In photos that were known of the event, which were published on social networks, the swastika and uniforms that Germany used during World War II appear.
A controversy broke out this Thursday in Colombia after members of a police school in the Colombian municipality of Tuluá, in the department of Valle del Cauca (southwest), paid tribute to Germany in which they used and highlighted Nazi iconography.
The ceremony, as detailed by the Police in a statement, was carried out as part of an educational activity on universal history at the Simón Bolívar Police School, in Tuluá, during Internationalization Week and which had Germany as a guest country.
In the photos of the event, which were even published on the Facebook account of the National Police, a person appears dressed as Adolf Hitler and others with the uniforms used by the German armed forces during World War II.
The swastika was also drawn on armbands worn by some uniformed men and even on a model of an airplane that was displayed on the spot.
Faced with this situation, the German and Israeli embassies in Bogotá expressed in a joint statement “their total rejection of any show of apology for Nazism.”
“Events like this are outrageous and directly offend not only Jews, but also all victims of the Nazi regime and its criminals,” they added.
They recalled “any hate speech” can lead to “tragic results like those experienced years ago” in World War II, in which six million Jews were killed.
That is why the embassies asked the National Government of Colombia and the local authorities to “carry out the pertinent investigations and punish those responsible for said activity.”
“The embassies of Israel and Germany in Colombia call on the Government to reinforce pedagogy in official institutions and the educational system on the Holocaust,” they said.
Refusal of the Police
“The National Police rejects with the greatest vehemence the decision taken within the School. These are facts that go against the institutional policy of absolute respect for human rights,” the institution detailed in a statement.
The National Police forcefully rejects any act of apology to Nazism and has made the first drastic decisions due to unacceptable events at the ‘Simón Bolívar’ School in Tuluá.
Brigadier General Yackeline Navarro Ordóñez, National Director of Schools. pic.twitter.com/OE957E8U2B
– Colombian Police (@PoliciaColombia) November 19, 2021
Faced with the “use of Nazi emblems and the caricature of the police uniform”, which the institution described as “unacceptable”, the decision was made to remove the director of the Simón Bolívar School, Jorge Ferney Bayona, from office “immediately”.
“The National Directorate of Schools of the National Police offers public excuses to the Jewish community and to all those offended by the unfortunate events that occurred in Tuluá,” the information added. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
