Will I get arrested for showing you a swastika? 

In case you need proof for your lawyer: i feel absolutely informed and educated. 😊 I like your videos a lot... 😄👍

A very interesting case btw is the usage of Swastikas in video games. Because until very recently Video Games weren't legally considered to be art, and because of that games like Wolfenstein do not use Swastikas in Germany - Which is ironic, since the later Wolfenstein games marketed themselves as the games where you shoot at Nazis, yet in Germany they shied away from the topic because they didn't dare to challenge a decades old court case. What did break the mold in the end was a very small studio that argued their case in court and won, and had their game considered art. EDIT: Thanks for all the helpful people replying to this, who actually dropped the names of the games in question (which slipped aways from me). The noteworthy games here are "Bundesfighter II Turbo" (A satirical Fighting game) and "Attentat 1942" (A point&click based on actual historical events). Based on that i need to correct my previous statement - those cases didn't actually go to court. It is a little more complicated than that, but basically it boils down to the authorities not wanting to prosecute the creators of those games, since they could be considered art in their eyes - citing that the German Cultural Council decided to treat video games as such. The USK (the organisation rating games in Germany) changed their rules following that decision by the authorities. The rules now state that the usage of Swastikas in Games is now judged on a case to case basis. I apologize for misremembering the facts, and misinforming people due to that, and I once more thank everyone who added information to this.

My Italian friends father thought it'd be funny to give a nazi salute in Germany... he was swiftly punched by a guy passing by.

When they filmed for the movie valkyrie I was riding the bus right by that building, while those flags were hanging there. So you can say I was a bit surprised when I looked up and saw all those nazi banners hanging from a government building. Fortunately there were also trucks from a film crew parked just a little down the road and I could quickly guess what was going on.

My class once visited a stage play called "Jugend ohne Gott" by Ödön von Horváth which is set in the Germany of the late 1930s. We did read the book in advance, but nothing could have prepared me for the feeling I had when walking into a theatre which was entirely decorated with swastika flags.

I spent ten years in the online printing industry (and a lot of that with responsibilities for DACH countries). We had very strict processes to follow for any products printed with Nazi, Neo-Nazi or Hitler-related content, and we required VP/GM-level approval to ensure the responsibility lay on senior team members and not on more junior team members. However, with that in place, we printed a lot of content for customers using the products for educational, film, sarcastic and anti-nazi purposes. That said, we did have to invest quite a lot in legal fees to make sure we remained on the right side of the law and the current interpretation of it. Thanks for sharing this. It's a cool topic.

In Iceland we use the same word as the Germans, "Hakakross" - I was once thrown out of a group for old ads on Facebook because I posted an old ad for a swimming pool in the US from the 20's and the ad used the Swastika and as is said in this video, it used to be very popular there at that time period. I posted the ad as an example of how times change, what was perfectly innocent and positive in the 20's had become a symbol of aggression in the 30's but the group admin obviously only saw the later part and threw me out - Ha Ha.

I hope that the algorithm feels informed and educated, and it doesn't demonetise this video!

As a schoolboy we spend a week in Kronach and a day trip brought us to the Festung Rosenberg (Rosenberg Castle) or Veste Kronach as I know it, One of my classmates pointed out that there are plenty of swastikas in the stonework and our teacher explained that those swastikas were signs from the stonemasons to show which stones they did and they got paid accordingly. There were also other signs but I can't remember what they were as it is about 60 years ago that I was there.

Your videos are always imformative and educational. Learning about history and the context of why things are now and how people behave would be impossible if you couldn't have open discussion on the history behind events.

Exactly, educational purposes, one of the few exceptions to the ban. Another exception is material from the time period. So if you happen to have an old book, photograph, movie, etc. you don't have to remove the symbol. Rather, the fact that it is an original in unaltered state makes it more important to keep the symbol.

Around 50 or so years ago, some movies with fictional content that wanted to place their story in Nazi Germany ended up using fictional symbols. One such example is the movie Bluebeard (with Richard Burton in the title role) which was shot in West Germany. The whole point of the Nazi framing was to milk the Nazi reputation to make the movie's villains even more villainous, but that was deemed too frivolous a use of those symbols.

