I am wondering when the term “Swastika” started being used in reference to the Nazi symbology, vs the German word “Hakenkreuz” that Hitler himself used. I am aware that this symbol has an ancient and varied history, but why is the Sanskrit word for it the most used?
I have read that several devout Hindus take great offense to this characterization and feel that the word “Hakenkreuz” should be adopted as the standard for the Nazi symbol.
So my question is when and where is the earliest use of the term “Swastika” clearly referring to the Nazi Party? And why not “Hakenkreuz”, to be less offensive to Hindus.
Thank you
/u/killfile has previously answered Why was being Aryan such a big deal to the Germans?, which is part of a thread about swastikas.
/u/commiespaceinvader has previously answered Where did the swastika symbol come from?
Swastika was first referred to as Hakenkreuz in German as early as 1881 in Heinrich Schliemann book. Gradually, it became the German word to describe Swastika. The symbol was already referred to as Swastika in English. The two names refer to the same symbol but this is now being challenged on the basis of poor reading of history. There was no error and bad faith translation is highly difficult to prove considering the fact that it was Suastika that was referred to as Hakenkreuz first.
Read this and all your doubts will be cleared about this issue https://link.medium.com/xSjcS1o40vb