Pennsylvania artist sorry for including Nazi camp arch on school parade float | Pennsylvania
A Pennsylvania artist’s efforts to create a Halloween float for a local Catholic school went awry when he inadvertently included a replica of a Nazi concentration camp gate arch, prompting a hasty apology from the Diocese of Harrisburg.
Apologizing for the fiasco, Galen Shelly told PennLive that a lighted arch and lanterns he ordered to decorate a parade float he was building for St. Joseph’s School in Hanover didn’t arrive in time — so he searched the Internet for images of cemetery gates to represent the idea that “none of us get out of this life alive.”
What he found, and reproduced, was a photograph of the gates of the World War II Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, one of the most notorious Nazi extermination camps during the Holocaust, in which at least 6 million Jews were systematically murdered.
The float, captured in footage of the Oct. 30 parade posted to Facebook by the group Hanover Area Watch, featured Shelly’s cloned arch containing the German phrase Arbeit Macht Frei — work makes you free — a slogan the Nazis placed at the entrance to many concentration camps to mock those who passed through the gates to face brutality and extermination.
“I had no bad intentions,” Shelly told PennLive. “I made a mistake and I am deeply sorry.
“I wanted to illustrate the idea that none of us come out of this life alive. I never intended for anything to happen like this. I couldn’t have anticipated it. I apologize to everyone.”
Harrisburg Bishop Timothy Senior said he was “shocked and dismayed” by the episode and apologized on behalf of the church, noting that the Holocaust footage was a late addition of which it was unaware.
“The inclusion of this image, which depicts the horrific suffering and murder of millions of innocent people, including six million Jews during the Holocaust, is deeply offensive and unacceptable,” he said in a statement.
“Although the original design approved for this float did not contain these images, it does not change the fact that this highly recognizable symbol of hatred was included. On behalf of the Diocese of Harrisburg, I express my sincere apologies to our Jewish brothers and sisters and all those who were hurt or offended by this display.
“I strongly condemn the inclusion of this symbol on the float. As Catholics, we strongly oppose all forms of anti-Semitism, hatred and prejudice that plague our society.”
Senior added that the diocese would “work with the school community to ensure that this incident becomes an opportunity for education and reflection, and review approval processes so that such a serious incident never occurs again.”
Leaders of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, which operates the school, also apologized for their “lack of vigilance” and for not examining the float before the parade, the Hanover Sun reported.
