The headteacher of a school in Utah has been suspended after one of their pupils was allowed to march in the school’s Halloween parade while dressed up as Adolf Hitler.
Creekside Elementary School in Davis County has also suspended a teacher while they look into the incident.
The image of the pupil shared on Facebook included a caption which alleged he had been “Hailing Hitler” and doing Nazi salutes “in the face of the few minority children who attend the school”, reports Deseret News.
It was shared by a mother whose child attends the school in a Facebook group for mothers in the area.
She branded the outfit, emulating the Nazi dictator whose campaign of extermination led to the mass murder of six million Jews during the Second World War, as “ridiculous and distasteful as one could get”.
Photos show the pupil wearing a long-sleeved dark brown shirt with has the swastika symbol on it.
Both the head teacher and the teacher are on paid administrative leave and the Davis School District has apologised.
A spokesperson for the district said: “The Davis School District apologises for what took place yesterday. It does not tolerate speech, images or conduct that portray or promote hate in any form.
“The district is taking the matter very seriously and is investigating every aspect of the situation.”
The United Jewish Federation of Utah condemned the costume worn by the boy and asked school leaders and teachers to advise pupil’s parents about offensive fancy dress.
“Almost all Jews and Americans regard Hitler and Nazi symbols as signifiers of the worst hatred, racism, and crimes against humanity that the world has known,” the organisation said in a statement.
“Dressing a child as Hitler is intolerably offensive and should never be suggested, permitted, or condoned”.
It comes after a fancy dress shop in the north of England recently faced criticism for selling a Nazi uniform costume.
The “Gestapo Officer” outfit, which costs £35, was noticed at a shop called “Party On” in Sheffield city centre which is highly popular with university students earlier in the month.
The shop’s manager sought to defend the outfit and said many of the fancy dress outfits at the shop are purchased by those in the acting industry.
Awal Yousoff noted the contentious costume was predominantly bought by actors and does not tend to be purchased during the Halloween period but said: “We would like to apologise to anyone who’s offended by the costume”.
