The shocking recent act of a group of teens at a San Jose high school — posing themselves into a “human swastika”, then posting a photo online with a quote from Adolf Hitler — brought Jewish members of the South Bay community together Saturday with residents and local leaders to offer a unified voice opposed to antisemitism.
“Antisemitism, racism and homophobia were present before that moment, but this act ripped off the veil again,” said Beth Silbergeld, the principal at Branham High School, where the photo was taken by a group of students who had been tossing around a football on their lunch break. “It shocked us. It hurt. It frightened people. It angered people. It sparked conversations about Holocaust education, accountability, discipline, and what real repair should look like.”
Silbergeld’s speech on the seventh night of Hanukkah, at Congregation Shir Hadash in Los Gatos, brought the audience to its feet. The event was organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area to condemn the antisemitic incident and stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.
The incident, which spread quickly on social media, was painful and heartbreaking for many in the local Jewish community, with some expressing fear about the simple act of being visibly Jewish. Bay Area Jewish Coalition, which tracks antisemitic incidents in Bay Area Schools with a South Bay focus, has received 500 reports of such incidents at K-12 schools since November 2023.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg emphasized the importance of education in response to antisemitism, teaching not only the history of the Holocaust but also the history of the Jewish people. She added that alienating the children who made the human swastika will “continue to perpetuate” the kind of hate that led to the incident in the first place.
“One of our most sacred duties is to teach our children, and if we don’t teach them, others will. The internet will teach them. People with misinformation or hate in their hearts will teach them,” she said. “It’s hard to look with love at someone who you think has hate in their heart, but it’s truly the only way forward for all of us.”
Silbergeld said that though students are taught about the Holocaust in both middle and high school in the Campbell Union High School District, between those lessons, children are “constantly learning from the world around them” and that “antisemitism is learned.”
“They must understand that this symbol (the swastika) is not history frozen in time. It lives on today in neo-Nazi and white supremacist movements that continue to threaten Jewish people and other marginalized communities,” she said. “Adolescence is a time when students are shaping their values, and moments like this call us to teach not only information, but empathy, courage and humanity at Branham and across CUHSD, we are committed to meeting that call with intention, care and action.”
Branham officials are investigating the incident and cannot share the names of involved students or disciplinary action under federal law. The school was also planning to partner with community organizations to implement educational approaches for students to learn about the Holocaust, antisemitism and hate symbols and speech.
The gathering also follows an antisemitic terrorist attack Dec. 14 that killed 15 people and injured more than 40 more during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney. When the local Jewish community gathered that night to light menorahs for the first night of Hanukkah, many expressed heartbreak — but also resolve to show out in a display of unity and light.
Earlier this week, JCRC issued an open letter calling for an East Bay city mayor to resign after he reposted statements on social media claiming the Bondi Beach attack was a “false flag.” He later apologized in a LinkedIn post, where he said that the posts were a mistake.
The event Saturday evening began with the lighting of the Havdalah candle, which marks the end of Shabbat, and the lighting of the menorah, during which elected officials from across the Bay Area joined on stage.
“We think about the horrors of our world — Sydney, Boulder, Washington, DC — and quite sadly, even here at home in our own high schools, there is, to be clear, a moment of darkness here,” said Congressman Sam Liccardo. “Although it is appropriate that we condemn that darkness, and we should do so clearly and quickly, this is a moment in Hanukkah when we can also celebrate the light.”
California State Senator Josh Becker added that “the antisemitism in history is a sign of the sickness in a society.”
“Tonight really has to be the beginning, not the end,” he said, “the beginning of a broader community conversation, the beginning of education.”
California State Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens read a letter on behalf of Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, who represents the district around Branham High School, in which she reaffirmed her commitment to stand against antisemitism and “to speaking out against hate and protecting the safety and dignity of our Jewish neighbors.”
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, mentioning that he previously taught at a public school, said that the community needs “demand richer, deeper, harder conversations” be held in schools.
“ ’Never again’ can’t simply be a passive commitment, a slogan, a bumper sticker. It is actually, unfortunately, just given our nature as humans, it is a perpetual responsibility to engage everyone we interact with, especially the next generation, in a conversation about our values and who we are as a community,” Mahan said.
Robert Bravo, the superintendent of Campbell Union High School District, said that there is “no place for antisemitism” in the district and that the swastika “represents one of the darkest evils in human history,” but that he has been “encouraged by the strength and collective response.”
Cormac Nolan, 18, a senior at BHS, said that the human swastika incident “brought back memories of my visit to the concentration camp of Auschwitz and Birkenau, where 1 million Jews were slaughtered under the symbol those students praised.”
“The Holocaust and the atrocities of the Nazi regime are not just a Jewish problem. It’s an issue for those who are people of color, those with disabilities, those who are of different faiths and those who stand for democracy,” Nolan said. “It is imperative for us as the Jewish community, as well as others who are advocates for Jews, to speak out, even when you’re the only one in the room to do so.”