(JTA) — A Brazilian Jewish federation and the Santa Emilia School in Recife announced this week that the school's students and history teachers will visit the Kahal Zur Israel temple, the first synagogue established in the Americas, in 1637, to learn about Judaism, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust.
A classroom at the school had been decorated with Nazi flags during a lesson on totalitarian regimes and the school removed a Facebook post praising the teacher — who also wore a swastika band around his arm like a Nazi soldier — after it drew major criticism, according to the Diario de Pernambuco newspaper.
According to Jader Tachlitsky, Pernambuco Jewish federation’s communication coordinator, school representatives agreed that the tone of the post was inappropriate, but did not agree that the teacher’s methodology was unfortunate and there was no apology. He said, “The main thing is that the school is open to having the topic worked by us, which means that we can interact with the students, learn what was really learned and have the chance to educate them in a more consistent way on the subject.”