Jim Teal who wrote the biography
Baden-Powell, argued that Baden-Powell's distrust of communism led to his implicit support, through naïveté, of fascism. In 1939 Baden-Powell noted in his diary: "Lay up all day. Read
Mein Kampf. A wonderful book, with good ideas on education, health, propaganda, organisation etc. – and ideals which
Hitler does not practise himself."
[7]:550 Baden-Powell admired
Benito Mussolini early in the Italian fascist leader's career. Some very early Scouting "Thanks" badges had a
swastika symbol on them.
[46] According to biographer
Michael Rosenthal, Baden-Powell used the swastika because he was a
Nazi sympathiser. Jeal, however, argues that Baden-Powell was ignorant of the symbol's growing association with Nazism and that he used the symbol for its centuries-old meaning of "good luck" in India. Also, Baden-Powell was named by the Nazis in "
The Black Book" of people to be arrested during the conquest of Great Britain. Scouting was regarded as a dangerous spy organisation by the Nazis.
[47] Finally, when Nazi use of the swastika became well-known, the Scouts stopped using it. Scouting had been banned in Nazi Germany in June 1934 on the grounds that it was "a haven for young men opposed to the new State".
[48]