Feeling informed and educated indeed. Currently my favourite channel to learn things in details about my own home country which before I had a rather blurred awareness of.

You're a fantastic educator, Rewboss. I mean that in all seriousness, I learn so much from your channel about history, language, modern Germany, and more. Vielen dank!

Honestly it's incredibly sad the symbol has been basically destroyed in the West. I hope in the future it will be possible to reclaim it. As it's now it feels like nazis still hold power in our culture

To compensate for lost Adsense.

let us know if RU-vid's bot flags your video

my cousin from Thailand had a swastika tattoo because of it's origins buddhist symbolism, but when she went to visit us in Germany, we made sure to cover it up when going into public just to be very sure. 😂

4:20 imagine just walking round Berlin turning a corner and seeing this.

The black, white and red imperial flag is not prohibited, but its use in place of the swastika flag can still be prohibited

Thank you Andrew for this informative and educational video

In Portuguese a somewhat uncommon synonym for swastica is "cruz gamada", that is "gamma-like cross", because its arms are shaped like the Greek letter gamma: *Γ*

Thank you for informing and educating.

Thanks I found this INFORMATIVE and EDUCATIONAL

thank you for informing and educating me! ❤

You can ban symbols, but not thoughts...

You won't get arrested because German police haven't discovered the internet yet.

The Mailorder that sold these anti-fascist things, sold merchandise to cover the costs of the court case. I still got the t-shirt I bought.

Thanks for this. As a Brit living in Germany and running a school, this knowledge is helpful.

For that bit at the end, he was saying “Swahili”, because ‘coconut’ in Swahili is “Nazi”

This quality content is informing and educating

I feel informed and educated, thanks mate! :D

just on a sidenote: another very common exception from the ban is trading with collectables like stamps, letters, even some militaria - again: as long as they are not used to glorify or trivialize the NS regime.

thank you andrew! i'm feeling more informed and educated than ever! xD

No need to worry, rewboss. I'm feeling very informed and educated right now

Good video! It might be worth doing a follow up video with Swastikas in Germany, and in Europe, and any other Nazi symbols not removed from WW2. I think one of your pictures of a Swastika was at a Tube station. The BBC has a good article of some of the Swastikas around the UK.

Awesome video, I certainly do feel educated! Today I learned that all German building are draped in swastikas, a word of Swahili origin. Am im Ernst, wirklich tolles Video. Mir war vieles davon bekannt, wusste aber nichts von diesem absurden Fall, in dem das durchgestrichene Hakenkreuz bestraft wurde, bevor das Urteil vom BGH wieder einkassiert wurde. Ich bin oft für längere Zeit im Ausland und habe bin auch schon nach den strengen Gesetzen bzgl. dieser Symbole gefragt worden. Die Vorstellungen sind da oft etwas schablonenhaft, weil die gesetztliche Realität eben wie fast immer etwas komplizierter ist. Schön, dass du mit diesem Video Licht ins Dunkel bringst.

I indeed feel informed and educated.

Fun fact, even Unicode (for non-techies: Basically the standard for how computers convert numbers to text and other symbols) contains definitions for both variants of the swastika. Specifically, the block "CJK Unified Ideographs" (with CJK standing for Chinese, Japanese and Korean) contains the left-facing Swastika "卍" with value U+534D, and the right-facing Swastika "卐" with value U+5350. So technically, both symbols can be used in normal text on computers, though that obviously shouldn't be done carelessly.

Finland air force had the symbol but it was tilted differently as a logo from 1918 to 2020. It had nothing to do with nazis but in the end it was seen that the confusion it might cause was just not worth it

A weird context where the swastikas seem to be outlawed, but probably could be OK, are with scale models. Most brands will just not include the swastika at all for the models you built, but others (most famously the japanese Tamiya) will manually cut and throw out the swastikas from their kits if exported to Germany. Weird thing

From what I have read the Finish Air Force used it because the first aircraft delivered to them had it and was flown by a Swedish Count used it as a good luck symbol. Also I have heard in Hinduism it has different meanings depending on its direction.

