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Although our society has the right to say and participate in any actions, these images and intentions can be harmful to some portions of the society. The Holocaust was a awful event in our history that should not be repeated. All the participants in the photo had their own right to participate, however much attention has been drawn to them based on their actions towards this event in our history.

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This makes me angry because the kid or the man told them to do it and they did what they were asking to do

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This picture makes me sad because I feel bad for Jordan Blue because although he was not the only one who did not do the salute you can clearly tell that he is uncomfortable. As for the others who did not do the salute the all laughing. Jordan would have chosen to not be in the photo but it was taken too fast. The fact that he is getting threatened for not doing the salute makes me upset because he was just following his morals.

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This is what the first amendment is for. It allows us to express our own beliefs freely. There will always be people complaining about the beliefs being shown. I do not support this belief, but I support the ability to express it.

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See all the wonderful things Benjamin Schroder has made

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The picture made a lot of people disappointed as it did not look like they were waving goodbye and from some one who just came across this image they would feel confused and angry as how many people were killed for no reason.

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This makes me feel angry because the person taking the photo told them to do it and they did what they were asked to do.

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I think that the people in the photo did not think that it was the Nazis salut, if they knew it was the Nazis salut they would not do it

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This photo makes me feel angry that the parents did not notice or stop the teenage boys were doing this.

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This makes feel disappointed and angry for what these teens do for not noticing what it means.

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Am not sure what to feel about this image because there are so many mixed feelings in just one picture also I feel very mad at the photographer for asking the kids to raise there arms that way and also for justifying it by saying it was a high five or a wave.

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I feel disappointed in these kids

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This pictures makes me feel disappointed for the boys who were doing thinks they don’t supposed to be doing .

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This picture is kind of disappointing becasue most of them didn't know what they were doing at first. I feel like people should learn about these things so history doesn't repeat itself.

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These pictures make me mad because a fully grown adult is trying to justify taking a picture of an obviously discriminatory act with a half-hearted excuse.
Jordon Blue did the right thing by realizing what the motion meant and deciding to not do it. Also the boys, who are juniors, should have already learned about the Holocaust and should know what the Sieg Heil is.

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I feel bad for the kids that did not know what they were doing, but I'm disappointed in those who did. Seeing how many of them are doing the salute makes me afraid because people still believe that a certain type is superior.

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It makes me think in what's going  on in society and how humanity are doing this knowing that it was something's really bad that happen in the passed and if that was just for fun they shouldn't do it .

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This is what the first amendment is for. It allows us to express our own beliefs freely. There will always be people complaining about the beliefs being shown. I do not support this belief, but I support the ability to express it.

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This image is both blasphemous and infuriating, and it would appear that everyone is at fault, the children, the photographer, and any other publishers, excluding of course Jordan Blue, who cannot be said to be cruel or morally questionable in any manner of the phrase.

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This picture makes me upset and disturbed because of how happy all the boys look, it disturbs me how humorous they thought it was to do the Sieg heil.

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This is really dumb because the photographer might not have intentionally want to make them do the seg heil, but  he  should know what the sign looks like.

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This picture makes me angry at the students who didn't relies what they were doing and told others to join in. The photographer is the one person who is responsible for this photo getting out, in photography you have to look at the picture before you post it any where and for Jordan Blue to relish what was happening in 5 seconds and for the parent not releasing what it looked like was utterly and completely incompetent. If Jordan released what was happening that means some of the other students had known what was going on and did it any way.

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My response to this photo was that although we have the freedom to say/do whatever we want, it must be within reason. We should never support or reference anything as awful as the holocaust. How do you think a holocaust survivor would react to these pictures?

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I think that they probably did unintentionally because they probably just did it for fun but the other I don’t know why  they did.

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This photo makes me very uncomfortable especially after learning what the holocaust was. These young boys may have thought this was a joke and do not actually support what happened but it does appear that way. The many innocent lives lost during the holocaust should be rembered not laughed about. I’m very proud that Jordan Blue did not follow what the majority of students were doing.

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Ok, this is NOT epic. First of all, in what world do senior students decide to do a Nazi salute for a school photo. Also, Jordan Blue, requires no reason to receive backlash and threats if he is denying to do a Nazi salute. One final thought, why make a tweet about this, and pretend that this picture has no meaning, and is all for fun.

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This picture made me because the Nazis were not good people because they killed many people.

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I am angry at the fact that even if it was a joke it is wrong, the events that included the Nazis where not ok and yet these students have the audacity to do the solute. Jordan Blue (the student who didn’t participate) major respect to you good job.

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The two articles were very disappointed because they got away with it. Also a parent told them to do it which is very upsetting.

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To me this is very confusing because i don't know why they would think that this would go without worry and anger.  The comment made on one of the posts about including the black kid was unacceptable because in general none of this should be happening but then they had to bring in racism. Jordan Blue, the one acception, was smart and he should be proud of his decision to not participate in a horrifying act.

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I think that it is fine and that any high school boy or girl would do that to have a little fun with their life and not be a person that is following ever rule in the book.

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These pictures make me feel afraid and disappointed. I am afraid and disappointed in what is happening to our world. I am afraid that history will repeat itself and i am disappointed that we are just letting it happen. It makes me mad that we shoot down anyone who tries to help, Such as Jordan Blue. And I mostly don't understand why people do these type of things.

