“My heart goes out to you,” proclaimed Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk, violently slicing the air with his arm bent at just about 45 degrees and flaunting a disturbingly rigid hand—and, making sure everyone felt the love, Musk repeated this “salute” a second time.
I was livid but reassured myself that Musk’s flagrantly obvious Nazi salute would meet an overwhelming outcry. Instead of sweeping condemnation, social media arguments erupted over the exact angle of his arm; some debated whether Musk’s gesture was a “Roman salute,” and even the ADL tossed it aside as an “awkward gesture.” I don’t wish to relitigate whether Musk made a Nazi salute but rather to point out the desensitization to Nazism in our society that Musk has so clearly condoned and that we, as Groton students, must address.
Following the debate over Musk’s salute, Musk complained on X that the Hitler attack was “sooo tired” (even though no one called him Hitler). More concerning, however, was the series of Musk’s Nazi puns in posts that followed: “Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations! Some people will Goebbels anything down! Stop Gőring your enemies! His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler! Bet you did nazi that coming [laugh emoji].” Musk is educated enough to know the names of Hitler’s best buds, so these jokes illustrate one of two things: either Musk doesn’t understand the gravitas of the word “Nazi”—that the Nazis slaughtered six million Jews and millions more marginalized individuals—or, Musk agrees with Nazi ideologies. While it may be true that Musk’s “humor” was just an attention-grabbing stunt, his remarks speak to a concerning trend: Nazi rhetoric has become far too normalized in American culture—so much so that his actions remained largely ignored.
During a meeting with Alternative for Germany, Germany’s far-right and national conservative political party, on January 25th, Musk diminished the Holocaust by stating, “frankly [in Germany there is] too much of a focus on past guilt and we need to move beyond that.” Let’s be clear: Musk urged Germany to ignore the extermination of millions of people. Musk also blatantly bastardized the truth: Germany extensively memorializes the Holocaust to prevent a similar tragedy, not to guilt people for the actions of those they had no control over. And yet Musk remains unreprimanded and uncondemned—and there are consequences. Steve Bannon mimicked Musk’s salute barely a month later at a conference hosting conservatives from across the globe.
I write this piece as a Jewish person, knowing well that for Jews, the Holocaust is not a blip in our history. The attempted— and nearly successful—eradication of our people is not just something that we can erase, forget, or allow others to overlook. We have endured and survived 3,500 years of relentless persecution. Our resilience pulsates through our prayers, our culture, and our everyday lives. So when Elon Musk, or anyone in a position of power, makes a gesture reminiscent of the Third Reich, when someone jokes about the Holocaust, when someone tells us to forget, I feel compelled to speak out and voice my perspective.
Groton students should not treat Nazi ‘humor’ and talking points lightly. All of you will take Modern Global History before you graduate. And even if you haven’t already, I am confident that you have some awareness of the Holocaust. Just because the Holocaust happened nearly 80 years ago does not mean that it won’t and that it can’t happen again to anyone or any group of people. The normalization of Nazi rhetoric is the first step towards repeating the past. We must use our education and take a stand to prevent history from repeating itself.
