Seminars on Holocaust to Be Held at School

The Simon Wiesenthal Center will conduct seminars on the Holocaust this week at a Thousand Oaks school where a fifth-grader dressed up as Adolf Hitler and delivered a sympathetic speech about the Nazi dictator.

The Conejo Valley Unified School District contacted the Los Angeles-based institute for Holocaust studies after the pupil’s Feb. 24 speech at Westlake Elementary School prompted an outcry from some parents and Jewish leaders.

“We felt this would help the healing and education process,” Assistant Supt. Richard Simpson said.

But he said the district will not issue a formal apology to those offended by the speech, which portrayed Hitler as having been mistreated by Jews as a youth.

“I’ve been apologizing all day,” Simpson said Monday. “We’re sorry that we’ve caused this hurt. We’re not in the business of trying to alienate or offend our community.”

The unidentified boy donned a khaki uniform, boots, a swastika armband and fake mustache for the speech, which was delivered as part of a student oratory contest. The four-minute speech, for which the boy was awarded second place by a panel of teachers, mentioned that Hitler killed millions of Jews, but it did not provide any details on the Holocaust or Nazi death camps during World War II.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Wiesenthal Center said a Holocaust survivor will conduct the seminars in an effort to “give youngsters the feel of the real event.”

Renee Firestone, who survived the Auschwitz death camp, will conduct separate assemblies for first through third grades and fourth through sixth grades Wednesday. An evening session will be held Thursday for adults.

Among the artifacts Firestone will bring are a Star of David patch the Nazis forced Jews to wear during World War II and a Nazi schoolbook that advocated racism, Cooper said.

Since the incident, district Supt. William R. Seaver has changed the rules for oratorical contests, including a new requirement that speeches about historical figures emphasize those who have made a positive contribution to society. Students had been allowed to deliver speeches about any historical figure.

The school district will also require teachers and principals to review the content of speeches before they are delivered to ensure that the subject matter is appropriate for schoolchildren.

Simpson declined to say whether teachers would be disciplined for allowing the speech or giving it the second-place award.

But Cooper said the teachers need more sensitivity.

“No one spoke out against it,” the rabbi said. “The adults there can use a little bit of consciousness-raising.”