Good video, thanks. I once whistled 'Horst Wessel' in Kiel. Nobody reacted, I don't believe they even recognised it.

Vielen Dank Herr Blossom, das war einfach hervorragend.

When I first came to Germany, I had fears about this kind of thing. I had an anti-Nazi tattoo done when I was a teenager. The design for was quite a common one back in the 90s but (indeed) clearly depicted a swastika. I made modest efforts to conceal it, but I eventually gave up when it became apparent that nobody actually cared.

One day, I was going back home from the Netherlands transited through Antwerp Central Station. The moment I walked into the main hall, I couldn't believe my eyes, there were 3 gigantic Nazi banners. I immediately thought that it was a movie set, and sure enough there were people with high visibility jackets which had the words "FILM CREW" on them. But still, I just didn't expect to walk in a station in Belgium and see those, that took me by surprise lol

How do you have the time for your videos if I see a detailed reply of yours for almost every r/germany post 😅

There's a very old school still in use in a town near me that's plastered with swastikas. Inlaid into the stone floors and even has a stone tablet above the entrance with a swastika and latin phrase about how work conquers all.

I think this was really nicely done, but one thing you could've had added was the lift in Video Game Media. This was highly Controversial a long time and many Videogames still come out heavily Edited in Germany because of this Law. I personally think it is even in these Games important to have the Symbolism and art in it's core unchanged. You can change the things an Art piece originally was inteded, by censoring it.

Swastikas are still widely used in Latvia, although the post-occupation air force symbol is different.

The swastika is allowed to be shown in a context of art or history. Example: A movie which plays during that time it makes sense to show the swastika, since the setting is during that time. Example: Indiana Jones, Hogans heroes. Also of course in history books, since there are many pictures with flags hanging on the street and even today you find pictures in the internet, which show how that certain street did look like during that time. Now the interesting part: In Video Games you were not allowed to show the Swastika, since Videogames were not art according some idiots. It took a LONG time, till to the 21th Century, that Videogames are also counted as art. So you are actually now allowed to show the swastika in video games like Wolfenstein, since Videogames are ART. Of course if it is a game which is definatly antisemetic, then this game belongs on the index.

The Hakenkreuz was already used by the rightwing Marinebrigade Ehrhardt, one of the rightwing Freikorps militias, which sprung up after Germany's surrender in 1918 and the civil war like situation in 1918. During the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapp_Putsch, they used the Hakenkreuz as an identifying marker on their vehicles and uniforms (which else were identical to the regular army)

swastika is very normal in India. every house have it.. And I don't abandon my culture because of a lunatic German man from 1940 era... Also this Swastika is not just a simple geometric design... its has a elaborate , large version. it has meaning.... and you found swastika through all over the world …. it is also not a "COINSIDENT".. with time all truth will come out...

Yes, I do feel informed and educated. Thank you.

The cross symbol in question is indeed a hot topic and currently controversial and problematic. Sometimes it is said that the swastika should be banned internationally worldwide because the symbol itself is interpreted as a hate crime and incitement against a ethnic group, but sometimes I have wondered how this prohibition and possible obligation to remove the symbol from view (such as paintings, books and buildings) would work in India, where the swastika has been around for centuries sacred religious symbol (or should Indians be taught about the changed meaning of the symbol and told why it is wrong to display it nowadays? and for this complicated reason, I would rather forbid the use of the symbol in a certain meaning and context than to erase it from existence). But here in Finland there has been talk about whether the European-wide ban on the swastika and runes is really progress or an postponed victory for the Nazis, because they didn't invent that symbol but stole it, and also that would banning the symbol have any effect at all on the current far-right movements and hate crimes or would it ultimately just be a political substitute function to sweep the real problem under the rug (the current Finnish government, however, is in favor of banning the swastika and runes, but along with them they also want to ban symbols used by the left, such as the sickle and the rainbows). However, this discussion about this cross symbol doesn't mean that the deeds and politics of the Nazis were right because they weren't or that the neo-Nazis aren't criminals because they are.

