!
Swastika Hotel, Raton, NM
“”Would this make someone mad? Would this be hurtful? We will have those talks,” she said.”
At first I was gonna’ call this guy some sort of PC wimp. However, since one of the primary jobs of a museum is to educate, they are at least saying the right thing.
If their supporting explanations come across as truly educational, including how pervasive this symbol is historically, some folks might even walk away saying, “That’s really interesting. I had no idea that someone besides Nazi’s used the swastika”.
Given the state of the secondary school system in the US, the museum might well provide that rare “teachable moment”.
If they write their information like a disclaimer, then yes, plenty of folks will reflexively become offended/outraged/troubled/hurt. Lot’s more folks need to “man up”. Just state the facts, and those that have risen above the PC psychosis will have learned something. The rest...may be too far gone to help.
Considering the colors on this quilt, it hardly resembles any sort of German Socialist emblem.
This is interesting. I know somewhere else where there is a partial quilt, framed, from at least 100 years ago, that has various patterns stitched into it including a swastika. I had always wondered about that, but I knew it had been a symbol in some American Indian art.
fylfot cross (fylfot meaning ‘four feet’)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/starycat/3317576632/
The swastika is an ancient symbol of good luck and was converted by early pioneers into a quilt pattern. Other names for this pattern are Rolling Cross, Broken Cross and Flyfoot. It was done by the owners grandmother around 1890. It was made in East Salem, PA. This quilt is in very good condition. The swastika symbol became the hated symbol of Hitler’s Nazi Germany. From the time of the Second World War...this quilt has been tucked away in a cedar chest.
Civilization is dead. History professors are at the intellectual level of reality TV.
That is the 'quirk of history'. Not the quilt.
It's not their fault a bunch of dipsh*ts over in Germany corrupted its meaning for generations to come.
If the Nazis had used a pink swastika, the 1930s and 1940s would have been much different. Thanks Daffynition.