This is an excellent documentary about how the swastika became the preferred logo of the National Socialist regime in Germany. NAZI LINKS Many people already know that the swastika was used by other cultures before the 1930s.
This documentary states that the first publication to feature the symbol in Germany was from a group founded by Madam Blavatsky, the figurehead of the Theosophy movement. Earlier, Blavatsky wrote a book titled The Secret Doctrine which features such quaint concepts as "root races" from India{The Idea of Racism with Apes comes from here.~Secret Archive] and the mysterious power of ancient symbols. She believed that the swastika was the most powerful of all these symbols, and in fact the Theosophical Society's logo still retains the swastika to this day. The swastika isn't the only esoteric symbol that the National Socialists used, and Germany was home to several groups interested in pre-Christian spirituality long before the Third Reich. Guido von List was a turn of the century occultist who believed in a "Germanic religion" which incorporated pagan concepts from Teutonic mythology, including the worship of Wotan (Odin). List wrote a book titled The Secret of the Runes which popularized the study of the Runic alphabet as a way to get in touch with the metaphysical history of Germany.
