American students make Nazi salute at awards ceremony
Incident, which resurfaced through a video on Instagram, took place last year and involved 10 members of the boys water polo team at Pacifica High School in California
Students at a Southern California high school made a Nazi salute and sang a Nazi marching song at the start of an awards ceremony.
The school district will not say publicly if or how it disciplined the students.
The incident, which took place last year, involved 10 members of the boys water polo team at Pacifica High School in Garden Grove, California, the Daily Beast reported. The video was posted to Instagram by one of the athletes, according to the Daily Beast, and widely circulated among students at the high school.
A spokesperson for the Garden Grove Unified School District which includes Pacifica High School told the Daily Beast that school administrators learned of the incident and video in March, four months after it occurred.
“While the district cannot comment on student discipline, the school did address this situation with all involved students and families,” the spokesperson said. “The district adheres to strong policies about harassment and cultural sensitivity, and we condemn all acts of antisemitism and hate in all forms. We remain focused on educating students about cultural sensitivity and are committed to holding students accountable, educating them on the consequences of their choices, and the impact these actions have on our schools and community at large.”
A current Pacifica student told the Daily Beast that the incident was never spoken about by the administration and said it is not clear how the students involved were punished.
The song was written by German composer Herms Niel and was played to inspire Nazi troops from around 1935 until 1945, according to the Daily Beast.
In an interview with the news website, Peter Simi, a professor on extremism studies at Chapman University, noted that the song is obscure and wondered how the athletes learned about it.
“It’s not something you’d expect somebody to accidentally know about. There’s some means by which they acquired knowledge about the song and associated Nazi issues,” Simi said. “Are they on websites or web forums or other social media platforms where they’re engaging with others informed on these issues?”
It is the second such incident in southern California over the last year. In March, students from Newport Harbor High School and Costa Mesa High School made a swastika out of beer cups and made the Heil Hitler salute as part of a drinking game and posted photos on social media.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
