California high-schoolers sing Nazi song, make ‘Heil Hitler’ gestures

A Southern California school district condemned a video that surfaced on Monday of students performing “Heil Hitler” salutes and singing a popular Nazi song.

By World Israel News Staff

On Monday, an eight-second video of students from Pacifica High School in Garden Grove, California appeared online, which showed the high-schoolers making the “Heil Hitler” salute and singing a Nazi song.

The video was initially obtained by the Daily Beast, which identified the participants as members of the boys’ water polo team who had gathered in an empty room, unsupervised.

According to officials from the Garden Grove Unified School District, the clip was recorded in November 2018, but didn’t come to school administrators’ attention until March 2019. After the video surfaced Monday, district representatives claimed they had “addressed the situation with all students and families involved,” without specifying what steps had been taken, reported the Associated Press.

The AP report identified the song in the video as music written by German composer Herms Niel during Hitler’s rise to power, which was played to fire up Nazi soldiers during World War II. Niel was identified by the Daily Beast as a member of the Nazi party who served as a bandleader at Hitler’s notorious Nuremberg rallies.

The “Heil Hitler” salute endures as a popular neo-Nazi calling card and is shorthand for anti-Semitism, racism, and white supremacy.

Last March, students at a different California high school were embroiled in controversy when images emerged of them playing beer pong using cups arranged to form swastikas.

The Pacifica video was initially posted to Instagram by one of the athletes, reported the Daily Beast, who used the song’s lyrics as his bio on the photo-sharing app.

“The district adheres to strong policies about harassment and cultural sensitivity, and we condemn all acts of anti-Semitism and hate in all forms,” a district spokesperson said, according to the Daily Beast.

“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.”