Images have circulated online of the North Shore Hebrew Academy High School website being the victim of a hacking scheme featuring anti-Semitic images, messages and songs on Monday.
Pictures and videos from StopAntisemitism.org, a nonprofit whose mission holds “antisemites accountable” and creates “consequences for bigoted actions” were posted Monday around 4:30 p.m. The video features the home page of the school’s website with Nazi soldiers marching in the background.
Pictures posted. pic.twitter.com/U3Bqa6RLDx
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 14, 2020
Screenshots of the website were then posted with anti-Semitic messages with slurs above a notification that the website was under construction. In the website’s “About Us” tab, there were more pictures of Nazi soldiers holding up swastikas and referring to the school as the “North Shore Concentration Camp.”
More pictures from the hack. pic.twitter.com/4hLnf91JUE
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 14, 2020
The tab also featured a profile on Adolf Hitler and outlined “field trips” the students would take to Auschwitz. The post said that students would have to “walk into an SS office and declare themselves as Jews,” and listed the deadline for the application as “January 1945.”
The school’s headmaster, Daniel Vitow, was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday, but told the New York Post on Monday that school officials were “aware of the situation and are actively working with law enforcement.”
Officials from the Nassau County Police Department confirmed they are investigating but did not provide any additional information. A spokesperson said the county police are assisting Lake Success police in the investigation. Lake Success police referred calls to the county Police Department, according to Newsday.
Liora Rez, the director of StopAntisemitism.org, said her organization was notified about the incident shortly after 4 p.m., according to The Post.
“We are horrified that hackers have targeted a Jewish school and exposed children to horrific Nazi imagery and messages,” Rez told The Post.
Some of the more than 4,000 members on a “Mom and Dads of Great Neck” Facebook group discussed the incident online.
“It’s nauseating and whoever is responsible for this should be prosecuted to the fullest degree,” one member said.
“This is beyond disgusting and horrible,” another member replied. “It is so sad to see such incidents happened again in our community.”
“I saw this and it’s just so disgusting. I hope they find who did it,” another member said. “Here’s a chance for all of the community to stand together against this horrible act and bring light to this darkness.”
State Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-Great Neck), who has been vocal on past anti-Semitic incidents on the North Shore, said: “It’s truly unthinkable that anyone could be so consumed by anti-Semitism and hatred that they would commit such a vile and repugnant crime against our community during Chanukah, but this is a horrific reminder that hatred and anti-Semitism are alive and well even in our own backyards, and we must ALL speak out in no uncertain terms that we reject it at every opportunity and in every corner of our community.”
The Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County in Glen Cove released a statement regarding the incident and stressed the need for continuous education on the Holocaust for students.
“The display of Nazi symbolism and other indicators of hate have no place online, on Long Island or anywhere in the world. It is critical that we are ever vigilant to take action to counteract anti-Semitism, hate and fear, and to heal the divisions in our society,” the statement said. “This hacking attack further emphasizes the need to educate adults and young people on the history of the Holocaust and the lessons for how people should and must conduct themselves today.”
As of Tuesday, the website was shut down.
