Imagine being a time traveler, and returning to England during the Middle Ages; the swastika was called "fylfot" in England and it represented something positive. And then upon arriving at an ancient temple in China the time traveler again would see the swastika. In China the swastika was called "wan" and meant "good luck" -- so to use the symbol in China one would be hoping for health and happiness and prosperity. That culture in China respected the swastika and any visitor to that era would be expected to understand that. But if the time travelers would punch a button on the time machine, set the clock to June 1920, and "fly" to Germany, the traveler would learn that the swastika was the "official emblem of the German Gymnasts' League" (About.com). The swastika was also uses in "a multitude of places such as the emblem for the Wandervogel, a German youth movement" (About.com).

But wait, on August 7, 1920, at the Salzburg Congress, the swastika became the "official emblem of the Nazi Party"; Hitler had written in...

Accepting the swastika's radical departure into hatefulness and war from what was a sign of good luck and good will would be difficult for the time traveler, but in the case of Nazi Germany, one best stay out of sight, especially if one is Jewish or a gypsy.
Works Cited

British Broadcast Company. (2005). Origins of the Swastika. Retrieved July 14, 2009,

From http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk.

Rosenberg, Jennifer. (2008). The History of the Swastika. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from About.com, http://history1900s.about.com/cs/swastika/a/swastikahistory.htm.

Yronwode, Cat. The "Lucky W" Amulet Archive: The Swastika. Lucky Mojo. Retrieved July 15, 2009, from http://www.luckymojo.com/swastika.html.