# The man with the swastika tattoo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769 "2014-04-23T14:30:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/61 "2014-04-23T20:48:03Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Personally, I’m non-confrontational. If he only smiled or gave me some answer that implied he liked what his tattoo stood for, I’d casually avoid him from then on. I wouldn’t tell him he should remove it and I’d probably keep my opinion of it to myself. I wouldn’t go as far as finding another gym. Also of note in the OP, but glossed over in the rest of the thread, is that OP noticed _once_, after x amount of time, a tattoo that is normally hidden. It isn’t as though this guy is proudly parading his Nazi souvenir; OP chanced to see an apparently faded, decades-old tattoo, that the tattoo owner normally covers. OP, does he look anything like Ian McKellen? ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/62 "2014-04-23T20:53:39Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > My WAG: it’s a prison tattoo. Perhaps he did a few years in his late teens/early 20s and had to hook up with the Aryans to survive in prison. +1 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/63 "2014-04-23T20:54:03Z")
I don’t have to tolerate the admiration of genocide. I don’t have to be okay with any and all speech. I get to speak in opposition to certain viewpoints. I have never claimed to be without judgment. I try not to judge people for things they have no control over, for accidents of birth, for choices that harm no one, or for things that have nothing to do with me. Genocide, shockingly enough, does not fit any of these categories. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/64 "2014-04-23T21:09:37Z")
If you’re already on friendly terms, I’m with those who would say “I’ve been meaning to ask - what’s the story with your tattoo?” No need to make assumptions before letting him explain. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/65 "2014-04-23T21:23:51Z")
I’d continue as normal, but I would make a mental note and I would probably hold back on anything more than “casual gym related chat”, that is, if I felt we were getting friendlier than just talking about exercise than I would want to have it out. My WAG, seeing as this is the UK, is a punk past of to wanting shock, rather than a real and current political belief. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/66 "2014-04-23T21:40:19Z")
And this reminds me of something similar that has happened to me. I was running a harp workshop and was warned about one of my students. She turned out to be a seemingly normal and reasonable person. However, one of my friends had befriended her on FB and had had a look at older posts. She is an animal rights extremist and regularly puts up gory pictures of slaughtered animals etc. Not my thing, but it’s not completely indefensible. However, in one of her animal rights rants she ends up defending Hitler for having great policies on animals and how the rest of his policies were just “misunderstood, he was only trying to defend his country and culture”. Eek. I’m till this day not sure what to do about it, since we are FB friends. She only did the Hitler thing once, never at me (I wasn’t even FB with her when she said it, though I found the conversation) and I think it with her she will defend anyone who is good for animals - I don’t think it comes out of an Anti-Semitic or fascist sentiment with her. But still. Thing is though, we can’t really stop her from taking the harp workshop (which is annually) again, so I’m still FB friends with her, but have her on “hidden” and I try to avoid contact as much as possible. It makes me feel icky, though. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/67 "2014-04-23T22:00:22Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > The irony burns. You have a swastika tattoo? I demand you explain yourself! You must remove it because it offends me! Let’s round up all the swastika owners and put them in camps! With ovens! Holy Christ on a fishstick. I was going to say that your earlier comparison of disliking Nazis with advocating genocide was the stupidest manifestation of the “Y U NO TOLERATE INTOLERANCE” idea, but you just outdid yourself. That’s phenomenal. Seriously, you just paraphased my advice of saying “Fuck, dude, that’s some shameful ignorant racist bullshit and I’m out” as advising the mass-murder of swastika owners. That’s really a remarkable achievement. > [@levdrakon](#): > > I’m pointing out the hypocrisy of people claiming to be anti-judgmental (or fascist or what not) while engaging in the same judgmentalism. Again, YOU’RE THE ONLY PERSON WHO’S ANTI-JUDGMENTAL around here. I love the idea that you say “anti-judgmental (or fascist or what not)” as if being judgmental is the same thing as being fascist. It’s one thing to stop digging when you find yourself in a hole. But you’re in free-fall from outer space. