What Elon Musk Did From the POV of a Holocaust Historian
TLDR- It was a Nazi Salute
I am going to call a duck a duck here. Despite LEGIONS of people trying to employ every excuse they can, the reality is that Elon Musk did a technical Nazi salute. His response to this? Well, see below…
Yes, he uses the names of the people who enacted the Holocaust and WW2 as puns in a joke. Let me remind you all of what happened.
Seeing the discourse around this has made me lose faith in the United States. I have never seen people try so hard to ignore what they saw with their own eyes. Also- for what reason? Elon Musk is not the President, Donald Trump is. Why are we defending a South African billionaire?
So I am going to dispell all of the possible excuses and myths.
Excuse 1: It was a random arm motion not a Nazi salute.
Musk not only did a Nazi salute, he did a textbook “Hitler-style” Nazi salute. It could not have been more perfect.
Allow me to explain what a Nazi salute is. We all know what it is but it is a clearly defined and unique gesture. Historically speaking a Nazi salute is defined by the following…
Make a chopping gesture with your right arm, extending it up and to the right at a 120-degree angle give or take. Your arm should not be straight up or at 90 degrees- somewhere in between.
Hand facing up and to the right of the person being saluted
Fingers together
Palm facing down
Now let’s talk about the Nazi salute. Hitler understood, deeply, the importance of messaging and imagery. That is why he changed the flag to the infamous swastika- a potent and unique symbol. The SS dressed in sharp appealing uniforms produced by Hugo Boss.
Hitler knew that the imagery of the party mattered and took it VERY seriously. The sharp uniforms, the fancy colors, the large crowds, the slogans, the eagles- everything. This also goes for the Nazi salute. Notice Hitler’s fingers at the top of the salute he does above.
To be clear I call it a Nazi salute because that is what it was. At first, it was a “Nazi Party salute” used by members of the party to salute each other or salute their leaders. Then when Hitler took power it quickly became a mandatory gesture replacing “good morning” and “hello” with the infamous arm gesture and a ”Sieg heil” or “heil Hitler”.
Meanwhile, The military had its own salute and tried to be a non-political organization. It wasn’t until mid-1944 after a failed assassination attempt on Hitler (from the military) that the “Nazi salute” was incorporated into the Army entirely to court favor from a wrathful Hitler.
I am glossing over a ton- more in the comments
The average person may just lazily do the gesture or do it halfway. You did not need to click your heels- that was purely for the military. As with all greetings it was done in the laziest way possible. You’d pass a neighbor in the street and do the motion super fast with a murmured “Sieg Heil” and a smile. These fanatical heel-clicking salutes came from the SS. The ferocious chopping salute Musk does comes from Hitler himself.
When Hitler did the salute he did it with an eye on imagery like with all things. Often he would grab at his chest or gesture at his chest before doing a sharp intense salute. Usually, it was done to accentuate a point he made or hammer home a theme. A somewhat unique aspect of Hitler’s salute is his fingers. Usually, you’d hold your fingers together and palm down like a karate chop. With Hitler, he would flex his fingers up making a little arch. See how exact it is for yourself.
Not similar at all huh?
Musk did a TEXTBOOK Nazi salute. He grabbed at his chest, did the karate chop motion, extended his arm to 120 degrees, palm was facing down, fingers together, and even flexed back fingers like Hitler.
THEN HE TURNED AROUND AND DID IT A SECOND TIME.
2: It was not “My heart goes out to you all”
When I am doing a “my heart goes out to you” gesture I don’t accidentally do a Nazi salute. I may grab my heart and extend my arm with my palm up or point to the person with a finger. I mean there are a million different “my heart goes out to you” gestures to make. I have NEVER in my LIFE seen someone say “My heart goes out to you” and up and pop the “Sieg Heil”.
This is because the Nazi salute is the MOST recognizable gesture one can make- as recognized as a formal US military salute. For instance here is Elon Musk doing a “heart goes out to you” gesture at a speech he gave to his company years back. Compare that to the gesture he made a few nights back.
Little different right?
If you think that the gesture Elon did was a gesture for “my heart goes out to you” then go to school or work tomorrow and when someone complains do that expect the gesture Elon did and say “My heart goes out to you”. After that calmly explain to HR that the gesture you did was just a loving gesture that those swastika stickers in your locker are the Sanskrit “peace” symbols and you just like the black and red ones the most.
3: It was not the “Bellamy Salute”
Starting in the 1890s young students would do a “Bellamy salute” to the flag as they said the “pledge of allegiance”. Arms outstretched, palms down- looks familiar right?
Now I have had 2 dozen people comment and say it was a Bellamy salute- it was not.
First off this “salute to the flag” was completely done away with in 1942 due to its similarity to the Nazi salute. Elon Musk was born in South Africa in 1971. How would he be aware of an obscure and no longer practiced salute mostly used in the US from 1920–1930? Also, why would he do a children's pledge salute from 75 years ago?
It’s so dumb I really feel like no further expansion on this subject is needed. Nobody knew anything about the Bellamy salute until 20 minutes after Elon did his Nazi salute on stage.
