AJW staff report
An anti-Semitic incident at Minnetonka High School recently attracted national attention. Two students were recently photographed engaged in a jokingly anti-Semitic invitation to school’s annual Valentine’s Dance.
In the photograph, both are giving Nazi salutes while posing next to a poster board invitation that reads “Sweethearts would be a Hit(ler) w/you, and I could Nazi myself going w/anybody else. Be Mein? Yes or Nein.”
One of the two students in the photo, a young woman, posted the image to her instagram account with the caption “Also I would like to state I am not anti-semitic in any way, I hate all races equally.”
TCJewfolk also located a video made by the young man in the image, posted to the Minnetonka Public Schools parents’ group on Facebook and originating on Instagram. In it, he raps in a German accent about putting Jews in a gas oven.
Steve Hunegs, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC), issued a statement in response to the incident that read, in part, “Such images both insult the memory of Hitler’s victims, as well as the heroic Minnesotans who fought to defeat Nazism.”
Minnetonka High School officials were quick to respond. Principal Jeff Erickson said that the image had been deleted and the students would be disciplined. “Our foundation as a school community is built on respect, kindness and consideration to others,” Erickson said in an email. “Our work in this area is ongoing, and it is one of our highest priorities.”
District superintendent Dennis Peterson also responded: “While I do not know whether it was an intentionally hateful message or was created out of ignorance, be assured the students will be disciplined for their actions.”
“The larger issue is that we, as a community, must do an even better job of educating students about Hitler and the Holocaust,” Peterson added.
According to TCJewsfolk, the young woman in the image posted an apology to social media: “I apologize for my stupid mistake. There was no intent to offend anyone. D.M. me if you would like to discuss anything.”
