Nazi salute
The Nazi salute or Hitler salute is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by extending the right arm in the air with a straightened hand. Usually, the person offering the salute would say "Heil Hitler!" (Hail Hitler!), "Heil, mein Führer!" (Hail, my leader!), or "Sieg Heil!" (Hail victory!).
It was adopted in the 1930s by the Nazi Party to show obedience to the party's leader, Adolf Hitler. It also gave honour to the German nation (and later the German war effort).
The salute was required for all civilians.[1] It was mostly optional for military personnel who retained the traditional salute until shortly after the failed assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20, 1944.[2]
In modern times
Use of this salute is currently a criminal offense in Germany, Italy, Japan, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Uzbekistan.[3] In Switzerland, France, Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden, the salute is illegal hate speech if used for promoting Nazi ideology.[4][5] In the United States, and most of the world (including Latin America, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, China, South Korea, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Norway, Denmark and Finland), use of the salute is not itself a criminal offense or constitutes hate speech, but contains discourteous phraseology if used for constituting Neo-Nazism.
Referencess
Nazi Salute Media
People performing the Nazi salute at the Harzburg Front rally in Bad Harzburg, October 1931
Hitler used to answer the common salute with his modified version, where his palm was parallel to the sky.
A mass "Sieg Heil" during a rally in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district of Berlin in 1935
Enamel sign with the note "The German greets: Hail Hitler!" (Der Deutsche grüßt: Heil Hitler!)
Ten- and eleven-year-old Berlin schoolchildren, 1934. The salute was a regular gesture in German schools.
Fritz Schilgen carrying the Olympic torch at the Berlin Olympic Stadium with the public giving the Nazi salute in the background
Karl Dönitz and Wehrmacht performing Nazi salute, 1941
- ↑ Kershaw, Ian (2001). The "Hitler Myth": Image and Reality in the Third Reich. Oxford University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0192802064.
- ↑ Büchner, Alex (1991). German Infantry Handbook, 1939–1945: Organization, Uniforms, Weapons, Equipment, Operations. Schipper Publishing. ISBN 978-0-88740-284-5.
- ↑ Czech Republic: A German put in jail for Nazi salute Global Voices, 15 August 2008
- ↑ O'Dea, Claire (21 May 2014). Hitler salute ruled not always illegal. http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Hitler_salute_ruled_not_always_illegal.html?cid=38631074. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ↑ Swiss court rules that Nazi salute may be 'personal statement', not racism. Geneva. 21 May 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/21/swiss-court-rules-nazi-salute-personal-statement-not-racism. Retrieved 27 May 2014.