Sunday, April 17, 2011

Speedometer Works

Holy crap, what a dark and gritty poster. Can't you just picture this guy, 19 years later, commanding a Panzer division, blitzkrieging across Poland? That looks like a swastika disguised as a logo up in the corner.

Ludwig Hohlwein — Tachometerwerke —1920
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3 comments:

joe ackerman said...

that. is. awesome.

April 18, 2011 at 3:08 AM
Li-An said...

Well, the swastika was often used as symbol before it was "popularized" by Nazi Party.
And the guy could be in a politic camp as Communist in 1939... All German were not Nazis and it's a little sad to think first to this option.
You would not be pleased to see a comment like "Oh, I can imagine this guy in Guantanomo, torturing some innocent muslim".

April 19, 2011 at 8:14 AM
Thomas Haller Buchanan said...

Hi Li-An--

First of all, I understand completely what you're saying, and agree with the principle.

Second though, I'm commenting about a fictional person, because this is an artist's vision personified. Not all Germans were Nazis, but MOST Nazis were Germans, not that I even claimed that this guy might be a Nazi. The Nazi party was of course a political organization and ideology, meaning that the men of the German army were not necessarily Nazis, but were soldiers first and foremost. It's not a slur to say that someone might have fought for their nation's army.

As I look at this picture of this fictional fellow, I see the fierce determination that was required by Panzer soldiers and especially so in the military concept of crushing into 'enemy' territory without stop, as the blitzkrieg was defined. I make no judgement of this fellow other than to say that the artist has given him the look of someone who would not be easily stopped.

And yes, of course, the swastika far predated this use, as the American Indians also used the symbol. But the Nazi party was founded a year before this poster was printed and used the swastika from that point, and I was just pointing out how similar the logo was to a swastika, even to the point of angling its arms at the same degrees.

I made no judgements with that observation.

:)

April 19, 2011 at 3:32 PM

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