Baraboo High School has been under scrutiny after an image of 60 male students posing with their arms held out, at what appears to be a 45 degree angle, similarly representing a Nazi salute, went viral.

The image was posted from their prom last spring. The photo went viral on November 12th after a student found the picture on a  parody Baraboo High School twitter account and retweeted it. It was tagged with “#BarabooProud”, a hashtag used on twitter by parents and students when tweeting about extracurricular and special school events.

Since the photo has gone viral, many have come forward to denounce the photo. Along with comments from everywhere online, the Jewish community has spoken out. A statement from a clergy of 25 religious foundations was released condemning the students, “We are alarmed by the disturbing display of anti-Semitism by a group of Baraboo High School students. Though the incident apparently took place last May, it reflects a rising swell of anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry. We are particularly concerned with the prevalence of bigotry within schools; more than 25 percent of all the recorded anti-Semitic incidents in Wisconsin last year took place among students or on campus…”

The Auschwitz Memorial Museum also posted on Twitter, “…This is why every single day we work hard to educate. We need to explain what is the danger of hateful ideology rising. Auschwitz with its gas chambers was at the very end of the long process of normalizing and accommodating hatred. “Additionally, residents of the area, students, parents, and faculty have even been receiving threats.

The Baraboo School District Administrator, Lori Mueller, tweeted, “The photo of students posted to #BarabooProud is not reflective of the educational values and beliefs of the School District of Baraboo. The District will pursue any and all available and appropriate actions, including legal to address.” The community also rallied outside of the school with the purpose of spreading “love not hate“.

This event is important because of other events that have recently happened like the shooting at a Pittsburgh Synagogue. Not only may the idea behind this photo be hateful but it also a reminder that anything posted to the internet is available for anyone in the world to see and judge.