Okay, not gonna lie, if i was just chilling in Berlin and saw a government building full of nazi flags and people looking like nazis, i would fucking shit my pants.

Dear Mr Rewboss, Maybe you could make a sequel to this about the letter Z; It began as a hieroglyph depicting a pickaxe. Then it was adopted into the Proto Sintaic alphabet to denote Z. (it hasn't really changed much in shape or pronounciation BTW). Then the Tyrian Canaanites adopted it for their West Semitic language. (A language simmilar, but not identical to Hebrew) Through colonisation and trade it made itself to Greece, the Greeks adopted it for their DZ sound. Then the Etruscans got their hands onto the West Greek alphabet (which already looked like Latin) Rome grabbed it later on, but discarded the letter Z initially, because they had no Z or DZ back then. One Hellenisation later and Dz was reintroduced to the Latin language, through Greek. Emperor Claudius made the definitive standard Latin Alphabet; With Z as it's final letter. Z did not change much besides getting an alternative Samakh (3) shape for Blackletter. A few hundred years and miles to the east and the Sofia Art Academy adopts the Glagolitic Alphabet for Old Bulgarian. (in the tenth century), the letter Z was used interchangeably with it's samakh (3) form to indicate Z. Czar Peter the Great officially discarded the Cyrrilic letter Z in favour of 3; But older works preserved it. The legend of Zorro, based on a true story; Had a vigilante who would mark his victim with a Z for Zorro. It was based on a true story, I just forgot who it was about. Now in 2022 during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it used Latin capital letters in their millitary shorthand. Z stood for trucks being sent to the front (maybe, I forgot it's purpose, and this is speculation). And became an unofficial icon for Russia supporters, and got cannonised later on as an official symbole. Putin played us brilliantly, since we cannot just change our Alfabet. Since Z is a commonly used letter in Latin, and 3 is quite out of fashion these days. We will keep on using Z to denote a Z sound; And condemn violence some other way.

After played a lot of historical games with mods that try to make it look more historical accurate, I stopped having a problem with looking at the hooked cross. Total War Shogun 2 with the Imjin War mod has multible japanese clans who use different versions of it as their heraldry. Rome 2 Total War with the Divide et Impera mod has many warriors from many different cultures with the hooked cross on their shields. Etruscans, Samnites and Mauryans are the most prominent. Than I started to research. I found out that a german noble family has a hooked cross in their heraldic shield and on their house, for almost 800 years. The family was sued for showing the symbol openly, but won because they had gotten the symbol 700 years earlier than the nazis.

Maybe you could also have mentoined a case, I think also in 2005 or around that time when the other case wasn't resolved yet, when they also tried to sue someone for a pictogram of a person throwing a swastika into a bin. And the court realy argumented that you couldn't tell from the pictogram if the person were realy throwing the swastika away or if they were pulling it out from the bin. That case was, as far as I know also reuled out at a higher court, but it shows that there are courts in germany that will also (or maybe especially?) try to sue you for showing the swastika in clearly anti-fascist context.

The Phoenicians also had the swastika as a symbol

Very educational

have you noticed the exit full screen button is the luftwaffe wing decal

On every temple in Bali and worth mentioning here, each household has its own temple on top of the official ones, has a swastika on top or the entrance of what resembles an entrance. It is as normal there as having a cross around the neck as a Christian. As from Germany this was at first quite strange to behold, I can tell you so much.

Very well done.

interestingly enough, Finnish airforce removed swastika relatively recently, just a couple of years ago, and more so, one can notice swastika, although in a bit altered shape, on the presidential flag of Finland

For Latvian culture the swastika is called the thunder cross it is a very old Latvian symbol hence why it was used by the Latvian airforce because it signifies thunder and more less the speed of the lightning

I never felt so informed and educated before.

1:29 Ah, Upminster Bridge tube station's notorious entrance hall. That was made in 1932, before Hitler was Reich Chancellor.

