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Asian faiths try to save swastika symbol corrupted by Hitler

FILE - A groom stands behind a sheet bearing the Hindu swastika during a ritual at a mass wedding ceremony in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. More than 1000 couples were married during the event that was organized by a local politician. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade) This photo provided by the Rev. TK Nakagaki in November 2022 shows a map where Buddhist temples are marked by swastikas in Japan. The swastika was standardized as a temple marker on maps during the Meiji era in the 1880s, and has since been used for that purpose. (The Rev. TK Nakagaki via AP) FILE - Thelma Smith's home on Andover Terrace in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh bears a swastika in the concrete above the entrance on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 26, 2010. Built in 1912, long before Hitler's rise, the swastika is a Hindu symbol of the sun and is also a symbol of good luck. (Justin Merriman/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP, File) FILE - Tiles with swastikas have been removed from the Indiana University School of Public Health building in Bloomington, Ind., on Monday, July 8, 2019. The tiles were installed more than a century ago have been removed from the walls inside the Indiana University building. The Bloomington school says the tiles at the Indiana University School of Public Health classroom building were installed before the swastika was adopted as the symbol of the Nazi Party. They're among tiles that include symbols from different cultures. (Michael Reschke/The Herald-Times via AP) In this photo provided by Holocaust researcher Jeff Kelman in November 2022, the swastika is seen on a coupon-type store token made before the Nazi Party adopted the symbol. This is part of Kelman's collection, which he says shows the "regular and innocuous use of the swastika as a symbol of good fortune in the West, prior to the Nazi use of the similar-looking hakenkreuz." (Jeff Kelman via AP) FILE - JoAnna Stull of the Greeley History Museum looks at a quilt decorated with swastikas in Greeley, Colo., on Friday June 18, 2010. The quilt was probably made before 1930, according to the family and the Greeley Museums. Hitler adopted the symbol in 1935. (Eric Bellamy/The Greeley Tribune via AP) FILE - One of about 60 floor tiles emblazoned with swastika-style crosses in the entrance to the Longview Community Church in Longview, Wash., is seen on March 3, 2016. A Longview church established in 1925 bears tiles with symbols that were once seen as a sign of good fortune, but are now more closely associated with terror. (Marissa Luck/The Daily News via AP) FILE - Brian Marquardt of Applegate Building Restoration lowers a Swastika symbol to the ground after it was removed from the north side of St. Mary's Cathedral in St. Cloud, Minn., Tuesday, May 2, 2006. The symbols were installed when the cathedral was constructed in the 1920s. (Dave Schwarz/St. Cloud Times via AP, File) This photo provided by the Rev. TK Nakagaki in November 2022 shows the Zenko-jo Buddhist temple in Nagano, Japan, founded in 642 AD, Japan's first Buddhist temple. The swastika symbol is found in the temple's banners, paper lanterns, pillars, roof tiles and in the main shrine alongside the temple crest design of the hollyhock flower. (The Rev. TK Nakagaki via AP) A Hindu swastika symbol is displayed at the home of Sheetal and Sanmeet Deo on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Syosset, N.Y. Hindus, Buddhists and Native Americans are trying to rehabilitate the swastika, a symbol of peace and prosperity, and to restore it to a place of sanctity in their faiths. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki) Sheetal Deo and her husband, Sanmeet Deo, hold a Hindu swastika symbol in their home in Syosset, N.Y., on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. Hindus, Buddhists and Native Americans are trying to rehabilitate the swastika, a symbol of peace and prosperity, and to restore it to a place of sanctity in their faiths. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Asian faiths try to save swastika symbol corrupted by Hitler