The University of Calgary is investigating an incident captured on social media that appeared to show students marching through a university residence impersonating Adolf Hitler.
A video sent to Global News shows seven young men of apparently varying ethnicities exiting an elevator, marching across a floor with a stiff-armed salute used by the Nazi regime, shouting “Heil Hitler” and “Make way for Hitler” before going down a set of stairs. On a lower floor, the young men repeated the salute and shouts before exiting into another stairwell in laughter.
One of the young men was sporting a toothbrush-style moustache, apparently representing Hitler.
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The university strongly condemned the actions.
“There is nothing funny about Adolf Hitler or the atrocities committed by the Nazis — atrocities which include the Holocaust,” the U of C said in a statement. “This incident was reported to the Student Conduct Office which is now investigating.
“We are committed to a campus community in which all who work, study and live on campus can flourish in an environment free of hatred, harassment, bullying and discrimination.”
The university said it is offering counselling services to anyone affected by the video.
Adolf Hitler, the totalitarian dictator of Nazi Germany, led that country into the Second World War with the myth that the Germanic people were considered the “master race.” Nazi racist and discriminatory policies targeted minorities like the Romani, Slavs, Russians, developmentally challenged people, members of the LGBTQ2 community and Jews.
During the Holocaust, an estimated six million Jews were killed under the Nazi regime, including over a million children.
The Second World War ended in Europe when Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945.
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