Culture

A School Kid In Alice Springs Dressed Up As Hitler For Book Week

Believe it or not, this is the second time a student at an Australian school has dressed up as Adolf Hitler for Book Week.

by Osman Faruqi  9 September 2016

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What is the deal with Australia and Book Week? Last month a Perth mum was heavily criticised after dressing up her son as AFL star Nic Naitanui, complete with  blackface. The mum copped flack due to her use of blackface, the fact she bragged about on Facebook and the fact that Nic Nautanui doesn’t really have an obvious connection to Book Week.

But today a story has emerged that trumps even that ridiculous incident. The principal of a private school in Alice Springs has been forced to apologise after a student dressed up as Adolf Hitler for Book Week, according to the ABC. But it gets better/worse. The student actively sought permission from a teacher to come as Hitler and it was granted. Not only that, but the special Book Week event was held “in front of a group of exchange students from a Jewish school in Melbourne.”

It’s a classic example of from bad, to worse, to completely and utterly horrifying. The principal of the school has now apologised to the Jewish students and to the wider public. Unsurprisingly, people are pointing out that everyone seems to have missed the point of Book Week.

Believe it or not, this is the second time a student at an Australian school has dressed up as Adolf Hitler for Book Week. In 2010 a Perth student was awarded first place in his class for his Hitler outfit. The principal, who was on the judging panel for the award, eventually issued an apology. They denied claims that other students were chanting “Hitler” while the student in the costume was on stage. “I would strongly deny that the children were chanting ‘Hitler’, I take strong umbrage to that,” the principal said.

So it turns out Australia has a long tradition of incredibly, incredibly offensive Book Week costumes. Why is so hard to dress up as a normal character from a popular book?! Come as Harry Potter or Hermione, or the giant peach from James and the Giant Peach. Dress up as literally anything other than a genocidal dictator and don’t come in blackface. It’s pretty bloody easy, ffs.