A Jewish teacher who says he was terrorized by students at a Brooklyn high school, including swastikas, death threats, Nazi salutes and Hitler-loving comments from an unruly student, accuses school officials in a new lawsuit. exposed the heinous anti-Semitism that he is said to have allowed to be carried out. spread.
Daniel Kaminski, the alleged ordeal whose hateful incident at Origins High School in Sheepshead Bay was exposed on the front page of the Post, said in a Brooklyn federal lawsuit from Friday that he was accused of “biased behavior” at the school. “It was effectively aided and abetted.”
Kaminski, 33, a world history teacher, claims he has been the victim of numerous anti-Semitic incidents at the school since the October 7 Hamas massacre. Among them was an email that said, “All Jews must be exterminated.”
From Oct. 8 until March, when Kaminsky finally transferred, students at Origins marched across campus chanting “Fuck the Jews” and “Death to the Jews,” according to the complaint. He engaged in a series of “aggressive anti-Semitism,” including Israel! ” Even as they abandoned the Palestinian flag, painted swastikas on school grounds, and praised Adolf Hitler, the lawsuit alleges.
But when Kaminsky, 33, spoke out about it, the school retaliated against her, the lawsuit alleges.
Campus manager Michael Beaudry, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, supported Kaminsky and sought administrative intervention, but was allegedly punished for speaking out.
“Students waged a campaign of hate within New York City public schools, decorating furniture with graffiti, writing on blackboards, circulating emails and text messages, repeatedly pasting them on papers and notes, and taunting them. “Jewish teachers and students,” the lawsuit charges.
Kaminsky and Bewdley’s nightmarish experience is part of a series of anti-Semitic incidents reported in New York City schools in the wake of the terrorist group’s attacks on the Jewish state, including teachers amid fears that included an anti-Israel riot by students at a crouching Queens school.
Schools Superintendent David Banks is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee. This committee is the same Congressional committee that has grilled elite university presidents over anti-Semitism on campus.
“Students and staff deserve to be safe and respected within our schools, and Origins High School is no exception. We will review this lawsuit,” Department of Education spokesperson Nathaniel Steyer said.
During a hate-filled march at Origins on Oct. 11, students chanted “death to Israel” and other profanities, but school officials took no action, according to the suit.
This only “emboldened” students to begin “directing anti-Semitism toward Jewish teachers and students,” the document claims.
The next day, one student drew a swastika on Mr. Kaminski’s chalkboard during class, and other students left sticky notes reading “Death to Israel” on doors, bulletin boards and around the school, the filing alleges. are doing.
But acting interim principal Dara Kammerman did not punish the students and instead “incited” bigotry by hosting a restorative justice circle, which the teens called a “pro-Palestinian circle,” the lawsuit alleges. claims.
Kaminsky and another Jewish teacher at Origins received a particularly malicious email from someone on March 5th titled “Kaminsky the Filthy Jew.” “All Jews must be exterminated.” Their door opened in the middle of the night. A bullet was put into each one’s head.
“Throughout all of history, K-ES have caused mass death and suffering. They will never stop.
they are stopped.Kaminsky, a foul-mouthed, whining Jew, has no place in America, let alone in school.
system.I hope the Muslim students end her, but that’s both horrifying
And it hurt so much,” the email continued.
Jim Walden, an attorney for Mr. Kaminski and Mr. Bewdley, said he did not know who the email came from and hoped to find out during the litigation process.
About a year earlier, Mr. Kaminsky had removed at least 10 students from his class for “abhorrent behavior” by spewing hateful remarks during a presentation by two interns at the Museum of Jewish Heritage before a school trip. I was expelled from school.
One student said, “They take money out of the corpses of dead Jews,” and another added, “Why would anyone help Jews?” — comments that prompted Kaminski to repeatedly He interrupted the presentation and forced students to leave class, the filing alleges.
The museum’s invitation to a school trip for Origins students was canceled after the incident, the paper said.
Beaudry warned Kammerman not to organize a “pro-Palestinian circle” in the aftermath of the student march and told her she would not be allowed to engage in political discourse with students, but she was “doing it.” The lawsuit alleges that he responded. .
Shortly thereafter, on Oct. 25, 2023, a Jewish student sent Kammerman a letter expressing fear for his safety and requesting a transfer to another school, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, Kammerman was also one of the students who left hateful sticky notes around the school and was arrested on January 9, 2024, with fireworks in his jacket pocket. He was also unable to do so.
“Kammerman intervened because [the student’s] “The NYPD ultimately altered the case and sent agents to evade her arrest,” court documents allege.
The filing alleges that the situation escalated further, with one student posting on the classroom bulletin board saying things like Kaminsky’s “f-ku” and “I’m going to blow up this school now.” ing.
The complaint alleges that a Jewish teacher was also pursued by students after learning he was gay, and one student was arrested after threatening to push him into the back of a van and rape him because he was gay.
When the student finally returned to school, he “had a Hitler-style mustache under his nose” and entered the classroom with the other students and “gave the Nazi salute,” the incident said. It was captured on school surveillance cameras, court documents allege. .
In another incident on Jan. 22, two students who were filmed posting Palestinian flags in Kaminski’s room approached her while she was alone and asked her, “What do you think about Hitler?” started a conversation. — which she took as a threat, her application alleges.
Court documents allege that Kaminski repeatedly requested a transfer, but in return was met with retaliation, including groundless “disciplinary meetings” and threats of lower grades.
She was ultimately transferred to a school in Queens in March 2024, but was told she could only stay for three months and then would need to find another school. Kaminsky was also restricted from most digital systems and processes that teachers are typically given, her complaint alleges.
Similarly, Mr Bewdley, 48, submitted that he was given three ‘disciplinary hearings’ notices in January 2024, suffered retaliation and was forced to work from home from March 5 until the ‘investigation’ was resolved. the documents claim.
He was fired as athletic director on March 22, and his “compensation was reduced” as a result, the suit alleges.
They are suing for unspecified damages.
The newspaper first exclusively reported on Kaminski and Bewdley’s experience in March, with Kaminski saying at the time that he “lives in fear of going to work every day.”
“This has been devastating for Daniel and Michael,” Walden told the Post. “Obviously no one wants to become an educator just to be the target of racist attacks.”
“But to be slighted and disrespected for that crime, and worse, to be retaliated against, was a tremendous challenge. Their story of resilience is a lesson in courage,” the lawyer said.
Kaminsky and Bewdley were invited to speak Friday at a forum in Washington, D.C., hosted by the nonprofit Brandeis Center, where they shared their experiences with Congressional staff, attorney Jim Walden said in a post. told the paper.
Mark Goldfeder, a senior adviser at the Brandeis Center, said the alleged inaction by school officials “appears to be a complete abdication of responsibility and subsequent attempt at a cover-up.”
He urged Congress to “hold our feet to the fire” in the next House hearing.Confronting anti-Semitism in K-12 schools”
Walden said his clients are waiting to hear whether they will be invited to testify at a hearing involving Banks next week.
“New York City public schools represent every country in the world, and our schools are not isolated from global events and the hate, fear, and prejudice that accompany these times. To address the pernicious threat of anti-Semitism, Chancellor Banks’ Meet the Moment plan focuses on quickly addressing incidents with appropriate discipline, education, and community engagement.” Steyer said.
Mr. Kammerman and representatives from the city’s legal department did not respond to requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Joshua Christenson
