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Students from Görlitz show right-wing extremist gesture in Auschwitz

A photo of the incident is circulating on social media. The school administration is responding promptly. What are the consequences for the young people?

During a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp memorial, ninth-graders from Görlitz made a right-wing extremist gesture. The four posed in front of the former German extermination camp during an educational trip on March 13, performing the so-called white power salute and having their photo taken, a spokesperson for the Saxon State Office for Schools and Education confirmed. “Tag24” and “Bild” initially reported.

A photo of the incident is currently circulating on social media. A police report was filed this morning, a spokesperson announced. An investigation has begun. The hand gesture is used in the right-wing scene and, unlike the Hitler salute, is not banned.

According to the state office, the administration of the Scultetus High School reacted immediately and summoned the ninth-graders and their parents for meetings. The students received a principal’s warning and must complete community service in a workshop for people with disabilities. The principal stated that they have shown understanding.

According to the state office, no further incidents with a right-wing extremist background are known at the school or in the classroom. dpa

Incident Details

Type of Incident: Arrest
Date of Incident: April 14, 2025
City: Oświęcim
Country: Poland

About Sentinel

SENTINEL is a European project funded by the European Commission and led by the Security and Crisis Centre (SACC by EJC), the security arm of the European Jewish Congress. It brings together the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT), national-level Jewish communities from Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, and Spain, the European Union of Jewish Students, with the support of the Italian Carabinieri and the Police Presidium of the Czech Republic.

The project is designed to strengthen the protection of Jewish places of worship across the European Union through a coordinated set of activities over a three-year period.

SENTINEL will harness AI-enhanced open-source intelligence to monitor and assess current, emerging, and future threats. It will also equip Jewish communities with practical tools, including a mobile security application with a panic button and an interactive map built on real-time incident data.

Training and capacity-building are at the core of the project. These include scenario-based security exercises, crisis management seminars, and both in-person and online training sessions for community security trustees. SENTINEL will also organise EU-wide and local conferences to foster collaboration between Jewish communities, public authorities, and law enforcement agencies.

Complementing these efforts, national and local workshops will promote knowledge-sharing and preparedness, alongside pilot training programmes for law enforcement. A dedicated podcast series will help raise awareness by exploring threat assessments and potential responses.

With its wide-reaching and inclusive approach, SENTINEL will directly benefit to Jewish communities across 23 EU Member States, enhancing resilience, strengthening preparedness, and building long-term cooperation with law enforcement to meet today’s evolving security challenges.