South African students could soon be formally learning about the Holocaust in school.
The country’s Yad Vashem Memorial Foundation has proposed the introduction of Holocaust education into government-run schools after students shouted anti- Semitic and pro-Nazi slogans at two school sporting events.
The first incident took place during the annual sports day at the Sasolburg High School near here, when a team’s pageant employed a Nazi theme — with cheerleaders sporting swastika armbands and brandishing fire extinguishers to “exterminate” the opposing team, the Kudus.
Team members, in a play on words, chanted “Kill the KuJews.”
The second incident took place during a rugby match between Glenvista High — a school in Johannesburg’s southern suburbs where only a handful of Jews live – – and King David High School in the affluent northern suburb of Linksfield.
Glenvista pupils taunted their Jewish opponents with the Nazi salute and shouted “Heil Hitler.”
The referee, who is Jewish, ended the match. According to their coach, the offending players later apologized.
In both instances, apologies were received from the school headmasters of Sasolburg and Glenvista.
The four offending rugby players from Glenvista have been suspended for the remainder of the rugby season and face other punishments.
Ronnie Mink, chairman of the Yad Vashem Memorial Foundation and deputy principal of the King David High School, is visiting Sasolburg to discuss implementation of the Holocaust education program.
“We hope do the same with other government schools — especially Glenvista,” he said.
Russell Gaddin, honorary life president of the South Africa Board of Deputies, the Jewish community’s umbrella group, said he did not think the anti-Semitism was orchestrated, calling it the “actions of silly children who do not understand the ramifications of their behavior.
“The most disturbing aspect is the lack of supervision of an adult body to prevent this type of thing,” he said.
Mink is recommending a book by Franz Auerbach, the vice chairman of the memorial foundation, as a useful tools for educating non-Jewish children about the horrors of the Holocaust.
“World on Fire,” which was written specifically for those wishing to know more about the Holocaust and for teaching programs, draws parallels between Nazi thinking and other race theories — such as apartheid — that are used to justify discrimination.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
