Hitler: Big in Burma

[Cain]

Asia Times:

Visitors to Myanmar these days often encounter young men in T-shirts emblazoned with a red swastika in a circle and the word "Nazi" written above. World War II-style motorcycle helmets decorated with the fascist emblem are also en vogue on the streets of Yangon.

Myanmar's most popular rock band, which has thousands of fans on Facebook and has toured the United States, is named "The Iron Cross," in reference to a German military medal that was bestowed by Adolf Hitler. The band's logo is a Nazi eagle holding an iron cross instead of a swastika in its claws.

Quite a few people seem to be excusing this on the basis that the swastika is a Sanskrit symbol blah blah blah.  Yeah, no shit, but when you're throwing the word "Nazi" above it, while listening to a band called "The Iron Cross" on your Hitler-themed iPod, it's possible that they're actually referring to the Nazi symbols here, and not Buddhist ones.

And lets face it, this isn't the only case of bizarre Hitler worship in SE Asia, as the article itself goes on to show:

In India, Hitler's autobiographical book Mein Kampf, which among other things proclaims the supremacy of the German race, is regularly sold at bookshops next to the biography of Apple founder Steve Jobs and the country's graduate students are snapping it off the shelves, Cooper says.

In Thailand, which was an ally of Germany and Japan during World War II, school children in the northern city of Chiang Mai dressed up as Hitler and in Nazi SS guard uniforms for a school parade in 2011. A local band named "Slur" produced a song and video called "Hitler," in which dancers put on Hitler mustaches and incorporated the Nazi salute into their dance routine.

In Korea, Nazi symbols have even been used to promote cosmetics, Cooper said. "I wish I could tell you it's the first time we've seen this phenomenon pop up in Asia, but it seems to come up too often," Cooper says. "It's difficult to put a finger on why it's happening."

And there is this, too:

While many Myanmar youth might not be familiar with the history of Nazism during WWII, many do have a perspective on the Nazis. In certain circles Hitler is seen by some Asians as a strong leader who fought against colonial powers, including England and France, that ruled and oppressed their nations before achieving independence.

American historian Rosalie Metro, who wrote her doctorate thesis on how history is taught in Myanmar, says that popular opinion of Hitler in Myanmar is generally positive. "I asked a few taxi drivers about history, and they said, 'Yes, Hitler is a good, strong leader,'" Metro said. "People say that sometimes."

Myanmar's government-issued history textbooks contribute to this strong leader perception because they do not describe Nazi atrocities, according to Metro.

"They talk about the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, and that the situation was very bad in Germany, that Hitler was a strong leader, and that many Germans felt that the Jews, who controlled the economy, were responsible for their troubles," Metro, who can read Burmese, said in summarizing Myanmar history textbooks. "That's strange because it doesn't say, 'And they were wrong.' And it doesn't mention the Holocaust."

That portrayal is in stark contrast to how schoolbooks refer to the British and the Japanese, who are described broadly as enemies of the Myanmar people who "sucked the lifeblood out of Burma," she said, referring to the country's former name.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

What in the blue FUCK?

And who's behind the textbooks?

[Cain]

Read the article:

Myanmar's government-issued history textbooks

[Junkenstein]

I read this at work today, great find.

The whole thing is just covered in insanity. Has no one there ever encountered Godwins law? Or the various touchy subjects that always lead to it?

I've got to get a hold of a few of these textbooks somehow.

[deadfong]

I don't know about Burma, but I don't think it's possible to Godwin a discussion in India.  About once a year or so an article pops up in the Times of India about a Hitler-themed restaurant or something similar.  Some of my wife's Indian friends, even ones who have moved to the U.S. and generally know what Hitler did, still express admiration for him because he was a "strong leader."

We've discussed this phenomenon many times, my wife and I, and haven't really hit upon anything like an adequate explanation.

[Cain]

In the case of India, this might help explain it.

Greek writer Savitri Devi was the first major post-war exponent of what has since become known as Esoteric Hitlerism.[2] According to that ideology, subsequent to the fall of the Third Reich and Hitler's suicide at the end of the war, Hitler himself could be deified. Devi connected Hitler's Aryanist ideology to that of the pan-Hindu part of the Indian Independence movement,[3] and activists such as Subhas Chandra Bose. For her, the swastika was an especially important symbol, as she felt it symbolized Aryan unity of Hindus and Germans.

Savitri Devi, above all, was interested in the Indian caste system, which she regarded as the archetype of racial laws intended to govern the segregation of different races and to maintain the pure blood of the fair-complexioned Aryans. She regarded the survival of the light-skinned minority of Brahmans among an enormous population of many different Indian races after sixty centuries as a living tribute to the value of the Aryan caste system (Goodrick-Clarke, Black Sun, p. 92).

Savitri Devi integrated Nazism into a broader cyclical framework of Hindu history. She considered Hitler to be Kalki, the tenth and final Avatar of Vishnu, and called him "the god-like Individual of our times; the Man against Time; the greatest European of all times",[4] having an ideal vision of returning his Aryan people to an earlier, more perfect time, and also having the practical wherewithal to fight the destructive forces "in Time". She saw his defeat—and the forestalling of his vision from coming to fruition—as a result of him being "too magnanimous, too trusting, too good", of not being merciless enough, of having in his "psychological make-up, too much 'sun' [beneficence] and not enough 'lightning.' [practical ruthlessness]",[5] unlike his coming incarnation

[deadfong]

That is totally fascinating.  My wife had heard of Savitri Devi before, but didn't know that much about her.  (She also confirmed the bit about Indian grad students and Mein Kampf, at least as far as Delhi University is concerned.) 

I'm also fascinated that there is such a thing as Esoteric Hitlerism.  I learn so much from this board.

[Cain]

I am a veritable font of unusual and mostly useless information.

[LMNO]

Srsly: Esoteric Hitlerism.  It's like Poe's Law meets Godwin.  It must be real, because if it was fiction, no one would believe it.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Well, Nazis don't ever actually die, right?  They just sort of lurk around in the wings with broken necks and rope burns, waiting for people to holler for them again.

[Cain]

Srsly: Esoteric Hitlerism.  It's like Poe's Law meets Godwin.  It must be real, because if it was fiction, no one would believe it.

Although, frequently esoteric Hitlerists do write fiction about their obsession.

It's mostly terrible, as you would expect.  Lots of UFOs, Tibet, Antarctica, secret Ayran Masters etc.

[LMNO]

Now I want to see if there's a FB group for them.

[Cain]

Redirects to a Wikipedia page 

Most groups tend to go under their own name, as even they realize idolizing Hitler in Western society tends to undermine one's arguments.  So, for instance the Order of Nine Angels and various offshoots are "satanic" groups with a political interest in the policies of the Nazi Party, both for their taboo value and because of the congruence with their own philosophy.

[Cain]

Well, Nazis don't ever actually die, right?  They just sort of lurk around in the wings

Especially if said wings are in Langley or Cape Canaveral.

[LMNO]

OOh.. BUUURN.