Overview

• Several ninth-grade students from Görlitz performed a right-extremist 'White-Power' gesture during a school trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau on March 13.
• Images of the students making the gesture spread on social media, leading to public outrage and intensified scrutiny of the incident.
• The 'White-Power' hand sign, often associated with extremist groups, involves a specific finger formation and is not currently prohibited by law in Germany.
• School authorities responded swiftly, summoning the students and their parents for discussions, issuing a principal's warning, and assigning mandatory community service at a disability workshop.
• Police have launched an investigation into the incident, while officials emphasize that no additional extremist behaviors have been reported within the school.