![]() ![]() “The headmaster thought my drawings were TERRIBLE!. It went on to say that Hitler enrolled at an arts academy in Vienna, Austria. “My mother died of cancer while being treated by a Jewish doctor,” it said. We’re trying to work on it now, to mend some feelings.”īut some parents say school authorities should never have permitted the speech in the first place.Īccording to the copy parents received, the speech attempted to depict the forces that shaped Hitler’s life. It was a little fifth-grade boy who wrote a report himself, and none of us realized the impact it would have on some people. “We’re sorry there has been so much hurt,” Spellman said. She said she also contacted the Simon Wiesenthal Center to arrange a visit from officials of the Los Angeles-based institute for Holocaust studies. Principal Linda Spellman said that after parents complained, she met with students in an attempt to place Hitler in a broader historical context. The speech briefly mentioned that Hitler killed millions of Jews, but did not offer any details of the Holocaust or Nazi death camps during World War II, according to a typewritten copy provided to parents. That’s evil and there are no gray areas.” “But here’s a man who said he would, and then did, carry out the malicious genocide of a people. ![]() “Some people you try to understand and see in all of their dimensions,” he said. “Hitler should be seen as the epitome of evil,” he said. “All he did was get dressed up as Hitler.”īut Rabbi Alan Greenbaum of Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks said that society should be clear on Hitler’s role in history. “I don’t get why this is a big deal,” Candice said. “This was offensive to people who are Jewish or non-Jewish,” said Marsha Zimmerman, whose daughter Candice is in the same fifth-grade class as the boy who delivered the speech. “I’m trying to ensure that the issue doesn’t arise again.”īut some parents complained that the superintendent’s action is too little too late.Ī group of mothers who picked up their children from Westlake Elementary School on Friday said they remained upset that officials failed to respond immediately after the speech and that no one has apologized to them. I am sorry that it happened,” Seaver said. “I think an unfortunate incident occurred. The school district will also require teachers and principals to review the content of speeches before they are delivered to make sure that the subject matter is appropriate for schoolchildren. Seaver said the Hitler speech prompted him to revise the rules for oratorical contests and include a new requirement that speeches about historical figures focus on those who have made a positive contribution to society. I don’t think anyone could construe Hitler as a positive person.” But he acknowledged that the teacher who approved the speech used “questionable judgment. ![]()
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