‘Appalling’ or misunderstood? NJ child’s school project on Hitler stirs backlash
A class project in which a student dressed as Adolf Hitler and glorified the dictator’s many “accomplishments” shocked a New Jersey school community.
But the superintendent of Tenafly Public Schools said the assignment was “taken out of context” by those in the community, which is about 20 miles northeast of Newark.
The district’s investigation involved a teacher who gave the OK to a fifth-grader to write a first-person narrative on the accomplishments of Hitler, whose “virulent anti-Semitism and obsessive pursuit of Aryan supremacy” led to the murders of nearly 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust in the 1940s.
The assignment, which listed the killings among Hitler’s accomplishments as the leader of Nazi Germany, was displayed in a school hallway for weeks before it was taken down, according to News 12.
Superintendent Shauna DeMarco acknowledged the project has led to “understandable anger and concern,” but said frustrations may be misplaced.
“The assignment (which was given by a teacher who happens to be Jewish) asked students to speak from the perspective of one of these individuals and how they might have perceived and rationalized their actions,” DeMarco wrote in a statement Tuesday. “When people saw the students’ projects, which were displayed in the school, they didn’t understand the assignment, resulting in justifiable concerns.”
“Given that the lesson was specifically issued within the context of social justice,” she continued, “it is unfair to judge any student or teacher in this matter.”
Concerned members of Tenafly called on the city’s board of education to investigate after news of the project surfaced over Memorial Day weekend. DeMarco said she would review all details of the assignment before deciding on a course of action.
Some parents were dismayed that a student was allowed to write about Hitler.
“It’s appalling,” resident Shimon Avrahami told WABC. “It should’ve been stopped the minute this girl came to school.”
Jason Shames, who heads the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, called Hitler a “red line for Jews,” but said the student in question deserves the benefit of the doubt.
“I think rushing to judgment here is actually harming the situation and not being helpful,” he told News 12. “It’s riling up the masses, social media hasn’t played a positive role ... and so I think we need to be pretty careful about the fact that we’re talking about a 10-year-old child.”
The federation issued a statement Wednesday, saying, after further review, it didn’t feel the student intended to be anti-Semitic and therefore shouldn’t be blamed for the “series of poor and inexcusable judgment decisions by the school and district administration.”
“The young person involved, an 11-year-old child, and her family have unfortunately been subject to much ridicule and harm, which they do not deserve,” the federation said.
McClatchy News reached out to Tenafly Public Schools for comment Wednesday and is a awaiting response.
‘Slave letter’ writing activity had Mississippi students pen a letter home to Africa
Indiana museum director resigns after job post seeks to maintain ‘white art audience’
Professors wore Confederate gear and took noose to college party in Alabama, photos show
Professor accused of mocking Trayvon Martin at historically Black university in Georgia
