Receiving a school yearbook is a highlight for many students. That book of photos represents a special time in their lives and is a treasured keepsake. When staff at East Brook Middle School in Paramus, New Jersey, distributed the school’s most recent yearbook to students, everyone expected the annual book to be filled with memories and good times. What they did not expect was to see an image of a baby Adolf Hitler among students’ baby photos. Paramus School District officials recalled the yearbooks and launched an investigation to determine how the image ended up in the yearbook and why.
Hitler’s baby photo appeared among graduating eighth graders’ baby photos.
It’s not clear who put the photo in the yearbook or how it made it all the way to the printer, but Ryan Aupperlee, principal of East Brook Middle School in Paramus, will not stand for it. Aupperlee addressed the situation in a letter to parents obtained by NJ.com.
“Earlier today, after students had already received their yearbooks, we learned that the baby pictures section of the yearbook contained an image that was later identified as an infant photograph of Adolf Hitler,” Aupperlee added that he contacted law enforcement. Together, the school and police launched an investigation.
“I want to be direct with you: the presence of this image is unacceptable. Even if the image was not immediately recognizable to those paging through the book, its inclusion in an official school publication is a severe breach of our values,” Aupperlee wrote.
The principal assured the community that the photo does not represent the school’s values.
“Adolf Hitler represents hatred, antisemitism, and the horrors of the Holocaust, including the murder of six million Jews. An image of him has no place in a yearbook created for our students. It does not reflect who we are or what East Brook stands for, and we condemn its inclusion without reservation,” Aupperlee wrote…