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:
“We’ll build a democracy here, even if it’s with Nazi bricks.”
—Samuel Fuller, U.S. screenwriter. Samuel Fuller. Captain Harvey, Verboten! American Military Government officer explaining the practicalities of de-Nazification (1959)
“Alas, day, you brought light,
You trailed splendour
You showed us god:
I salute you, most precious one,
But I go to a new place,
Another life.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)