A top Johannesburg school has been left red-faced after a fun day plunged the school into controversy.
On so-called “Moustache Day”, a boy at St John’s College went on stage wearing a moustache similar to the one worn by the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.
He then did the Nazi salute to which a large number of boys in the audience jumped up and spontaneously returned the salute, The Times reported.
But a fellow pupil was deeply distressed by this and wrote a letter to school principal Roger Cameron, saying he was a Jewish boy who had family members killed by the Nazis.
In the letter, the boy wrote: ”The reason that I was so disgusted was because the entire school seemed to bear no second thought when seemingly admiring this man. Whether you are Jewish or not does not matter. Because of the evil things he did in his life – no one can possibly argue that Adolf Hitler was a man to be admired by anyone.”
The school apologised to pupils and parents and in a letter on the school website, the principal said the incident had been used to educate pupils.
“St John’s College apologises unreservedly for the offence caused by this incident,” said Cameron.
Wendy Kahn of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies said they were satisfied by the manner in which the school had dealt with the incident.
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