The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute, or the Sieg Heil salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by raising and extending the right arm forward at an upward angle with a straightened hand, fingers together, and palm facing downward. The salute is usually accompanied by a cry of "Heil Hitler! (), "Heil, mein Führer! (), or "Sieg Heil! ().
Inspired by the Fascist salute used by members of the Italian National Fascist Party, the Nazi salute was officially adopted by the Nazi Party in 1926, although it had been used within the party as early as 1923 to signal obedience to the party's leader, Adolf Hitler, and to glorify the German nation (and later the German war effort). The salute was mandatory for civilians but mostly optional for military personnel, who retained a traditional military salute until the failed assassination attempt on Hitler on 20 July 1944.
Use of the salute is illegal in modern-day Germany, where associated phrases are also forbidden, although exemptions are made for its ironic use to mock the Nazi greeting. It is also illegal in Austria and Slovakia. In Canada, much of Europe, and Australia, the salute is forbidden except under circumstances that do not promote Nazi ideology.
Description
The salute was executed by extending the right arm stiff to an upward 45° angle and then straightening the hand so that it is in the same direction and slope as the arm. Usually, an utterance of "Sieg Heil, "Heil Hitler!, or "Heil! accompanied the gesture. If one saw an acquaintance at a distance, it was enough to simply raise the right hand. If one encountered a superior, one would also say "Heil Hitler. If physical disability prevented raising the right arm, it was acceptable to raise the left.
Hitler's use
Hitler gave a right-armed salute with variations. He used the typical stiff-armed salute when reviewing his troops or when facing crowds, but sometimes held at more of a right angle. To return a salute, he raised his arm with the elbow bent back and his palm facing up.
Origins and adoption
The spoken greeting "Heil became popular in the pan-German movement around 1900. It was used by the followers of Georg Ritter von Schönerer, head of the Austrian Alldeutsche Partei () who considered himself leader of the Austrian Germans, and who was described by Carl E. Schorske as "The strongest and most thoroughly consistent anti-Semite that Austria produced" before the coming of Hitler. Hitler took both the "Heil" greeting – which was popularly used in his "hometown" of Linz when he was a boyFest, Joachim C. (1973) Hitler. Translated by Richard and Clara Winston. New York: Vintage. p. 36. – and the title of "Führer for the head of the Nazi Party from Schönerer,Kershaw (1999), pp. 34–35 whom he admired.Ullrich, Volker (2016) Hitler: Ascent 1889-1939. Translated by Jefferson Chase. New York: Vintage. p.35.
The extended arm saluting gesture was alleged to be based on an ancient Roman custom, but no known Roman work of art depicts it, nor does any extant Roman text describe it.Winkler (2009), p. 2 Historians have instead determined that the gesture originated from Jacques-Louis David's 1784 painting Oath of the Horatii, which displayed a raised arm salutatory gesture in an ancient Roman setting.Winkler (2009), p. 55 The raised arm, first stretched out as a symbol of righteous fervor-as the Horatii evince it-and later as a symbol of political allegiance and religious-political unity between a people and its leader, becomes an important part of the iconography of new societies. In addition to its specific contemporary use the gesture comes to express, in a fashion that appears timeless and even mystical, an appeal to a higher being and to a heroic ancient past that had served as a model for most of Western civilization for centuries, although often in ways not supported by historical fact. David’s Oath of the Horatii provided the starting point for an arresting gesture that progressed from oath-taking to what will become known as the Roman salute.Winkler (2009) pp. 42–44 Boime states: "The brothers stretch out their arms in a salute that has since become associated with tyranny. The 'Hail Caesar' of antiquity (although at the time of the Horatti a Caesar had yet to be born) was transformed into the 'Heil Hitler' of the modern period. The fraternal intimacy brought about by the Horatii's dedication to absolute principles of victory or death ... is closely related to the establishment of the fraternal order ... In the total commitment or blind obedience of a single, exclusive group lies the potentiality of the authoritarian state." The gesture and its identification with ancient Rome was advanced in other French neoclassic art.Winkler (2009), pp. 40, 50–51
In 1892, Christian socialist minister Francis Bellamy revised the United States Pledge of Allegiance, which was to be accompanied by a visually similar salute. Years after the introduction of the Nazi salute, in 1942 the U.S. introduced a hand-over-the-heart gesture for civilian use during the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem.Multiple sources: Winkler (2009), p. 57.
A raised arm gesture appeared in the 1899 American stage production of Ben-HurWinkler (2009), pp. 70, 72, 74 and its 1907 film adaptation.Winkler (2009), p. 83 The gesture also appeared in several early Italian films,Winkler (2009), pp. 85–90 including the 1914 silent film Cabiria, the screenplay of which featured contributions from ultranationalist and Italian fascism influencer Gabriele D'Annunzio.Winkler (2009), p. 94 D'Annunzio adopted the salute during his occupation of Fiume (1919–1920) and the Italian National Fascist Party began imposing it in the early 1920s.
