Unusual sad iron trivet

Today I spotted a sad iron trivet at a thrift store, It had a Nazi swastika on it. That was really unexpected. I kinda stepped away from it, thinking no way. As I was driving home I thought, how could that trivet end up in a small town thrift store in rural Ohio? Pre war import? Post war German immigration? War trophy? I think with a lot of things, the story behind the piece can be more important than the piece. Not knowing the story and the stigma surrounding the symbol, I had to pass.
Tony
 
Just because Hitler turned into something different...

The word swastika comes from the Sanskrit svastika, which means “good fortune” or “well-being." The motif (a hooked cross) appears to have first been used in Neolithic Eurasia, perhaps representing the movement of the sun through the sky. To this day it is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Odinism.

You'll see stoves valves out there for example with a swastika stamped on them.
 
Could that trivet be an item brought to, or made in the US, by German pioneers? When a local Catholic church was renovated a few years ago, there was a big flap over the swastika designs found on the original floor. The church was built in the nineteenth century by German immigrants, so there was no reference to the Nazis, obviously.
 
Tony,
I have read articles stating that one or more US manufacturers used the swastika as a trade mark prior to the rise of Hitler. They all abandoned the logo after it became associated with the Natzis. The piece you saw may have been made in the USA prior to WW II

Jack
 
Krane manufacturing used it. It was a widely recognized symbol of prosperity. After abolishing the trade unions in Germany, because of the power those organizations held over the working class people, Hitler created the Labour party and he needed to raise up a widely recognized symbol of "Prosperity" to convince the workers to follow him instead. The fact that some of these pieces of iron survived the purge is a testament to how widely used this symbol was.
I agree with you that the lessons behind the pieces of iron are far more important than the piece itself.
 
I personally wouldn't include one in my collection or sell one because of the negative feelings it has associated with it. I own a Crane gas fitting with the mark but it is not visible on the gas stove when assembled.
 
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