Cheng Hsiao-ing, principal of the Hsinchu Kuang Fu High School in northern Taiwan, resigned from his job on Saturday following a furor caused by secondary students wearing Hitler-themed attire in a cosplay parade.
Cheng took responsibility for the gaffe although the students were advised by Liu Hsi-cheng, their history teacher, that the theme they selected would be controversial, The Washington Post reported. Liu’s suggestion was to have as theme famous Arabic people, but the students insisted on Adolf Hitler, the German dictator.
Students’ Choice
After Liu opted to respect the students’ choice and not veto the idea after his class voted twice on Hitler, the Hsinchu students participated on Friday in the school parade sporting uniforms of Nazi soldiers and carrying Nazi signs, arm bands and large banners with the swastika. The students even made a tank from cardboard boxes with a male student inside.
The cosplay parade became viral not only in Taiwan but in other parts of the world and drew criticism for the show of disrespect by the secondary students. Among those who spoke against the Hitler-inspired costume were the Israel Economic and Cultural Office and German Institute Taipei.
Israel & Germany React
“It is deplorable and shocking that seven decades only after the world had witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust, a high-school in Taiwan is supporting such an outrageous action as we witnessed yesterday at Hsinchu Kuang-Fu Senior High School,” the Israel Economic and Cultural Office statement read.
The German Institute Taipei added that millions of people in Europe were killed and persecuted during the Nazi rule, making the Holocaust one of the most heinous crimes in human history. The institute noted that Taiwanese students were not aware that the swastika symbolizes oppression and contempt for human rights.
School Apology
Taiwanese Education Minister Pan Wen-chung apologized for what the students did. Because of the online criticisms, some of the students were distressed and told Liu they could not attend school on Monday, Focus Taiwan reported. Teachers’ groups also admitted failure on their part to educate their students.
“We feel that we have not worked hard enough, and have allowed this absurd, ignorant and indifferent attitude toward the value of universal human rights to spread and become an international joke,” according to the joint apology statement of the Action Coalition of Civics Teacher and an alliance of local history teacher.