Fascinating study of the Heil Hitler! and how it was specifically designed to replace the regional German greeting incomprehensible to people outside a geographic area, take God out of everyday communications, elevate Hitler to a household word and offer a greeting that stripped away the class-consciousness of bowing and hand shaking. Allert includes stunning examples of the pervasiveness of the gesture, most notably a kindergarten wall painting of Sleeping Beauty waking up and Heiling the prin More...

Heil Hitler? “The story of the Hitler greeting is a tale of how Germans tried to evade the responsibility of normal social intercourse, rejected the gift of contact with others, allowed social mores to decay, and refused to acknowledge the inherent openness and ambivalence of human relationships and social exchange.” The author’s points about the social importance of greetings are many, some at odds with each other, all interesting. This short book holds a fascinating lens to everyday life in Ge More...