The Hitler salute (German: Hitlergruß), also known in Germany during World War II as the Deutscher Gruß (literally: German Greeting), or in English as the Nazi salute, is a variant of the Roman salute, adopted by the Nazi Party to indicate loyalty and subservience to the party's leader Adolf Hitler. It was adopted following its use by supporters of Italian fascism, a political movement under the leadership of Benito Mussolini, and other mass movements of the era. The Hitler salute became the embodiment of Hitler's cult of personality throughout Nazi Germany.

Description

For the Hitler salute the right arm is raised at an angle of about 45 degrees above the horizontal and slightly sideways to the right, and is almost always accompanied by the exclamation of the words Heil Hitler! said in a firm and usually loud voice. If standing in front of a superior the heels might be clicked simultaneously. At rallies and meetings the arms of the crowd may also be raised while rhythmically shouting Sieg Heil.

Origins

Although the Italian fascists associated the salute with ancient Rome, Hitler and the SS leader Heinrich Himmler believed that it originated from ancient gatherings of Germanic peoples.

Hitler regarded the salute as a demonstration of the warlike spirit of the Germans, while Himmler regarded it as a variant of the gesture of giving an oath with a raised spear.

Such claims had some justification, since historians had long argued that similar gestures were used at the installation of ancient Germanic kings.^[1] Illustrations reconstructing such events, and showing the salute, date back to the mid nineteenth century.

The modern Brockhaus Encyclopedia also repeats these claims, stating that the salute derived from gestures used during the coronation of early medieval German kings along with exclamation of "Heil".^[2] According to the Nazis' Nordicist version of Aryan theory, the rulers of ancient Rome were themselves migrants from Northern Europe, and so, in their view, were likely to have brought the salute to Rome from Germany.

Use in the Third Reich

From 1933 to 1945 the Hitler salute was the common German greeting. Heil Hitler! ("Hail Hitler!")^[3] was used when directly addressing a citizen, or, in the Waffen-SS, a higher ranking officer. Hitler himself preferred to be addressed with "Heil, mein Führer!" (Hail, my Leader) or simply "Heil!", as addressing him with "Hitler" would be in third person.

Sieg Heil! ("Hail victory!") was a common Nazi chant at rallies, especially after the speeches of Hitler. Usually the words would be repeated three times to form the chant "sieg...Heil! sieg...Heil! sieg...Heil!"

Hitler himself would often use the salute, and there are many photographs of him saluting crowds from one of his open motor vehicles. When on the receiving end he would frequently adopt a modified version, in which his arm was bent up from the elbow, with the palm of his hand bent back towards his shoulder in such a manner as the American tradition of saluting the nation's flag. Like the more familiar Hitler salute, it predates the Nazi and Fascist movements.

After the July 20 Plot in 1944, the military forces of the Third Reich were ordered to replace the standard military salute with the Hitler salute. The order went into effect on 24 July, 1944, four days after the attempt on Hitler's life in Rastenburg, however, many units chose to ignore this order and continued to use the traditional salute. Previous to this, the salute was optional in the German armed forces, though if met with either the salute or the salutation, it was customary to reply with it. (In the German armed forces of that period, a junior would not greet or salute a superior unless offered such a courtesy by the latter).

After 1945

The Roman salute, on which the Hitler salute is based, was used in many different countries for many different purposes before World War II. For example, the Bellamy salute, used as part of the United States Pledge of Allegiance in the late 19th century and early 20th century, was a version of the Roman salute with some similarities to the Nazi salute. The Bellamy salute has been abandoned since 1942 because of this similarity. The same happened to most other forms of the Roman salute used across the world. In Spain, the fascist salute is less common since 1975 when the dictatorship of Francisco Franco ended with his death, although it is still employed by neo-Falangist parties and groups.

Use of the salute and accompanying phrases has been forbidden by law in Germany and Austria since the end of World War II. Versions of the salute are used by neo-Nazis, who also use the number 88 to stand for "Heil Hitler" (the 8 standing for H, the eighth letter of the alphabet). One version is the so-called Kühnen salute with extended thumb, index and middle finger, also forbidden in Germany.

