The office of the President of Taiwan ordered an investigation into an incident in which students at a Hsinchu City high school dressed as Nazi soldiers, waved swastika-draped flags, and shouted "Sieg Heil!"

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In pictures circulated on the web, the students' teacher is seen dressed as Adolf Hitler, leading the parade in a cardboard tank.

"We feel it is disrespectful to the Jewish people, who were victims of repression during the war, but most importantly, this highlights an ignorance of history," read the statement from the President's Office.

Photo: EPA

“It is deplorable and shocking that seven decades only after the world had witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust, a high school in Taiwan is supporting such an outrageous action as we witnessed at Hsinchu Kuang Fu Senior High School,” Israeli Representative to Taiwan Asher Yarden wrote on the mission’s Facebook page.

“We strongly condemn this tasteless occurrence and call on the Taiwanese authorities, in all levels, to initiate educational programs which would introduce the meaning of the Holocaust and teach its history and universal meaning.”

Photo: EPA

The German Institute Taipei also issued a statement on Facebook.

“Sadly, the students clearly do not understand that the Nazi symbol stands for disregard for human rights and oppression,” it said.

Taiwan's Minister of Education, Pan Wen-Chong expressed “astonishment and regret” and apologized for the incident, urging all schools in Taiwan to learn a lesson from it.

The minister said it would visit the school to look into the incident, assist in improving education programs and punish the school over an “administrative negligence of duty.”