The Hitler Salute: On the Meaning of a Gesture

"Good morning." "How do you do?" "Hello." We issue this sort of greeting dozens of times every day, and probably don't even think about how greetings work, what function they perform, or what things would be like without them. We certainly don't consider them something we have to do, or something compulsory, but we all do them anyway, so they must be important. What if a specific greeting became compulsory, though? This experiment has been tried, and the results are examined in _The Hitler Salute: On the Meaning of a Gesture_ (Metropolitan Books) by Tilman Allert, with translation from the German by Jefferson Chase. Allert, a professor of sociology and social psychology at the University of Frankfort, shows that there has been a great deal of research on greetings in general. His scholarly, reserved approach to his specific subject has produced a small volume that considers a small gesture that had big consequences, not as a product of the evils of Nazism, but as one of the promoters of those evils. It is remarkable that this subject has not been evaluated before, but here is a clear and scary examination of how the salute came to be and what influence it had. "Salute" not only means the physical, often military movement of a hand in greeting, but also the words that accompanied the greeting, and both are examined here, as are the meanings of greetings as they are more naturally used. A greeting provides an initial structure for human interaction, an initial gift to another person to get things going. "Heil Hitler" injected a third party into greetings, and did so under the force of law. It was on 13 July 1933 that the edict was issued to make the greeting mandatory. Every greeting would thereupon not just be a greeting, but would be a statement of the relationship of the greeters to the Fuhrer. Students, by order, would say it to their teachers, and to each other. Department store attendants would greet shoppers with, "Heil Hitler, how may I help you?" Samuel Beckett wrote in his travel diary in 1937, "Even bathroom attendants greet you with `Heil Hitler.'" The words were accompanied by the right hand salute. The Reich invented legends about the gesture to differentiate it from the similar Italian fascist salute, or from that of the Socialist International. The gesture was everywhere, and within the book is a reproduction of an illustration of the Sleeping Beauty story; the heroine has been kissed by her Prince, and is just awakening, so he gives the Hitler salute to her. Shaking hands brings people closer together, but Allert says that giving the hand salute "makes it necessary for the greeter to stand back from the other person and thus intensifies the estrangement and sense of uncertainty that is usually overcome or bridged during an act of greeting." This is the sort of insight that makes this a more thoughtful book than would be just a history of the gesture. Allert reminds us that greeting words or gestures are sup

Tilman Allert's The Hitler Salute proves to be a highly informative book on the usage and meaning behind the most obvious symbol of Nazi Germany next to the swastika. In a relatively short book, the author clearly explained the meaning, symbolism and social ramifications of this salute that not only was used among Nazi Party members but in all aspects of German life. From what the author appears to be saying, any German living during this period who lived a normal life, used this form of greeting. The author make it clear that this Hitler salute was mandatory form of greetings that become quite habit forming among the German people. It certainly was a clever way to insert Nazi loyalty among the people by its very day usage. The author (who is German himself), explained how a greeting "Heil Hitler" can be used in both personal, religious and formal aspects of German life. The author explained to the reader what exactly the words "Heil Hitler" actually means in actual German context and meaning. It replaces most other forms of greeting. The author clearly stated that as the Hitler salute became more and more prevalent throughout the everyday life of all Germans, the decay of German society as a whole set down. This indirectly helped pave the way for World War II, holocaust and other horrors that the Germany imposed on Europe during the time that German people were heiling each other with gusto. Interestingly, until 1944, German military (unless you were generals or in presences of higher authority) avoided the Hitler Salute as much as possible. This form of greeting also helped in determining who was with or against the Nazi regime as the salute helped the Nazis conformed Germany into a their image. The odd nail definitely got hammered down. The author also goes through the basic history of this salute, its possible origins from Fascist Italy and personal experiences of many Germans who lived during that period. Overall, a pretty good coverage of a subject matter that you see all the time in photos and movies but never really explained in detail until this book came out. The book come highly recommended to anyone who have an interest in Nazi Germany or World War II in general.

This book teaches us that "Heil Hitler" was the official, expected, even demanded greeting of choice in Germany for over a decade. Even the washroom attendants greeted people with it and some churches replaced "Gruss Gott" with the new deity: Hitler. Gone were the Ei Ei Dufe Wie, Gruss Gott, Servus, Moin Moin, and Guten Tag. Heil Hitler was the replacement. It was a simple, daily-repeated gesture of communication, an offer-acceptance and response between people which book-ended interpersonal communications. Everyday, with each interaction, Hitler was explicitly reinforced and social conformity occurred. The author's simple insights tells the reader how this simple greeting included the nation, advertised one's social affiliation, bonded the people, and excluded all the recalcitrant, obstructionist, non-believers and set them up for terror and punishment. For 12 years, all communications became politicized. In this book, the author explores the history of the gesture and words and investigates its power as an unconditional pledge that united the nation. (He also includes a few Heil Hitler jokes that were told, believe it or not, in Germany). I found it to be a creative analysis on the power of a simple but frightening gesture. What I found enlightening is the Wehrmacht's early rejection of the salute, since it had its own military salutes, loyalties, and traditions. Not until the Summer of 1944, after some Wehrmacht officers tried to assassinate Hitler, did the Wehrmacht accept the Hitler salute.