TENAFLY, N.J. (WPIX) — A New Jersey school is under investigation after an elementary student’s project on Adolf Hitler’s “greatest accomplishment” was allegedly displayed in the school’s hallway.
A photo of the child’s completed character development assignment was posted on Facebook by Lori Birk on Sunday. According to the post, the fifth grade Maugham Elementary School student dressed as the German dictator while delivering a “Character Development” project.
The project was written in the first-person narrative as if the student was Hitler, the post said.
“My greatest accomplishment was uniting a great mass of German and Austrian people behind me. I rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming chancellor in 1933 and then assuming the title of führer und reichskanzler in 1934,” the assignment read. “Führer and reichskanzler means leader and chancellor. I was pretty great, wasn’t I? I was very popular and many people followed me until I died. My belief in antisemitism drove me to kill more than 6 million Jews.”
According to Birk, the child’s choice of topic for the assignment was approved by the teacher prior to the presentation.
“Please read – as this was hanging in the Maugham School hallway in Tenafly. This is ignorance, antisemitism and hatred taught at a fifth grade level,” Birk wrote. “Shame on the parents who helped their child dress as Hitler and the teacher who has approved such hatred.”
The Tenafly Board of Education told NewsNation affiliate WPIX in a statement on Tuesday that it was reviewing the situation and would provide an update this week.
“In the meantime, we are committed – as always – to cultivating a positive school culture that has no room for hate, prejudice, bias, or oppression. We are proud of our district’s policies regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion and are committed to ensuring adherence to these guiding principles,” the statement said.