1990 Auckland Jewish daycare stabbing
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Date | 16 July 1990 |
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Time | ~ unknown |
Location | Hebrew Kadimah School kindergarten Auckland, New Zealand |
Coordinates | 55°51′44″N 4°15′26″W / 55.86223°N 4.25732°WCoordinates: 55°51′44″N 4°15′26″W / 55.86223°N 4.25732°W |
Type | Mass stabbing, domestic terrorism, hate crime |
Motive | Antisemitism |
Target | Jews |
Deaths | 0 |
Non-fatal injuries | 4 |
Suspects | Pauline Janet Williamson |
Trial | Suspect 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]
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References[]
- ^ "People of New Zealand Reach out to Jews After Attack on School". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1990-07-25. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
- ^ "Four Children Stabbed by Woman in Attack on Auckland Day School by Jeremy Jones". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1990-07-17. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
- Mass stabbings
- Antisemitic attacks and incidents
- July 1990 events in New Zealand
- 1990 in New Zealand
- History of Auckland
- Stabbing attacks in New Zealand
- Stabbing attacks in the 1990s
- Violence against children
- Antisemitism in New Zealand