I started wondering about this for no particular reason I can think of. Who’s idea was it? Was it supposed to be symbolic of something? Did they just start passing out pamphlets at rallies titled: “Forget everything you THINK you know about public greetings!”?
Long story short, an italian nationalist through an made up interpretation thought it was used io ancient rome, used it in a film and the fascists in italy liked it so started using it. Then the nazis copied them.
Cultural appropriation huh