Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

THE DEATH OF MONEY 143those questions which never will find a definite answer. Some decadesago it penetrated white civilization as a symbol of religious or semireligiouscults, which used it in order to exhibit some sort of connectionwith Buddhism. Since the swastika can be followed back for countlesscenturies in countries ranging from India to Scandinavia, it seemed toconfirm the existence of a national bond between far distant lands — acommon possession of that Aryan race which, as one of their prophets,Houston Stewart Chamberlain, admitted, might not exist, but whichshould exist in the future. Many decades before the appearance ofNational Socialism, German national leagues in Austria bore theswastika as their insignia. But it is also found in purely Mongoliancountries, as in China; and in all innocence it used to grace Britishstamps from Hong Kong. It is found among the American Indians. It isan official emblem in Finland and Estonia, whence presumably theGerman Free Corps, who in 1918-19 fought the Bolsheviki in the Baltic,brought it back to Germany.A brigade of these troops was led by the former naval captainEhrhardt. This Ehrhardt was a sort of forerunner of Hitler, or ratherRohm; it was he who chased the Reich government out of Berlin in1920, until a general strike put down the military putsch. With theswastika on their tin hats, Ehrhardt's soldiers marched into Berlin. Aftertheir defeat, the troop was broken up. Many of the officers fled toMunich, and Rohm enrolled them in Hitler's S.A., of which they formedthe real nucleus. It was they who brought the swastika to the NationalSocialists. It was originally a spider-like figure with thin lines; but theprinter who made up the National Socialist leaflets and posters usedheavy bars for better visibility. This new type ultimately became theofficial emblem of National Socialist Germany. It has the effect of aniron octopus, a monster, aggressively reaching out in all directions —hence its menacing and frightening effect. In 1921, Hitler's new redbanner with a black swastika in a white disk was unfurled in the openfor the first time. The effect was so inflammatory that Hitler himselfwas surprised and pleased.In the swastika historical accident gave Hitler one of his mightiestmagic weapons. It was a lucky find. The old German Workers'