Newmarket, New Zealand – Students to be Disciplined over Nazi Prank

Newmarket, New Zealand – Students at a prestigious school in New Zealand have caused outrage after photographs showing them kneeling in homage before a Nazi flag, kissing a swastika and making “Heil Hitler” salutes were posted on the internet.

The five boys from Auckland Grammar School face disciplinary action over the pictures, taken during an outing to a museum display that commemorated the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War.

The pictures, in which the boys were wearing school uniform, appeared on the Facebook website but were taken down when the school became aware of them at the weekend.

Robin Klitscher, president of the Returned Services Association, which represents former members of the armed forces, said he pitied the students, who were missing more than an understanding.
“They are in total ignorance of what they’ve done,” he said.

The boys, who could face suspension, have been ordered by the school to apologise on Tuesday to staff at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, where they staged their prank.

Karen Mason, a spokeswoman for the museum, described the photographs as “hugely offensive and tasteless”.
She said of the students: “They do not understand at all or have any empathy.
“I would like them to come and see me and I will do my best to explain to them exactly where they have gone wrong, because they have gone seriously wrong.”

Stephen Goodman, president of the New Zealand Jewish Council, said the boys’ action “trivialises the Holocaust and it trivialises the suffering that people went through.
“Anything that trivialises suffering dooms us to repeat history rather than learn from it.
“It is not such an affront to the Jewish community, it is more an affront to all New Zealanders who served in the armed forces in any war.”

Mr Goodman has met John Morris, the school’s headmaster, to express his concerns over the stunt.

Mr Morris said on Monday there was “absolutely no justification for the immature and unthinking” actions of the boys.
He said they would face “appropriate” disciplinary action.

The incident comes just weeks after students at Lincoln University in Christchurch were photographed wearing concentration camp prisoners’ costumes at a fancy dress party.

Auckland Grammar, a state-run secondary school established in 1850, is one of the country’s most sought after by parents, who praise its high academic standards and emphasis on traditional virtues.

An obelisk in the school grounds commemorates former pupils who fought during various wars.

Some 12,000 New Zealanders died while serving during the Second World War, close to one per cent of the country’s total population at the time.