A San Diego teacher justified placing a portrait of Adolf Hitler next to those of non-murderous world leaders in a 7th grade class, telling a Jewish student that “Hitler may have done some bad things, but he also had strong leadership qualities” The school’s principal issued an apology earlier this week
The portrait of the Nazi tyrant Adolf Hitler was placed in the 7th grade at a school in San Diego, USA, next to inspiring historical leaders, including US President Franklin Roosevelt, Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, US President John Kennedy, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill Rachel and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
“We are sitting at the dining table and he says to me, ‘Hey dad, my teacher has a picture of Hitler on the wall,’ I couldn’t believe it.” The 12-year-old’s father, Dr. Roy David, told local CBS8, the father asked his son for a picture of the classroom display.
“And there’s Adolf Hitler, a big picture of a portrait of Hitler. And right next to Hitler is Gandhi and Martin Luther King and Kennedy. And each of those people has some inspirational quote written underneath them,” David said. The school’s principal, Vicki Kim, issued an apology earlier this week.
The principal of Carmel Valley Middle School is apologizing to the community after a portrait of Adolph Hitler was posted on the wall of a 7th grade classroom. https://t.co/THkzd80j7x
— CBS 8 San Diego (@CBS8) October 5, 2022
“We recently experienced one of those times that particularly hurt our Jewish community and for that we are sorry,” Kim wrote in an email to the parents of the school’s students.
On Thursday, the Shimon Wiesenthal Center released a letter it sent to the principals of the San Diego high school and its superintendent’s office and the middle school. The Jewish Human Rights Organization published, that “We must understand that Hitler was not just another ‘leader’ and ‘Nazism’ is not just another political movement. If you want to compare Hitler’s ‘leadership qualities’, put him next to pictures of Stalin, Mao And Ayatollah Khamenei, not icons of freedom and human decency.”
The institute added that “Such hatred has almost destroyed civilization and exists in today’s America in many forms. Please let’s make sure our teachers receive the proper training and our children receive an education that gives them basic ethical values.”