Buenos Aires teacher caught defending Hitler and justifying anti-Semitism

BUENOS AIRES (JTA) — A teacher in a Catholic high school in Buenos Aires repeated anti-Semitic stereotypes and said Hitler did “good things” in a lesson caught on camera.

History teacher Denise Yanet Evequoz told her students that Hitler was demonized when the United States entered World War II and seemed to justify why Europe was “always anti-Semitic.”

“Jews took advantage of the people who needed money, they loaned the money and then they chased them to get their money back, always with interest.  They had the money but they did not help Germany improve. They did not help the people to generate employment nor to create industries. This generated a certain hatred towards Jews,” Evequoz said in a lesson recorded in 2015, which was posted on social media this week.

Evequoz is a teacher at the Jesus Maestro high school in Castelar, a neighborhood in the western area of Greater Buenos Aires. The class was recorded by a student and the video since Monday has gone viral.

The head of the school, Alberto Coronel, told reporters Wednesday that Evequoz was relieved of her teaching duties but did not clarify whether or not she was fired or if she will be. Students in her class are being asked to write a report about the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust.

According to school authorities Evequoz defended her statements and did not apologize for the remarks, which have been reported to the Education Ministry.

The Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires said Wednesday in a statement that Evequoz “reproduces anti-Jewish prejudices, vindicates the figure of Hitler and the Nazi regime, and denies his criminal, totalitarian, and genocidal character.” Museum officials urged the school and the educational authorities of the Buenos Aires province to sanction the teacher.