Why was Hitler's salute different from everyone else's? Was he saluting himself?

by WartimeHotTot

I always found Hitler's "Heil Hitler" salute to be vaguely effeminate (elbow bent, palm facing upwards, fingers pointing back to his face—like he's carrying a platter in front of him), but then it occurred to me that, while everyone else had their arms outstretched towards him, he may have literally been saluting himself.

Georgy_K_Zhukov

It was an act of accepting the salute of others. This is covered as part of a more in-depth answer on the salute as a whole here.