Idaho court won't remove pre-Nazi swastika tiles

[The Straight Story]

Idaho court won't remove pre-Nazi swastika tiles

(AP) – 3 days ago

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Images of red swastikas built into tiles in the early 1920s in the Bonneville County Courthouse won't be removed during a remodel of the building, officials said.

The swastikas are at intersections of a much larger geometric pattern comprised of small red, white and black tiles put in place in 1921, well before the rise of the Nazi party in Germany in the 1930s, the Post Register newspaper said in a story published Thursday.

"When you take something out of historical context, you can argue that it was bad," said Julie Braun, a local historian. "But it wasn't bad at the time."

The courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the tiles are mentioned in the building's entry on that list.

Dave Radford, a Bonneville County commissioner, said the county was told by the National Register about seven years ago that the courthouse should be maintained as closely as possible to its original design to remain on the register.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ifmZJYmEzjVxdVLyPbudpoUFKV4gD9AG0JF01

Thank goodness they didn't use crosses instead :)

[dsc]

1. actually crosses would cut the mustard as well

provided they were part of a historical display like the Swatzicas apparently are.

[madrchsod]

2. that symbol has been around for thousands of years

different cultures have used variations of that symbol. much to do about nothing

[The Straight Story]

6. Yes and you can buy shirts with the symbol on it here

http://www.zazzle.com/swastika+tshirts

[47of74]

8. Talk about a woody supressent

[havocmom]

3. Isn't it an old Native American pattern?

Sometimes a cigar is a very old, traditional cigar.

[sarge43]

7. Yes. Many cultures have used and honored it.

Among other things it's a symbol of the running sun, moving across the sky. The Nazis destroyed and perverted many things.

[WeDidIt]

4. I have an antique British officers campaign chest with swastikas all over it.

It's nineteenth century and was made in what is now India.

[47of74]

5. I saw a picture of the Corn Palace

I saw a picture of the Corn Palace from 1907 where a swastika was used as part of the design when I last visited way back in 1995.



On the copy of the photo that was at the corn palace was a note explaining how back then it was a good luck symbol.

[The Straight Story]

10. Cool pic - Is there a story behind it having 7 flags?

I would guess it goes with the theme of good luck though :)

[slampoet]

11. I was thinking of that same photo and that same place. It was the same when i saw it in 2003

[hedgehog]

9. I don't know what to do about this. The Nazi Party hijacked a perfectly good symbol

in use for millenia across many cultures.
Can you see the swastika here ?:



That's a St. Brigid's Cross.

[provis99]

12. I would say removal depends on which way the crosses were hooked

The Nazi swastika runs clockwise, in opposition to virtually all other swastikas, which run counter-clockwise. I've seen where skinhead idiots have spray-painted swastikas, but with the hooks running the wrong way, making the Indian symbol for good fortune and happy times, rather than the Nazi swastika.

[DrCory]

15. Not Really...

Here are three examples from antiquity which counter your statement:

[lunatica]

13. Taking them off would be like book burning history books

And would keep people from learning anything from the past.

The swastika symbol is long and has it's roots in history and in spirituality. It is the next step after the cross which symbolized the point where the life meets in the physical and the spiritual realms. Or, if one prefers the higher self and the lower self meet. The next step is the swastika which symbolizes the movement of life or life in motion. After the spark of life there is motion of life. After the swastika comes the circle where the cyclical nature of life is symbolized.

The Nazi's used it but applied only the dark side or the Shadow side of life to it. The yang without the yin, darkness without light. Night without day. Evil without good.

If we lose that knowledge on all it's levels we're forced to regain it through experiencing it all over again. That's why history repeats itself.

[imdjh]

14. Why is it considered historic at all?

It was built in the 20th century. George Washington never slept there. Lee didn't protect it, Grant didn't burn it, and Kennedy wasn't assassinated in it.

[FunkyLeprechaun]

16. You may not think it's historic

but houses and courthouses built in the 20s all over the country have these tiles. I would assume these tiles are in the entrance hall of the courthouse as the symbol tends to wish you luck as you enter and wish you luck as you leave. My old house has the same tiles in the entrance hall (my parents keep them covered up with a rug but refuse to remove them as they're the original tiles of the house). The Plummer House in Rochester, MN has these tiles in the entrance hall.

It was a Roman symbol for good luck. The "salute" was also a Roman greeting. The Nazis took these Roman symbols and destroyed any good meaning with these symbols. Learned that in Latin class in high school!

[lunatica]

17. Yeah! WTF!

Where's the real history??