Taunton Mass. School Committee member gives Nazi salute and says, "Heil Hitler" to Jew at meeting [View All]

Hitler remark roils Taunton
By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | July 23, 2007

A Taunton School Committee member with a history of berating colleagues and the district superintendent at meetings has sparked an outcry by calling a Jewish board member Hitler and allegedly giving him the Nazi salute.

Alfred Baptista , who has been on the board for 22 years, stood up and said "Yes, heil Hitler. Sieg heil" to committee member Barry Cooperstein , who had admonished him for interrupting and yelling at district superintendent Arthur W. Stellar.

The remark and the alleged gesture, made at a meeting Wednesday night, has drawn intense criticism and has led to calls for Baptista to apologize publicly or resign. School and city officials said they received dozens of complaints about the exchange, which the Anti-Defamation League called "deeply offensive."

"The use of Holocaust imagery during a public meeting in this context demeans the memory of the six million Jews and others who died at the hands of the Nazis," James L. Rudolph , chairman of the league's regional board, and Andrew H. Tarsy , regional director, wrote in a letter to Baptista calling for him to apologize. "Comments like this are indicative of a misunderstanding of the horrors perpetrated by the Nazi regime and are deeply offensive."

"Sieg heil," which means "Hail victory," was a common Nazi chant.

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