An image of a child made to appear to look like Adolf Hitler with the caption “I’d rather be gassing Jews right now” was posted on a private Facebook page for Great Neck South High School freshman students on Sunday, sparking outrage among parents.
“The school has an incredible demographic of a cross section of people. It’s a highly competitive school and there are lots of different ethnic groups in school,” said Alan Mindel, a Village of Lake Success trustee and father of a Great Neck South freshman.
“What I find incredible is that except for one elective in 12th grade that teaches something about the Holocaust, there is no mention of it,” he said, noting the image was brought to his attention by his daughter. “Even in the World War II discussions, it’s glossed over.”
The image, sent to Blank Slate Media by Mindel, appears to show a young girl seated next to a young boy with a mustache similar to the one worn by the German dictator and wearing an armband bearing a swastika, both of which appear photoshopped onto the photo. The phrase, “I’d rather be gassing Jews right now,” appears above the boy’s head in the photo.
The image was published to a Facebook page called “Freshmen!!! Class of 2018,” which only users who are also Great Neck South students are eligible to join, and removed a few hours later, Mindel said.
The photo was attributed to a Facebook user named “Jooyoung Lee,” which, due to Great Neck South’s predominant Jewish American and Asian-American student population, raises the possibility that the pseudonym was intended as an aspersion against the school’s ethnic demographics.
Mindel said he and other Great Neck South parents were outraged by the image, which he attributed to a lack of adequate education within the district about the Holocaust.
The district has disciplined students in the past for posting inappropriate things online in the past, Mindel said.
“The school has considered the page as part of their purview,” he said. “This is not something out of the blue. [The school] has gotten involved in the past with things not nearly as bad as this.”
In a statement posted Monday to the school district’s website, Great Neck Superintendent of Schools Thomas Dolan said the Facebook post was made by a non-Great Neck South student and that the individual’s school and law enforcement were notified of the incident. He did not identify the person by name or disclose the name of the school.
Dolan said that the Facebook page is not supported by the school district, but acknowledged that many students subscribe to the page, and that acts of anti-Semitism within the district would not be tolerated.
“Small cruelties that are allowed to exist, or are tolerated, do not go away. Rather, they manifest themselves into larger cruelties and more offensive actions that spread and are replicated,” he said. “We will continue to do our part in our schools and in our community to raise an awareness of acceptance of one another and to reject acceptance of the attitudes that we saw demonstrated this weekend.”
Rabbi Michael Klayman of the Lake Success Jewish Center and President of the Great Neck Clergy Association said in a statement Tuesday when someone commits a bias crime, it affects everyone – not just the religious or ethnic community the act was directed toward.
“To live in Great Neck means that we commit to living in a diverse community and that we take responsibility for enhancing the quality of life for all people,” Klayman said. “As representative of the Great Neck Clergy, I urge colleagues of all faith groups to join together in ongoing dialogue; so that we may help address all issues of intolerance and bias, regardless of to whom that bias is directed.”
Klayman said many in Great Neck celebrate the diverse area, as evidenced by South Middle School’s Cultural Heritage Night held in February. Klayman, a parent of a Great Neck middle school student, said Middle School students performed dances of their ethnic background.
He said dances of Hispanic, Greek, Armenian, Russian, Chinese and Korean backgrounds were all represented.
“One dance was performed by a single male student; dressed in the clothing of his family’s culture.During and following his performance, no one laughed or spoke derisively,” Klayman said. “This boy received a loud reception when he finished the dance; every student in the auditorium appreciated his efforts. Perhaps I missed a larger picture, but from my vantage point, I only witnessed pride, joy and a celebration of diversity.”
Incidents of bias have and will happen in Great Neck, Klayman said, but he hopes the community can come together to combat racial, religious and ethnic bias.
The Anti-Defamation League has maintained close contact with Great Neck South and said in a statement the school is taking the necessary steps to investigate the incident.
“We were alarmed to see this outrageous, anti-Semitic image and we are pleased the school is taking this troubling incident seriously,” said Evan Bernstein, ADL New York Regional Director, in a statement. “Our hope is that the high school’s administrators will take tangible steps to confront the situation, and we stand ready to offer our assistance and resources to Great Neck South so that its students will never have to be subjected to anti-Semitic harassment or any type of bullying online or in the classroom.”
