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Bolsheviks’ predecessors also used concealed swastika

by Eric Mueller

I OWN THREE Russian banknotes that were issued in 1917 by the Provisional Government in Russia. That is, after the overthrow of the Tsar, but before the Bolsheviks took over. Hence the design of a double eagle that has been stripped of its crown and scepter. The hammers and sickle did not make its appearance until the Bolsheviks, of course.

The notes are of interest in terms of the history of the Nazi swastika and in terms of the absurd notion that the swastika has something to do with hostility to Jews.

First, — it’s a bit hard to see even on the enlargements (click the thumbnails to enlarge),– but if you look closely at the double eagle on the 250 Ruble note and at the center of the 1000 Ruble note, you’ll see that they both feature swastikas in the background.

Not only swastikas, but swastikas rotated to the 45-degree angle later favored by the Nazis. The proportion and thickness looks about the same as the Nazi style swastikas as well.

In 1917 Adolf Hitler was still in some trench on the western front. These notes make me wonder if someone with Russian connections might have had a hand in designing the Nazi emblem — Alfred Rosenberg, maybe?

Second, with regard to the identification of swastikas with hostility to Jews, the Russian provisional government that issued these swastika notes was anything but anti-Semitic. Well-known Jews like Jacob Schiff in the US provided cash to the Provisional government, which removed all the restrictions that the Tsarist government had imposed on Jews in Russia.

These swastika banknotes were issued by a government which Jews around the world hailed as their liberator.