Australian school apologises for awarding child dressed as Hitler costume prize

An Australian school has apologised after a child dressed as Adolf Hitler won a costume parade.

Published: 5:50PM BST 27 Aug 2010

The boy was judged best dressed among his class of nine and 10-years-olds by the principal and other teachers in a book week contest, with the costume which featured the swastika.

The unnamed Perth Catholic school sent a letter of apology to parents after a number of complaints that commending an outfit of the Nazi dictator was inappropriate.

“It’s a one-off thing that in retrospect we’d do differently,” the principal, who was not named, told The West Australian newspaper, defending himself by saying Hitler “was a fairly famous person”.

The letter to parents said future dress-up days would be restricted to characters “appropriate for primary school-aged students” and said care would be taken to ensure students understood the “sensitivities” around certain people.

Meanwhile a US High School principal has apologised after a quote from Hitler ended up in the school yearbook.

Easton Area High School Principal Michael Koch, said the quote, which reads “And in the last analysis, success is what matters”, was a mistake and oversight by the administration.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/7968390/Australian-school-apologises-for-awarding-child-dressed-as-Hitler-costume-prize.html