The 15-year-old Jewish student was welcomed into class by classmates with swastikas scattered throughout the classroom at one of the most exclusive and expensive schools in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, Beacon School. The anti-Semitic attack, reported in the Brazilian press, was carried out by at least six of the teenager’s classmates who had recently transferred to the elite school.
The Jewish teenager’s classmates not only scattered swastikas around the room, but also escalated the anti-Semitic attack by singing part of the Hitler Youth anthem. The student who was the target of the bigoted demonstration left the classroom, went home very shocked and reported the incident to his parents, who demanded that the school take action.
The six students involved in the anti-Semitic attack were suspended for two days, a decision that was seen in the school corridors as a welcome break. Faced with punishment, the student’s parents plan to go to court to, at a minimum, expel the students from school, since their son does not want to return to class while the attackers remain in the institution.
Students at Beacon School, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the attack on a new student was not an isolated episode and that several Jewish students were greeted by classmates with Nazi salutes upon arrival to class. However, according to students, anti-Semitic and racist actions are not unique to Beacon.
On the contrary, they are being repeated with increasing intensity in other schools where the children of the richest residents of Brazil’s largest city study. Usually, when complaints are made, aggressors are punished only with verbal warnings.