National

Adolf Hitler quote in Nebraska school hallway prompts apology. ‘We made a mistake’

Snow covers cars and Blondo Street east of Northwest Radial Highway in Omaha, Neb., on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. The Omaha area recorded almost 12 inches of snow the day before..
Snow covers cars and Blondo Street east of Northwest Radial Highway in Omaha, Neb., on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. The Omaha area recorded almost 12 inches of snow the day before.. Associated Press

A Nebraska school district has apologized after posting a “quote of the day” from Adolf Hitler in a middle school hallway.

“We made a mistake today,” reads an email to parents from Westside Middle School in Omaha, The Omaha World-Herald reported.

“The man who has no sense of history is like a man with no ears or eyes,” reads the Hitler quote, which was posted on a marker board Monday by an employee, WOWT reported.

The email, signed by Principal Kim Eymann and Westside Community Schools Superintendent Mike Lucas, said they were “concerned and upset” about the incident, KMTV reported. Calling it a personnel matter, the district declined to say what disciplinary action will be taken.

“We don’t believe there was any malicious intent behind it whatsoever, but malicious intent or not, it was something that needed to be addressed,” said Brandi Paul, Westside Community Schools spokeswoman, The Omaha World Herald reported.

Along with the email to parents, school leaders also addressed the matter in a morning briefing for students, apologizing for the “insensitivity this showed to our Jewish population and to other students,” WOWT reported.

The district had already been working with the Anti-Defamation League of Omaha to find appropriate videos and lessons for discussing Hitler and the Holocaust, KMTV reported.

This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 2:08 PM with the headline "Adolf Hitler quote in Nebraska school hallway prompts apology. ‘We made a mistake’."

DS
Don Sweeney
The Sacramento Bee
Don Sweeney has been a newspaper reporter and editor in California for more than 35 years. He is a service reporter based at The Sacramento Bee.
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