Anti-racist Duvenecks opened property to all
I am sad that the Hidden Villa summer camp closed for the children, who will miss a great experience.
I looked up the symbol that caused the mistaken disturbance with the camp staff. Look up the meaning of the symbol on the Hidden Villa tiles. It is a backwards swastika. It is ancient in many religions. It certainly is not a Nazi symbol. Check out the Wikipedia article.
The Duvenecks were the most anti-racist people I know. They saved the land and paid taxes for the Japanese Los Altos families who were displaced by our government during World War II. They opened up their property to everyone. They were Quakers.
Those tiles were purchased in the 1920s, long before the other symbol facing the other direction was adopted by Hitler.
Please let the kids come to Hidden Villa.
Jean Struthers
Los Altos
HV incident exposes ‘shallowness of thought’
The unfortunate turn of events at Hidden Villa not only harms the children who were looking forward to summer camp, but shows the shallowness of thought regarding traditional symbols.
The swastika has been used by Native Peoples and many Eastern traditions for thousands of years, and by the Nazis for 12 years. Moreover, the swastika used by the Nazis is a different symbol if one looks carefully. The swastika used by the Native Peoples has “end tips” that point in a counterclockwise direction, whereas the Nazis swastika “end tips” point in a clockwise direction. These are different symbols.
Why should use of one symbol for thousands of years be discounted by a similar, but different, symbol used for 12 years by a brutal regime?
I would hope that Mimi Elias and Philip James would have a better understanding of the Duvenecks’ work to welcome, and bring together, all people.
Darwin Poulos
Los Altos
