What is the meaning behind the Hitler salute?
希特勒敬礼背后的含义是什么？
It is simply a salute. The Nazis didn’t create the salute, they just used it. In fact, several cultures did. But, it is just a “salute” to show respect to a person or symbol such as a national or political party flag. It may also be used for the playing of a national anthem.
这只是一个敬礼。纳粹没有创造敬礼，他们只是用它。事实上，有几种文化确实如此。但是，这只是一个“敬礼”，以表示对一个人或象征，如国家或政党的旗帜尊重。它也可以用来演奏国歌。
It is often called the “Bellamy” salute, which was described by Francis Bellamy who wrote the original version of the American pledge of allegiance in 1892. He recommended the salute to accompany the pledge.
这通常被称为“贝拉米”敬礼，这是由弗朗西斯贝拉米谁写了1892年美国效忠誓言的原始版本描述。他建议在宣誓时敬礼。
Here we see school children giving the Bellamy salute to the American flag in 1941. The gesture is a “palm-out salute” that’s easy to teach.
在这里，我们看到学生们在1941年向美国国旗敬礼。这个手势是一个很容易教的“掌心敬礼”。
[image source: Bellamy salute – Wikipedia]
[图片来源：贝拉米礼炮-维基百科]
During the 1920s and 30s, Italian and German fascist parties adopted a similar salute derived from the “Roman salute” thought to have originated in ancient Rome. No Roman text, however, describes a salute like this so it was probably yet another myth created during the 18th and 19th centuries.
在20世纪20年代和30年代，意大利和德国法西斯政党采用了类似的礼炮，这种礼炮源于“罗马礼炮”，被认为起源于古罗马。然而，没有罗马文本描述这样的敬礼，所以它可能是在18世纪和19世纪创造的另一个神话。
After the fascists became the enemy during World War 2, the Bellamy salute was replaced with the right hand placed over the heart used since 1942 in the United States. This is often called the “Zogist” salute that originated in Albania. Again, it’s just a gesture used by someone to show respect to a person or symbol.
第二次世界大战期间法西斯成为敌人后，贝拉米礼炮被置于心脏上方的右手取代，这是自1942年以来在美国使用的。这通常被称为“Zogist”敬礼，起源于阿尔巴尼亚。再说一次，这只是一个手势，由某人用来表示对一个人或符号的尊重。
It is widely and incorrectly believed that the outstretched arm gesture was based on an ancient Roman custom, but no known Roman work of art depicts it, nor does any surviving Roman text describe it. Jacques-Louis David’s 1784 painting Oath of the Horatii showed a healing gesture with a raised arm in an ancient Roman setting.It functioned as a display of commitment to the Party and a declaration of principle to the outside world.
人们普遍错误地认为，伸出手臂的姿势是基于古罗马的习俗，但没有已知的罗马艺术作品描述它，也没有任何现存的罗马文本描述它。雅克·路易·大卫1784年的《霍拉蒂誓言》这幅画在古罗马画中表现了一种举起手臂的疗伤姿势设置。它是对党的承诺和对外原则的宣示。
The Hitler salute was cheerfully ripped off from Mussolini’s Fascist Party, who had cheerfully ripped it off from Imperial Rome, or so they claimed, although there is little actual evidence that the Romans actually practised the salute·
希特勒的礼炮是从墨索里尼的法西斯主义党那里欢快地撕下来的，墨索里尼的法西斯主义党曾欢快地从罗马帝国那里撕下来，或者他们声称是这样，尽管没有什么实际证据表明罗马人真的实行了礼炮。
The gesture has no specific symbolism, and the adoption of the salute by the Nazis had to do with Hitler‘s admiration for Mussolini’s so-called March on Rome, in 1922.
这个手势没有具体的象征意义，纳粹之所以采用这种礼炮，是因为希特勒对墨索里尼1922年所谓的进军罗马表示钦佩。
While it has become inexorably associated with Fascism and tyranny, with many countries actually making the salute illegal, with stiff penalties for anybody foolish enough to attempt it in public, an extremely similar salute was a part of life in the USA from 1892 until 1942, during daily flag worship for American children, otherwise known as the Pledge of Allegiance.
虽然它已成为无情地与法西斯主义和暴政，许多国家实际上使敬礼非法，严厉惩罚任何愚蠢到试图在公共场合敬礼，一个极为相似的敬礼是美国生活的一部分，从1892年到1942年，在美国儿童的日常国旗崇拜，也被称为效忠誓言。
Ironically, the US government expelled and persecuted students who refused to salute the flag, invariably for reasons of religion, with the Supreme Court even ruling that persons could be compelled to participate in what constitued an act of worship to the flag, until that is the landmark West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette case in 1943, when the decision was reversed.
具有讽刺意味的是，美国政府驱逐和迫害拒绝向国旗敬礼的学生，无一例外都是出于宗教原因，最高法院甚至裁定，人们可能被迫参与构成对国旗敬礼行为的活动，直到这是具有里程碑意义的西弗吉尼亚州教育委员会诉巴内特一案1943年，这一决定被推翻。