Nazi Assignment Not ‘in Good Taste,’ Principal Says

A principal at Mission Viejo High School conceded Sunday night that a teacher trying to make history come alive for his students may have shown bad judgment when he distributed a homework assignment adorned with two hand-drawn swastikas.

The teacher has realized his error and vowed not to use the work sheet again, said school Principal Marilyn McDowell. The use of swastikas, as part of a World War II lesson, wasn’t meant to wound, she added.

The assignment, asking students to sketch out one of Adolf Hitler’s battle plans, came to McDowell’s attention after a parent complained that it was offensive and inappropriate.

The teacher was “trying to teach history,” McDowell said of the young instructor, who has taught at the school for about five years. “It was an assignment meant to be a little bit creative by having kids look into a historical situation. It wasn’t necessarily in good taste, but I don’t think it’s as bad as it’s being made out to be.”

McDowell said it would be impossible for students to study World War II without being exposed to swastikas.

The Times is withholding the teacher’s name because he could not be reached for comment Sunday night.

Larry Finkle of Trabuco Canyon said he could hardly envision a worse assignment for his 15-year-old daughter Erin.

“When I saw the two swastikas, I looked at that and thought, ‘What the heck is this?’ ” Finkle said.

The homework sheet Erin brought home Thursday--for a chapter about Adolf Hitler and World War II--was decorated with two roughly sketched swastikas, a picture of a tank and three hand-drawn bombs.

The instructions stated, “You have been elected Fuhrer of Germany and you need to accomplish your goals as the elected ruler of the land.” The assignment directed students to sketch out a battle plan and write a one-page essay about how they would accomplish Hitler’s goals, including: “Take over the world with Aryans control [of] all Europe and Africa. (Mein Kampf)”

Erin, a dark-haired girl with serious-looking hazel eyes, said she felt a little queasy when she saw the assignment. It made her father, a 43-year-old industrial supplies salesman, so angry he said he had trouble sleeping.

“I was, like, angry and upset,” Erin recounted Sunday afternoon. “I felt helpless, but there wasn’t much I could do. . . . I feel kind of uncomfortable going back to his class because he was so unaware of what was going on.”

Other than the Finkles, no other parents or students have complained about the assignment, McDowell said. Although Erin objected to the lesson, she said the teacher who assigned it is generally nice, a surfer who plays basketball with students after school.

Erin said that the teacher had asked pupils whether the assignment offended them on Friday, when their papers were due. Several students jokingly said they were offended, she said. And one boy said he was uncomfortable carrying home a paper with swastikas on it. Erin said she felt too awkward to complain publicly.

Erin’s father met with one of Mission Viejo’s assistant principals on Friday and was assured that the teacher would withdraw the assignment.

Even though the teacher has offered to apologize, Larry Finkle is not satisfied. He says the teacher doesn’t belong in the classroom.

Finkle said it’s unconscionable to ask students to put themselves in the Nazi leader’s shoes in light of the recent school shooting in Littleton, Colo., which left 15 dead and occurred on the anniversary of Hitler’s death.

“There are people out there who like to stir things up,” Finkle said. “I’m not like that. . . . But my duty as a Jew is not to close my eyes to this. I’m doing this for my daughter, for my family and for Jewish people as a group by standing up against this kind of ignorance.”

The Finkles don’t debate the necessity of teaching about Hitler. But they object to making an assignment asking teenagers to plot Hitler’s strategy.

McDowell, who did not speak to the teacher personally, said the instructor is a kind man who regrets his actions.

“No disciplinary action was taken because it’s not a disciplinary matter,” she said. “He made a mistake, he corrected it, and he apologized for it. . . . We all make mistakes. The important thing is to acknowledge them and learn from them. That’s the lesson we try to teach kids, too.”