Nazi Symbols - The Story Behind the Imagery

None of the images the Nazis used were created by them, rather they utilised a series of much older symbols from all over the world. Here is the story behind those controversial images.

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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.

Photos licensed under Wikimedia Creative Commons: Svdmolen; Manji; A. Savin; RootOfAllLight; Valdavia; Brycesteiner; greenacre8; Thespoondragon; Nick R.O. Henry; Richartz; Ssolberj; Ipankonin; Wolfmann

[alewis]

I read this recently, don't know who gets credit: "History is not there for you to like or dislike. It is there for you to learn from it. And if it offends you, even better. Because then you are less likely to repeat it. It's not yours to erase. It belongs to all of us."

[TheSon]

Theres a common joke in germany, it goes like "i didn't know my grampa was a electrician in the war, but i found his old helmet, it had two lightnings on the side"

[alexandrearaujo]

Now that's a topic I don't see many people talk about. Fortunately, we've got ol' Mark here to entertain us, as he always does.

[Corndog]

Talking about how they inherited and adopted existing symbols is important. My partner is Maltese and wears a Maltese cross, multiple people have literally asked why she’s wearing a nazi cross, it’s wild how little most people know about this topic.

[stompingpartridge]

2:17 'Masterful marketing' is one way to put it, 75 years since the shop was forced to close but the advert still keeps rolling.

[Thomas-uxbr]

Educators like Mark Felton are so important, since he fills in the significant but overlooked details that are so important but never told in schools. Keep up the great work, Mark!

[aaronmillersoutdooradventures]

One of my old teachers had a Native American earring that had a swastika on it. It’s amazing how wide spread it is!

[madaricgoran]

It is time for YouTube to introduce the "like hit before play" category for this level of production. Another masterpiece!

[PelleLolWut]

The fact that all of this high quality entertainment and knowledge is provided to us all for free is a small reason why ‘living in the future’ is not entirely bad. Thank you, Mr. Felton!

[prismaticc_abyss]

As a German, this is very accurate and the pronunciation of german words is on point as far as non-native speakers are concerned. Informative, but concise and unbiased. Thank you

[jonathangreenstein]

Mark, once again you have presented a fantastic overview of an important topic, in this case imagery and how here we see how they adopted it - thereby creating years of confusion when the original users of these images, particularly the swastika. And as you, I spent years in the Far East and SE Asia and frequently saw the symbol used to mark temples on maps and had occasion to see tourists remark erroneously that the Nazis had a foothold there during the war and had no idea of the origins of the symbol.

Thanks again for another outstanding contribution to our history studies!

[sheepdawg]

Probably 30 years ago, my mother was working with Vietnamese refugees in southern Calif. and one young boy was wearing a Swastika around his neck. A teacher immediately tried to discipline the boy. My mother had to point out that it was a Buddhist symbol and not what the teacher had thought. The teacher was stunned to learn that the swastika was adopted by the nazis and had other meanings long before the nazis came to power. I was in third grade when I heard this story and still remember it today.

[anthonykennedy]

Mark Felton, you possess one of the most attractive speaking voices on YouTube. That and the hypnotic, ominous music -and the meticulous research -lead to easy-to-absorb video snippets. You certainly deserve your success.

[SVSky]

The explanations we need. Too many people ignorant of symbols and where they come from.

[vickiewallace]

Thank you Doctor Felton! I absolutely love how you ALWAYS teach me something. After graduating college with a history degree that doesn’t usually happen!

[projecttwentytwentyfiveisgreat]

Most underated historical genius in world history, Mark Felton. Its high time the world embraces this fine gentleman.

[Kiran-jffx]

at last ....i'm from india and i tried hard to explain to people that this has no racial meaning or in any way related to a particular race

[bbcmotd]

Fun fact: the Thai greeting "sawadeeka" is the same root as swastika, wishing you prosperity

[peterwilliamson]

When I watch YouTube videos, I’m not sure who produced the videos when I first clicked them, but when I hear the introductory music from this channel, I always know it’s going to be a well researched and produced video!

[paws]

Oh to be able to sit in a classroom and listen to a history teacher like this! Someone who actually loves history and loves sharing it with others is a gift that we really need right now!