Adoplh Gallant (sp?), a German WWII ace and later West German Air Force General, was a technical advisor on the film "The Battle of Britain". He objected vigorously to a German officer doing the Nazi salute in the film. He said that a German officer would never anything but the traditional military salute.
I think a lot of German WWII military atocities were commited by Waffen SS, not regular army units.