Elon Musk’s apparent use of a salute banned due to his ties to Nazism has sparked angry reactions across Europe, where some have condemned it as a malicious provocation or a gesture of solidarity with groups far right.
Michel Friedman, a prominent French-German publicist and former vice president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, called Musk’s actions — at an event after Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president — a disgrace and said Musk had shown that a “danger to the entire free world” had been reached.
Friedman, from a family of Polish Jews, almost none of whom survived the Holocaust, told the Tagesspiegel daily that he was shocked when he watched the inauguration live on television, adding that Concerning him, Musk had unambiguously played the Nazi “Heil Hitler”, despite attempts to downplay him.
“I said to myself that the breaking of taboos is reaching a dangerous point for the entire free world. The brutalization, the dehumanization, Auschwitz, all of that is Hitler. A mass murderer, a warmonger, a person to whom people were nothing but numbers – fair game, not worth mentioning,” Friedman said.
Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, called the gesture “very irritating.” But she added that it was not as significant as Musk’s recent attempts to interfere in German politics, where he supported the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party ahead of next month’s federal elections.
“Far more worrying are Elon Musk’s political positions, his offensive interference in the German parliamentary election campaign and his support for a party whose anti-democratic goals we should not be under any illusions about,” she said in a press release.
Musk made the gesture as a speaker on stage before Trump arrived at the Capital One arena in Washington on Monday. He warmly thanked Trump supporters before placing his right hand over his heart and stretching it in a sharp, rapid upward motion. Then he turned around and repeated the gesture in the other direction, saying, “My heart goes out to you. »
The billionaire tech entrepreneur, who heads Trump’s Department of Government Effectiveness, later responded to criticism of his behavior on X, tweeting: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks.” The ‘Everyone is Hitler’ attack is so tired.”
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said he considered Musk’s support for the far right unacceptable. He was asked how he thinks Europe should respond to the tech billionaire, particularly in light of his support for the AfD. AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla was among members of Europe’s far-right political class in Washington for Trump’s inauguration.
“We have freedom of speech in Europe and everyone can say whatever they want, even if they are a billionaire,” Scholz said. “What we do not accept is that this supports far-right positions and that is what I would like to repeat once again.”
Scholz also called for “keeping a cool head” in response to the Trump administration.
Musk responded on X, writing above a post about the chancellor’s remarks: “Shame on Oaf Schitz!
A Berlin judge, Kai-Uwe Herbst, told the Berliner Zeitung that a deliberate diagonal blow of the right arm in the air is sufficient evidence to bring charges against someone under German law.
But he added that it would also be necessary to prove malicious intent and that the individual concerned knew it was a Hitler salute.
Herbst, who has dealt with countless cases of people using the Nazi salute, said: “Sometimes they are drunk soccer hooligans, sometimes they are pro-Palestinian protesters who want to provoke. Most of the time, he said, the cases he saw were aimed at provoking rather than propagating Nazi ideology.
Benedict Mick, a criminal law expert, said determining whether the salute was considered a neo-Nazi gesture “would depend on the overall context.”
The American Anti-Defamation League said Musk’s gesture was not a Nazi salute. Instead, he said Musk had “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm,” in a message that added: “All parties should give themselves some grace.” »
Others in Germany urged caution as commentators questioned whether the gesture and its similarity to a Nazi salute was deliberate or not.
Journalist Lenz Jacobsen wrote in Die Zeit in an article entitled A Hitler salute is a Hitler salute is a Hitler salute: “Anyone on a political stage, giving a political speech to a partly far-right audience, extends his arm diagonally in the air, forcefully and repeatedly, gives the Hitler salute. There is no “probably,” “similar to,” or “controversial” about it. The gesture speaks for itself.
Miriam Hollstein, the chief reporter for Stern magazine, wrote on X that the salute distracted from other controversial issues related to Musk and received unnecessary attention. “Sorry, this was in no way a Hitler salute and was never intended as such,” she wrote. “Stop the nonsense. There are enough real things to criticize Musk about.”
Friedman called on Musk to demonstrate political responsibility. “Was the hand movement an expression of his political identity? he asked.
Almost all of Friedman’s family died in the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, which was liberated on Sunday. Only Friedman’s parents and grandmother were saved, thanks to Sudeten German entrepreneur Oskar Schindler.
