Ideally, a graduation motto is a phrase one fondly remembers for a lifetime. It decorates the senior class' T-shirts, serves as inspiration for numerous graduation parties and is the title of the graduation newspaper, marking the ceremonial end of school life for 18- and 19-year-olds.
For some students at the Liebig School in the town of Giessen in central Germany, however, the whole topic of picking a graduation motto is now something they would rather quickly forget. Or, as student representative Nicole Kracke told German news magazine, Der Spiegel: "We're now the ones with the Nazi label. That hurts."
'Abi macht frei' (a reference to the infamous 'Arbeit macht frei' signs above the gates of Nazi extermination camps), and 'NSDABI — Burn the Duden' (referring to the Nazi party NSDAP, Nazi book burnings and Jewish persecution) were among the proposals in an anonymous online vote for the 2026 graduation motto.
Some students reacted immediately and reported the incident to the school administration. Access to the portal was deleted, the entire graduating class was summoned and a prepared statement was presented to them: 'In our school community, there is no place for racism, antisemitism or discrimination. We stand together against it!'
The police are now investigating on suspicion of incitement to hatred.
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