Shocking scenes in class

Execution in the classroom: pupils filmed

A shocking incident at a school in Carinthia: young people re-enacted the execution of Jewish prisoners during the break, took photos and posted the images online. The police were alerted immediately after the photos quickly made the rounds on the internet.

Three days after the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, shocking and disturbing pictures were taken during a class break at a vocational school in Carinthia: Five boys kneeling in the classroom in a row with their heads bowed, two girls "playing" the execution committee. With hands raised in the "German salute". Another schoolmate involved captured the staged execution of the Jewish prisoners on her cell phone camera.

The shocking images were then shared by the eldest of the group (17) on the social media platforms TikTok and Instagram. They were given a national socialist title, which is known to the "Krone", but is not reproduced here for reasons of confidentiality. The shocking postings quickly made the digital rounds - whereupon numerous courageous classmates informed the school administration.

Cyber officer seized shocking postings
The police were immediately alerted. In the course of the investigation, a cyber officer viewed the original recordings on the photographer's cell phone and seized them. The shock postings were then deleted and the 17-year-old's social media channels were shut down. The investigators also called in the State Office for State Protection and Counter-Extremism.

The seven suspected young people, aged 14 to 17, will be charged under the Prohibition Act.

Director of Education Isabella Penz said that no suspensions had been issued because there had been no physical danger. "Our task now is to deal with this with the young people concerned and the whole school." Discussions have already taken place and external experts are being brought in to help with the further investigation.