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<\/a><\/p>\nEast Brook Middle School in Paramus, New Jersey, recalled yearbooks featuring an image of baby Adolf Hitler. (Google Streetview\/Bettmann\/Getty Images Contributor)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In a letter sent last Thursday to the school community, East Brook Middle School Principal Ryan Aupperlee said that the school in Paramus had launched an investigation into the incident in \u201ccoordination with law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAdolf Hitler represents hatred, antisemitism, and the horrors of the Holocaust, including the murder of six million Jews,\u201d Aupperlee wrote in the letter obtained by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. \u201cAn image of him has no place in a yearbook created for our students. It does not reflect who we are or what East Brook stands for, and we condemn its inclusion without reservation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sean Adams, the superintendent of Paramus Public Schools, told JTA in an emailed statement that the yearbooks were taken back from the students \u201cthe same day they were distributed, before the students left school for the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working with the yearbook company to develop a solution that will allow us to redistribute the yearbooks after removing the offensive content while still allowing students to retain the handwritten, personalized messages their classmates and teachers had already written in their yearbooks,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n
Adams said that an investigation into the incident was \u201congoing,\u201d and that \u201cany details related to students must remain confidential.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incident comes amid a spate of allegations of antisemitism in New Jersey schools in recent years. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into Teaneck Public Schools after parents alleged the system had fostered an antisemitic climate since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas massacres in Israel. The same year, teachers at Fort Lee High School presented a lesson that described Hamas as a \u201cPalestinian political party and armed resistance movement.\u201d<\/p>\n
A high school yearbook in East Brunswick, New Jersey, also drew condemnation and was recalled in 2024 after a photo of the \u201cJewish Student Association\u201d was replaced with one of a Muslim student group.<\/p>\n
Jason Shames, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, said that the incident was \u201cshocking people to the core.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not rushing to judgment, but again, if I know that it\u2019s a minor, I want consequences. If I know that\u2019s an adult, I want consequences,\u201d Shames said, adding that the Jewish community \u201cdemands\u201d to see accountability.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Paramus Mayor Chris DiPiazza condemned the incident in a post on Facebook, writing that, \u201cAny examples, like yesterday\u2019s, does not reflect Paramus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shames said that while he felt the school \u201chandled it right,\u201d he was still looking to other state leaders for a statement condemning the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere should be global condemnation,\u201d Shames said. \u201cIf the school has already done it, and the mayor\u2019s already done it, where\u2019s the uproar?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the incident reflected a broader normalization of antisemitism.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s infuriating that it\u2019s come to this. There\u2019s a bigger statement about the illness in American society today, and the antisemitism, and the hate that\u2019s involved in this,\u201d Shames said. \u201cEven if it winds up being two middle school kids who thought it was funny, we have a problem now with people thinking Hitler and Nazi jokes are funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabbi Arthur Weiner, the leader of the Conservative Congregation Beth Tikvah in Paramus, said that he was first alerted to the yearbook by a congregant whose child attends the school.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Weiner sent a letter to congregants saying that he was \u201cangered by this blatant antisemitic incident,\u201d and had been in contact with the school district and local elected leaders about their response.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvents like these are of great concern to us both personally and as a community,\u201d Weiner wrote. \u201cIncidents involving Nazi imagery or references to Hitler are not merely offensive. They touch deep historical wounds and remind us why vigilance remains so important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weiner said that the local Jewish community could \u201ctake heart in the reaction of the authorities to this particular event.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have not always seen that clear and unambiguous response from school districts when similar incidents of antisemitism and bias have occurred,\u201d Weiner told JTA. \u201cI think we\u2019ve been very, very proud of the response.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuel Goldstein of the Modern Orthodox Congregation Beth Tefillah in Paramus said that while many parents at his congregation had expressed \u201cfrustration,\u201d \u201churt,\u201d and \u201cconcern\u201d over the incident, they also felt \u201csupported by the local government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goldstein said that he nonetheless did \u201cnot feel that there\u2019s nearly enough proactive measures in the local school systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese incidents don\u2019t happen in a vacuum,\u201d Goldstein said. \u201cThey happen because someone is taught at home on social media or informally amongst peers at schools, that it is okay to hurt Jewish people, that has to be made clear, that that is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n