The Nazi salute or Hitler salute (German: Hitlergruß, literally Hitler Greeting, or Deutscher Gruß, German Greeting), was a gesture of greeting in Nazi Germany usually accompanied by saying, Heil Hitler!, Heil, mein Führer, or Sieg Heil! . Characteristic of a cult of personality, it was adopted in the 1930s by the Nazi Party to signal obedience to the party's leader Adolf Hitler and to glorify the German nation and later the war effort. The salute was mandatory for civilians but optional for military personnel, where the traditional military salute was retained until shortly after the failed assassination attempt on Hitler in 1944. Use of this salute is currently a criminal offence in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
Read more about Nazi Salute: Description, Origins and Adoption, From 1933 To 1945, Sieg Heil, Post-1945
Famous quotes containing the words nazi and/or salute:
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“There is only one thing that a man really wants to do, all his life; and that is, to find his way to his God, his Morning Star, salute his fellow man, and enjoy the woman who has come the long way with him.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)