The Hitler Salute. On The Meaning of a Gesture

New York: Metropolitan Books, 2008. — 115 pgs. Sometimes the smallest detail reveals the most about a culture. In The Hitler Salute, sociologist Tilman Allert uses the Nazi transformation of a simple human interaction-the greeting-to show how a shared gesture can usher in the conformity of an entire society. Made compulsory in 1933, the Hitler slaute developed into a daily reflex in a matter of months, and became the norm in schools, at work, among friends, and even at home. Adults denounced neighbors who refused to raise their arms, and children were given tiny Hitler dolls with movable right arms so they could practice. And, of course, each use the greeting invested Hitler and his regime with a divine aura. The first examination of a phenomenon whose significance has long been underestimated, The Hitler Salute offers new insight into how the Third Reich's rituals of consent paved the way for the wholesale erosion of social morality.Contents
Introduction: An Entry from a Journal
Shaping the Beginning
The Greeting as Initial Gift
German Greetings
An Oath by Any Other Name
The Rise of the Sphere of Mistrust
Devaluing the Present
The Long Shadow of a Fatal Gesture
Notes
Acknowledgments
Illustration Credits
Index