Third graders forced to dig pretend mass graves in Holocaust reenactment — then told 'Jews ruined Christmas'

The Washington Post revealed that a group of third-graders was forced to reenact moments from the Holocaust. The instructor then told the students not to tell anyone about it.

The incident happened at Watkins Elementary School, revealed the Washington Post. The instructor assigned various roles. One student, who is Jewish, was told to play Adolf Hitler, and others were forced to pretend that they were digging mass graves for murdered victims. At the end of the reenactment, the Jewish student was then told to pretend to kill themselves.

“I want to acknowledge the gravity of this poor instructional decision, as students should never be asked to act out or portray any atrocity, especially genocide, war, or murder,” said Principal MScott Berkowitz in an email.

The students were in a library class on Friday ahead of the winter break, working on a project. The instructor, however, had them forgo research time and participate in the "reenactment."

Another student was forced to be a Jew in a concentration camp told that they were going to die in the gas chamber. He also had to pretend that he was shooting his fellow students, a parent said.

The instructor also allegedly made antisemitic comments when students asked why Germans did this to people. "Because the Jews ruined Christmas," the instructor said.

The instructor then asked students not to tell anyone that they did the lesson, but they told their homeroom teacher about the incident.

Read the full report at the Washington Post.