Chemnitz
Student shows Hitler salute in photo – school only notices the photo on its website after a month
The student is said to have been a 16-year-old (symbol photo)
© Thomas Trutschel/ / Picture Alliance
For weeks, a photo of a 16-year-old showing the Hitler salute was posted on the website of a Chemnitz school. The picture was only noticed by the school management after a press inquiry and was deleted. The student now faces legal consequences.
A photo on the website of a Saxon school caused bewilderment: the picture shows a group of students from the Chemnitz high school “Am Körnerplatz”, one of whom is pointing the Hitler salute directly at the camera. The picture appeared to have been on the school’s official website for weeks before it was noticed and removed.
As the “Bild” reports, the photo was taken as part of a “motto week” before the last day of school in the 10th grade. Several photos from the theme week ended up on the school website – including the photo with the Hitler salute.
It was only after a press inquiry that the school referred to the picture
The student’s right arm stretched out in the photo is said to have gone unnoticed for weeks, until the “Chemnitzer Morgenpost” finally drew the school’s attention to it on Monday. The high school “Am Körnerplatz” then deleted the picture and instead published a statement on the incident on its website.
“We were very unexpectedly informed of this, because up until then none of our employees had noticed this gesture. We deeply apologize for this mistake, for not looking more closely at the picture and the associated recognition of the gesture to be condemned,” it says.
Student threatens to report
According to the school itself, it stands for “openness, internationality and multiculturalism” and sets an example for its students with a “democratic and cosmopolitan attitude and the associated values”. “We are disappointed that this past life in our everyday school life did not reach this student,” the school said.
It is planned to work through the “deeply condemnable incident” with the affected 16-year-old student and his parents and classmates. The school wants to “take all necessary legal measures that this case requires,” the statement said.
According to the “Bild”, the head of the high school “Am Körnerplatz” announced that he wanted to exclude the student from the graduation ceremony. The school will decide on an ad after a conversation with the 16-year-old.
Sources: Picture, Statement of the high school “Am Körnerplatz” Chemnitz