Comments on: Guest Post: John Alvon Glauser, An Elder in Nazi Germany

By: Stephen Taylor

Stephen Taylor — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 16:27:37 +0000

What was known as the Bellamy Salute evidently was introduced in connection with Ballamy’s Pledge of Allegiance and was not changed until Congress passed the Flag Code on December 22, 1942. This salute would have been familiar to missionaries raised in the United States, who might not have particularly associated it with National Socialism. Perhaps they felt that they were merely showing respect for their host country and flag.

For a pre-WWII depiction of school children performing the Bellamy Salute, see youtube.com’s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L82lVcmIMSk&feature=related

Note the racially mixed classroom!

Or just search “Pledge of Allegiance.”

I’ve heard that National Socialism adopted several items from American culture and law – some which one might judge more innocuous (or inane – such as music from college football fight songs), some not so much at all, such as eugenics and miscegenation codes. Everyone likes to think he or she belongs to the good guys and hates it when an enemy holds up a mirror!

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:13:48 +0000

Six months late, but I thought of this post while reading In the Garden of Beasts, which tells the story of the U.S. ambassador to Germany and his family from 1933 to 1937. It describes many incidents where foreigners, including Americans, were beaten by the S.A. for failing to watch and salute a parade of S.A. men marching past. One family of Americans in Berlin in 1933 simply turned away from the street and pretended to be window shopping as the S.A. paraded past, and were beaten for doing so.

The S.A. was disbanded in 1934, but it is unlikely that things changed for the better. The regime became more repressive as the war approached, and the same thugs who were members of the S.A. were still part of the Nazi movement (except for those whom Hitler had had killed or imprisoned), so foreigners–including Mormon missionaries–may well have stood at attention and saluted simply to avoid being beaten.

By: Michelle Glauser

Michelle Glauser — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:54:29 +0000

By: Mina

Mina — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:21:09 +0000

Fudge is a necessary resource for making a better world, too. Just sayin’….

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:55:09 +0000

I have Elder Glauser’s missionary notebook on my desk now. Michelle brought it to me, because Elder Glauser is willing to donate it to the Church History Library, where it will be preserved and may contribute to a better understanding of us and that time and place.

Hurray for the families who are willing to share their documents with scholars! (The Valentine’s fudge that Michelle brought to me is all mine, though.)

By: Mina

Mina — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:32:46 +0000

Wow. I hardly know where to begin. Ms. Glauser’s post and all the responses are exemplary instances of what it means to write history. People often think that “history” is only limited to the past, but it includes the future as well. Such forthright confrontations with the “wrong,” “bad” or “ambiguous” are absolutely necessary resources for making a better world.

By: kevinf

kevinf — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:08:23 +0000

The “Sieg Heil” arm motion during the pledge of allegiance showed up in an old movie my wife was watching on TCM on cable. It was a depiction of either a school class, or perhaps a Boy Scout court of honor, the exact setting escapes me. I thought it jarring at the time, and figured it must have come to an end sometime around WWII. The children in the movie did it just the way it was mentioned above, starting with the hand on the heart, and then pointing the extended hand towards the US flag. I’m going to do a quick look at IMDB, to see if I can remember the movie. I believe it had a pre-WWII Jimmy Stewart in it.

By: J. Stapley

J. Stapley — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:16:44 +0000

Extraordinary material. Thanks for sharing it with us.

By: The Other Clark

The Other Clark — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:27:34 +0000

I’ve also heard–directly from those who participated–that the pre-WWII pledge of Allegiance every morning in grade school included a “heil” movement.

I found Elder Busche’s (of the 70) autobiography “Yearning for the Living God” very enlightening on how faithful Mormons perceived Nazi-ism in the late 1930′s.

By: Michelle Glauser

Michelle Glauser — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:24:41 +0000

Keep these great comments coming. I mourn the fact that Uncle Al doesn’t remember where those prayers came from–he actually has a really great memory for a 98-year-old. I’ve googled the prayers in many ways and haven’t found a thing, but that could just be because things like that disappeared quickly after the atrocities of Hitler’s time were revealed.