During an excavation in 1871, an archaeologist discovered an unusual symbol – a cross with bent arms. He had no idea that, within a few years, this symbol would be known as a ‘swastika’ and would come to represent hatred, destruction, and the evils of the Holocaust. Though Hitler claimed to have designed the symbol, it originally meant ‘happiness’.
Today, ideologies use symbols for their own purposes. From the centuries-old ‘Z’ on Russian tanks that rolled into Ukraine in 2023 to the mysterious ‘Q’ conspiracy theorists who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, symbols have always been used to rally people in the pursuit of a common goal.
This documentary examines the symbols under which people have been – and still are being – hounded and killed. The symbols often have origins far from the meaning they later carry, but their myth remains. And with it, the danger that emanates from them.
