The headteacher of a private school has been forced to apologise after a series of images were circulated showing its pupils performing the Nazi salute during a play about Adolf Hitler.
Parents of pupils at Millfield school were outraged by the students’ behaviour during a one-man-show performed by actor Pip Utton, donning full Nazi regalia.
The Jewish Chronicle obtained a series of photos taken during the performance, which took place just one day before Yom Kippur, capturing several pupils giggling while giving Sieg Heil salutes.
The headteacher at the Somerset school, which charges an exorbitant £45,000-a-year in school fees, has since apologised for the incident, which is believed to have involved sixth-form students.
“We should not have staged this play,” Gavin Horgan said. “We are sorry for the hurt that has been caused and we have changed our approach to vetting performances so that this will never happen again.”
The Independent has contacted Millfield School for further comment.
The images have been met with vehement criticism from parents, with one father of a Jewish pupil saying they had left him feeling “sick”.
“What on earth were the teachers thinking? It would not be appropriate to give this kind of play the green light for school children at any time, least of all on the eve of Yom Kippur,” he told The Jewish Chronicle.
“The school must have known of the content and if not, it should have. There is no excuse for this disgraceful error of judgment.”
Another exasperated parent said Millfield had offered no explanation or apology for the children’s behaviour, nor for staging the play so close to Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, which is centered around repentance and atonement.
Millfield’s alumni include the likes of singer Lily Allen, Romeo Beckham, England footballer Tyrone Mings and defence secretary Ben Wallace.
Mr Utton said he would have asked the school to perform on another date had he known it was the eve of Yom Kippur.
He insisted the play was educational and that he had manipulated the children to do the Nazi salute to show them how terrible the gesture is.
“Perhaps the school should have also have been more sensitive and found another date,” he said.
“I was in no way attempting to glorify that horrible, horrible salute. The point was to show how people can be manipulated and how easy it is. Believe me, it is shocking for me to see it happen.
“They got the fact that it was kind of a joke because they were laughing about it.”