The Ku Klux Klan's salute, reportedly dating to 1915, is similar but performed with the left arm and often with the fingers splayed, representing the four Ks in "Knights of the Ku Klux Klan".Staff (ndg "Ku Klux Klan (hand sign) Anti-Defamation League
By late 1923, some Nazi Party members were using the salute to greet Hitler, who responded by raising his own right hand crooked back at the elbow, palm opened upwards, in a gesture of acceptance. In 1926, the Nazi salute was made compulsory for all party members. It functioned as a display of commitment to the party and a declaration of principle to the outside world.Allert (2009), p. 55 Gregor Strasser wrote in 1927 that the greeting in and of itself was a pledge of loyalty to Hitler, as well as a symbol of personal dependence on the Führer.Kershaw (1998), p. 294 Even so, the drive to gain acceptance did not go unchallenged.
Some party members questioned the legitimacy of the so-called Roman salute, employed by Fascist Italy, as un-Germanic. In response, efforts were made to establish its pedigree by inventing a tradition after the fact. In June 1928, Rudolf Hess published an article titled "The Fascist Greeting", which claimed that the gesture was used in Germany as early as 1921, before the Nazis had heard about the Italian Fascists.Allert (2009), pp. 55–56 He admits in the article: "The NSDAP's introduction of the raised-arm greeting approximately two years ago still gets some people's blood boiling. Its opponents suspect the greeting of being un-Germanic. They accuse it of merely aping the [Italian] Fascists",Allert (2009), p. 56 but goes on to ask, "even if the decree from two years ago [Hess' order that all party members use it] is seen as an adaption of the Fascist gesture, is that really so terrible?" Ian Kershaw points out that Hess did not deny the likely influence from Fascist Italy, even if indeed the salute had been used sporadically in 1921 as Hess claimed.Kershaw (1999), pp. 294, 689
On the night of 3 January 1942, Hitler said of the origins of the salute:
Nazi chants
Nazi chants like "Heil Hitler!" and "Sieg Heil!" were prevalent across Nazi Germany, sprouting in mass rallies and even regular greetings alike.
In Nazi Germany, the Nazi chants "Heil Hitler! and "Sieg Heil! were the formulas used by the regime: when meeting someone it was customary to greet with the words "Heil Hitler!, while "Sieg Heil! was a verbal salute used at mass rallies. Specifically to the cry of an officer of the word Sieg (), the crowd responded with Heil ().Allert (2009), p. 32 For example, at the 1934 Nuremberg Rally, Rudolf Hess ended his climactic speech with the words "The Party is Hitler. But Hitler is Germany, just as Germany is Hitler. Hitler! Sieg Heil!"Kershaw (2001), p. 69 At his total war speech delivered in 1943, audiences shouted "Sieg Heil!, as Joseph Goebbels solicited from them "a kind of plebiscitary 'Ja ('yes') to total war.Kershaw (2000), pp. 561–562.
On 11 March 1945, less than two months before the capitulation of Nazi Germany, a memorial for the dead of the war was held in Marktschellenberg, a small town near Hitler's Berghof residence.Kershaw (2000), p. 766 The British historian Ian Kershaw remarks that the power of the Führer cult and the "Hitler Myth" had vanished, which is evident from this report:
The Swing Youth () were a group of middle-class teenagers who consciously separated themselves from Nazism and its culture, greeting each other with "Swing-Heil!. This playful behaviour was dangerous for participants in the subculture; on 2 January 1942, police chief Heinrich Himmler suggested that the leaders be sent to concentration camps.
The form "Heil, mein Führer! ('Hail, my Leader!') was used to directly address Hitler, while "Sieg Heil was repeated as a chant on public occasions. Written communications would be concluded with either "mit deutschem Gruß ('with German regards'), or with "Heil Hitler.Allert (2009), p. 15. In correspondence with high-ranking Nazi officials, letters were usually signed with "Heil Hitler.Klee, Kulturlexikon, S. 227.
From 1933 to 1945
Under a decree issued by Reich Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick on 13 July 1933 (one day before the ban on all non-Nazi parties), all German public employees were required to use the salute.Kershaw (2001), p. 60 The decree also required the salute during the singing of the national anthem and the "". It stipulated that "anyone not wishing to come under suspicion of behaving in a consciously negative fashion will therefore render the Hitler Greeting," and its use quickly spread as people attempted to avoid being labelled as a dissident.Evans, Richard J. (2005) The Third Reich in Power. New York: Penguin. p. 45. A rider to the decree, added two weeks later, stipulated that if physical disability prevented raising of the right arm, "then it is correct to carry out the Greeting with the left arm."Kershaw (2001) On 27 September, prison inmates were forbidden to use the salute, as were Jews by 1937.Allert (2009), p. 51