What if the young men giving the Nazi salute had done the exact same thing in 1958, not 2018

[Stuart G]

That is 60 years ago, just 13 years after the end of WWII. What would happen to every one of those who saluted? What would have happened to the photographer who told them to salute? Or the principal of that high school in charge of the event. In 1958 the horror of WWII was still alive. (and it still is, but evidently not in that high school) Think about what the Vets who fought in WWII who lived near that town, or in that town, would have done. What a total disgrace it would have been then. (as it is now) The Vets in Madison or Milwaukee.. Those cities are less than 80 miles from that place.. They fought against the Germans in WWII.
...Think if you can, how that would have been felt in 1958..Nazi Salute? How about this one..the last idea..

.....The President of the United States in 1958 was Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was a General in WWII and lead U.S. Soldiers against the Germans...

.........What would President Eisenhower have to say about this ugly display of hatred.? in 1958?

[snort]

1. Honest answer?

They would have had the shit kicked out of them.

[Stuart G]

4. That is what I was thinking...The Vets and the community itself would have an ugly reaction.

Nazi salutes in 1958? Your words, "had the shit kicked out of them." I agree..And that town would never, ever forget the day that those young men who saluted like Nazis, had the shit kicked out of them.
And neither would the young men themselves, or the photographer, or the school.

[Raster]

5. And the little shits would have deserved every fucking kick...

I had great uncles that fought and died in Europe to make sure the nazi scourge would not make it to the United States.

The principal of the school needs to be disciplined. The photographer who encouraged the kids needs to be run out of town on a rail.

And the one young man, Jordan Blue, needs to be thanked for his decency and his willingness to stand his ground!

[Turbineguy]

2. They are children.

They need to be educated. They need to understand.

They don't need to have their lives ruined. At least not this once.

[Journeyman]

6. Yes, make it a teachable moment. It won't get through to all, but those it does affect . . .

can only be changed for the better.

How many may have acted because of peer pressure, or ignorance? No need to ruin good lives for a stupid mistake.

Find the ringleaders, if possible, and determine then how to fully approach this situation.

[jaysunb]

7. This behavior begins at home

They have been or are being indoctrinated.

[Stuart G]

8. If this were 1958, they would have known what a Nazi salute meant..

But now in 2018, there are many, who do not have a view in there heads of the death camps, and hundreds of thousands of bodies of dead people in those camps.
..Or the true meaning of WWII as existed in 1958...or the first hand experiences of men in their late 30s and early 40s that fought in that horrific war.

And my opinion is you would not see that salute in Germany today. Because in Germany today, they teach their children the meaning of WWII and Hitler and that salute. It couldn't have happened in Germany today.

[Olafjoy]

10. They are Juniors and Seniors

They have taken American history. They know what that salute means and how many were murdered because of it. There is no excuse for gleefully doing a Nazi Salute. The punishment should be severe.

[lunasun]

11. Yes like Hitler youth not yet full Nazi . They are being educated they know new white power signs

So an up to date model . If this is funny to them what else ?

[SweetieD]

16. They understand. That is why they are doing it. They think it is amusing.

They know it is offensive which is why they think it is funny.

[vlyons]

3. Eisenhower viewed the death camps

He knew first hand about Nazis.

[Stuart G]

14. Not only did he view the death camps, but he also allowed photographers to come into

the camps and take pictures. And sound and movie photographers were allowed in also. Why? Eisenhower wanted the world to see what the death camps were and how they killed people..The poison gas, and the furnaces etc.(that is after the allies took the camps over toward the end of the war)
......How was that conveyed to the citizens of the U.S.A?..Well most people in the 40s went to local movie theaters once a week to view the films that were popular. ..And in those movie theaters, there was 10 to 15 minutes of news reals. That is recent new films with sound and motion. Keep in mind, there was very little TV in the 40s. and what was in the newspapers was not a movie just pictures.
...So when Eisenhower allowed the photographers to film the death camps, he wanted the message to get out that this was one of the reasons that there was a WWII. So Eisenhower wanted the country to see those camps with the burying of the bodies in those camps and what the Germans did in those camps.

The news reals in the movie theaters spread the news on a weekly basis, with movies and views for everyone to see, in the same way that the nightly TV news does today. We don't know about news reals in movie theaters, because they don't exist now. But that is how Eisenhower wanted to spread the news of the horror of WWII that he witnessed.
.

[pnwmom]

9. The photographer claims he told them to wave at their parents.

[Stuart G]

15. Well, the photographer can claim what he wants. a wave, is not a salute.

They are not the same. We will see. But the hands do not look like a wave to parents, but a salute..

[Sneederbunk]

12. Even in 1958 it would not have taken 7 months for us to hear about it.

[Stuart G]

17. Yes it did take 7 months to discover this picture

Baraboo Superintendent Lori Mueller says she became aware of the photo Monday after it was posted on social media. Mueller says the photo was taken last spring during prom and wasn't on school grounds.

Mueller says the photo doesn't reflect the district's values and that administrators will pursue appropriate action. Baraboo police are also investigating. In a letter sent to parents, the district said they "are extremely troubled by the image."

[Johnny2X2X]

13. Trump in France question

Do people think he didn’t go to that cemetery to honor fallen Americans because they fell fighting Nazis? I bet you Neo Nazis think exactly that, that Trump wouldn’t go to honor soldiers who fought against Nazis because he wouldn’t want to dishonor his heritage and his inspiration.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

18. I must agree with some of the posted comments.

I was in school in 1958 and NO ONE would have even wanted to throw the Sieg Heil salute. 1958 was only 13 years after the end of WWII. We ALL knew what had happened. We all had family who served. The stories were still so fresh.

Back then, there was no such thing as white washed history.

[MichMary]

19. I recall

when I was in 6th grade, 1968, the boys in the class thought Nazi stuff was cool. Drawing swastikas on stuff, doing the salute, saying what they THOUGHT was "Heil Hitler," (although what they were actually saying was "Hi Ho Hitler."

"Hogan's Heroes" was a very popular sitcom at the time. The Nazis were portrayed as bumbling idiots, being made fools of by the very cool American colonel and other POWs.

The kids in my class weren't Nazis, White Supremacists, or anything else; they were just dumb kids doing something they thought was provocative.

In this pic I see a variety of stuff. A couple of the kids in the front row appear to be waving, one guy is giving a thumbs up, some have fists raised, some are doing the white power thingy, and, yes, some are doing a Nazi salute. They are dumb kids, and the best way to treat this is to NOT give them the attention they were clearly aiming to get. JMHO