Brooklyn high-school student causes stir with his Hitler costume

Associated Press ^ | Nov. 1, 2006

[Alouette]

NEW YORK (AP) - A Brooklyn high-school student caused a stir when he showed up for class dressed as Adolf Hitler for Halloween, insisting it was a satire of the Nazi dictator.

But some students and officials at Leon M. Goldstein High School were not impressed with the outfit.

To avoid a disruption on the way to school, Walter Petryk, 16, disguised his Hitler getup as a costume of Charlie Chaplin, adding a bowler hat and cane.

School administrators ordered the junior honours student to remove his beige coat bearing a red swastika arm band, or possibly face spending the day in the office, Petryk told the New York Post.

Petryk refused, saying his parody was protected by his right to freedom of expression.

Petryk's stepfather, Howard Bloom, who is Jewish and lost relatives during the Nazi genocide, told the Post he was initially "very disturbed" by the costume but nonetheless defended his stepson's rights.

"If he had wanted to advocate my genocide, I wouldn't have allowed" the costume, Bloom said. "That wasn't the spirit in which he was doing this at all. He was doing it in the spirit of Monty Python and Mel Brooks."

The city's Department of Education discipline code allows for the removal of students from class if they wear clothing that causes a disruption.

[Alouette]

To avoid a disruption on the way to school, Walter Petryk, 16, disguised his Hitler getup as a costume of Charlie Chaplin, adding a bowler hat and cane.

Why didn't he disguise his Hitler getup with a costume of the Verizon wireless man?

[Alouette]

Lame Hitler costume alert.

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel/Russian Jewry ping list.

Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.

[2banana]

Anyone get upset when people show up as Che? A mass murdering communist thug?

[ken5050]

FYI.NY POST.com has pics..

[massgopguy]

Wouldn't this qualify as the Chaplin character in The Great Dictator?

[flashbunny]

he should be made to watch the instructional film "dressing up like hitler is not cool"

[dfwgator]

So remember kids, dressing up as Hitler in school isn't cool.

[wideawake]

Again, these guys are all so bold and brave - yet I don't see anyone dressing up as Mohammed for Hallowe'en.

I wonder why?

[Alouette]

Do you have pics of Cartman dressed as Hitler and Hitler dressed as Verizon Man?

[Alouette]

I wore a burqa to an office party four years ago.

[highlander_UW]

Isn't he allowed to dress up as a Left wing democrat?

[AdamSelene235]

I bet a Lenin outfit would have been acceptable.

[Uncle Miltie]

In other news, the student dressed in KKK garb was ejected from Martin Luther King Middle School....

[dfwgator]

Of course if he dressed up as Che Guevara, that would have been ok.

[Red Badger]

If he'd worn a Tu-Tu and feather boas you'd not heard of it at all......................

[stuartcr]

Why people get upset at all over a costume, is what I don't understand.

[CrawDaddyCA]

Wasn't there a South Park episode about this?

Remember kids, dressing up like Hitler is not cool!

[FormerACLUmember]

Probably one of those MoveOn.Org, DU.org, or Daily Kos anti-semites. You know, the new rulers of the democrat party.

[Red Badger]

That was your last day at work wasn't it?...............

[A.J.Armitage]

I'm guessing that making the papers was even more success than he was hoping for.

[CrawDaddyCA]

Darn! You beat me to it! Kudos.

[Skooz]

It would have be perfectly acceptable to show up as Pol Pot, Mao or Stalin, though.

[dead]

Outraged by his tasteless and shameless attempt to draw attention to himself, the NY Post put his picture on their front page of their newspaper (which has the 5th highest circulation of any newspaper in the US):

[raftguide]

Not that I'm any fan of Hitler's, but it seems school officials are terribly selective in contrast to 1) 1st amendment rights (which granted don't apply in total to children) and 2) say, a Stalin, Lenin, Mao, etc costume.

[dfwgator]

Fool. Doesn't he know that only future heirs to the British throne can get away with that.