The salute has been emulated in fiction since 1945, being used as a non-verbal shorthand to distinguish the villains from the heroes. As an example, the Romulans (depicted as a fascist society) in the original Star Trek television series (1966-69) use an upraised arm, palm down salute in several episodes, such as "The Enterprise Incident," and the evil versions of the Enterprise crew in the "mirror universe" of the episode, "Mirror, Mirror" gave a modified version of this salute, first bringing their fist to their chests then extending it outward Nazi-style.

Satirical use

Satirical use of the salute dates back to anti-Nazi propaganda in Germany before 1933. The photomontage artist John Heartfield used Hitler's modified version, with the hand bent over the shoulder, in a poster that linked Hitler to Big Business. A giant figure representing right-wing capitalists stands behind Hitler, placing money in his hand, suggesting "backhand" donations. The caption is, "the meaning of the Hitler salute" and "Millions stand behind me". After the Night of the Long Knives, cartoonist David Low, a longtime foe of Hitler, drew a cartoon showing terrified storm troopers with their hands raised in surrender under the caption, "They salute with both hands now." Since "heil" is also the imperative of "heal" in German, a common joke in Nazi Germany was to reply with "Is he sick?", "Am I a doctor?" or "You heal him!" ^[4]. However, such a joke could land the joker in jail.

During the war the allies also used the salute in satirical ways, often to poke fun at the Nazis. In Charlie Chaplin's film The Great Dictator (1940) the Hitler character ("Adenoid Hynkel") several times causes chaos while attempting to use the salute. Chaplin himself remarked that Hitler's "hand thrust backward made one want to place a tray of dirty dishes on it."

In the 1953 comedy-drama Stalag 17, Colonel von Scherbach, the commandant of the titular POW camp, provides a copy of Mein Kampf to the barracks, so the camp can be indoctrinated in the "ways of the Führer." While being "indoctrinated," the POWs, all wearing fake Hitler moustaches, give a German sergeant the Nazi salute and shout "Sieg Heil!" The sergeant then comments "One Führer is enough."

After the war satirical usage continued, most notably in Stanley Kubrick's dark comedy Dr. Strangelove. The eponymous character is an expatriated former-Nazi scientist with alien hand syndrome, the actions of which give away his subconscious thoughts (including choking himself and giving the salute). His left arm attempts to hold it down as it uncontrollably rises. This gesture has come to be used to suggest attempts to struggle against the open expression of neo-Nazi thoughts or urges.

In modern culture the Hitler salute is sometimes used jocularly, but the humour is not always appreciated. It is often used to imply that the person being addressed is behaving like a "little Hitler" (i.e. a bully). In the United Kingdom it is common to signify the satirical nature of the salute by simultaneously placing the index finger of the left hand under one's nose as a parody of Hitler's moustache. This is portrayed in a famous episode from the comedy Fawlty Towers ("The Germans"). It was also seen in another BBC production - the 1964 Doctor Who adventure The Dalek Invasion of Earth, in which Daleks seen to be patrolling London in the future raised their sucker arm in a style similar to the familiar salute. Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks, always implied that this was intentional as he wanted the public to link the Daleks with the Nazis. It was yet again seen in episode 3 (Forward, Mr. Grainger), season 4 of British comedy series Are You Being Served? Mr. Grainger is set in charge of the department in the absence of Mr. Rumbold. He is very strict and leads the department like a dictator. The allusion to Hitler is so obvious that Mr. Humphries and Mr. Lucas raise their right arm when he passes. The words "Sieg Heil" and "Heil Hitler" are also used satirically in modern times, though they may be considered offensive. However, along with the salute, they have also been used to poke fun at Nazis, or to insinuate that someone may be acting like a dictator. The Swing Kids had a parody of the chant, "Swing Heil."

The border between satirical and offensive usage of the term "Sieg Heil" is sometimes ambiguous, and comedians using it for humorous purposes have sometimes been accused of anti-semitism (see, for instance, Dieudonné M'bala M'bala's controversial "Isra-Heil" sketch).

See also

• Sieg Heil
• Roman salute
• Ave
• Bellamy salute
• Za dom spremni (Croatian: "For home - ready!")

Notes