East Cobb MS Student Wears Swastika Armband, Performs Nazi Salute In Social Media Photos

EAST COBB, GA — Five months after swastikas and antisemitic messages were scrawled on the bathroom walls of two East Cobb high schools, an East Cobb Middle School student was photographed wearing a homemade swastika armband and performing a Nazi salute inside the school, reports said.

Several photos of the student were circulated on various social media platforms, multiple news outlets reported, although the originals started on Snapchat.

One of the photos had the caption "Zieg heil," according to Atlanta Jewish Times, and another was captioned "heil Hitler." Zieg heil, or sieg heil, was a victory salute of the Nazis.

In a statement to multiple news outlets, a spokesperson for the Cobb County School District said the students will be disciplined according to district policies.

"Several students, after school, made a very poor decision to display hateful and antisemitic imagery while recording themselves on social media," the statement said, according to the Marietta Daily Journal. "The students will be disciplined according to district policies, and we encourage parents to talk to their students about using social media responsibly."

Patch has reached out to the district for comment. The school's principal said the students were identified and would be disciplined, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Just a few weeks before the photos, Brad Epstein, whose daughter attends East Cobb Middle School, told the Atlanta Jewish Times that the class had studied a book about the Holocaust.

Epstein said he emailed school board members, and only one, Charisse Davis, responded. He told the AJT that while he believes the school responded appropriately, he was disappointed in the school district’s and school board’s response — or lack thereof.

“Your silence is deafening! Since I made you aware of this incident, only one board member had the courage to reach out to me,” Epstein said in a follow-up email to the board that he shared with the AJT. “If this were racism in ANY other way, there would be a loud outcry. However, your silence in this matter implies that you ALL condone this type of behavior.”

In a Facebook Live video on Friday — Jaha Howard, a Cobb school board member who is campaigning to be Georgia’s next state school superintendent — spoke out about the incident and the district’s handling of antisemitic hate in its schools.

Graffiti of swastikas, as well as antisemitic phrases “Heil Hitler” and “Hail Hitler,” were drawn on the bathroom walls of Pope and Lassiter high schools in September, in separate incidents just days apart. Jewish leaders and community members criticized the district at the time for not using the phrase “antisemitism” in its initial response.

The school board passed a resolution in October decrying racism and antisemitism.

Cobb Schools Board Chair David Chastain told the MDJ the district can say it is against antisemitism, but the district can’t prevent it from happening.

“We can say that we’re against it and we don’t like it, but it’s kind of like speeding tickets,” Chastain told the news outlet. “There’s all these ordinances out there, and every now and then somebody decides to go ahead and push the limit, and they get caught. So, you know, I feel bad when anything like this happens.”

The southeast chapter of the Anti-Defamation League posted the following message on Twitter in regard to the antisemitic photos:

“Antisemitic messages at Cobb County public schools persist with no clear path forward. We have a responsibility to targeted Jewish families and are still open to work with the schools. An anti-hate resolution without action is not enough to effect change.”

Larry Sernovitz, senior rabbi at Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb, told the MDJ he’s been working with students accused of antisemitic acts to educate them, and said he’s been working with district staff to suggest any necessary changes to better educate students about antisemitism — but hoped for a more direct statement from Superintendent Chris Ragsdale.

“I would honestly call on the superintendent to stand up and to say, ‘Enough is enough, and I’m not going to allow this stuff in my school district, and we’re going to make the changes necessary,’” Sernovitz told the outlet.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said Jaha Howard was the only board member to respond to Epstein's first email. Board member Charisse Davis was the one to respond. Howard responded after Epstein's second email.

Related:

• Swastikas Found Inside Pope High School Bathroom
• Swastikas, 'Heil Hitler' Found In Lassiter High School Bathrooms
• Activist Group Calls On Cobb School Board To Condemn Antisemitism
• Resolution Against Antisemitism, Racism Passed By Cobb Schools