09-27-2021-2258 - Nazi salute, Hitler salute

 The Nazi salute, Hitler salute (German: Hitlergruß, lit. 'Hitler greeting', IPA: [ˈhɪtlɐˌɡʁuːs] (listen);^[1] also called by the Nazi Party deutscher Gruß, 'German greeting', IPA: [ˈdɔʏtʃɐ ˈɡʁuːs] (listen)),^[2] or Sieg Heilsalute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by extending the right arm from the neck into the air with a straightened hand. Usually, the person offering the salute would say "Heil Hitler!" (lit. 'Hail Hitler!', IPA: IPA: [ˌhaɪl ˈhɪtlɐ] (listen)),^[3] "Heil, mein Führer!" ('Hail, my leader!'), or "Sieg Heil!" ('Hail victory!'). 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 German war effort). The salute was mandatory for civilians^[4] but mostly optional for military personnel, who retained the traditional military salute until the failed assassination attempt on Hitler^[5] on 20 July 1944.

Use of this salute is illegal in modern-day Germany (Strafgesetzbuch section 86a) and Austria(Verbotsgesetz 1947), and is also considered a criminal offence in modern-day Poland^[6] and Slovakia.^[6]The use of any Nazi phrases associated with the salute is also forbidden.^[7] In Italy, it is a criminal offence only if used with the intent to "reinstate the defunct National Fascist Party", or to exalt or promote its ideology or members.^[8] In Canada, the Czech Republic,^[9] France, the Netherlands, Sweden,^[6]Switzerland, and Russia, displaying the salute is not in itself a criminal offence, but constitutes illegal hate speech if used for propagating Nazi ideology.^[10][11][6]

Hitler Youth in Berlin performing the Nazi salute at a rally in 1933

A mass Sieg Heil during a rally in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district of Berlin in 1935

Ten- and eleven-year-old Berlin schoolchildren, 1934. The salute was a regular gesture in German schools.

Karl Dönitz and Wehrmacht performing Nazi salute, 1941

"Millions stand behind me" (John Heartfield photomontage)

August Landmesser in his refusal to salute

Protestor gives the Nazi salute at the Unite the Right rallyin Charlottesville during 2017

Ku Klux Klan[edit]

Among other gestures used by the Ku Klux Klan, the "Klan salute" is similar to the Nazi salute, the difference being that it is performed using the left arm and not the right, and that often the fingers of the hand are splayed and not held tightly together. The four fingers represent the four Ks in "Knights of the Ku Klux Klan". According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Klan salute dates to 1915.^[107]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_salute