On Friday (9^th of December) S.Amarmandakh, frontman of the Mongolian rock band ‘Khar Sarnai’ (Black Rose) spoke from his hospital bed about the so-called 'swastika attack', which caused his injuries. The singer was seriously beaten by an employee of the Russian Embassy at a ‘Happy Ulaanbaatar’ public celebration on 22nd of November.

S.Amarmandakh said: "I didn’t know that my attacker was a foreigner. I didn’t say "Heil Hitler! The attack happened when I came down from stage and was leaving. Some people have explained the attack wrongly – so, I'll tell you what happened myself.  After the attack I was unconscious for five days and semi-conscious for ten more. I’m grateful to all the people who prayed for me. I think that the guy who attacked me has a family. So I ask that he comes to see me man-to-man – so we can understand each other. People can make mistakes. If he begs my forgiveness, I will handle the issue as a man. I graduated from School 23 in Ulaanbaatar, which was a "Russian school". I like Russia. I don't wish that relations between Russia and Mongolia get damaged over the issue."

The reason for the attack appears to have been the fact that 'Khar Sarnai' often uses the symbol of the swastika, which, for them, is intrinsically linked to Mongolia's Buddhist identity. At the concert S.Amarmandakh was wearing a Mongolian deel with a prominent  swastika motif. This is what appears to have triggered the incident. For Mongolians, it is a positive cultural symbol; for Russians, and many nations, however,  it represents the evil and tyranny of Hitler's Germany and the greatest tragedy of the last century. In the Soviet Union, it is estimated that 20 million died in WW2.

'Black Rose' can also be seen as an unfortunate name; the 'White Rose' (die Weisse Rose), was the name of the group of the brave German students and young intellectuals who stood up to what the Nazi regime represented – and died for it.