Question: Why do the German officers in the pub salute a Captain and LT but don't salute a Major when he walks in?
jshy7979
23rd Oct 2019
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Answer: I can't say specifically for the WW2 German Army but usually in any group of soldiers the one with the highest rank will be expected to pay correct compliments to a commissioned officer (of a higher rank than themself). They do this by calling the group to attention and greeting the officer individually. These soldiers have saluted the junior officers but they would then expect the Captain to formally greet a Major.
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Answer: I agree with the previous answer, and another possibility is that since the Major was already in the pub, they might have already saluted him when he (or they) arrived.
I agree with this, and to expand on that a little more, I was under the impression that they came to the pub together. I could be wrong, but I believe it gets mentioned that the major let Wilhelm and the rest of the soldiers have the night off to celebrate the birth of his son. He sits alone so as not to fraternize with the soldiers.
jshy7979