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/68 "2014-04-23T22:01:04Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > And this reminds me of something similar that has happened to me. I was running a harp workshop and was warned about one of my students. She turned out to be a seemingly normal and reasonable person. However, one of my friends had befriended her on FB and had had a look at older posts. She is an animal rights extremist and regularly puts up gory pictures of slaughtered animals etc. Not my thing, but it’s not completely indefensible. However, in one of her animal rights rants she ends up defending Hitler for having great policies on animals and how the rest of his policies were just “misunderstood, he was only trying to defend his country and culture”. Eek. > > I’m till this day not sure what to do about it, since we are FB friends. She only did the Hitler thing once, never at me (I wasn’t even FB with her when she said it, though I found the conversation) and I think it with her she will defend anyone who is good for animals - I don’t think it comes out of an Anti-Semitic or fascist sentiment with her. But still. Thing is though, we can’t really stop her from taking the harp workshop (which is annually) again, so I’m still FB friends with her, but have her on “hidden” and I try to avoid contact as much as possible. It makes me feel icky, though. See, this is worlds different to me. That’s someone making a public proclamation in favor of Hitler (and one that sounds very much like what modern white supremacists usually say, with the whole “defend his country and culture” bullshit) since you’ve known her. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/69 "2014-04-23T22:07:58Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Racist Nazi fuckhead, right? However my gym also has a good number of South Asians who go there and he’s as friendly with them as with me. I was a bit shocked so I’ve not even asked him about it. Should I say something? Confront him? What would you do? Why is ‘gets along with South Asians’ incompatible with being a racist? There were quite a number of South Asians in the 1930s and 1940s who got along very well with the Nazis and Japanese. South Asians themselves can be extremely racist (the Hindu caste system is essentially a form of proto-racism, inasmuch as higher and lower castes are to some extent racially distinct). And it’s entirely possible to, say, have animus towards Black people and get along well with South Asians, and vice versa. I think ‘racism’ is greatly overdiagnosed in America today, but I can’t think of too many good reasons to have a swastika tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/70 "2014-04-23T22:09:35Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Holy Christ on a fishstick. I was going to say that your earlier comparison of disliking Nazis with advocating genocide was the stupidest manifestation of the “Y U NO TOLERATE INTOLERANCE” idea, but you just outdid yourself. That’s phenomenal. > > Seriously, you just paraphased my advice of saying “Fuck, dude, that’s some shameful ignorant racist bullshit and I’m out” as advising the mass-murder of swastika owners. That’s really a remarkable achievement. > > Again, YOU’RE THE ONLY PERSON WHO’S ANTI-JUDGMENTAL around here. I love the idea that you say “anti-judgmental (or fascist or what not)” as if being judgmental is the same thing as being fascist. > > It’s one thing to stop digging when you find yourself in a hole. But you’re in free-fall from outer space. LOL. You put _a lot_ of energy into this, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/71 "2014-04-23T22:13:05Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > See, this is worlds different to me. That’s someone making a public proclamation in favor of Hitler (and one that sounds very much like what modern white supremacists usually say, with the whole “defend his country and culture” bullshit) since you’ve known her. Well, after I’ve known her actually. I was just able to go back to the bit on FB where she said it, because we became FB friends before I heard about this. Then someone told me, I went back to check to if they had misunderstood or exaggerated and I found the post. But you’re right that it isn’t something from her youth that she now regrets - AFAIK these are still her current beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/72 "2014-04-23T22:15:39Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > And so what if it is, in fact, a real Nazi tattoo that he still feels strongly about. Then what? > > What’s the end game? You give him a piece of your mind, lose someone whose conversations you enjoy enough to talk to at the gym and might have to give up your gym membership because you don’t want to go there while he’s there? Worry about getting into a fight about it? Tell him he’s an asshole and he brings his other Nazi friends to give you a beat down in the parking lot? > > The only ‘good’ I can see is that he’ll say ‘man, that’s an old tattoo, I was young and dumb and my life was very different back then’ and he changes the topic. Other than that, I can really only