This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/opinion/sunday/what-to-do-with-the-swastika-in-the-attic.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
What to Do With the Swastika in the Attic? What to Do With the Swastika in the Attic?
(35 minutes later)
I once thought there were a few things on which Americans all could agree, and that “Nazis are bad” was among them. I’ve recently been unnerved to discover, or to be reminded, that this is not the case.I once thought there were a few things on which Americans all could agree, and that “Nazis are bad” was among them. I’ve recently been unnerved to discover, or to be reminded, that this is not the case.
This realization came during the presidential campaign, when there were reports of swastikas spray-painted on houses and playgrounds in Jewish neighborhoods; swastikas on flags alongside a Trump banner at a fair. In October, a swastika scrawled on a sign next to the word “media” was found in the detritus of a Donald Trump rally in Florida.This realization came during the presidential campaign, when there were reports of swastikas spray-painted on houses and playgrounds in Jewish neighborhoods; swastikas on flags alongside a Trump banner at a fair. In October, a swastika scrawled on a sign next to the word “media” was found in the detritus of a Donald Trump rally in Florida.
I hoped it might end with the election — that, when the political frenzy faded, the activity of neo-Nazis emboldened by Mr. Trump’s candidacy would dwindle. It didn’t.I hoped it might end with the election — that, when the political frenzy faded, the activity of neo-Nazis emboldened by Mr. Trump’s candidacy would dwindle. It didn’t.
As winter bled into spring, swastika vandalism grew so rampant that ProPublica started formally tracking it. Swastikas have been Silly-Stringed onto a sidewalk, carved into a synagogue, and dug into a park in Levittown, N.Y. The Anti-Defamation League reported that, in the first quarter of 2017, acts aimed at Jews and Jewish institutions surged by 86 percent. In June, a “senior prank day” at a California high school included a swastika scrawled in the courtyard.As winter bled into spring, swastika vandalism grew so rampant that ProPublica started formally tracking it. Swastikas have been Silly-Stringed onto a sidewalk, carved into a synagogue, and dug into a park in Levittown, N.Y. The Anti-Defamation League reported that, in the first quarter of 2017, acts aimed at Jews and Jewish institutions surged by 86 percent. In June, a “senior prank day” at a California high school included a swastika scrawled in the courtyard.
That’s before you get to the internet. There, people are just flinging swastikas everywhere, like confetti at a surprise party in hell.That’s before you get to the internet. There, people are just flinging swastikas everywhere, like confetti at a surprise party in hell.
I figure it’s about time to do something with that swastika in the attic.I figure it’s about time to do something with that swastika in the attic.
I must have seen it for the first time in childhood. The red edges are ragged; this circle, four feet across, cut from a giant banner and signed by the men in my grandfather’s United States Army unit, the 460th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion They made it to the Berghof, Hitler’s retreat in the Bavarian Alps, in the spring of 1945. The war was over when they got there. My grandpa took the flag. A souvenir. I must have seen it for the first time in childhood. The red edges are ragged; this circle, four feet across, cut from a giant banner and signed by the men in my grandfather’s United States Army unit, the 460th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion. They made it to the Berghof, Hitler’s retreat in the Bavarian Alps, in the spring of 1945. The war was over when they got there. My grandpa took the flag. A souvenir.
Every swastika I see reminds me of this one. How it is darkened all over with stains and dirt. Or, as my grandpa would have said, schmutz.Every swastika I see reminds me of this one. How it is darkened all over with stains and dirt. Or, as my grandpa would have said, schmutz.
“You have to understand,” is how my grandpa’s sentences about the war usually began. When I think about it now I realize this inheritance came with no other instructions — including about where to keep it.“You have to understand,” is how my grandpa’s sentences about the war usually began. When I think about it now I realize this inheritance came with no other instructions — including about where to keep it.
As artifacts go, the swastika presents some interesting challenges. Can’t really hang it in the house. “No, it’s O.K.!” I imagine my mom assuring guests. “It’s a stolen Nazi flag.”As artifacts go, the swastika presents some interesting challenges. Can’t really hang it in the house. “No, it’s O.K.!” I imagine my mom assuring guests. “It’s a stolen Nazi flag.”
I’m not sure which new swastika flicked some switch in me. But after the election I decided, with conviction so intense it was almost alarming, our flag needs to be seen.I’m not sure which new swastika flicked some switch in me. But after the election I decided, with conviction so intense it was almost alarming, our flag needs to be seen.
I brought the flag back to my apartment, unfolded it, spread it out on a table. It was really in Hitler’s house. The Hitler. He probably heiled it in the morning over a bowl of muesli before a long day at the office of orchestrating mass genocide.I brought the flag back to my apartment, unfolded it, spread it out on a table. It was really in Hitler’s house. The Hitler. He probably heiled it in the morning over a bowl of muesli before a long day at the office of orchestrating mass genocide.
The swastika hummed with violence, like something cursed, or alive.The swastika hummed with violence, like something cursed, or alive.
The first thing I learned in my quest to get this bit of Nazi paraphernalia out of my parents’ house was that it is actually pretty difficult to offload a swastika.The first thing I learned in my quest to get this bit of Nazi paraphernalia out of my parents’ house was that it is actually pretty difficult to offload a swastika.
The National World War II Museum in New Orleans “no longer accepts Nazi flags,” according to its donation guide. I checked the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as well (even though mine is not a Holocaust artifact). Same rule. And, not that I would, but you can’t sell a swastika on eBay unless it’s from before 1933 and is “not related to Nazism.”The National World War II Museum in New Orleans “no longer accepts Nazi flags,” according to its donation guide. I checked the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as well (even though mine is not a Holocaust artifact). Same rule. And, not that I would, but you can’t sell a swastika on eBay unless it’s from before 1933 and is “not related to Nazism.”
