A school in Washington DC has apologised after a Jewish third-grade student was cast as Adolf Hitler in a Holocaust re-enactment and told to pretend to kill themselves.

The principal of Watkins Elementary School in Washington has written to parents apologising after an unsanctioned Holocaust re-enactment was criticised by parents. 

According to the email from Principal Scott Berkowitz, the children, all under the age of 10 were directed to re-enact some of the darkest scenes of the Shoah, including digging their own graves and shooting their classmates.

Students were given certain roles including that of Adolf Hitler, which was given to a Jewish child.  

In the email to concerned parents, Principal Berkowitz said: “I want to acknowledge the gravity of this poor instructional decision, as students should never be asked to act out or portray any atrocity, especially genocide, war, or murder.”

According to The Washington Post, other parents reported that their children were told to act as if they were in trains on the way to concentration camps or that they were dying in Nazi gas chambers.

The staff member responsible for the lesson also allegedly made antisemitic comments during the class and told the students not to tell anyone else about the unsanctioned lesson. 

According to the governing body of Washington DC schools, the teacher responsible has been placed on administrative leave. All the students involved in the re-enactment met with the school’s mental health team after the incident.

In response to reports of the incident, CEO of the Holocaust Education Trust Karen Pollock called the lesson "shocking and stupid."