"Before 1933, the Nazis' comical salute was considered a joke. But we soon stopped laughing. I will never forget the first time I saw this salute, in 1928 or 1929. I stood waiting at a streetcar stop, the Mass was over, and a young man in normal Sunday clothes stood next to me. A streetcar came, and a fellow got out wearing a brown shirt, a red armband with swastika, and leggings. The two men looked at each other, threw up their arms, and loudly shouted "Heil Hitler!" Several older people shook their heads but didn't say anything. I was 12 years old at the time and had no idea what it meant. I asked my father at home. He only smiled and said, "You can forget those assholes; they'll come to their sense." How is it said in Latin? "Errare Humanum est."
Wilhelm Fischer, born 1916; fought in Russia; surrendered to the Red Army in 1945; retired civil servant; lives in Cologne
-From Voices from the Third Reich, An Oral History by Johannes Steinhoff, Peter Pechel and Dennis Showalter.