When I reached out to the National World War II Museum donations department directly, I learned that what I have, besides an unambiguous symbol of evil incarnate, is a classic supply and demand problem.When I reached out to the National World War II Museum donations department directly, I learned that what I have, besides an unambiguous symbol of evil incarnate, is a classic supply and demand problem.
“If ever a figure in history surrounded himself with flags, it was Adolf Hitler,” Robert Citino, the senior historian at the museum, told me. “If Hitler was driving down the street in Berlin, there were — this is a conservative estimate — 50,000 flags on that street. Nobody were flag-wavers like the Nazis.”“If ever a figure in history surrounded himself with flags, it was Adolf Hitler,” Robert Citino, the senior historian at the museum, told me. “If Hitler was driving down the street in Berlin, there were — this is a conservative estimate — 50,000 flags on that street. Nobody were flag-wavers like the Nazis.”
“Just as Nazi Germany was awash in these flags, we may be getting to the point where museums are awash in flags,” Dr. Citino said.“Just as Nazi Germany was awash in these flags, we may be getting to the point where museums are awash in flags,” Dr. Citino said.
The law has a loophole: Thanks to the autographs of men in my grandfather’s unit, my swastika was eligible for donation. “The signed ones are the ones we covet the most,” Toni Kiser, assistant director for collections management at the World War II Museum told me.The law has a loophole: Thanks to the autographs of men in my grandfather’s unit, my swastika was eligible for donation. “The signed ones are the ones we covet the most,” Toni Kiser, assistant director for collections management at the World War II Museum told me.
I expected a rigorous authentication process, but Ms. Kiser says there isn’t one: “We do often take people — to an extent — at their word.” Since there’s no money and little glory in artifact donation (only 1 percent to 2 percent of the collection is on view at any given time), “faking it wouldn’t be worth your while,” she said. Discharge papers, as well as a photo of the relevant soldier in uniform, generally suffice. I have both. My grandpa saved his discharge papers in the original envelope.I expected a rigorous authentication process, but Ms. Kiser says there isn’t one: “We do often take people — to an extent — at their word.” Since there’s no money and little glory in artifact donation (only 1 percent to 2 percent of the collection is on view at any given time), “faking it wouldn’t be worth your while,” she said. Discharge papers, as well as a photo of the relevant soldier in uniform, generally suffice. I have both. My grandpa saved his discharge papers in the original envelope.
Less than two weeks after Mr. Trump’s inauguration, I boarded a plane to New Orleans. In Dr. Citino’s sunlit, book-lined office, Ms. Kiser asked me, “Did you feel weird walking around with a Nazi flag in your purse?”Less than two weeks after Mr. Trump’s inauguration, I boarded a plane to New Orleans. In Dr. Citino’s sunlit, book-lined office, Ms. Kiser asked me, “Did you feel weird walking around with a Nazi flag in your purse?”
I admitted that I did.I admitted that I did.
I’d spent much of the morning in a new exhibition, “State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda.” It opened the same day that President Trump issued an executive order barring Syrian refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. I was stunned by the installation’s unplanned prescience. The language of religious fear mongering has changed little since the 1930s. It felt as if the present was plagiarizing the past.I’d spent much of the morning in a new exhibition, “State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda.” It opened the same day that President Trump issued an executive order barring Syrian refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. I was stunned by the installation’s unplanned prescience. The language of religious fear mongering has changed little since the 1930s. It felt as if the present was plagiarizing the past.
“It’s tough to say whether the swastika has an up or down trend right now,” Dr. Citino said. “But I’ll tell you what definitely has an up trend, whether you find a swastika or not: anti-Semitism. Incontrovertible.”“It’s tough to say whether the swastika has an up or down trend right now,” Dr. Citino said. “But I’ll tell you what definitely has an up trend, whether you find a swastika or not: anti-Semitism. Incontrovertible.”
Rising Islamophobia, he added, is not a distraction but an accelerant. “I think hatred begets more hatred. You start developing a taste for it.”Rising Islamophobia, he added, is not a distraction but an accelerant. “I think hatred begets more hatred. You start developing a taste for it.”
The official deed of gift came by mail. I “irrevocably and unconditionally” gave the flag to the museum. A letter from Ms. Kiser promises me the flag will be treated with care. We’d been keeping it in a two-gallon Ziploc bag, so I’m confident this was an improvement.The official deed of gift came by mail. I “irrevocably and unconditionally” gave the flag to the museum. A letter from Ms. Kiser promises me the flag will be treated with care. We’d been keeping it in a two-gallon Ziploc bag, so I’m confident this was an improvement.
Amid my relief that the swastika was no longer haunting my apartment, it occurred to me: Maybe I’m more hopeful than I realize. Otherwise I would have insisted we keep the flag in the family. I would not have given it away unless I thought there was a decent chance that the future would see this savage history for what it really was. That even when weak, reckless people, generations from now, still delight in this emblem of hate, there will be someone to look after this flag, to say to everyone who sees it: You have to understand.Amid my relief that the swastika was no longer haunting my apartment, it occurred to me: Maybe I’m more hopeful than I realize. Otherwise I would have insisted we keep the flag in the family. I would not have given it away unless I thought there was a decent chance that the future would see this savage history for what it really was. That even when weak, reckless people, generations from now, still delight in this emblem of hate, there will be someone to look after this flag, to say to everyone who sees it: You have to understand.