3:45 geez i wonder on what uniforms i've seen that one recently

The band KISS is not even allowed to use their original logo, which reminds a bit of the SS runes. The two "S" letters look quite differently on their albums sold in Germany.

I was in Taipei many yrs ago and passed under the swastika symbol by a restaurant that was presented exactly as the notsees did, slanted, red background and white circle. The caption next to it: "family, food and fun"!

Short answer: No, as long as it's done in the context of art, science, or education, which are really the only exceptions to the ban.

I feel informed and educated!

I think the law should be this: As long as the Nazi swastika is impossible to accidentally view without first passing through a content warning or other clear communication indicating its upcoming presence (such as this video's thumbnail and title), it should be allowed. There's no danger that actual Nazis might exploit this rule to avoid getting in trouble for showing swastikas, since we all know that content warnings are anathema to the far-right.

I am feeling informed and educated.

Considering the focus on symbols here, and the tendency of RU-vid channel names toward double entendres, I would like to ask if the name of your channel (rewboss) "means" something. Thank you.

the judge in the federal court of justice must have saw the case and is thought "you can't be serious"

Fun fact: Svastika (свастика) in Balkan Slavic languages means 'sister of wife'.

3:46: "Hans, have you looked at our caps recently? They've got skulls on them...".

The problem with the swastika is that it's not a original symbol created during or for WW2. It's a symbol which had meaning before that. If I created a dictatorship which started WW3 and my symbol was a circle, would circles be banned? I really don't understand why people banned a symbol which had innocent meaning before the war.

1:00 Star of David with swastika ?

We still have swastika in the President´s flag, in some medals and the emblem of the air force academy - German air force officers refused to take part in a fest there.

At the age of five i build a swastika out of Lego and gave my parents kind of a heart attack. The told me never do that and rest did german education. Simple geometrical shape is a good point there, I came up with it in the age of five despite never seeing it before.

I'm german and I think it shouldn't be this off-limits. If I get arrested remember me

The Choir stalls in Sheffield Cathedral have some Lefy Handed Hackenkreuz in them. In my researches i was told/found out that a R Left handed one is a sign of Light in the East, the version used ny the NS Party is a sign of darkness in the East (Gnosticism!)

4:36 Passt das vom Baujahr überhaupt ?

I feel so much more informed & better educated now😀

I'm feeling informed, educated and most importantly, entertained!

I don't perceive this as educational video, you're going straight to jail!

If someone doesn't feel informed nor educated, your video suddenly becomes illegal..

Ok so uncensored episodes of Tokyo Revengers are fine?

Thumbs up for finally someone telling the truth.

It should mentioned that, just like monarch families, it was a law designed to keep them out of government. It has lost all meaning now that the monarch families of the 20th centuries are let back in and Nazis are all dead or in a retirement home. The law is misused to imprison unwanted citizens while courts give lenient sentences to imported terrorists, and no punishment for those under 22.

I feel like you're suggesting that mention is not use ... huh, who would have guessed!?

In Baden Württemberg they wanted to ban the "Hakenkreuz verboten" Logo to get rid of Punks.

Speaking of filming stuff, saw a vid recently on how the makers of The Man in the High Castle dealt with all their swastika badges etc. They were chopped up and burned.

Though "proper historical context" is also up for interpretation. A lot of WW2 games were either banned in germany or censored (so the nazi symbols were replaced with some other logo). While war games of course include a lot of violence, in the majority of them the player actually played on the allied side against the nazis. Games are also a piece or art, but courts didn't saw it that way. However since summer 2018 the USK announced that's now possible to include nazi symbols in games, but the game will be examined and then decided if the usage is appropriate or not.

My dad is hindu and has swastikas all over is condoe in germany. But he only prays in front of them without lifting one arm.

Now this was a fun and lighthearted comedy skit of yours 😄👍 Gives me a little break from all that serious, educational and informative content out there

2:20 "Hakenkreuz" isn't "Nazi swastika", but "Swastika", full stop. It is nothing but the geometric form, just as the "Iron Cross" is a "Tatzenkreuz" (paw cross) in heraldry and geometry.