ADL files civil rights complaint against Colorado school district over antisemitism allegations
The Anti-Defamation League has lodged a civil rights complaint targeting Colorado’s Boulder Valley School District, alleging a yearslong pattern of antisemitic abuse. The complaint cites incidents such as Nazi salutes, students mocking the Holocaust and a so-called “Jew touch tag” game in which Jewish classmates were pursued. Parents and commentators have criticized district officials, saying they failed to respond adequately as the bullying reportedly intensified into physical attacks and cases referred for criminal review.
In New Jersey, a middle school pulled back its newly distributed yearbooks after officials discovered that an image of Adolf Hitler had been printed among the publication’s baby photos.
East Brook Middle School Principal Ryan Aupperlee told parents in a June 25 letter that the issue came to light only after students had already received the yearbooks, according to NorthJersey.com. He said the baby picture section included an image later identified as an infant photo of Adolf Hitler, and that administrators quickly gathered the books so the picture would no longer circulate.
The school is located in Paramus, a borough in Bergen County in northern New Jersey.
Paramus Mayor Chris DiPiazza addressed the episode Friday on Facebook, saying he had been made aware of the yearbook incident and had been in contact with both the schools superintendent and the police chief. He emphasized that Paramus is a community that welcomes people of all faiths and includes many houses of worship, adding that what happened at the school does not represent the borough.
East Brook Middle School in Paramus, New Jersey, retrieved yearbooks after an infant image of Adolf Hitler was found inside, prompting responses from school officials, the mayor and law enforcement. (Hulton Archive)
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The discovery led to an investigation in Paramus. Officials had not immediately determined how the image was submitted, who approved or inserted it, or why it was not flagged before the finished yearbooks were handed out.
The district is expected to decide on further action after examining how the photo ended up in the student yearbook. Police are also investigating, according to the report.
The Adolf Hitler baby photo from 1889 has been viewed as a symbol of hate and antisemitism for decades. (Hulton Archive)
“I want to be direct with you: the presence of this image is unacceptable,” Aupperlee’s said in his letter to parents. “Even if the image was not immediately recognizable to those paging through the book, its inclusion in an official school publication is a severe breach of our values. Adolf Hitler represents hatred, antisemitism, and the horrors of the Holocaust, including the murder of six million Jews. An image of him has no place in a yearbook created for our students. It does not reflect who we are or what East Brook stands for, and we condemn its inclusion without reservation.”
The returned yearbooks had already been signed by students and school staff, so those recalls will require some consideration on how the personal messages are kept.
“Thank you for your patience, understanding, and trust as we work to make this right,” Aupperlee’s letter concluded. “We remain committed to ensuring that our school reflects the values of respect, inclusion, and dignity for every member of our community.”
