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Did India Really Deny a Nazi Salute in 1936, or Is ‘Gold’ Wrong?

According to the film, only the British Indian contigent didn’t raise their arms in Nazi salute. How true is this?

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Gold, the Akshay Kumar-starrer, has been hailed by many as the flag-bearer of patriotism this Independence Day, with the very first scene taking off at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where the British Indian team score themselves a gold medal for hockey.

But before this spectacle, the film shows the British Indian contingent refusing to lift their right arm in salute to the German chancellor Hitler, in an apparent public snub aimed at the dictator. This defiance is portrayed only by the British Indian team, while the rest of the stadium complies wth the Nazi salute.

Now, did this really happen? Let's rewind.

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It Did, Say Indian Accounts from the Day

The opening ceremony of the 1936 Olympic Games were held on 1 August 1936 in Berlin.

According to the film, only the British Indian contigent didn’t raise their arms in Nazi salute. How true is this?
Parade of Nations at the Olympic Games of 1936.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

According to a book authored by journalists Borai Majumdar and Nalin Mehta, the Indian contingent, led by Dhyan Chand, was the only country apart from America to not perform the Nazi salute for Hitler at the Berlin Games.

In their book "Olympics: The India Story”, the duo term it a "political act."

....it was a political act, breathtaking in its audacity, in direct opposition to most other contingents at the Games, including the British.

They had further noted that the Indian contingent's defiance particularly assumes significane as it came at a time when Britain was "courting Hitler with its policy of appeasement".

According to them, the contingent's anti-Nazi stance could have stemmed from the ideological posture adopted by the Congress under Gandhi and Nehru.

However, they too might have got it wrong, since India might not have been the only country to have denied the Nazi salute.

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Many Countries Did Not Administer the Nazi Salute

German film director Leni Riefenstahl's two-part film chronicling the 1936 games shows that several countries did not administer the Nazi salute.

Further, another short clip detailing the opening ceremony from the games shows that the following countries did not raise their arm in salute:

  • Sweden angled flag, didn't salute
  • Great Britain angled flag, didn't salute
  • British India didn't lower flag, didn't salute
  • Japan angled flag, didn't salute
  • USA didn't lower flag, put hats over their hearts

Apart from these countries, China and Philippines also reportedly adopted the USA’s manner of salutation.

Also, the salute performed by the countries could not be deciphered as to whether it was indeed the Nazi salute, since the Olympic salute is very similar to the former. While in the Nazi salute the right arm is stretched out in front, in the Olympic salute the right arm is stretched sidewise.

According to the film, only the British Indian contigent didn’t raise their arms in Nazi salute. How true is this?
The New York Times reports that US athletes avoid the Nazi salute to Hitler.

According to a New York Times account from 1 August 1936, some teams were apparently confused with the Olympic and Nazi salutes, a rendered a "mixed homage."

The newspaper further notes that the countries that did give the Nazi salute were Afghanistan, Bermuda, Bolivia and Iceland, Italy and Germany.

The article also mentions that while in general the salutes were almost equally divided between the Nazi and Olympic, the "eyes right" posture was adhered to by all countries.

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Topics:  Adolf Hitler 

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