[Skooz]

Why people get upset at all over a costume, is what I don't understand.

Ditto.

[L98Fiero]

"If he had wanted to advocate my genocide, I wouldn't have allowed" the costume, Bloom said. "That wasn't the spirit in which he was doing this at all. He was doing it in the spirit of Monty Python and Mel Brooks."

What he should have said was, "I'm sorry. My son is obviously a moron. I will handle this when we get home."

Having the freedom to do something in NO WAY makes it the right or appropriate thing to do.

[xp38]

potential heir...he's number 3 in line at the moment

[Red Badger]

Rush just said some moron Dem activist, in Maine I believe, dressed up as Osama Bin-Laden and got arrested last night..........

[jude24]

He was doing it in the spirit of Monty Python and Mel Brooks."

Mel Brooks had a good approach to the Nazis - mock them mercilessly, since there was no shortage of material and no better way to marginalize them.

The problem is, it's tough to show that's what you're doing when you're just showing up in costume. You pretty much have to be over-the-top from the get-go, and it requires knowledge that the person wearing the Nazi uniform is doing so to mock, not pay homage to, the Nazis. This worked for Mel Brooks because everyone knew he was Jewish, and everyone knew he was zany. No one could do "Springtime for Hitler" who wasn't Jewish.

[Caesar Soze]

Too soon? I thought the rule was 23 years, but maybe Hitler gets a few more decades on account of he gets resurrected in his secret Antarctic base every now and then.

[Alouette]

Dressing up as Hitler is so lame. Even Hitler dressed up as Verizon Man.

[CommandoFrank]

That's nothing... last night I saw a girl dressed as Hillary. Scared the crap out of me!

[dfwgator]

Also all of the German characters on Hogan's Heroes were played by Jews.

[PissAndVinegar]

yea - it's better to go as a ghost :)

[Pythaglio]

I thought dressing up as a scary monster on Halloween was acceptable behavior. Hitler is one of the scariest monsters out there. Does it send a message that sucking the blood out of someone is OK if they are allowed to dress up as Dracula? Brain sucking if we allow a zombie costume? Those are fiction? OK, is theft of goods and murder OK if allowed to dress up as a pirate?

[jude24]

The problem is, I can't imagine ways to make fun of Hitler that are over-the-top and blatantly clear that you are mocking him.

It takes a comic genius like Mel Brooks to pull it off.

[dfwgator]

The problem is, I can't imagine ways to make fun of Hitler that are over-the-top and blatantly clear that you are mocking him.

[NicknamedBob]

"... don't see anyone dressing up as Mohammed for Hallowe'en. I wonder why?"

Um, because nobody knows what he looks like?

[<1/1,000,000th%]

School administrators ordered the junior honours student to remove his beige coat bearing a red swastika arm band, or possibly face spending the day in the office, Petryk told the New York Post.

Good thing he didn't dress as a wise man.

[wideawake]

Um, because nobody knows what he looks like?

Some Danish cartoonists living in hiding apparently had a pretty good idea of what he looked like.

[PissAndVinegar]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1729990/posts

[Alberta's Child]

Having students dress up for Halloween in school is both disruptive and idiotic.

Of course, at some schools these days a person standing outside at the end of a typical school day might have a hard time figuring out whether it was Halloween or not.

[Red Badger]

Stupid is as stupid does......and does it ever!.......

[NicknamedBob]

"... on account of he gets resurrected in his secret Antarctic base every now and then."

Wait-a-minute! I have a secret Antarctic base! You mean there's more than one?

This place is bigger than I thought ...

[lowbridge]

Having students dress up for Halloween in school is both disruptive and idiotic.

Well, as long as they dont dress up as the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, or Santa Claus. Some people might get offended, like the Muslims.

[Lancey Howard]

But some students and officials at Leon M. Goldstein High School were not impressed with the outfit.

Sheesh. I bet....

[jude24]

I suppose you could also do the Dr. Strangelove stuff.

[kaboom]

Here's the costume that you wanted to see. Mohammed & Looter Guy