What does Elon Musk’s greetings mean

So is that greeting of Hitler?

Speaking at President Trump’s inauguration event this week, Elon Musk clapped his right chest before raising his hand diagonally, his palms face down. He did it twice.

It looks like a greeting style used in Nazi and Italy. But almost immediately, a large number of different explanations began to spread.

Some commentators call it “Roman -like greeting”. Others describe it as a way to show “sincere” joy, or think that it is merely awkward.

The website of the federating federation, organizing anti -Jewish campaigns, define The greeting of the Nazis is “raising the right arm wide with the palm of the hand” and ranked it as “the most popular hand -of -the -ending hand of the world in the world”.

But after Mr. Musk’s tough greeting, the anti -defaming federation called it “a clumsy gesture in an enthusiastic moment, not the greeting of Nazi Germany”.

Andrea Stroppa, known as Musk’s messenger in Italy, was posted on the social network X: “The Roman Empire has returned, starting from the Roman greeting.” Later, he deleted the post, saying that people were understood “the whole thing is referring to the German fascism.”

Mr. Musk, the owner of X, posted the article to respond to criticism: “The attack ‘everyone is Hitler’ so tired.”

The straight -hand greeting is very different in different places and in different historical stages. But at the time when the right side once again rises, this gesture is done in a very simple and public manner very simple – especially in Germany, the historic place of the greeting screen remains. The most powerful way.

‘No need to complicate this’

In Germany, gestures such as gestures that Musk perform are illegal, along with other symbols and slogans from the Nazi period. (On Wednesday night, the anti -Musk protesters showed a picture of him and the words “Heil Tesla” On the façade of the factory in Germany of his company.)

For the German government, the situation was very clear.

“A hitler hello is a hitler hello is a hitler,” The famous newspaper of Germany Die Zeit Write in an editorial.

The editorial wrote: “There is no need to make this unnecessary complicated.” “Anyone on the political stage has a political speech before a somewhat extreme audience,” – present at the inauguration ceremony are some extremely righteous politicians from Germany, Italy, France and He – “Whoever raises his right hand in the way of swaying and tilting many times is greeting Hitler.”

“Anyone who thinks they have to discover the older Roman greeting ‘as a reference that is said to be Musk, above all, showing the willingness to re -explain it in a good way. Calculate, “it concluded.

“Roman -style greeting” is really a trend on social networks – along with the images of actors wearing toga in rough movies set in ancient Roman right arms with their right arm along with Mr. Musk raised his right hand.

But is there a roman greeting in ancient times? No: There is no evidence that this type of greeting has been used in ancient Roman.

The actual history of this type of greeting is less known – and much shorter: it is used in theater works in the late 19th century and the early 20th -century films, then the fascists in Italy and Germany used. And it has really been performed by American students for decades for completely different reasons.

From mute to fascist European

Martin Winkler, a classic professor at the University of George Mason in Virginia, and the author of the book “The way to greet Rome is a modern invention”.Roman greetings: Cinema, history, thought.“

He added: “There is no evidence from the arts and the Roman paintings that show that the ancient Romans used that gesture.”

The first type of greeting became popular in the mute theater and cinema works, when the films started using this gesture for ancient dramas set in ancient Roman, Greece and Egypt.

“It was simply a visual gesture that was strongly implemented in the mute film era when many films were set in ancient,” Mr. Winkler said. “Why? Because when there is no sound, dramatic gestures and what today we consider is excessive acting is quite popular. The greeting gesture is no exception.”

The greeting had a breakthrough in real life in 1919. Gabriele d’Annunzio, a Italian soldier and poet became a nationalist (who had worked on “Cabiria”A mute film of Italy set in ancient times) Invasion of FumeA coastal city is now part of Croatia.

He ruled Fiume for 15 months as a miniature Caesar, calling his soldiers a soldier Le Duong and called them from the balcony. And he applied a ceremony including the straight -hand greeting type he called “Il Saluto Romano,” or Roman -style greeting.

Mr. Winkler said: “This way of greeting this Roman type is like a stab: you spread your arm wide, upwards with the fingers bunched together, as if it was a dagger that you stabbed into the throat. The enemy symbolically, ”Mr. Winkler said. “It is a very military and politicized gesture.”

The Roman greeting type was applied by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini shortly after that, who came to power in 1923. The Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler applied it in 1926, calling it the German greeting.

The interesting thing is that before both of them have American greeting.

Salute American flag

For modern eyes, it will be stunned to see a group of students raising their hands hard to greet the American flag. But this gesture has been popular for decades.

1892 – Before the Chicago World Fair marked the 400th anniversary of Columbus to the US – Francis Bellamy, son of a pastor Baptist from the outskirts of New York, wrote a loyal commitment, a version of it Many Americans recite. Students to this day.

Along with his boss, James Upton, Bellamy also devised a greeting with the commitment: Standing up, putting his hand on his heart, then spreading his right arm to greet stars and stripes. It is known as Bellamy hello.

The commitment itself is part of Americanization program For children immigrant. But in 1942, when the United States was fighting with Nazi Germany during World War II, the gesture of raising hands was abolished. “It looks too similar to the greeting of the Nazis.

Whether Elon Musk is trying to show something on Monday, his greeting looks quite similar to the greeting of Nazi Germany even if it is not identical. The first time he placed his hand on his chest, this was not part of the greeting of the Nazis and could be similar to what those American students did until 1942.

But loyal greetings were removed in a way that had no room for misunderstandings: This gesture became close to the Nazis.

“” This is our enemy and we don’t want to be like them. “

Mr. Musk is now flirt with righteous parties in some European countries. His audience in Washington on the inauguration day included Tino Chrupalla, co -leadership of the German Germany’s replacement; Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, who has the Party from the post -fascist movement; Nigel Farage of the British reform party; And Eric Zemmour of France, who even is on the right of Marine Le Pen of the French national protest.

“What is happening today can predict,” Die Zeit said in his editorial. “New Nazi people and the righteous people who can understand the right arm straight are a gesture of brotherhood and empowerment.”

Emma Bubola In Rome contributed the report.