 Friday,
February 18, 2005
Bolsheviks'
predecessors also used concealed
swastika by Eric
Mueller 
I OWN THREE Russian banknotes
that were issued in 1917 by the Provisional
Government in Russia. That is, after the overthrow
of the Tsar, but before the Bolsheviks took
over. Hence the design of a double eagle that has
been stripped of its crown and scepter. The hammers
and sickle did not make its appearance until the
Bolsheviks, of course. The notes are of interest in terms of the
history of the Nazi swastika and in terms of the
absurd notion that the swastika has something to do
with hostility to Jews.  First,
-- it's a bit hard to see even on the enlargements
(click the thumbnails to enlarge),-- but if you
look closely at the double eagle on the 250 Ruble
note and at the center of the 1000 Ruble note,
you'll see that they both feature swastikas in the
background.
Not only swastikas, but
swastikas rotated to the 45-degree angle later
favored by the Nazis. The proportion and
thickness looks about the same as the Nazi style
swastikas as well.  In
1917 Adolf Hitler was still in some trench
on the western front. These notes make me wonder if
someone with Russian connections might have had a
hand in designing the Nazi emblem -- Alfred
Rosenberg, maybe?
Second, with regard to the identification of
swastikas with hostility to Jews, the Russian
provisional government that issued these swastika
notes was anything but anti-Semitic. Well-known
Jews like Jacob Schiff in the US provided
cash to the Provisional government, which removed
all the restrictions that the Tsarist government
had imposed on Jews in Russia. These swastika banknotes were issued by a
government which Jews around the world hailed as
their liberator. | ![[]](../../../online/std/dings/list.gif){kind=small}
write to David
Irving