Parading For Nazism

The Taiwanese kiddies must love Hitler. Maybe they admire the former Pol Pot genocidal massacres in nearby Cambodia as a work of admirable efficiency. Well, I hope not. But to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of a school in northern Taiwan, students were invited to choose historical figures and "cosplay" them at a parade Friday. Liu Hsi-cheng, a history teacher at Hsinchu Kuang Fu High School, suggested to his homeroom class that they go with famous people from Arabic culture, he told the Taipei Times. But Liu's students had another idea.... a parade theme based on Adolph Hitler.

The teacher told his students, in an understatement that having a parade for Adolph would be "very controversial", but he said that he would let the kids decide without vetoing their choice. So on went the parade and the students showed up in their finest Nazi regalia. They wore Nazi uniforms and held Nazi signs, arm bands and long red banners with swastikas on them. In one photo that the school has oddly since provided to the media, one student can be seen sitting atop a tank made from cardboard boxes, his arm raised in a Nazi salute.

What's next at Kuang Fu High? Perhaps they might consider a concert honoring Benito Mussolini or Joseph Stalin. Once word got out about education gone wild on social media, people in Taiwan condemned the students' decision as "ignorant" and "a disgusting display of disrespect." The state of Israel issued a statement Saturday that called the parade "deplorable and shocking" and noted that, less than a year ago, Taiwan had marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day for the first time with the participation of then president Ma Ying-jeou. "It is deplorable and shocking that seven decades only after the world had witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust, a high school in Taiwan is supporting such an outrageous action as we witnessed yesterday at Hsinchu Kuang-Fu Senior High School," the statement read in part.

Most Taiwanese want the government to counter the Nazi sentiment with state mandated anti Holocaust programs in Taiwanese schools. But is the student choice a symbol of anti Semites and cruelty among Taiwanese youth, or is it a f reflection of the ignorance of both kids and adults about the reality of history. As kids play with their electronic devices more they seem to be reading and learning less about the real world and its past. Unfortunately, it is clear that those students  and probably many more in every nation are not aware that the Nazi symbol means oppression and contempt for human rights. Life for our kids is more about fantasy and escapism through electronics than it is about reality.

Taiwan's Presidential Office ordered an investigation into the incident and the country's education minister  formally apologized and urged all schools in Taiwan to learn from the mistake. In the Asian tradition of the leader falling on his sword when the organization errs,  the school's principal said he took responsibility for the incident and would resign from his position.  Teacher Liu, said that his students deeply regretted their actions  and that he regretted allowing them to proceed with their theme.  And teachers' groups in Taiwan lamented the incident as a failure of the nation's education system.

Let's hope the students didn't give a Nazi salute when they heard about the rejection of Hitler and Nazism.