Westside Middle School is 'extremely sorry' for displaying Hitler quote

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Jessica Wade

A quote by Adolf Hitler was displayed in a hallway at Westside Middle School on Monday, prompting an apology from the school’s principal.

In an email to students, families and staff Monday night, the school addressed the quote, apologizing “for the insensitivity this showed to our Jewish population and to other students.”

“We made a mistake today at WMS,” the email, signed by Westside Middle School Principal Kim Eymann and Superintendent Mike Lucas, began. “We allowed a ‘quote of the day’ from Adolf Hitler to be displayed on a board in one of our hallways.”

The quote, “The man who has no sense of history is like a man with no ears or eyes,” was displayed by a staff member in an eighth grade hallway on a marker board, said Brandi Paul, a spokeswoman for Westside Community Schools.


Read more: https://omaha.com/news/local/education/westside-middle-school-is-extremely-sorry-for-displaying-hitler-quote/article_a1da329e-659c-11eb-8b90-afedc10a4524.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

[LuvLoogie]

1. I am neither Jewish nor a student

And this is offensive to me.

Whole communities of idiots. What the fuck.

[msongs]

2. a thought anyone could have shows adolf was no genius nt

[Stuart G]

3. Was the name, "Adolph Hitler" mentioned in the quote..or was the quote without a name..

Sometimes quotes are put up with no name...Just asking, it is possible quote went up without knowledge
of person who spoke it...(yes, anything is possible in a middle school, I taught in 3 public high schools
in Chicago. The stories are unbelievable..and yes, the person who put it up, might have not known who
wrote the quote without reference..If the quote included Hitler's name, then that is something else..

(Like I said, anything is possible...wait>>>>> Who was our last President of the U.S.A.?...))

oh well....back to hide........

[LeftInTX]

6. That's what I was wondering....

People post sayings and have no idea where they came from....

Then someone comes along and recognizes it...

[PatSeg]

28. I wouldn't have known who said that

and would have agreed with the sentiment. Though I would think in a German school, quite a few staff members should be able to recognize the quote.

[bringthePaine]

4. "we"? what cowardice! investigate, then discipline, as a proper example for students

[TigressDem]

5. What is WEIRD is that Hitler could ever say that.

“The man who has no sense of history is like a man with no ears or eyes.”


It is a perfectly rational statement, coming out of the mouth of a dictator and architect of the Holocaust.


We all talk about how people should remember history so we don't repeat the same mistakes.


I just haven't studied him enough to know in what context he could say such a thing and HOW he made it vile by twisting it in with the rest of his rhetoric.

[LeftInTX]

7. Maybe in reference to WWI???

I have no idea....

[TigressDem]

8. Yeah, and I would barf every 40 seconds if I read Mine Kampft (however you spell it)

Think that is where it came from.

AND I don't care.

The school made a good decision taking it down.

There are better ways to say the same thing.

[PatSeg]

29. Okay, maybe that's it

It just seemed like such an enlightened statement coming from Hitler, but context could make a big difference. And of course, it could be history according to Hitler, not necessarily real history.

[Cozmo]

9. Wait, wait, wait, these are educators? Give me a break.

When I was a child and went to the grocery with my mother, I would be ashamed to see older patrons with tattoos on the wrists, THIS WAS SO WRONG. At the time, I didn't know about the Nazis or death camps but I could feel their heartbreak. Oops, just doesn't cover this "mistake".

[LymphocyteLover]

21. Hitler was motivated by perceived historical grievances about how the German people were wronged

It was all warped and blamed most of their problems on Jews, and was not unlike white grievance pushed by Trump and the conservative media.

[badboy67]

10. Mein Kampf For Dummies.

[Massacure]

11. So the person who picked the quote figuratively has no ears nor no eyes?

There exists a certain irony here.

[Crash2Parties]

12. "was displayed by a staff member" who is...?

MAGA?
A Proud Boy / fan?
A white supremacist?

[bucolic_frolic]

23. Probably ignorant of history or lacking self-awareness

Doesn't really know who Hitler was or did, or stupidly ignorant of the inappropriateness of quoting him

[elleng]

13. Another example (in one day) of a good and necessary history lesson

being thrown away, instead of being used as a teaching vehicle.

[LeftInTX]

15. I don't know...I found what Hitler said to be relevant, but I'm sure other quotes will suffice.

Such as:

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it

Now the school has the embarrassment of a Hitler quote....Hopefully, they explained the situation to the students and the importance of checking their source of quotes.

[elleng]

17. Hopefully

[DonaldsRump]

20. I thought that was from George Santayana?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santayana

[LeftInTX]

30. Yes, it is George Santayana's quote

George Santayana's would have been the appropriate quote for a bulletin board.

[rsdsharp]

36. Similar to Harry Truman saying

“The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.”

[greenjar_01]

14. It's unacceptable even if the quote is meant to indicate Hitler's evil...In this case, it's meant

as some profound truth! What in the heavenly fuck is happening in America?

[LeftInTX]

16. I think the quote was unattributed and probably found on Pinterest...

The message is: When people close their eyes and ears, history is not learned. It's a fact...

