The Israeli representative to Taiwan yesterday said her office would like to work with the Taiwanese government on education programs about the Holocaust, following the release by a military news agency of a photo featuring three students wearing Nazi army uniforms.
The photo, taken by the Ministry of National Defense’s Military News Agency, showed three students in World War II German Waffen SS uniforms with a person in a military camouflage uniform standing next to them doing a “V” sign. Beside them is also a member of the camp’s staff, who remained unidentified.
The caption says the three students, who had arrived at the ministry’s Armor Training Command and Armor School on Monday, were to register for a summer camp organized by the ministry. It described the students as “die-hard military enthusiasts” and avid players of survival games.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency
“We were shocked and saddened to see the photo as published and regret very much the publication and the fact it was not stopped by the Ministry of National Defense Press Office,” Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei chief Simona Halperin said in a statement.
“I am sure it was out of ignorance and not support or identification with the atrocities committed during the Holocaust by the Nazis,” she said.
Halperin said the incident was “a sad demonstration of how important is the inclusion of the Holocaust studies as part of the curriculum for all high-school students [here in Taiwan], as is done in more and more countries throughout the world following UN General Assembly Resolution 2005.”
The Israeli office is willing to partner with the relevant authorities in Taiwan to work on the appropriate educational programs that would help avoid such regretable incidents, she said.
The photo, which had appeared on the Yahoo News Web site on Monday, was removed after the Chinese-language United Evening News ran an article on the matter yesterday. It has also been removed from the news agency Web site.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) accused the ministry of being ignorant about Nazi history, saying it should apologize to Israel for “damaging friendship” between the countries and punish those responsible for negligence.
A ministry spokesman apologized on behalf of the military over the publication of the photograph.
Major General Lo Shao-ho (羅紹和) said he was disappointed by the “botched” decision by the Military News Agency to publish the photo on Monday.
“We would like to express our apologies to both the public and Israel,” Lo said, adding that the sentiment had also been conveyed to the Israeli office.
The three students “were probably not that clear about history,” Lo said, adding that they were apologetic and expressed regret after being informed of the controversy by the ministry.
Military News Agency editor-in-chief Tien Wen-hui (田文輝) also apologized on behalf of the agency and admitted there were errors in both the photo selection and review process.
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