Heil Hitler?
An attendee of a gathering of supporters of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was spotted doing the Sieg Heil salute on the day of the first State of the Nation Address. This salute is a popular greeting in Nazi Germany under dictator Adolf Hitler.
ABS-CBN News shared pictures of the chief executive’s supporters who gathered along IBP Road near Batasang Pambansa Complex to hold a street concert and watch Marcos’ SONA on Monday.
Among the images shared by the news outlet featured a male attendee extending his arm in a salute popular during Hitler’s time.
The man also held a collage that included images of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr, the “UniTeam” alliance logo, the Japanese rising sun flag and Hitler himself with the Nazi flag behind him.
The text “Sieg Heil!” was also written on the collage.
The photo caught the attention of some social media users who found the gesture “disturbing.”
“Alam kaya niya kahulugan ng ginawa niya? Nakakatakot,” another Twitter user said.
“This is alarming and scary… Biktima pa rin ba siya ng disinformation? I don’t think so,” wrote a different Filipino.
Another Twitter user pointed out that if the supporter were in Germany, he’d be sanctioned.
“Kung sa Germany ‘yan, lagot na agad sila,” she said.
Displaying a Nazi salute and supporting the fascist group, vocally and in written form, throughout Europe is illegal and can result in jail time.
Chanting words associated with the gesture is also forbidden.
The salute was first used in Nazi Germany in the 1930s as a way to pay homage to Hitler. The gesture features raising an outstretched arm with the palm down.
It was often accompanied by loud chants of “Heil Hilter” (Hail Hilter) and “Sieg Heil” (Hail to victory).
The salute was mandatory to civilians but mostly optional for the military personnel, who retained the traditional military salute until the failed assassination attempt on the German dictator in 1944.
Hitler, as leader of Nazi Germany, orchestrated the Second World War and the deadly Holocaust which saw the deaths of at least 40 million individuals from both events.
He espoused radical nationalism and anti-Semitic views largely based on the false concept that Jews were responsible for Germany’s defeat in the First World War.
Hitler also believed that his country’s greatness would be restored by eliminating Jews and other supposed inferior races, as well as political opponents of the Nazi Party.
