06-10-2008, 12:47 PM
All I wanted to express, Jim.
One thing more, we often talk about the svastikas between reenactors and we never succeeded in gaining a perfect consensus about it. So, don't consumate yourselves too much about that, it's worthless at the moment.
As far as I can see nowadays, neo-nazi groups hide their odedience by using preferentially some other symbols and words like triskells or norse symbols or germanic or gaul shields.
So it is sometimes tragicomic for us as reenactors because some innocent details can be negatively interpreted. As an example, in ancient britton language the army or the cohort was "BoDDin" (literally the phallanx) but the BoDDin was also the name of a french SS group of sinister memory in Brittany and some other symbols more "innocent" have been used. So, we have to be aware not to be associated with neo-nazi or politicized independantist groups by using some perfectly innocent historical symbols.
That's a concern and for those who know the "Pont-de-Buis" late Buckle, the only one found in Brittany, we had to modify the symbols on them. Letavia is not a politic affair and we have to take care of these little details permanently. Some viking reenacting groups swim with ease into ambiguity as an example. That's something we chose not to do.
For those who were in Saint-Romain en Ga,l the archaeologists discovered hundreds of svastikas on Ist cent mosaics (I have pictures eventually) and they don't hide them as a shameful symbol, the public can freely see them into the public museum. So, visitors can realize by themselves the reality and the antique meaning of these symbols. So, my last words will be that in western Europe (the background in the USA is clearly different), to rehabilitate the svastika is not our reenactor's mission currently, some museums do it better with original pieces. The coming generation won't personnaly know people who have been tortured by nazis. So even if the pressure on the duty of memory is constant, I guess they will have more serenity to decide what to do with svastikas.
However, one can't prevent people to see nazis where they want to see them, once I heard a mother saying her child: "look at the romans they were already nazis" showing a classical vexillum and a lictor's ax (symbol of Vichy's government for France). So perhaps that we should make an effort to save some symbols also?
Bye
Greg
One thing more, we often talk about the svastikas between reenactors and we never succeeded in gaining a perfect consensus about it. So, don't consumate yourselves too much about that, it's worthless at the moment.
As far as I can see nowadays, neo-nazi groups hide their odedience by using preferentially some other symbols and words like triskells or norse symbols or germanic or gaul shields.
So it is sometimes tragicomic for us as reenactors because some innocent details can be negatively interpreted. As an example, in ancient britton language the army or the cohort was "BoDDin" (literally the phallanx) but the BoDDin was also the name of a french SS group of sinister memory in Brittany and some other symbols more "innocent" have been used. So, we have to be aware not to be associated with neo-nazi or politicized independantist groups by using some perfectly innocent historical symbols.
That's a concern and for those who know the "Pont-de-Buis" late Buckle, the only one found in Brittany, we had to modify the symbols on them. Letavia is not a politic affair and we have to take care of these little details permanently. Some viking reenacting groups swim with ease into ambiguity as an example. That's something we chose not to do.
For those who were in Saint-Romain en Ga,l the archaeologists discovered hundreds of svastikas on Ist cent mosaics (I have pictures eventually) and they don't hide them as a shameful symbol, the public can freely see them into the public museum. So, visitors can realize by themselves the reality and the antique meaning of these symbols. So, my last words will be that in western Europe (the background in the USA is clearly different), to rehabilitate the svastika is not our reenactor's mission currently, some museums do it better with original pieces. The coming generation won't personnaly know people who have been tortured by nazis. So even if the pressure on the duty of memory is constant, I guess they will have more serenity to decide what to do with svastikas.
However, one can't prevent people to see nazis where they want to see them, once I heard a mother saying her child: "look at the romans they were already nazis" showing a classical vexillum and a lictor's ax (symbol of Vichy's government for France). So perhaps that we should make an effort to save some symbols also?
Bye
Greg
Greg Reynaud (the ferret)
![[Image: 955d308995.jpg]](http://www.ciberupload.com/uploads/955d308995.jpg)
Britto-roman milites, 500 AD
Britto-roman milites, 500 AD
) ) o lol: :wink:
