The swastika is an extremely powerful symbol. The Nazis used it to murder millions of people, but for centuries it had positive meanings. The swastika is an equilateral cross with four arms bent at 90 degrees. The Nazi party, however, was not the only party to use the swastika in Germany. After World War I, a number of far-right nationalist movements adopted the swastika. As a symbol, it became associated with the idea of a racially “pure” state. By the time the Nazis gained control of Germany, the connotations of the swastika had forever changed.