see bad things coming from it. I mean, is it really worth confronting him about old faded tattoo? > > What good can come from it? > > Look at it this way, if he still feels strongly about it Nazi, um, stuff, aren’t you glad there’s some way to identify him as feeling that way. If he doesn’t feel that way and it offends you, it’s your problem, not his, he doesn’t have to cover it just because you (and most people) don’t like it. Rant much? It would unwise to get too close to an adult (especially a White male) who doesn’t have the common sense to realize that a swastika tattoo might give others the perception that he is a racist. That lack of perception is a clue that this person probably isn’t operating at normal levels of functionality. Assuming that this person is anything other than inoffensive on a casual level is often why many people find their homes burglarized and themselves assaulted. Bad people don’t wear signs proclaiming the unsavory nature of their character. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/73 "2014-04-23T22:20:03Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > LOL. You put _a lot_ of energy into this, don’t you? Nah, I type fast. What a wonderfully droll and original response, though: your wit shines with the light of a thousand camels. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/74 "2014-04-23T22:26:32Z")
You could try to slow down your typing, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/75 "2014-04-23T22:42:02Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > You could try to slow down your typing, I suppose. Or you could put sufficient thought into your posts so they weren’t so ridiculous. I am, after all, the eternal optimist. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/76 "2014-04-23T22:45:40Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > Why is ‘gets along with South Asians’ incompatible with being a racist? > > There were quite a number of South Asians in the 1930s and 1940s who got along very well with the Nazis and Japanese. I don’t think many modern racists here in Britain are that historically aware of India’s connection with the Axis powers, the vast vast majority of racism I hear here is directed towards those of Pakistani or Indian extract (‘pakis’ is the usual slur). > [@partypooper](#): > > Does he have a lot of tattoos? Specifically newer looking ones? If he’s actively getting more tattoos then I’d think this scenario is less likely since he would’ve had the chance to get it covered up. My neighbor is a tattoo artist. When you’re around that lifestyle it’s easy to get work done without even looking for it. He touched up one of mine over the weekend while we were having a cookout. He does have a few tattoos on his arms, some look newer than others. I’ve not looked that closely, just seem to be the usual artwork and patterns; no SS runes or anything. > [@OneCentStamp](#): > > OP, does he look anything like Ian McKellen? Magneto’s tattoo was of a somewhat different type, if I recall. Seems opinion is split between do nothing or asking about it, which where the two options I was tossing around in my head - the former having in its favour that he’s not actually _done_ anything objectionable, the latter that I don’t want to freely associate with someone could be, well, a goddamn neo-Nazi. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/77 "2014-04-23T22:52:41Z")
N/m. Ninja’ed by the OP. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/78 "2014-04-23T22:53:59Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > This changes things a lot, in my opinion. For one it means it’s definitely not a prison tattoo. He was probably a punk or in the National Front when he was young. Does the National Front go in for swastika tattoos? > > I know Sid Vicious and the Sex Pistols liked their swastikas though Mr. Kobayashi’s friend seems a bit young for that scene. An estimated late forties could easily be mistaken for early fifties, which would fit the timeframe. **Mr. K** , it’s hard to know without meeting the guy, but from what you’ve said about him it would seem a bit harsh to judge him on what would seem to be a youthful indiscretion. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/79 "2014-04-23T22:54:21Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Or you could put sufficient thought into your posts so they weren’t so ridiculous. I am, after all, the eternal optimist. I absolutely _adore_ your optimistic take on some random nice dude who has an old swastika tattoo. Or were you being facetious? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769/80 "2014-04-23T22:58:15Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I absolutely _adore_ your optimistic take on some random nice dude who has an old swastika tattoo. > > Or were you being facetious? You’re not very good at this. You should probably return to the “Gosh, you’re investing so much energy into this!” tack. It’s an oldie, but a goodie! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-with-the-swastika-tattoo/686769.md?page=5)