The Swastika is an Indian and Tibetan symbol of fertility, protection and well-being, related to a heavenly cult. This sign is found in excavations of the Paleolithic era up to 25 thousand years ago, it was distributed throughout the world, including the islands of Oceania. The right-sided swastika means the rotation of the Sun, the left-sided - the Moon, also the difference between masculine and feminine principles, and it is also believed that the right-sided one is sowing, and the left-sided one is collecting. Up to our time, the right-hand sign is used in Buddhist symbolism, the left-hand sign is used in the Tibetan religion of Bon.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the swastika symbol became fashionable in Europe and America. It was depicted on fashion products such as branded Coca-Cola bottles, printed on greeting cards, used in advertising, and even applied to the first models of the Boeing P-12, which were in service with the US Air Force from 1929 to 1941.
Swastika in the Soviet army
In March 1919, the order of the front commander V. I. Shorin was issued on the introduction of a swastika as an identification mark for Kalmyk cavalry units. Shorin was a tsarist colonel who went over to the side of Soviet power: he was a well-educated person who understood how much the use of magical national symbols influences the psyche of military personnel. The Kalmyks professed Buddhism, so this Buddhist sacred element was assigned to the emblem of the division. In the order, the swastika is named "lyungnt" - a derivative of "gelyung" - the sanction of a Buddhist monk. The swastika, along with a five-pointed star, was present on armbands and badges. In 1919, the swastika was used on the uniforms of the Bashkir units of the Red Army.
Swastika as a secret sign of the tsarist regime
The symbol of the left-sided (cathedral) swastika was considered in the highest circles of Russian society as a favorable and protective sign, it was especially revered by the royal family. The swastika sign in a circle was on the hood of the Delaunay-Belleville 45 CV car of Emperor Nicholas II. The same image, along with mysterious letters, was inscribed by Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna on the wall of the basement in the Ipatiev house in Yekaterinburg on the eve of the execution. The image and the inscription were destroyed, but photographed beforehand. Subsequently, this photo came to General Alexander Kutepov - the leader of the white movement in exile.
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According to researchers, Nicholas II and his wife obtained information about the meaning of the swastika from Grigory Rasputin, and he, in turn, was associated with a certain doctor Bagmaev, a Buryat and a follower of the Tibetan religion Bon. After the coup, this man disappeared without a trace: perhaps he was destroyed by the Bolsheviks, or maybe he moved to Germany, where a similar character has appeared in Hitler's entourage since the 1920s.
It is known that the first Soviet paper money had images of a swastika. The explanation is simple. Literally on the eve of the coup, in 1916, the Tsar's Mint produced new cliches for printing banknotes, and these images were present on the cliches. Having come to power, the Bolsheviks did not have time to develop their own design of banknotes and used the clichés that already existed. The swastika was on the first Soviet money in denominations of 250, 1000, 5000 and 1000 rubles. Thus, this symbol on the first Soviet banknotes was inherited from the previous government.
Swastika on Soviet documents
On April 15, 1921, the Supreme Soviet of Deputies issued a resolution signed by V. I. Lenin "On increasing punishment for travel on steam locomotives." It said that the country's transport system is in an extremely difficult situation, which is aggravated by a huge number of passengers who do not want to pay for travel and luggage. As a measure of struggle, the "hares" were supposed to be arrested and taken to concentration camps. Do the same with railway employees who are not zealous enough to observe this decree. Interesting not only the document itself, but also the fact that the seal on it had the form of a swastika.
The same stamp is found on other resolutions of the Moscow Provincial Council of Deputies. In the early years of the USSR, the swastika was widely used to document documentation.
The end of the path of the swastika in the country of victorious socialism
in 1922 the newspaper Izvestia published an article by A. V. Lunacharsky, in which the People's Commissar of Education wrote: “On many decorations and posters in the days of the last festival, as well as on various publications in general, etc., due to misunderstanding, an ornament called the swastika is constantly used … Since the swastika is a cockade deeply counter- the revolutionary German organization ORGESH, and has recently acquired the character of a symbolic sign of the entire fascist, reactionary movement, then I warn that artists in no case should use this ornament, which produces a deeply negative impression, especially on foreigners. People's Commissar for Education A. Lunacharsky (A. Lunacharsky, 1922, p. 5)
Confirming the opinion of the People's Commissar of Enlightenment, already in 1923 a Nazi congress was held in Germany, where Adolf Hitler spoke under a new emblem: a black swastika in a white circle on a red background. The future Fuhrer explained this sign as a symbol of the struggle against Jews and communists. After such a statement, the swastika in the USSR began to be eradicated everywhere.
Echoes that have survived to this day
Considering that the swastika is primarily a sacred symbol, its image is preserved in church use: on the festive clothes of the clergy and in the design of temples. In particular, this sign can be seen in St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg and in St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev.
Galina Pogodina