Taiwanese high school students stage Nazi-themed display

Extremely bad taste? Taiwanese high school students staged a Nazi-themed display, while the teacher dressed as Adolf Hitler.

A high school in Taiwan drew harsh criticism Sunday after photographs of its students in Nazi uniforms surfaced on social media.

According to the Taipei Times, the images were taken at Hsinchu Kuang Fu High School, a private school in Hsinchu City. The students were dressed as Nazi soldiers, standing in formation and marching and waving swastika flags. The students’ history teacher was dressed as Adolf Hitler, while another student was seen riding a cardboard tank and performing a Nazi salute.

“It is deplorable and shocking that seven decades after the world had witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust, a high school in Taiwan is supporting such an outrageous action as we witnessed yesterday at Hsinchu Kuang Fu Senior High School,” said Asher Yarden, an envoy at the Israeli Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei.

“We strongly condemn this tasteless occurrence and call on the Taiwanese authorities, at all levels, to initiate educational programs which would introduce the meaning of the Holocaust and teach its history and universal meaning. Israel would support such endeavors as may be necessary,” he stated.

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The Taiwanese Presidential Office launched an investigation into the incident, calling it “regrettable” and saying it “was extremely disrespectful to the Jewish people, who had been victims of the oppression perpetrated during wars, but more importantly, it highlighted ignorance about history.”

The principal of a high school in northern Taiwan later resigned following widespread criticism of the event.

Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reported this week that the principal, Cheng Hsiao-ming, apologized for the incident as he announced his resignation.

By: JNS.org and World Israel News