[NJARC] German radio

[Pmalvasi at aol.com]

Regarding the swastika on German radios it should be noted that some  Germans 
did not equate the Nazi movement with barbarism, racism and the other  sick 
attitudes and behavior associated with Nazis. I learned this from Joe  Hoffman 
who's dad and early ham invented the serated insulator for spark plugs  and 
had become a maker of them. I found empty box stock for those when going  thru 
his shack(some of the equipment is now in John Dilks museum) and noticed  the 
boxes were "adorned" with swastikas and had a NYC address.  Joe  explained that 
the early Nazi movement was mostly people who believed in a  nationalistic 
form of socialism and, he said, many Nazi's were "good people" who  were 
appalled by what Hitler and his acolytes were doing. Whatever.
 
The main point is it's not symbols which are offensive - it's how they are  
used. We certainly wouldn't accuse the Smithsonian for promoting racism because 
 they have a collection of Whites Only signs.
 
Pete Malvasi
(201)  819-1065