A Melbourne school principal has been accused of giving speeches endorsing Nazis, calling Jewish people subhuman and failing to protect his students from racial discrimination.
Five former Brighton Secondary College students are suing the school, alleging they were subjected to years of anti-Semitic bullying, discrimination and negligence. The school has denied all allegations brought against them.
The students, who include Joel Kaplan and Liam Arnold-Levy along with three minors, allege they experienced physical and verbal bullying by students and teachers between 2013 and 2020.
Principal Richard Minack and two teachers, Paul Varney and Demi Flessa, are also named in the suit.
The school was “littered” with swastika graffiti, drawn on students hands and desks, the students’ barrister Adam Butt told the Federal Court on Wednesday.
Students were subjected to Nazi salutes, he said.
Mr Minack allegedly gave multiple speeches endorsing his father and grandfather, who had connections to the German army during World War II, the court heard.
“He endorsed his Nazi father as a good man and at least once referred to Jews as subhuman, evil, the N-word,” Mr Butt said.
The State of Victoria is also being sued, accused of having condoned the behaviour.
Two students allege they were held at knifepoint or assaulted by fellow students who were not punished
One says a teacher wouldn’t allow him to wear a kippah or yarmulke, and another says he was told to remove his Star of David necklace.
Another said they were not allowed to complete a project on Israel’s former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Four out of five of my clients had to leave Brighton part way through a school year because the hostile school environment was intolerable,” Mr Butt said.
“We’re talking here about a normalised culture of anti-Semitism.”
He said the school’s failure to protect the students had contravened the Religious Discrimination Act and violated the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children.
“They didn’t feel like they could be openly Jewish at the school,” he said.
Defence barrister Chris Young said the school, the state and the rest of the respondents have denied all allegations brought against them.
He said Mr Minack and several teachers will give evidence as witnesses.
The trial before Justice Debbie Mortimer continues.
