The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) supports Dr. Rex Curry's discovery that
the Nazi salute originated in the United States. Dr. Curry showed that the
USA's early Pledge of Allegiance (to the flag) used a straight-arm salute
and it was the source of the salute of the monstrous National Socialist
German Workers' Party (Nazis). The salute of German Socialists has sometimes
been labeled an "ancient Roman salute." Dr. Curry helped to establish that
it was not an ancient Roman salute, and that the "ancient Roman salute" is a
modern myth. http://rexcurry.net/book1a1contents-pledge.html
The earliest OED reference to "Roman salute" is a 1959 reference to the
Chambers's Encyclopedia. The OED states: "Chambers's Encycl. XII. 173/2
Special forms of salute, the clenched fist salute of the Communists, the
'Roman salute' of the Fascists and the Hitler salute, have been a feature of
modern political life."
The Chambers Encyclopedia puts the Roman reference in quotation marks, as if
to indicate that it is the "so-called" Roman salute and that the phrase is
not historically accurate. The Chambers Encyclopedia thus supports Dr.
Curry's discoveries.
An earlier OED reference exists for "raised-arm salute" in a 1943 reference
to a David Gascoyne poem. The poem states, "...the centurions wear
riding-boots, Black shirts and badges and peaked caps, Greet one another
with raised-arm salutes...." Gascoyne did not use the term "Roman salute,"
and that may suggest that the gesture was not widely known by that name at
that time. Gascoyne's poem shows how the Roman salute myth spread.
Gascoyne was a surrealist and his poem mixes images from a Roman crucifixion
with images under the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Gascoyne
had joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1936 and broadcast some
radio talks for the Barcelona-based propaganda ministry. However, he soon
became disillusioned and left the party.
Dr. Curry knows of two other uses of "Roman salute" that pre-date the OED
reference. The earliest of the two uses is 1937, and the other is 1938, and
the references are by different authors.
Even the author of the Pledge of Allegiance, Francis Bellamy, specifically
described how he created the salute and he did not base it on any Roman
salute myth. Bellamy never used the term "Roman salute" in his life, and he
did not even know of such a myth as the myth did not exist at that time, as
shown by Dr. Curry. The myth developed from the Pledge. The OED also
supports those facts.
The original Pledge of Allegiance began with a military salute that then
stretched out toward the flag. Historic photographs are at
http://rexcurry.net/pledge2.html and at
http://rexcurry.net/pledge_military.html In actual use, the second part of
the gesture was performed with a straight arm and palm down by children
extending the military salute while perfunctorily performing the forced
ritual chanting. Professor Curry showed that, due to the way that both
gestures were used sequentially in the pledge, the military salute led to
the hard, stylized salute of German socialists. The Nazi salute is an
extended military salute via the pledge.
http://rexcurry.net/book1a1contents-pledge.html
Francis Bellamy (author of the "Pledge of Allegiance") and Edward Bellamy
(author of the novel "Looking Backward") and Charles Bellamy (author of "A
Moment of Madness") and Frederick Bellamy (who introduced Edward to
socialistic "Fourierism") were socialists. Edward, Charles and Frederick
were brothers, and Francis was their cousin. Francis and Edward were both
self-proclaimed National Socialists and they supported the "Nationalism"
movement in the USA, the "Nationalist" magazine, and the "Nationalist
Educational Association." They wanted all of society to ape the military and
they touted "military socialism" and the "industrial army." Edward inspired
the "Nationalist Party" (in the USA) and their dogma influenced socialists
worldwide (including Germany) via "Nationalist Clubs."
http://rexcurry.net/bellamy-edward-german-connections.html The Pledge was
the origin of the Nazi salute. "Nazi" means "National Socialist German
Workers' Party." A mnemonic device is the swastika. Although the swastika
was an ancient symbol, Professor Curry discovered that it was also used
sometimes by German National Socialists to represent "S" letters for their
"socialism." Curry changed the way that people view the symbol of the
horrid National Socialist German Workers' Party. Hitler altered his own
signature to use the same stylized "S" letter for "socialist" and similar
alphabetic symbolism still shows on Volkswagens.
http://rexcurry.net/book1a1contents-swastika.html
The Roman salute myth is still repeated in modern efforts to cover-up Dr.
Curry's discoveries about the Pledge's poisonous pedigree.
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