The As A Symbol Of Good Luck And Auspiciousness - 1457 Words

Jew†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This classification was the first stake that drove a division between the general German population and the Jewish people. One of the earliest forms of propaganda created, as well as one of the most recognizable to the general public today, is the use of the Swastika to represent the National Socialist Germans Workers Party (Nazi party). According to the USHMM’s article on the â€Å"History of the Swastika,† it was not always used as a symbol of distinguished the Nazi party fro the rest of the population. In their article, they state that: In the beginning of the twentieth century the swastika was widely used in Europe. It had numerous meanings, the most common being a symbol of good luck and auspiciousness. However, the work of†¦show more content†¦A potent symbol intended to elicit pride among Aryans, the swastika also struck terror into Jews and others deemed enemies of Nazi Germany. This was the first classification and division created by the Nazis that had begun the process of genocide. This was a crucial first step in ruling out the Jews as part of the â€Å"Aryan race,† and it only got easier to further separate the Jews into â€Å"us and them† categories. Stage two is symbolization, where names or other such symbols are given to the classifications. In his examination of step two, Stanton mentions that, â€Å"We name people ‘Jews’†¦ or distinguish them by colors or dress; and apply the symbols to members of groups†¦ [and] when combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups: the yellow star for Jews under Nazi rule† This symbol, the Star of David, was a religious symbol used throughout Judaism. However, under Nazi rule it became a symbol of labeling and a cause for separation. As one can see, symbols were a large part of propaganda. The swastika was uses to represent the Nazi party, while the Star of David was used to identify and represent the Jewish people residing in Germany. And like the Nazi’s twisted the true meaning of the Swastika to fit their means of representing â€Å"racial purity,† they also twisted the religious meaning of the Star of David to something as derogatory as labeling individuals they deemed lesser than themselves. Stage threeShow MoreRelatedRites Of Passage, By Arnold Van Gennep1547 Words   |  7 Pageswhich are universally conducted for a variety of cultural, religious and social reasons. Grounded in everyday life, ritual is symbolic and emotional providing a transition of knowledge, behaviour and status, as Audrey Richards’s wrote, ’the use of symbols in ritual secures some kind of emotional compromise which satisfies the majority of individuals who compose a society and which supports its major institutions’ . These rites of passage, rituals or life cycles can represent a multitude of transitions