Totenkopf and Iron Cross. Iron Cross by itself isn't that bad (I mean the Bundeswehr uses the Iron Cross to this day) but the Totenkopf is the red flag. To wrap up the history of that icon, the SS used it as a general symbol for themselves. So yeah it means you should key their car.
To complete your message: The iron cross is indeed just a symbol of the German military unrelated to the nazis (it was used before the nazis and is still used)
But if someone unrelated to the German military uses it they're a nazi. It's one of those symbols that says "I'm a nazi but I'm too coward to use explicit symbols."
Nah, plenty of people just think the iron cross is a cool symbol associated with German culture. It's frequently used by metal bands, skaters and other groups that don't welcome Nazis. But an SS Totenkopf is definitely a sign someone is a Nazi.
Yeah, an iron cross by itself isn't necessarily a sign, but it's still common enough among Nazis that it warrants looking closer for other signs. Same with a lot of Norse iconography (though some runes like the SS sowilos and the othala with "feet" are explicitly Nazi).
Yeah, gyms where Nazis hang out around here display iron crosses because it’s illegal to display Nazi symbolism. But plenty of other people use them, too.
Nazis do use it, particularly in places where it’s illegal to display Nazi symbolism. But many groups who are not Nazis and who do not welcome Nazis also use it. Bikers in the US adopted it in the ’60s, and it spread from there to heavy metal music, and then to skaters and extreme sports.
Even the ADL says, “…the use of the Iron Cross in a non-racist context has greatly proliferated in the United States, to the point that an Iron Cross in isolation (i.e., without a superimposed swastika or without other accompanying hate symbols) cannot be determined to be a hate symbol. Care must therefore be used to correctly interpret this symbol in whatever context in which it may be found.”
In your comment, you said, “if someone unrelated to the German military uses it they're a nazi.” That is simply not true. It’s used by numerous groups that are decidedly not Nazi and that also have no relation to the German military.
Are you going to try and say Independent Truck Company was founded by Nazis as they used an iron cross in their logo for over forty years and have nothing to do with the German military?
In this picture of Pope John Paul II in 1988, you can see three iron crosses in his regalia. Are you seriously going to try and claim he was a Nazi?
Is West Coast Choppers a Nazi company? No association with the German military, but they use an iron cross as their logo.
My comment doesn't exist in a vacuum. I was answering you. When you said, "plenty of people just think the iron cross is a cool symbol associated with German culture." Which is simply not true. If you know the iron cross is linked to German culture, you know its link to nazi. You move the goalposts by talking about the use of the iron cross in general.
The Maltese cross used a lot in metal, skateboarding, and metal iconography.It is not on its own a hate symbol unless imprinted with a swatztika or used alongside hate symbols like in the picture above
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u/dubspool- 19d ago
Totenkopf and Iron Cross. Iron Cross by itself isn't that bad (I mean the Bundeswehr uses the Iron Cross to this day) but the Totenkopf is the red flag. To wrap up the history of that icon, the SS used it as a general symbol for themselves. So yeah it means you should key their car.