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The Nazi symbols that the young men in the prom photo were made intentaly. I think this because Jordan Blue is reciving threats from his community for not following the crowd. Not only was he being threatened but has been bullied by his former classmates.

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These photos make me feel contrasted between being angry and sympathetic. I am not as angry about the kids then to the photographer because it was the photographers ideas and he didn't give some of the kids enough time to leave the photo and not be apart of it, but they still get hate for being in the photo. The kids still shouldn't have held the symbol up especially knowing about what happened in the Holocaust.

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I think that their actions were intentional because  they are old enough to know what that means and also know that it could offend many people, and they shouldn’t be hating on The kid getting hate because he didn’t do the same as the other people that did do it

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This picture makes me sad because I feel bad for Jordan Blue,  although he is not the only one who did not do the salute you can clearly tell that he is uncomfortable. As for the other people who did not you can see that they are laughing, Jordan did not have a chance to get out of the picture because the photo was taken in give seconds. Not only was Jordan uncomfortable he also got threats from the community for not doing the salute and standing up.

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A school district in Wisconsin said the First Amendment prevented it from punishing students in this picture, in which many are making what appears to be a Nazi salute. Credit Credit Peter Gust, via Associated Press

The Wisconsin students who appeared to make a Nazi salute in a widely criticized photo will not be punished, the school's superintendent said this week in a letter to parents.

The superintendent, Lori Mueller of the Baraboo School District, said in the letter that the district was "not in a position to punish the students for their actions" because of their First Amendment rights.

"As previously stated, we cannot know the intentions in the hearts of those who were involved," Ms. Mueller wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Baraboo News Republic.

The district investigated the episode for about 10 days with help from the police.

"Despite our efforts, we are still unclear about some key details," the superintendent wrote on Wednesday.

The photograph was taken by a parent in May before the Baraboo High School junior prom, and was not commissioned by the school, the letter said. The boys in the photograph, who were standing outside the Sauk County Courthouse in downtown Baraboo, were current and former students at the high school.

In the photo, many of the students stand with one arm raised, palms down and elbows locked straight, in a gesture that looks identical to a Nazi salute. One student in the front row is making the O.K. sign with his right forefinger and thumb, a hand gesture that has been adopted by white nationalists and is often used to troll liberals.

The image drew outrage after it was posted on Twitter on Nov. 11 by an anonymous Twitter account. The post said, "We even got the black kid to throw it up." (The photograph appears to show one black student, who is partly obscured.)

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"We have worked very, very hard over the last six years to make Baraboo very inviting and very inclusive," Mayor Mike Palm said the week the photo was shared on social media. "Obviously, some of that has failed, based on this picture, so we have a lot of work to do."

The parent who took the photo, Peter Gust, posted the image on his website, Wheel Memories, where it was visible until Nov. 12, when it was deleted. It can still be seen via the Wayback Machine, an internet archive.

A statement on Mr. Gust's website said the page with the prom photos had been modified because of "malevolent behavior on the part of some in society."

"To anyone that was hurt I sincerely apologize," the statement said.

Not all of the students in the photograph were gesturing. Jordan Blue, a student wearing a red bow tie, could be seen standing in the upper right corner with his hands at his sides.

In a statement to Jules Suzdaltsev, a journalist, Mr. Blue said that the photographer had instructed the boys "to make the sign" and that Mr. Blue did not have time to leave because the picture "was taken within five seconds."

He did not raise his arm because "I knew what my morals were and it was not to salute something I didn't firmly believe in," he said.

Brock Turkington, who also appeared in the photograph, told the television station WISC that it was not supposed to be a hateful gesture.

"As we were about to take that photo, the photographer instructed the boys to give a 'high-sign,'" Mr. Turkington said in a statement to the station. "The photographer instructed us to extend our arms out, no one knew what a 'high-sign' was. I asked another student next to me 'What are we doing?' He responded, 'Stick your arm out.'"

"Looking at the picture now, I understand why people believe it is related to anti-Semitism," the statement continued. "As an outsider, I would have the same impression. That was never the intent at that time."

Mr. Gust, the parent who took the photograph, also insisted it was not meant to be a Nazi salute.

"I'd said to them, 'O.K., boys, you're going to say goodbye to your parents, so wave,'" he told WISC, adding that interpreting it as a hateful gesture was "dead wrong."

Baraboo is a town of 12,000 people about 40 miles northwest of Madison. The population is 94 percent white, according to the 2010 census.

When the photo began circulating online, the Baraboo School District apologized, saying the image "has been rightly described as hateful, frightening and disappointing" and pledging to host community programs to address the actions of the students, which "deeply hurt people around the world."

On Monday, more than 200 people attended the first of those forums, the superintendent's letter said. Another will be held on Thursday.

Ms. Mueller wrote that the image had been posted on social media "to create harm."

"Our focus is shifting to work with the students involved on restorative practices to repair broken relationships with peers, families and the community," she said.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: Wisconsin Students Who Made Apparent Nazi Salute in Photo Won't Be Punished. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Students Who Made Apparent Nazi Salute in Photo Won't Be Punished

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The Wisconsin students who appeared to make a Nazi salute in a widely criticized photo will not be punished, the school's superintendent said this week in a letter to parents. The superintendent, Lori Mueller of the Baraboo School District, said in the letter that the district was "not in a position to punish the students for their actions" because of their First Amendment rights.

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Shout out to the resisters in the Nazi salute high school prom photo.

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