So was it Hitler’s congratulations or not?
Speaking at President Trump’s inauguration this week, Elon Musk clapped his right hand to his chest before shooting his arm up, palm down. He did it twice.
It looked similar to the greetings used in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. But almost immediately, a surprising number of different explanations began to circulate.
Some commentators call it “Roman contempt.” Some describe it as a “heartfelt” expression of joy, or dismiss it as a misunderstanding.
The website of the Anti-Defamation League, which campaigns against Jews, describes the Nazi salute as “raising the right arm with the palm facing down,” and calls it “the world’s most common hand sign of white supremacy.”
But after congratulating Mr.
Andrea Stroppa, who is known as Mr. Musk in Italy, wrote on social media X: “The Roman Empire is back, from Roman worship.” He later deleted the post, saying people were interpreting “the whole thing as a reference to Nazi-fascism.”
Mr. Musk, who owns X, wrote in response to the criticism: “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is so tired.”
The straight arm salute has meant very different things in different places and at different times of history. But at a time when the far right is on the rise again, the interpretation of the gesture was deliberate and publicly specific – especially in Germany, where the history of the salute remains very strong.
‘There’s no need to make this difficult’
In Germany, gestures like those made by Mr. Musk is illegal, along with other signs and slogans from the Nazi era. (On Wednesday night, anti-Musk protesters displayed a photo showing his greeting and the words “Heil Tesla” in front of his company’s German factory.)
With the founding of Germany, the situation was very clear.
“Hitler’s salute is Hitler’s salute,” wrote the popular German weekly Die Zeit in an editorial.
“There is no need to make this unnecessarily difficult,” said the organizer. “Anyone on a political stage giving a political speech in front of a right-wing audience,” – present at the inauguration were several far-right politicians from Germany, Italy, France and Britain – “anyone who raises their right arm in a dynamic manner and several times salutes Hitler.”
“Anyone who now thinks they should get the ‘Roman salute’ as Musk’s supposed reference is, above all, showing their willingness to reinterpret it in a kind way,” it concluded.
The “Roman salute” is indeed trending on social media – and images of toga-clad actors in films set in ancient Rome raising their right arms alongside Mr. Musk raised his own.
But was there a Roman salute in ancient times? No: There is no evidence that the salute was ever used in ancient Rome.
The actual history of the salute is little known – and very short: It was used in late 19th century theater and early 20th century films, which then inspired its use by fascists in Italy and Germany. And it’s actually been done for decades by American school children for completely different reasons.
From silent films to European fascists
“The Roman salute is a modern invention,” said Martin Winkler, professor of classical studies at George Mason University in Virginia, and author of “The Roman Salute: Cinema, History, Ideology.”
“There is no evidence from Roman paintings and drawings that the ancient Romans ever used that practice,” he added.
The salute became popular in stage productions and silent cinema, where films began to use touches of costume dramas performed in ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt.
“It’s just a visual action that was used a lot in the era of silent cinema when most films were set in ancient times,” said Mr. Winkler. “Why? Because apart from the noise, the amazing touch and what we would now consider excessive was the thing everywhere. Acts of praise were also like that.”
The greeting had its real success in 1919. Gabriele D’Annunzio, an Italian soldier and poet-turned-nationalist (who had worked on “Cabiria,” an Italian silent film set in medieval times) attacked Fiume, a now-defunct coastal city. from Croatia.
He ruled Fiume for 15 months as a sort of little Caesar, calling his soldiers legionnaires and addressing them from his balcony. And he adopted a ceremony that involved a straight arm salute that he called “Il saluto Romano,” or the Roman salute.
“This Roman salute is similar to stabbing: You stretch out your arm, look up and put your fingers together, as if you have figuratively stuck a knife in the enemy’s throat,” said Mr. Winkler. “A military-related, political action.”
The Roman salute was adopted soon after Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who came to power in 1923. Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party adopted it in 1926, calling it the German salute.
Interestingly, there was an American salute that preceded both.
Saluting the American flag
From today’s perspective, it would be surprising to see a group of school children giving a heavily armed salute to the American flag. But this practice was common for decades.
In 1892 – before the Chicago World’s Fair marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in America – Francis Bellamy, the son of a Baptist minister from upstate New York, wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, a version of which is recited by many Americans. school children to this day.
Along with his manager, James Upton, Bellamy also came up with a salute that goes along with repeating the pledge: Stand, hand over heart, and extend your right arm to salute the Stars and Stripes. It is known as Bellamy’s salute.
The promise itself was part of the Americanization program for immigrant children. But in 1942, when the United States was fighting the Nazis in World War II, the extension of arms was discontinued. “It seemed very close to Nazi worship,” Winkler said.
Whatever Elon Musk was trying to say on Monday, his salute seemed close to Nazi defiance if not quite the same. He first put his hand on his chest, which is not part of the Nazi salute, and could be closer to what those American school children did until 1942.
But the oath of allegiance was dropped in a way that left no room for misinterpretation: The act was inextricably tied to the Nazis.
“The general American perception was, ‘These are our enemies and we don’t want to be like them,'” Winkler said.
Mr. Musk is now courting far-right groups in several European countries. His audience in Washington on Inauguration Day included Tino Chrupalla, co-leader of Germany’s Alternative for Germany party; Giorgio Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, whose party emerged from the post-Fascist movement; Nigel Farage of the British Reform Party; and Eric Zemmour of France, who is to the right even of Marine Le Pen of the French National Rally.
“What is happening now is predictable,” Die Zeit said in its editorial. “Neo-Nazis and right-wing radicals can interpret the right arm as an act of solidarity and empowerment.”
Emma Bubola Rome contributed to reporting.
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