By: Fern Sidman

A tense and emotional school board meeting in Manalapan Township, New Jersey, on Thursday night drew dozens of furious and grieving parents who confronted district officials about a series of antisemitic social media posts allegedly made by high school students — including remarks joking about dressing as Holocaust victims for Halloween and even filling vape pens with “smoke from the gas chambers.”

The deeply disturbing posts, first brought to light by parents earlier this week, have triggered outrage across the Freehold Regional High School District, where administrators are now facing mounting pressure to impose harsh disciplinary measures and strengthen Holocaust education. As CBS News reported on Friday, the posts have left Jewish students feeling terrified and parents demanding immediate and public accountability.

According to multiple parents who addressed the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education, a group of Manalapan High School students posted shocking and hateful messages about Jews and Holocaust victims in a private online group chat.

Parent Tarra Premisler, who said she personally viewed the posts, described the chilling rhetoric aloud during the meeting.

“They said they should dress up as shoeless children from the Holocaust,” Premisler said, her voice shaking. “And one of the other girls said that she wants to fill one of the other girl’s vapes with the smoke from the gas chamber. And they said they should kill us all.”

The comments drew audible gasps and tears from audience members, many of whom came wearing yellow Stars of David in solidarity with Jewish families.

Another parent, Alanna Engel, told the board her family’s trauma runs generations deep.

“My grandfather is actually the sibling of murdered shoeless Holocaust children,” Engel said, her voice breaking. “My daughter now sits at home crying, anxious every day. She’s afraid to go to school because of this.”

Dozens of attendees packed the boardroom — some holding signs reading “Zero Tolerance for Hate” and “Never Again Means Now.” Several called on district officials to expel the students involved and make their punishments public as a deterrent to future antisemitic acts.

“Zero tolerance,” Premisler repeated. “Expel the children. Send them to an alternative school. Let this be the message that Manalapan will not tolerate hate.”

The outcry also reignited debate about Holocaust education in New Jersey schools. Many parents said the district’s existing curriculum is far too limited to counter the rise in antisemitic ignorance and online radicalization among students.

Beth Katz Nelson, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and the deputy director of the Yad Vashem USA Foundation, told the board that short, one-off lessons are not enough.

“Statistics show that a year-long curriculum really does have an impact,” Nelson said, citing data from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Holocaust education initiatives. “We are failing our children if we think one assembly or one lesson in middle school will change hearts and minds.”

Nelson referenced a disturbing survey by the ADL, which found that one in five young adults in the United States believes the Holocaust is a myth or has been exaggerated — a finding she called “catastrophic and unacceptable.”

“We are seeing firsthand what happens when that ignorance festers,” Nelson added. “These posts didn’t come out of nowhere. They’re a product of a generation unmoored from historical truth.”

Superintendent Dr. Nicole Hazel addressed the crowd directly, expressing horror over the incident and reaffirming that the Freehold Regional High School District condemns antisemitism in all forms.

“Hate to the level of what appeared in those messages is not created in a vacuum,” Hazel said, as reported by CBS News. “And it is not solely created in school — especially in less than five weeks. Rather, it develops over time, and to effectively combat it requires more than just consequences; it demands education.”

Hazel confirmed that district officials are taking “immediate action”, though she declined to disclose specific disciplinary measures, citing state and federal privacy laws governing student records.

That explanation did little to calm parents, many of whom argued that transparency — even without naming the students — was essential to maintaining trust. Several speakers accused the district of downplaying the gravity of the posts by not publicly outlining what actions have been taken.

“You’re asking Jewish families to trust you,” one parent said. “But if we don’t see consequences, how can we believe the school is taking this seriously?”

The CBS News report noted that the Manalapan controversy comes amid a broader surge in antisemitic incidents across the United States, particularly in schools and on college campuses, since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

According to the ADL, antisemitic harassment, vandalism, and assaults in educational institutions have tripled in the past year, with New Jersey ranking among the top five states for reported incidents.

For many Jewish families in Manalapan, Thursday’s meeting was more than a protest — it was an act of self-defense.

“This isn’t about free speech,” Engel said. “This is about my child’s safety and the moral collapse of our community if we don’t act now.”

Some parents told CBS News that their children have been taunted in hallways or sent antisemitic memes by classmates since the incident became public. Others expressed fear that the digital hate speech could escalate into physical intimidation.

One mother described her teenage son receiving messages online calling him “gas chamber boy.” Another said her daughter was afraid to wear her Star of David necklace at school.

“It’s not just online anymore,” Premisler told CBS News after the meeting. “It’s seeped into the hallways. Into their daily lives. Into their sense of belonging.”

Superintendent Hazel emphasized that while discipline is necessary, the district’s long-term response must center on education and prevention. She pledged to expand Holocaust studies across grade levels and to partner with local organizations like Yad Vashem USA and the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education (CHHANGE) at Brookdale Community College.

“We cannot discipline our way out of hate,” Hazel said. “But we can teach empathy. We can teach history. We can confront ignorance before it becomes cruelty.”

Hazel’s comments echoed those made by Holocaust scholars, who told CBS News that antisemitism among teenagers increasingly spreads through social media platforms such as TikTok, Discord, and Snapchat, where hateful memes circulate unchecked.

Dr. Michael Berenbaum, a historian and consultant for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, told CBS News that educators are “playing catch-up” in a digital ecosystem where genocide denial thrives.

“The generation that survived the Holocaust is nearly gone,” Berenbaum said. “If we fail to teach what they lived through, the vacuum will be filled by hate and conspiracy.”

As the meeting concluded late Thursday night, emotions ran high. Some parents wept quietly as others applauded Hazel’s remarks about expanding education. But there was no mistaking the raw pain in the room — or the demand for justice.

One father stood up near the end of the meeting and addressed the board directly.

“We’re not here because of one incident,” he said. “We’re here because this is what happens when ignorance goes unchecked. You have a moral responsibility to do more than issue statements — you must make this a turning point.”

Outside the school, attendees told CBS News that while they appreciated the superintendent’s condemnation of hate, they were still waiting for evidence that the district would follow through.

“Words are not enough,” said Nelson. “The only way to ensure this never happens again is to pair education with accountability.”

As the board adjourned, the community’s grief hung in the air — a reminder that the echoes of the Holocaust still reverberate even in the classrooms of suburban New Jersey.

“Never Again is not a slogan,” Premisler said. “It’s a warning. And it’s happening right here.”

For Jewish families in Manalapan, that warning feels closer than ever — and for school officials, the task ahead is clear: to turn outrage into education, and to prove that “Never Again” still means something in 2025.

As CBS News reported, Thursday’s confrontation was not merely about punishment — it was about reclaiming decency in a generation that, all too often, learns hate before it learns history.