A Catholic diocese in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has condemned Holocaust imagery that appeared on a Catholic school’s Halloween parade float on Thursday.
The St. Joseph Catholic School’s float at a neighborhood Halloween parade included a reproduction of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp gate bearing the phrases “Arbeit Macht Frei.” The German phrase interprets to “Work sets you free,” in keeping with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum website.
The motto is likely one of the symbols of the camp, and was used to greet folks arriving at different focus camps in Germany, in keeping with the web site. The slogan above the Auschwitz Concentration Camp gate was made by prisoners, who intentionally reversed the letter B as “a camouflaged mark of disobedience,” the web site says.
The faculty in Hanover, Pennsylvania, is a part of the Diocese of Harrisburg, which known as the imagery “a notorious symbol of hate” in a statement Friday.
Bishop Timothy C. Senior, who stated he was “shocked and appalled” by the incident, apologized to the Jewish neighborhood on behalf of the Catholic diocese.
The authentic accepted design for the float didn’t comprise that imagery, Senior stated.
“The inclusion of this image—one that represents the horrific suffering and murder of millions of innocent people, including six million Jews during the Holocaust—is profoundly offensive and unacceptable,” he stated within the assertion.
“I strongly condemn the inclusion of this symbol on the float. As Catholics, we stand firmly against all forms of antisemitism, hatred, and prejudice, which are rampant in our society,” Senior added. “The Church’s relationship with the Jewish community is one of deep respect, friendship, and shared faith in the one true God.”
NCS has reached out to the St. Joseph Catholic School for remark.
The incident comes amid a surge in latest experiences of antisemitic acts. Days in the past, a person was arrested with physique armor and a suitcase crammed with ammunition after threatening a number of synagogues in Alabama and surrounding states, officers stated. A month earlier, a late-night hearth was set at a synagogue in Florida.
The Anti-Defamation League says antisemitic incidents within the US rose in 2024 for the fourth yr in a row, reaching their highest degree for the reason that group began monitoring them.
The diocese will work with the varsity to be taught from the incident and overview approval processes to stop it from occurring once more, Senior stated. The diocese may even work with the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition and the ADL to supply details about the Holocaust to the varsity, Senior added.
“Let us continue to pray for healing, understanding, and unity among all of God’s people,” Senior stated.