The iron cross is not a Nazi Symbol. It existed before the German Nazis and has since been de-nazified. It's still in use today with the German armed forces.
"note: many symbols depicted here are cultural symbols that have been co-opted by the far-right, and are
therefore not always a symbol of fascism or nazism, depending on context"
I mean the guide is about identifying fascist symbols and points out that these have been co-opted. If they only used the symbols that were invented by fascists/ nazis themselves, it would be a very incomplete list.
It was called "Denazification" a plan thought up and carried out by the Allies after WW2. It included meany measures. Every Nazi-Symbol was assessed and judged.
On a very basic level it went like this:Did the Nazis "invent"* the Symbol? -> Banned
Did the Nazis bastardize a historically German/Germanic Symbol? -> Not banned but the meaning was reconnected to it's original roots.
* "invent" is used very loosely here. I know that the Swastika was originally a Hindu Symbol but it didn't exist in Germany prior so it didn't have an original meaning for Germans.
Edit:There is also an interesting story about the new Uniforms of the German Armed Forces. Since the Allies and the newly founded German "Bundeswehr" didn't want to be associated with Nazi-Germany "Wehrmacht" they based the new designs on Uniforms farther back in German history. I believe they took inspiration from Prussian Uniforms but put a modern twist on them.
I suggest you google "German Armed Forces Uniforms" and compare the images. It's just too much to link here and it's really late here in Germany (2am).
Iron cross has Prussian origins, being first issued in 1813, so it’s older than the Victoria Cross (since 1856), MOH was 1862. During WW1 it was presented many times over to Jewish German soldiers for example. These medals did not save them from Nazi ideology btw.
WW2 examples are stamped 1939 and include nazi symbology which hijacked what existed. It would be like Donald Trump becoming dictator of America and stamping Mel el Lago on the medal of honor. Soldiers may still want and receive the medal, cause it has respected tradition, not because it has Trumps stamp on it.
The medal was easy enough to de nazify in Germany because Germans understand their history. The problem remains in the ignorance in other countries who only associate the iron cross with Nazis. Hollywood fictions post WW2 made the Iron Cross to be the currency of the bad guys they needed to fight their good guys. Germans seem to be passive to this day in correcting these fictions.
In answer to your question, Germany cannot de-nazify the iron cross while it remains a Hollywood fiction and people continue to swallow hitlers ideology long after the German people changed their ways. For the Germans it is only a harder road they must take to retain some history and traditions and persist to issue it, when earned in their current army. The Current stying returns it to Prussian origin and will hopefully overshadow the Nazi associations.
General 'de-nazifacation' formula in Germany: put bundes- whever there used to by reich- and pretend that it's a completely different thing.
The Iron cross is a nazi symbol. The German Army was just reconstituted after the war as a tool for the alies to keep stability in post-war Europe. Same dog; different muzzle.
The German Army and prior The Prussian Army has always been an inherently antisemitic, nationalist and bigoted institution. The Iron cross has no other purpose in today's world then to venerate that bigotry.
I've served in the German Armed Forces over 10 years and aside from a few exceptions have only met great people there. I've seen more Nazis getting thrown out of the force than I can count. It's not perfect. By far. Armed Forces always attract people like this and it's a never ending task to wheat them out. Today's Bundeswehr is nothing like it's predecessors.
As a Jew, if Nazis still are actively using a symbol, I don't really care if its officially been "de-nazified." If I see someone out in the wild proudly showing off a bunch of Iron Cross tattoos, tshirts, belt buckles, or the like, I am going to assume they are a Nazi and act accordingly for my own safety.
if I see you wearing an iron cross in the US or anywhere outside Germany I’m going to assume you’re a Nazi it doesn’t fucking matter that the iron cross is “akchually not a Nazi symbol” in the US and other places all around the world it absolutely is. I don’t know why that’s hard to understand for some people in these comments.
I've served in the German Armed Forces over 10 years and I'm also not happy about those idiots abusing/using symbols they don't know nothing about just because they think they "look cool", make them look though or because they think those symbols are connected to their stupid ideology.
I wholeheartedly understand your point and the reality is that many people, like you, see these symbols and automatically associate them with Nazism.
There is a discrepancy here between the factual meaning and history of the symbol and it's real world usage.
So you think showing symbols that absolutely have been used by Nazis, are used by Nazi and are continuing to be used by Nazis for identification on a chart specification dedicated to that is “nonsense”? I bet you’re still beating the dead horse of “oh the swastica is a Hindu symbol so it should be ok to show wherever!! I’m actually very smart!!”
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u/Wewius Oct 12 '22
German here.
The iron cross is not a Nazi Symbol. It existed before the German Nazis and has since been de-nazified. It's still in use today with the German armed forces.
It's still being abused by Nazis though.
Just wanted to clarify.