4: It was not a Roman salute
I’ve explained this but there was no Roman salute. The whole idea of this came from Italian fascism, an art film, and this 19th-century obsession with “recreating Rome”. The Romans used the right hand to make gestures but none was a “salute”.
On Trajan's column, we can see Romans extending their arms to Trajan- this was not a salute it was a sign of deep respect in Roman culture. When Augustus wanted to pay homage to Caesar he’d gesture with his right arm to Caesar’s temple. It was a point gesture with a relaxed arm though.
Oration and speaking were major parts of Roman culture and it was standard to remain frigid and sharp while speaking. However to emphasize a point one may raise their right arm lazily, contrasting with their rigid stance.
The first depiction of the “Roman Salute” came from Jacques-Louis David in his 1784 “The Oath of the Horatii”.
From there it was co-opted and expanded upon but Italian fascists and then German fascists. It then was incorporated into the HBO show “Rome” and other movies about Rome and is seen by a few as a “Roman Salute”. This fake Roman salute is not identical or even really close to the Nazi salute so you can’t even say he was doing the salute from the HBO show because he didn’t do that gesture.
5: It is not due to autism
Elon Musk is on the spectrum due to his having Asperger's.
There is something called “Autistic stemming" where an autistic person does a specific movement or says something in an effort to cope with stress or sensory overload. Here is an example of an autistic person “stimming”.
Now I have NEVER seen a case where someone with Autism pops a full technical Hitler salute to “stim” in a moment of nerves. This is not how autism or “stimming” works. There are millions with autism and they don’t do Nazi salutes or paint swastikas for fun.
Making this point shows an ignorance of autism or, frankly, ableism. To say that he did this concerning salute because “he is autistic” is offensive to the millions of autistic people.
If Elon just happened to do a sharp arm thing to “stim” we would have seen it before in the endless interviews, speeches, and other media appearances but it has never happened so no- case closed and stop bringing this up.
6: Democrats don’t do it also- there is no double standard
This dishonest meme keeps being posted. The idea is that Democrats also do the “Hitler salute” so what is the big deal, Alex?
Now notice how these are not “gifs” or videos. That is because THEY ARE NOT NAZI SALUTES. There are lots of reasons to hold your hand up. Waving at a crowd, pointing to someone, telling everyone to sit down, or making a calming gesture.
So someone went through speeches and took screenshots of Democrats with their right arm raised and said “It's a Nazi salute too” when no- it is not. I’ve tracked down most of the videos and there in every single one they are waving or pointing. Nobody did the chopping motion with the flexed fingers. They are waving, gesturing to “them” or calming a cheering crowd so they can speak.
That is why there are no videos or gifs but tell you what- even if there were WHO CARES. This is not a Republican vs Democrat thing. The fact that someone else did a Nazi salute does not take away from what Elon did. I’d be doing this for any politician who did the Nazi salute- regardless of affiliation.
The irony of this post is that the people who post it REFUSE to say anything about Elon and instead want to criticize Warren, Obama, or Harris for something that ELON did.
I am not writing this because I hate Republicans or because I am mad about Trump. I am not mad about Trump nor do I dislike Elon more or less than the average person. I am writing this because he did 2 NAZI SALUTES.
7: Call a duck a duck
The ADL came out and said it was not a Nazi salute. I suspect this is due to Musk's support of Israel and his support of Jewish people in numerous ways. The ADL is often wrong either calling Pewdiepie an alt-right Nazi over nothing or ignoring BLATANT examples of Nazism. I overall do not like to trust this organization which assuredly does not want to get off on the wrong foot with the richest man alive who happens to have the hear of the POTUS.
Every single logical person knows what this was. EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. My wife- who is a surgeon- asked about it. She hates history and yet everyone at the hospital was talking about the “Sieg Heil” Musk did.
Indeed rabid antisemite and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes celebrated it as clear “loving Hitler energy”. The same is true of every far-right organization in the US. All of them celebrated the gesture as a clear Nazi salute.
The list of Neo-Nazis overjoyed at this gesture is a mile long. Even right-wing pundits like Steven Crowder called it a Nazi salute.
I am not trying to state what the motivation here is. Maybe Elon has far-right leanings, maybe it was a dog whistle, or maybe he was drunk. I do not know what his intent was and what his thinking was. I am not Jewish- it is not my place to take offense. He may not be antisemitic or he may secretly be a rabid ethno-nationalist.
However, we need to call a duck a duck here. He did a Nazi salute. He did not do a Roman salute (that never existed), he didn’t do an obscure 1920s US children's salute, and he was not “stimming”. IT WAS A TEXTBOOK HITLER SALUTE WHICH HE DID TWICE.
What bothers me more than the salute is the number of people trying to justify it by any means possible. Taking screenshots of famous Democrats with their arm raised, calling it a “Bellamy salute” saying he was autistic. They are so blinded by party loyalty that they can ignore TWO Nazi salutes.
Look you can just say “Ya he did that but he was trolling and I like him for _____ and ______” but at least have the courage to call a Nazi salute a Nazi salute.
Are we at a point in time where we cannot even call a Nazi salute a Nazi salute? Is that what has become of us?