On popularity of Nazi symbols in Burma (and Thailand, Korea and India)

From: Asia Times, Jan 10, 2013

Nazi chic in the new Myanmar
By Julie Masis

YANGON - 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.

The popularity of Nazi symbolism among Myanmar youth has raised questions among activists, academics and travelers and is seemingly at odds with Myanmar's hopeful transition from military to democratic rule. "I suspect (and hope) they are popular out of ignorance rather than ideology," writes traveler Micah Rubin on her blog, where she posted a photo of a teenager wearing a shirt with a big swastika on the front.
see the symbols of the genocide that was perpetuated against the Jewish people become fads anywhere in the world."
[. . .]
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."
[. . .]
Full text at: http://tinyurl.com/c9whdg8