1990 Auckland Jewish daycare stabbing

On 16 July 1990, a mentally ill woman attacked the courtyard of the Jewish Kadimah College's primary school in Central Auckland, stabbing four children with a knife while screaming antisemitic slogans. The attack continued as other young students looked on "in horror", while members of staff ran to help the children. The woman, 52-year-old Pauline Janet Williamson, was eventually disarmed by a male teacher, Mr Yurovitch. The children, aged 6 to 8, were hospitalised immediately afterwards; all survived, after going intensive surgery. They were identified by police as 6-year-old twins Nicholas and Samuel Henderson; Simon Clark, 6, and Damon Bree, 8.

1990 Auckland Jewish daycare stabbing
Greys Avenue, Auckland, New Zealand, where the kindergarten in question is located, 27 years later (November 2017).
Date16 July 1990 (1990-07-16)
Time~ unknown
LocationHebrew Kadimah School kindergarten Auckland, New Zealand
TypeMass stabbing, domestic terrorism, hate crime
MotiveAntisemitism
TargetJews
Deaths0
Non-fatal injuries4
SuspectsPauline Janet Williamson
TrialSuspect deemed mentally unfit to stand trial

This apparently random act of antisemitic violence in New Zealand, a country known to be tolerant of its Jewish community, shocked many. However, it followed the desecration of several Jewish graves in Dunedin by two months, which itself was a copycat of an attack on Jewish graves in Carpentras, in the South of France.[1]

Attack

As the pupils played in the school courtyard before school was due to start on Monday, 16 July 1990, mental health outpatient Pauline Janet Williamson ran onto the school courtyard, where 6 year olds Nicholas and Sam Henderson and Simon Clark, and 8-year-old Damon Bree were playing. She then produced a 4-inch, stay-sharp vegetable knife and began screaming antisemitic slogans and a Jewish surname (not one shared by any of the victims), before wildly lacerating these four children.[2]

Part of a series on
Antisemitism
Definitions
Manifestations
Antisemitic tropes
Antisemitic publications
Antisemitism on the Internet
Persecution
Opposition
Category

References

[3]

  1. "People of New Zealand Reach out to Jews After Attack on School". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 25 July 1990. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  2. "Four Children Stabbed by Woman in Attack on Auckland Day School by Jeremy Jones". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 17 July 1990. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  3. https://natlib-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?vid=NLNZ&docid=INNZ7121909320002837&context=L&search_scope=INNZ
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.