Swastikas smeared with chalk on the blackboard, singing banned marching songs or showing the Nazi salute: all this is currently happening in the classrooms of Upper Austria, the country’s children’s advocate reports.
Exclusion has always existed among students. But since the Hamas massacre in Israel, “anti-Semitism has emerged,” says Christine Winkler-Kirchberger, head of the Upper Austrian Children and Youth Advocate (KiJA). Your employees are constantly out and about in the classrooms, this year with more than 600 workshops on bullying and violence prevention. There they would get the following impression: “It is striking how hatred is currently reflected in schools. “Not everywhere, but increasingly,” says Winkler-Kirchberger.
No incidents have been reported to the Directorate of Education
Anti-Semitism occurs most often in secondary schools, that is, among ten to fourteen year olds. However, the children’s lawyer does not automatically suspect radicalization: “From our point of view, it is quite provocative at the moment.”
No anti-Jewish incidents have yet been reported to the Upper Austrian Education Directorate. Yet people respond: “There will be further training for teachers on the subject of the conflict in the Middle East in November,” it says. And information material is available on the Internet.
Workshops are designed to educate students
Anti-Semitic incidents are also increasingly taking place outside of school: as reported, the Israeli flag flown in front of Linz City Hall has been damaged three times.
The KiJA sees a solution in its school workshops: “Our trainers convey that everyone has the same rights and encourage the children to show moral courage when students start showing off Nazi symbols,” says Winkler-Kirchberger. In addition, young people are legally informed, because not everyone would know that their actions are sometimes even punishable.
Also read the comments of “Krone” editor Philipp Stadler on this topic:
Don’t let memories die
My grandmother told me how, as a child during the Second World War, whenever the sirens sounded and an air raid siren sounded, she fled to the shelter. This constant running away is burned into her – and then mine – memory.
Children going to school today rarely have grandparents who lived through the horrors of the Nazi era firsthand and can talk about their experiences. Unfortunately, contemporary witnesses who visit schools are also becoming fewer and fewer.
Compulsory visits to concentration camp memorial sites for all school classes would counteract this extinction of memories. And thus at least prevent the defacement of swastikas on shelves more often.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