There are other ways to say it such as:

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it

If I would have found something like that on Pinterest, (where most bulletin board ideas exist these days) I would not have thought of Hilter...

[progree]

19. Another astonishing school story: Lesson Asks Of Students: How To Punish A Slave?

Wis. Teachers Suspended After Lesson Asks Of Students: How To Punish A Slave?
WCCO-TV (Minneapolis CBS affiliiate), 2/2/21
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2021/02/02/wis-teachers-suspended-after-lesson-asks-of-students-how-to-punish-a-slave/

Administrators at a Wisconsin middle school said Monday they have suspended teachers who were involved in an activity for sixth graders that included a question about how the students would punish slaves.

An email to parents at Patrick Marsh Middle School in Sun Prairie, about 15 miles from Madison, apologized for a “grave error in judgment” during the social studies class and said an unnamed number of teachers have been placed on administrative leave.

The lesson was meant to show the politics of ancient Mesopotamia and included one scenario that stated, ”A slave stands before you. This slave has disrespected his master by telling him ‘You are not my master’ How will you punish this slave?” It further explained that under Hammurabi’s Code the slave would be put to death.

... Michael Johnson, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County, said the assignment was “insensitive” and “totally inappropriate,” especially on the first day of Black History Month.

Cross-posted from Wisconsin group https://www.democraticunderground.com/108426299

[LeftInTX]

31. Good gawd!

[TigressDem]

39. However, it DOES SHOW how horrible government frames the situation and makes right action suicidal.

HOW even someone who sees what is right and would DO what is right would as a consequence of that time probably also be put to death.

HOW peaceful protestors standing up for equal rights get shot with rubber bullets, beaten and sprayed with mace.

HOW someone who commits a minor infraction is murdered in the street by police.


IT DOES SHOW THAT A RIGGED SYSTEM is actually BROKEN and MUST be changed.

THEN and NOW.

[twodogsbarking]

22. Try this

"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."
Aldous Huxley

[TigressDem]

38. YES. That WORKS. Thanks!!! nt

[twodogsbarking]

40. May the Blue Bird of happiness

sing you a song.

[TigressDem]

41. Awwww.

I thought you were going to say "Crap on your head" as a joke.

But I guess my inner cynic needs to lighten up.

[bucolic_frolic]

24. "Achtung! We are sorry!"

Rather discordant.

[myohmy2]

25. sieg heil...

...to be expected...

...fascism and dictators are fashionable these days...

...we had problems with our own wannabe a few weeks ago...

"We made a mistake today at WMS,"

...I think most pukes would disagree with you...

[marble falls]

26. That was done on purpose.

[AllaN01Bear]

27. why do they keep repeating this nonsense . this is not free speach.

[Steelrolled]

32. Infotainment industry generating outrage (and advertising revenue).

Yes, the children might be tormented by this statement, not because it was made by Hitler, but by the fact that they find history boring and totally irrelevant to their lives.

[TomVilmer]

33. You can buy this "beautiful quote" on a notebook at Amazon ...

... and there really is nothing wrong with the quote, but a lot with the author. As Amazon puts it: "Beautiful quote, and beautiful design. Use it as a notebook, diary, or guest book at home, school, or the office. Also, makes a thoughtful birthday or holiday gift."



It is easy to find such real quotes from Der Führer, though seldom in his own writing, but mostly in stuff people claim he said to them, like this one. The original quote is:
"Wer kein Organ für Geschichte hat, ist wie ein Mensch, der kein Gehör oder kein Gesicht hat; leben kann er auch so, aber was ist das!"

[inwiththenew]

34. It's a popular past time of the right to troll with Hitler qoutes

They will put unattributed Hitler quotes out in places to get people to agree with them or spread them without realizing what their doing. May have happened in this case. May be intentional. I don't know.

[TigressDem]

37. I will say one thing... NO ONE even Hitler is 1 dimensional.

In order to try and clear my own self of crazy anger at the evil he did, I did learn a few things about his life.

His father was a horrible bastard. Hitler's father was born to an unwed mother and there were rumors Alois's father was a wealthy Jewish man who left Hitler's grandmother alone with a child in a time when that was a huge scandal.
https://allthatsinteresting.com/alois-hitler

IT DOES NOT EXCUSE THEIR ACTIONS. It does explain how things could become so insane, though.

I had heard that Hitler's mother was Jewish, but that was because of the stories Alois was either cousins or he was her Uncle.
That was by Alois's mother marrying a man named Hitler not a biological cousin/niece.
https://www.biography.com/news/who-was-hitlers-mother

So his dad who was probably biologically Jewish, but preferred his Hitler step dad, beat Adolf and was cruel to him.

His mother who was from the Hitler side and then presumably NOT Jewish was his world.



The MAN Hitler made decisions from his insanity that put a SCAR on the entire world. I can NEVER FORGIVE THAT.

But when I think of children who were NOT the monsters they grew up to be, I can forgive that child.

THEN it became about accountability instead of rage/justice.



My son who believes the election was stolen accuses me of NOT listening to BOTH sides.
He MAY be right in terms that I won't watch OAnn or read Mein Kampf, but I will read the FACTS and listen to both opinions and MAKE UP MY OWN MIND.