Swastika palm tree symbol
- Thread starter Mickiana
- Start date
DoomTown
Member
Mickiana said:
In "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (and in "Last Crusade", as well), the German vehicles are clearly marked with the DAK (Deutsch Afrika Korp) symbol (a swastika over a palm tree.) Now I don't know EXACTLY which vehicles in the film had this symbol on them, but give "Raiders" a look again, and keep an eye on the vehicles...This is also a major inconsistancy with history, as the DAK and its symbol were not created until 1942 when Hitler tried to rescue his Italian allies in North Africa. Hope this helps!
Dig Site 1138
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Mickiana said:
I don't know about in Raiders. In Last Crusade, when the Gestapo comes after Brody in Iskenderun, Sallah shoves Brody into the door of a shop in the marketplace. The shop turns out to actually be a German box truck. The back of the truck is stenciled with the Afrika Korps palm and swastika logo.
Dig Site 1138
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And by the time I got done writing that, the chat board updated and someone had provided a photo. 
Montana Smith
Active member
DoomTown said:This is also a major inconsistancy with history, as the DAK and its symbol were not created until 1942 when Hitler tried to rescue his Italian allies in North Africa. Hope this helps!
There's barely anything in the movies that is consistent with our history.
For me that makes it much easier to accept the series. It exists on its own terms.
DoomTown
Member
Montana Smith said:There's barely anything in the movies that is consistent with our history.
For me that makes it much easier to accept the series. It exists on its own terms.
Very true, Montana...Just one of those things I thought I would share. It always makes me grin when I see that under movie mistakes for "Raiders" or "Crusade". After all, I also think that the age of the Grail Knight is a bit inconsistant with how long a person can live...
Dig Site 1138
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Anyone else notice that the Palm Tree has 7 leaves? "Good Luck" ? Occult significance?
Dr.Sartorius
New member
As a Jew let me say....that's actually kind of a cool symbol.
Rocket Surgeon
Guest
As a Kraut-Mic, I concur.Dr.Sartorius said:
Stoo
Well-known member
Please, don't do that, Mickie. Painting your VW van with khaki is fine but don't put a swastika on it. Who stated that it's "cool"?Mickiana said:I was thinking of painting my VW van khaki and putting the palm tree swastika on the back as an LC homage and, as has been stated, it is 'cool'. Then I thought, will everyone else have the sense of humour required? I do live in the sub tropics after all.
Stoo said:Please, don't do that, Mickie. Painting your VW van with khaki is fine but don't put a swastika on it. Who stated that it's "cool"?
I'm hearin' ya, Stoo. I have a sense of humour where almost nothing is sacred. No one said putting one on a van is cool (was just the way I worded my sentence), just Dr Sartorius and Rocket thought the symbol was "cool" and that's what i meant too. Hell, Mel Brooks got away with it years ago, but he is a well known comic which helps.
Archaeos
Member
Mel Brooks had a khaki VW van with DAK swastika emblem on it?
Melvin Kaminsky was a German Jew from Danzig. And his way of demoting Nazism was to make humour of the absurdity of it.
While many believe that he had a sense of humour where almost nothing is sacred, in fact, he had very clear moral and ethic directions of what was sacred and what needed to be scrupulously derided to make it impotent and thereby fathomable at the same time.
Of course: the symbol has a powerful and elegant aesthetic. Not sure if that equates to "cool" nowadays, but hey, your mileage may vary.
I have one DAK memorabilia myself, which will be featured in an upcoming sheet of my "Travelling Indy and the Discus of Pegasus" travelogue. But it is a, well, personal and well-contextualised memento, that is instantaneously explainable should anyone query me about it. I doubt your explanation of of a DAK VW van would wash well.
Rocket Surgeon
Guest
Too soon?Mickiana said:
Don't sweat it Mic, I could tell you were goofing.
This has run away like a Kombi going downhill without any brakes!
That's right. Being a tall shaven headed caucasian I might get mistook for being serious.
On a different note, I went to a VW show years ago and there were plenty of restored beetles and kombis there. One fellow had an immaculately restored split screen kombi that he had done up himself, engine and body and interior. He was even putting mirrors on the ground under the edge of the vehicle so the underneath could be viewed more easily. i was admiring his work when one young cheeky bloke next to us asked, "Does it leak oil?" The owner looked shocked at this suggestion and replied curtly, "This does not leak oil!" And to that the young bloke responded, "Well, you know what they say about a VW that doesn't leak oil - it doesn't have any!" I thought it quite funny but the owner was too busy being serious to be amenable to the joke.
That's right. Being a tall shaven headed caucasian I might get mistook for being serious.
On a different note, I went to a VW show years ago and there were plenty of restored beetles and kombis there. One fellow had an immaculately restored split screen kombi that he had done up himself, engine and body and interior. He was even putting mirrors on the ground under the edge of the vehicle so the underneath could be viewed more easily. i was admiring his work when one young cheeky bloke next to us asked, "Does it leak oil?" The owner looked shocked at this suggestion and replied curtly, "This does not leak oil!" And to that the young bloke responded, "Well, you know what they say about a VW that doesn't leak oil - it doesn't have any!" I thought it quite funny but the owner was too busy being serious to be amenable to the joke.
