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Like logo, like students? Wisconsin school breaks the internet with its ‘Nazi salute’ teens Like logo, like students? Wisconsin school breaks the internet with its ‘Nazi salute’ teens
(about 3 hours later)
A Wisconsin school has found itself in the middle of a scandal after a photo surfaced with its students making a Nazi salute at a prom. No sooner had it apologized, when Twitterati noticed that its logo resembles a Nazi eagle. A Wisconsin high school has found itself at the center of controversy – and a police investigation – after a group of students were photographed making Nazi salutes and far-right hand gestures at their prom.
The photo of some 50 young men in suits from Baraboo High School performing the stiff-armed ‘Sieg Heil’ greeting quickly went viral. It was taken during this spring’s junior prom and re-surfaced this weekend. The photo of some 50 young men from the Baraboo High School performing the stiff-armed ‘Sieg Heil’ greeting quickly went viral online. The photo was taken during the students’ junior prom, but resurfaced last weekend when it was posted to Twitter with the caption: “We even got the black kid to throw it up.”
The photo puzzled Twitter users, who wondered what had made the teens extend their right arms in the air, reminiscent of the infamous Nazi salute. Twitter users were baffled by the image and wondered what could have prompted the suit-clad teens to extend their right arms in the air in the style of the infamous Nazi salute.
“The context would be great,” wrote some angry people. One man said that these boys should visit World War II veterans in a nearby hospital and explain to them why exactly they dared to mimic the Nazi greeting. School District Superintendent Lori Mueller tweeted that the photograph was “not reflective of the educational values and beliefs” of the school – but Twitter was not entirely convinced, with many pointing out that the school district’s logo was reminiscent of a Nazi eagle.
For many users, such a gesture popularized in Adolf Hitler’s Germany warrants expulsion both for students and teachers who were present. “Just publish the names of the mini Nazis and let the universe and college admission boards do the rest,” one person wrote. Some called for the students and any teachers present when the photo was taken to be expelled or fired immediately.
Others suggested that a visit to a nearby veterans hospital to speak to men who fought in World War II – or a day spent watching documentary reels from Nazi concentration camps – might set the students straight.
The school itself called the Nazi salute “an extremely inappropriate gesture” but attempted to distance itself from the controversy, pointing out that photograph had not been taken on school grounds or at a school-sponsored event.
The controversy even reached the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland, which denounced the image, saying that people needed to understand “the danger of hateful ideology” rising up. “Auschwitz with its gas chambers was at the very end of the long process of normalizing and accommodating hatred,” the museum said.
But that was all only the beginning of the school’s bashing.
New details then began to emerge online as people claiming to be students or former students of the school contacted journalists with stories of bullying and racial harassment, which they said the school did not act upon. One journalist said he had received “probably over 100 stories” from Baraboo students and parents.
The Twitter storm forced school management to acknowledge the situation and apologize. It called the Nazi salute “an extremely inappropriate gesture,” adding that the photo had not been taken on school property or at a school-sponsored event. The loose explanation was greeted with bayonets by some users: In a statement on Facebook, the Baraboo Police Department said it was “aware” of the photo and was assisting the school district with its investigation.
As the outrage unfolded, school authorities and police joined the investigation. The ‘Nazi salute’ even reached Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland, which denounced the image by saying that the world needs “to explain what is the danger of hateful ideology rising.”
Some people were surprised by the ‘Nazi salute’ case, since the school’s logo strongly resembles the eagle sometimes depicted over a swastika, which was once the formal symbol of Hitler’s Nazi Party.
“You might wanna change your logo,” read one tongue-in-cheek comment from a user. Though it is clearly a coincidence, the school should think about its logo in light of recent events, he added.
The ‘Nazi salute’ criticism was only the start of the school’s bashing on social media. New dirty details then began to emerge online – such as claims that some Latino, mixed-race or black students in the school are experiencing racial harassment.
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