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Police academy event features Nazi uniforms, swastikas and Hitler moustaches

Swastika-printed tablecloths, a model plane emblazoned with a large swastika, and cadets wearing swastika arm bands all seen at Colombian police academy event.

By World Israel News Staff

Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez apologized for a police academy event which saw officers from the South American country dress up as Nazis during a ceremony intended to honor Germany.

“From the Simón Bolívar police academy in the city of Tulua, we are organizing an international week with guest country Germany. With these cultural exchanges, we are strengthening the knowledge of our police students,” wrote the official Colombian police force Twitter account last Thursday, along with images from the event which quickly went viral on social media.

In the photos, police cadets are seen dressed in black SS uniforms, replete with red swastika armbands, while others wear the green-gray uniform of the Wehrmacht. One cadet particularly dedicated to his costume even sported a small “Hitler-style” moustache.

The event’s decorations included red, green, and black balloons in the colors of the German flag, along with swastika-printed tablecloths and a model plane emblazoned with a large swastika.

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“Any apology for Nazism is unacceptable and I condemn any demonstration that uses or refers to symbols referring to those responsible for the Jewish Holocaust that claimed the lives of more than 6 million people,” Duque wrote on his Twitter account Friday.

The Colombian Defense Ministry said in a statement that they “do not envisage in any way an activity such as the one which took place yesterday.”

The German and Israeli embassies in Colombia released a joint statement slamming the event and emphasized their “total rejection of any form of apology or demonstration of Nazism.”

DW reported that after the outcry, the Colombian police fired the head of the academy which held the event.

There are some 8,000 Jews in Colombia, around half of whom live in the capital city, Bogota.