Not to be controversial, but I think that when we try to villainize people for their crimes, we just give their cause more mystery, romance, and fuel for resentment. The Nazi power did horrible things that we've all seen the pictures of, and those actions shouldn't be condoned, minimized, or forgotten. So have a lot of other governments, to greater and lesser degrees. But we feel free to discuss other governments rationally and openly, while with the Nazi party, we limit ourselves to speaking only in terms of negative pejoratives, often out of fear. I'm not a Nazi supporter or sympathizer, but I think that that fear is dangerous. I've talked with German WWII veterans (and by extension, members of the Nazi party during WWII), and I think a lot of them were just trying to serve their country and feed their families, and didn't want to think about any of the possible wrongs of their government. Much like a lot of good men that have fought for many other countries, even my own. I know that Neo-Nazis are a different group, who actively support the worst ideals of the Nazi party, but I try to keep the other men in mind too when I talk about the Nazi party.

It's our human nature when someone does something disturbing, to try to distance ourselves from that person, often by saying they were crazy or evil. Truth be told, we probably aren't that different deep down. And that's scary for some.

And I think you can bring positive meaning back to misused symbols with time. Otherwise, there's no hope for any of our symbols; all of them will or have been sullied at some time or another. Even Darth Vader.