I was browsing a forum and saw a thread titled "Swastika's On Ice" and I said to myself, "Oh no! Do I even want to open up this thread? What on earth could it possibly be about?"
I opened it and found a black and white photograph of eight women in ice skates holding hockey sticks.
It turns out that the picture is one of the earliest known photographs of a women's ice hockey team that played in Edmonton. And their name? Yes, you guessed it: the Swastikas.
I wish there was more information available about this team than their name and the fact that the photograph was taken in 1916, but there is nothing else out there.
At least we are lucky enough to have seen such a rare piece of hockey history.
It just goes to show how the world (and the hockey world) has changed, as this picture was taken years before the Nazi uprising in Germany.
These jerseys existed well before Adolph Hitler wrote his autobiography, Mein Kampf, and chose the swastika for the symbol of his political party.
The Swastika is an ancient symbol for many things, but mainly peace and good fortune. It has now become a symbol of evil and hatred, as it should be.
We see this symbol all over in our daily life; whether it be on television, in history books, or, God forbid, as graffiti on a place of worship. But never did I imagine that the swastika was once the logo for a hockey team.
I hope you learned something today, because I sure have.
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