1990 Auckland Jewish daycare stabbing

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1990 Auckland Jewish daycare stabbing
48 Greys Avenue 01.jpg
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
Coordinates55°51′44″N 4°15′26″W / 55.86223°N 4.25732°W / 55.86223; -4.25732Coordinates: 55°51′44″N 4°15′26″W / 55.86223°N 4.25732°W / 55.86223; -4.25732
TypeMass stabbing, domestic terrorism, hate crime
MotiveAntisemitism
TargetJews
Deaths0
Non-fatal injuries4
SuspectsPauline Janet Williamson
TrialSuspect deemed mentally unfit to stand trial

On 16 July 1990, a mentally ill woman attacked the playground of the Jewish Kadimah School's daycare 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. 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.

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[]

At an unknown time on Monday, 16 July 1990, mental health outpatient Pauline Janet Williamson ran onto the playground at the school's kindergarten, where 6 year olds Nicholas and Stephen Henderson and Simon Clark, and 8-year-old Damon Bree were playing. She then produced a 4-inch 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]

References[]

  1. ^ "People of New Zealand Reach out to Jews After Attack on School". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1990-07-25. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  2. ^ "Four Children Stabbed by Woman in Attack on Auckland Day School by Jeremy Jones". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1990-07-17. Retrieved 2021-05-11.


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