US high school covered in swastikas after Holocaust survivor visits

Police in California are investigating the incident

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A California high school was vandalised with 10 flyers just days after a Holocaust survivor visited the school and shared her story with students.

The flyers were discovered at Newport Harbor High School on Sunday, prompting a response from Newport Beach, which is now investigating the incident.

Sean Boulton, the school’s principal, told CNN in a statement: “Again we condemn all acts of anti-Semitism and hate in all their forms. We will continue to be vigilant with our stance, and the care of our students and staff.”

The Holocaust survivor was asked to visit after an incident in March where students were pictured making the Nazi salute and marching around a swastika composed of plastic party cups.

Those images, once shared online, prompted local officials to seek out Eva Schloss, an Auschwitz survivor and stepsister of Anne Frank, to visit.

The United States has experienced a spike in anti-semitic hate crimes recently, with swastikas being marked onto buildings across the country.

Evan Bernstein, the regional director in New York and New Jersey for the Anti-Defamation League, recently told The Independent that he and his organisation have documented an uptick in the crimes since the protests and violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

“You've seen swastikas on synagogues, swastikas in synagogues,” Mr Bernstein said. But “there's a lot of stuff that is not taking place in the public square that is a little bit harder to monitor and a little bit harder to track”.

“It’s not just what we saw in Charlottesville,” he continued. “It’s beyond that. That was a rare opportunity to see the face of hate in a very meaningful way”.