Old North News

Someone hacked into the intercom system at Enloe High School in Raleigh recently and broadcast “Heil Hitler” and a political threat over the speakers, ABC 11 reported.

The incident happened late last week, just days ahead of Sunday’s start of Hanukkah.

"I heard it and I thought I was imagining it so I texted my friends saying, 'Did you just hear something over the intercom,’ and they confirmed it,” student Zoe Goldstein told the station. “It’s pretty shocking that that was happening at our school, [one] that we consider an accepting, diverse space.”  

Enloe is a magnet school in Raleigh.

The anti-Semitic reference was only part of the problem, as the hackers also verbally threatened President Joe Biden.

The Jewish community in Raleigh has united in response. After standing shoulder-to-shoulder with some of her Jewish classmates at Enloe, Goldstein was at Temple Beth Or on Dec. 15 for Shabbat services.

"When an anti-Semitic act happens, it enables more people to say things, and it opens a barrier that maybe had been kept up, and it allows more people to say things and it spirals,” Goldstein told ABC 11.

Enloe’s principal mailed a letter to parents letting them know what happened and apologizing for what was said.

"Having a message sent out about anti-Semitism and specifically about the dangers of it was important to us,” senior Andrew Kochman told ABC 11.

The Anti-Defamation League reports that anti-Semitic incidents hit an all-time high in the United States in 2021 and the rhetoric is increasing. 

"This was simply not the case 10 years ago,” said Lucy Dinner, rabbi at Temple Beth Or. “All the more we need Hanukkah, we need to put our light in the window and we need solidarity." 

A number of menorahs were lit publicly Sunday in Wake County, including one in downtown Raleigh outside the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts.