Tiff over a swastika

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 21, 2010

(Via Página/12)

A curious corner of South American history is bulging into something of an international diplomatic tiff. In 1939, after a sea battle with the British, Nazi battleship SMS Graf Spee limped up Río de la Plata to Montevideo and scuttled itself. There it sat, at the bottom of the bay just off shore from the capital of Uruguay, for almost 70 years.

Recently, however, some divers have hauled up a huge brass insignia from the wreck, featuring an eagle and a swastika. And Germany is pissed. They don’t want the piece sold or displayed because of its swastika.

As this blog post points out, that’s a little weird, considering the Germans fund World War II exhibits in other parts of the world. It almost sounds like they’re trying to extend their own laws prohibiting Holocaust denial and the display of National Socialist images to the rest of the world.

The ball is now in Uruguayan President Mujica’s court.

Here’s a short British propaganda video about the scuttling of the Graf Spee.

And here’s a longer documentary about the Graf Spee, if you’ve got an hour to kill. Good stuff.

  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • del.icio.us
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Related posts:

  1. Safety in numbers
  2. Job growth
This entry was posted in History, Uruguay and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

2 Comments

  1. Daniel Silliman
    Posted February 22, 2010 at 8:02 am | Permalink

    1) “Pissed” might be a little strong. Also, the implication that Germany is somehow exercising it’s imperial, colonial might by disliking something doesn’t exactly follow. “It almost sounds like they’re trying to extend their own laws … to the rest of the world” except that it doesn’t.

    2) Why should the Germans be happy if a symbol of their lowest point in history is auctioned off to a neo-Nazi group? This clearly hurts Germany’s reputation and any ambassador would use his or her super powerful position to say something like “we don’t like that.”

    3) It seems pretty clear that the concern isn’t about a “WWII exhibit,” so that’s a little disingenuous. Also, you failed to mention Uruguay has some of the same objections Germany does.
    http://www.smh.com.au/news/unusual-tales/battle-stations-over-sunken-nazi-ship/2006/08/25/1156012739254.html

    Nice site, Peter.

    Reply
    • Peter Krupa
      Posted February 22, 2010 at 8:16 pm | Permalink

      Thanks Dan! And way to keep me on my toes.

      Reply

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Subscribe without commenting

  • DAILY LINKS

    • The Nation has a long, wonky, wonderful article on Mexican maize cultivation, the effects of NAFTA, and the dangers of genetically-modified seeds. Author Peter Canby backs up his excellent writing with piles and piles of meticulous research. Not to be missed. [link, via SM] (Image from Joel Penner.)

    • Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas ended his hunger strike yesterday after 134 days. Farinas decided to end his strike after the Cuban government said it would release political prisoners rounded up in the "Black Spring" crackdown of 2003. Get well soon. [link]

    • The Uruguayan selection, which has made it to the quarter finals of the World Cup, just received a shipment of half a ton of fine cuts of beef for the mother of all asados in preparation for a contest against Ghana on Friday: "450 kilos of lomo, 200 of entrecot, 75 of vacío, 75 of colita de cuadril, 150 of ojo de bife and 50 kg of picaña." [link]

    • Hitmen have assassinated the PRI candidate for governor of Tamaulipas State, Rodolfo Torre Cantú. Torre was gunned down along with six others at about 10:30 this morning on a highway on the way to a campaign event. Drug mafias are assumed to be responsible. [link]

    • From the days when coups were something of a regional sport, new documents detail a famous British ballerina's role in a plot to topple the government of Panama. The plan was to use her yacht to gather men and arms, then "land somewhere and collect in the hills." It didn't work. [link]

    • Mexico's Attorney General's Office has posted on its web site irrefutable evidence that gold-plated AR-15s and diamond-studded pistol grips are not nearly as cool-looking as they sound. The deadly knick-knack collection is said to belong to Valencia Cartel leader El Lobo. [link]

    • Two Brazilian ranchers were sentenced to 30 years in prison apiece for ordering the killing of an environmentalist nun: "Prosecutors said the pair offered to pay a gunman $25,000 to kill the 73-year-old [Dorothy] Stang because she had prevented them from stealing a piece of land that the government had granted to a group of poor farmers." [link]


    • This video of a kidnapping and car chase in Mexico is notable mainly for the bad-assitude of the TV journalists who were on this like white on rice. Well done, gentlemen.

    • The Economist takes a peak at the Mockus phenomenon in Colombia: "His moustacheless beard gives him the air of a Baltic pastor... He is financing his campaign with a bank overdraft. His supporters rely on Facebook and make their own posters; street vendors sell unofficial campaign T-shirts." [link]

    • Some cruise lines will cease traveling to Antarctica after this cruise season, as a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil goes into effect next year. The ban came after a 2007 incident when a Gap Adventures ship got punctured by ice and sank, causing a mess. [link]