Tilman Allert

Metropolitan Books, New York, 2008. 115 sider. Orig. kartonbind med smudsomlag Særdeles velholdt eksemplar. Illustreret. Review: This book teaches us that ""Heil Hitler"" was the official, expected, even demanded greeting of choice in Germany for over a decade. Even the washroom attendants greeted people with it and some churches replaced ""Gruss Gott"" with the new deity: Hitler. Gone were the Ei Ei Dufe Wie, Gruss Gott, Servus, Moin Moin, and Guten Tag. Heil Hitler was the replacement. It was a simple, daily-repeated gesture of communication, an offer-acceptance and response between people which book-ended interpersonal communications. Everyday, with each interaction, Hitler was explicitly reinforced and social conformity occurred. The author's simple insights tells the reader how this simple greeting included the nation, advertised one's social affiliation, bonded the people, and excluded all the recalcitrant, obstructionist, non-believers and set them up for terror and punishment. For 12 years, all communications became politicized. In this book, the author explores the history of the gesture and words and investigates its power as an unconditional pledge that united the nation. (He also includes a few Heil Hitler jokes that were told, believe it or not, in Germany). I found it to be a creative analysis on the power of a simple but frightening gesture. What I found enlightening is the Wehrmacht's early rejection of the salute, since it had its own military salutes, loyalties, and traditions. Not until the Summer of 1944, after some Wehrmacht officers tried to assassinate Hitler, did the Wehrmacht accept the Hitler salute.. Engelsk