Timothy Senior, the Catholic bishop of Harrisburg, Pa., apologized on Friday for a “notorious symbol of hate” that was part of one of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg’s floats at a local Halloween parade.
“I was shocked and appalled to learn that the Halloween parade float from Saint Joseph Catholic school in Hanover included a replica of the Auschwitz concentration camp gate, bearing the words ‘Arbeit macht frei,’” the bishop stated.
“The inclusion of this image, one that represents the horrific suffering and murder of millions of innocent people, including six million Jews during the Holocaust, is profoundly offensive and unacceptable,” he stated. “While the original, approved design for this float did not contain this imagery, it does not change the fact that this highly recognizable symbol of hate was included.”
Video footage of the parade in the state capital city, which is about 100 miles west of Philadelphia and 75 miles north of Baltimore, showed a float pulled by a truck that appeared to have ghosts on a swing, a jukebox and a replica of the concentration camp gate overlooking a cemetery with gravestones.
“On behalf of the Diocese of Harrisburg, I express my sincere apology to our Jewish brothers and sisters and to all who were hurt or offended by this display. I strongly condemn the inclusion of this symbol on the float,” the bishop said.
The Catholic leader said that he and his coreligionists “stand firmly against all forms of antisemitism, hatred and prejudice, which are rampant in our society,” and that the “church’s relationship with the Jewish community is one of deep respect, friendship and shared faith in the one true God.”
The bishop said that the diocese will work with the “school community to ensure that this incident becomes an opportunity for education and reflection, and review approval processes so that such a grievous incident is never repeated.”
The diocese also said that he would work with the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition and Anti-Defamation League to “provide information to the local school community on the horrific suffering endured by the Jewish people during the Holocaust and the continued antisemitism seen throughout our world today.”
The Saint Joseph Catholic School in Hanover shared the bishop’s statement on the school’s social media account. It didn’t provide any further information or allow users to comment on the post.
Galen Shelly, a local designer, apologized for his decision to include the gate replica in a series of social-media posts.
“From hitch to tail, this was one float in the parade to which a lineal and cohesive message communicated by each detail, hoping to convey an eternal perspective about life. Its miraculous nature, a nod to the way time marches on and carries us through all the phases and how despite our best efforts, all of us who pass this way face the same fate, when it is our time,” he wrote. “None of us get ‘out alive.’”
“I was saddened to see the conversation drifting with such certainty so far off the point I had intended to make,” he added. “Words misplaced or misunderstood and words within symbols can harm deeply, and for that I offer my humblest apologies to St. Joseph’s Church, as well as the school program, and to Metcalf Family Cleaning, whose only role has been to pull the float.”
Shelly said that he recalled a trip to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington when he was in his 20s and that he was moved by the “lie” of the inscription on the gate, which he took to mean that religious “works,” or good deeds, alone cannot set people free without faith in Jesus.
“In that I have erred and will gladly offer this apology for not realizing there were other ways to interpret a part, especially without knowledge of the whole. My thoughts simply did not go ‘there,’ and as you can imagine I was horrified to find that I have offended anyone, much less put those closest to me in jeopardy and caused St Joseph’s to come into question at my fumbled effort to make a positive spiritual message out of a float for them,” he wrote. “I solemnly beg forgiveness where I have erred.”
The Hanover cleaning company that pulled the float stated that it offered its “sincere apologies regarding an incident that occurred during the Hanover parade.”
“Our company volunteered to pull a float for a local community group; however, we were not involved in the creation of its decorations or messaging,” it said. “Regrettably, the float contained a phrase in German that was later found to be derogatory. At the time, we were unaware of its meaning and significance.”
“We recognize that we should have taken a closer look at the float prior to the parade, and we are truly sorry for that oversight,” it said. “The message displayed does not represent our company’s beliefs, values or the respect we hold for our community.”
