AIBU to not want to see school children dressed in swastikas?

[Ben10sMum]

My DS is in Y2 at a small CofE school. We are of Jewish heritage but non-practising & I wanted DC to go to the village school. A large part of my GPs & GGPs siblings were killed by the Nazis.

When I went to pick him up the other day, I noticed 2 costumes with swastikas all over them hanging up in the Y6 classroom. I asked the head teacher what they were for. Apparently, Y6 are for a cluster schools drama production about rationing in WW2. The costumes are for the 'squander bugs' who are comedy characters of dubious nazi allegiance who go round squandering all the food supply (or something like that). The head said they've had all the history explained.
AIBU to think its inappropriate to dress children in swastikas and to hang the outfits in the school window. I would be horrified to go to a play only to see DS covered in swastikas and I'm not sure nazism is appropriate comedy at primary school.

Or am I being too easily bothered by this and should I just let it go? Or should I complain?

whilst i feel for you op yabu as history is history & we all have some upset in our history but that doesnt mean i dont want my dc learning because my great grandfather was captured & tortured.

the schools really cant do right for doing wrong.

I very much doubt that the year 6 children have had 'all' the history of WWII and the Nazis explained to them, but that's another matter.

I wouldn't be comfortable to see children in swastikas portraying Nazis as 'figures of fun'. How exactly does that fit in with learning about the historical facts. There's nothing remotely funny about them or what they did and given that there are still a great many neo-Nazis around, it's not confined to history and is not something to laugh about.

And just for the record Harticus the swastikas that you see in India is not the same as the swastika the Nazis used. Yes, that is a symbol of peace but is drawn the opposite way to the symbol of the Nazis. That was the whole point of it for the Nazis, they took an ancient symbol of peace and turned it on its head to become a symbol of power and fear.

YABU. It's for a school play. No one is going around spreading anti-semitism.

As said above, this is a play about rationing during WW2 and the point is that squander bugs are creepy but on the posters as a way of ramming home to people the importance of saving food waste etc. It's neither "figures of fun" nor "children dressed as Nazis": they are dressed as historical characters, ones that they will have learned about in the course of their lessons. I can understand why the swastika is upsetting to you and it's fair enough that you should ask your son not be one of them in four years time, but I don't think it's inappropriate in this context.

I think it is inappropriate irrespective of your history. If you have Jewish heritage, German heritage, lost grandparents and great grandparents in WW2 or not. Children do NOT need costumes with swastikas on.
I would complain. Generic military uniforms would bother me too because of the implication that military uniforms indicate nazism.
I would speak to the Headteacher explaining that they are treading on a thin line here and need to be very careful. Suggest black tshirt and trousers with maybe a red arm band. Or something.

pigsDOfly

Wrong.

Swastikas in Sanskrit can go in a variety of ways. Hindus, Jains, Buddhists all use it in a variety of ways. The negative or positive positioning of the swastika is used to denote slightly different things.

For millions of people the swastika is an emblem of good.
If history allows the Nazis to usurp it as a symbol instilling fear and dread then they continue to exert influence.

It is like the NF and BNP taking the flag of St George and making it into a racist emblem.

Well I apologise if I'm wrong harticus, but the point still stands that the symbol the Nazis used, is for most of Europe, a symbol of hatred and fear. There's a reason so many people were uncomfortable when (was it prince Edward) dress up for a party in Nazi regalia.

Yes, unfortunately a great many people also now feel uncomfortable when they see the flag of St George flying on a house or car because of the reason you site.

cite, not site

I am at the answer saying 'given your family history' this is not appropriate.

Sorry but family history has nothing to do with it. It is either acceptable or not. How on earth is the school supposed to know if that specific year there will be some children whose family was indeed involved in the holocaust? Does it mean too that the history lesson shuld be done in a different way when the OP's dcs will reach Y6?
Of course not!

I think that this is NOT appropriate full stop. Children at that age (incl the Y6) should not be presented with a comedy about Nazis etc but with full bare fact of thre atrocities. This is not the time to try and mellow the information but making it 'fun'. These children are too small to get it.
And then I do wonder of the play will be done in front of other children at assembly. What about the Y1, Y2 etc that will potentially watched that? Will they be able to understand that it is a comedy, making the Nazi ridicule etc...?
Do a play about nn Frank, do one about rationing or the concentration camp. But not trying to make a very sad and serious subject 'lighter' by using irony and sarcasm that will be lost on most children.

BTw, I was talking to some parents of Y6 children. These children were reading a poem, very sarcastic, about a 'thank you' letter from a little boy, saying how thrilled he was for a link jumper and a handkerchief with flowers on.
The boys did get that the poem was sarcastic but the girls didn't. They weren't able to put themselves at the place of the boys and realized that this wasn't a good present for them.

And then you would like these same children to 'get' the seriousness of the subject through a comedy? Crazy.

Well, I definitely don't want DC ever to wear a swastika or a golden Star of David for that matter. It's not about alternative interpretations, it's about the context which dresses my sons friends (it's a small school so friendships cross the years) up in costumes that symbolise a movement that destroyed innocent families.

I strongly support a truthful but sensitive teaching of history. But there's no point teaching history at all if you don't describe it's impacts today. It seems unethical to put children in swastikas without understanding the emotive nature of this and other symbols throughout the world. Surely ignorance of the psychological effects of history increases the likelihood that history will repeat itself. You only have to see the Daily Mail to see how Britain can turn upon any "foreign" race or religion - but we just let it go. Lets not make a fuss.

So anyway, I don't want DS to dress up like that but I'll be nice & British & let this one go.....

For me it would be the juxtaposition of comedy character & swastika that would offend.

I thought that the squander bug originally didn't have swastikas?

Weren't they to deter people from frivolous shopping, so the teacher's explanation seems odd.

The OP didn't say the play was a comedy. The character is a cartoon - but a British propaganda device, intended to be malicious and repellent. I think 10-yos would get that. There's a link upthread.

OP will you see the play?

Having talked myself from thinking this is fine to thinking that swastikas in well-chosen books, films and tv are ok but that dressing up and prancing about in them is not - however well intentioned and contextualised - I'm curious (for you) to see how it's actually presented and do think you should chat to the class teacher, ask that question and convey your discomfort.

I wonder whether understanding the symbol's origins in nazism is a first step towards understanding its wider significance today and the persistence of prejudice and hatred more widely. Perhaps we're expecting too much of everyone for that to be presented all together?