School apologises for insensitive photo
A PHOTOGRAPH of a group of Kingsway High pupils gesturing the Nazi salute outside the Durban Holocaust Centre was posted on a Facebook page, after a visit to the centre on Wednesday, 22 January.
The posting which caused an uproar has since been removed. The centre expressed its disappointment at the anti-Semitic gesture.
Following the incident, Kingsway High principal, Geoff Harrison posted the following apology on the school's Facebook page:
“Kingsway apologises unreservedly for the most insensitive photo posted on Facebook. The atrocities committed against the Jews, in particular, and the loss of life and destruction caused throughout Europe can only give rise to repulsion with anything associated with the Nazi.
We are most grateful that this facility, the Holocaust Centre, that has been available for us to visit regularly so our learners can learn from the mistakes of the past. We urge all those who have not taken the time to visit the centre (to do so), as it is most worthwhile.
I believe it is also important that 13/14 year olds do not know the significance of a salute, and their generation are only now being exposed to the history of the Second World War and Fascism. The learners' behaviour was therefore more typical of youthful insensitivity than a support for Nazism.
It goes without saying that the unfortunate gesture does not fit in with the ethos and philosophy of the school as you have seen portrayed by other Facebook posts over the years.”
