Nazi Chic - Popular Usage

Popular Usage

In the 1970s punk subculture, several items of clothing designed to shock and offend The Establishment became popular. Among these punk fashion items was a T-shirt displaying a Swastika, an upside-down crucifix and the word DESTROY– which was worn by Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, seen in the video for "Pretty Vacant". Rotten wore the swastika another time with a gesture that looked like a Nazi salute. In 1976, Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees was also known to wear a Swastika armband with fetish S and M clothing, including fishnets and a whip. These musicians are commonly thought to have worn such clothing for shock value directed towards the British WWII generation rather than being genuinely associated with any National Socialist or fascist ideologies, and those with such interests likely became part of the Nazi punk or white power skinhead subcultures.

In 1984, two T-shirt designs featuring Adolf Hitler became popular. The more famous of the two was the "Adolf Hitler European Tour" design, which featured a picture of Hitler against the backdrop of a map of Europe, with conquered territories shaded; and tour dates given as:

• September 1939 Poland
• April 1940 Norway
• May 1940 Luxembourg
• May 1940 Holland
• May 1940 Belgium
• June 1940 France
• September 1940 England Cancelled
• April 1941 Jugoslavia
• May 1941 Greece
• June 1941 Crete
• August 1942 Russia Cancelled
• July 1945 Berlin Bunker.

A person attending an REM concert on September 28, 1986 wearing the "Adolf Hitler European Tour" T-shirt was asked to leave by Michael Stipe. A less popular T-shirt featured Hitler giving the Roman salute, and a yo-yo hanging from his hand. The text read "European yo-yo champion 1939-1945". Sale of the apparel led to a legal case in Germany, in an attempt to have it banned as "glorifying genocide". Local courts ruled against the shirt makers, although Bavarian state courts later ruled in their favor.

In an interview with Welt am Sonntag, Bryan Ferry, the English singer and musician, acknowledged that he calls his studio in west London his "Führerbunker". He was quoted as saying, "My God, the Nazis knew how to put themselves in the limelight and present themselves. ... Leni Riefenstahl's movies and Albert Speer's buildings and the mass parades and the flags - just amazing. Really beautiful." (Later Ferry denied ever making this quote, and the newspapers printed a rectification.) The American glam metal band Mötley Crüe inserted in the booklet of the album Mötley Crüe (1994) an image of Nikki Sixx dressed as a Nazi. Officially, the photo was related to lyrics about judging by appearances, but in actuality was inserted to mock the media The discographer decided to cancel that photo and to reprint the whole booklet. In the Mötley Crüe autobiography, The Dirt, the band writes about their "Nazi Wednesdays", in which they used to walk down the street dressed in Nazi uniforms.

In early 2005 a designer using the pseudonym "Helmut Doork" began marketing a parody souvenir t-shirt with the slogans "My grandparents went to Auschwitz and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!" and "Arbeit Macht Frei." In response to a complaint from the Anti-Defamation League, the design was removed from CafePress' website in late 2006.

Prince Harry was criticized for wearing a costume with a swastika armband causing considerable embarrassment to his family. He later issued a public statement apologizing for his actions, but his lack of apology in person angered some groups. Harry's impromptu costume resembled the Afrika Korps, rather than more political units such as the SS.

Alternative hip hop group OFWGKTA uses the swastika symbol and makes references to Nazism in its lyrics.