Talk to us, Holocaust survivor tells boys
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Faces covered with jerseys, the schoolboys who worshipped Nazi memorabilia have arrived at the Auckland War Memorial Museum to apologise.
The pupils admitted taking photos of themselves in school uniform kissing a swastika, making a Nazi salute, and kneeling in homage before a Nazi flag on a visit to the museum.
The images appeared on social networking site Facebook, but were laterremoved.30am accompanied by a teacher.
The students arrived at the museum about 9. They refused to speak to the media and covered their faces with their jerseys. They will apologise to museum staff and meet with war veterans to explain their actions.
Earlier this month, Lincoln University fined 15 students $200, made them write an essay on the Holocaust and visit the Holocaust Centre and the German embassy, both in Wellington, at their own expense. The students were scheduled to visit the Holocaust Centre today. .
Auckland Grammar principal John Morris said the incident happened at the beginning of the year, although the school first learned of the photos on Friday after a former pupil viewed them on Facebook.
Meanwhile, Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres said he was ashamed to be an old boy of Auckland Grammar after the actions of the schoolboys.
The pupils’ families were told yesterday and the boys will face unspecified disciplinary action. Mr Morris said there was “absolutely no justification for the immature and unthinking actions of the boys”.
This is the second high-profile embarrassment for Auckland Grammar this year.
This is the second high-profile embarrassment for Auckland Grammar this year.
“It might seem a long time [ago] to them, but it’s still in the lifetime of young survivors.
Holocaust Museum director Inge Woolf wants a meeting between the pupils and Holocaust survivors such as herself.
“It’s very upsetting for anyone that understands how terrible the Nazis were.”
Ms Woolf fled from Vienna when the Nazis invaded, and came to New Zealand in 1958 after her family were killed in the Holocaust.
. We certainly don’t want that here in New Zealand – it’s not the way the New Zealand society behaves,” she said