When a parent of a third-grader at Watkins Elementary picked up her son on Friday afternoon from the campus on Capitol Hill, the child was crying and extremely upset. “They explained they had a terrible day at school,” said the parent, who wished to remain anonymous to protect her child’s identity.

Her child told her that during a class at the library, the school’s librarian instructed third-graders to reenact atrocities from the Holocaust, she says. “My child had to pretend to suffocate in the gas chamber, had to pretend to ride the trains, had to mass-shoot people, had to put bodies into mass graves.” Her child also told her that another student, who is Jewish, was assigned to portray Adolf Hitler, and pretend to commit suicide, as the Nazi leader did, the parent said.

The alleged incident was first reported by the Washington Post.

According to another third-grade parent at Watkins who spoke to DCist/WAMU, the lesson was conducted by Kimberlynn Jurkowski, who is listed as the library media specialist on the school’s website. The parent also wished to remain anonymous, because she was embarrassed to have her family associated with the incident. The New York Times also reported Jurkowski’s involvement.

A DCPS spokesperson declined to confirm the employee’s identity, but said the person had been put on leave pending an investigation. Jurkowski did not respond to an email from DCist/WAMU, and did not answer phone numbers listed under her name.

Watkins Principal MScott Berkowitz emailed parents about the “incident of hate and bias” on Friday evening.

“Earlier today, we received a report of a classroom of students receiving a lesson that included portraying different perspectives of the Holocaust. Students should never be tasked with acting out any atrocity, especially genocide and war,” Berkowitz wrote. “Additionally, there were allegations of a staff member using hate speech during the lesson, which is unacceptable and not tolerated at our school.”

According to the second parent, Jurkowski told students that “the reason Germans did this to the Jews was because they stole Christmas.” She then allegedly told students not to tell anyone about the reenactment, according to the parent. “This is abusive behavior, grooming behavior,” the parent tells DCist/WAMU.

Jurkowski was fired from a job as a school librarian in 2013 after being convicted of fraud in a $24,000 tutoring scam. In 2017 she was stripped of her New Jersey teaching license for a period of three years, due to the conviction. She was also charged with animal cruelty in 2019, after allegedly keeping five dogs outdoors in freezing temperatures, leading to one death. Jurkowski has been with DCPS since 2014, according to her LinkedIn.

The Watkins parent said these aspects of the librarian’s past were widely known at the school, including among students. “Everyone knew,” she said. She said she approached the principal with concerns about Jurkowski about a month ago. Berkowitz told her he could not discuss personnel matters, she said.

In another email to the school community on Sunday, Berkowitz wrote, “The events that took place on Friday have significantly impacted our students, our staff, and our community. We are feeling a range of emotions after hearing about the abhorrent experience that our students had.”

Berkowitz praised students for reporting the incident. “On Friday our students showed their integrity by speaking up for what did not feel right for them. They courageously advocated for themselves which enabled processing to start as soon as it did.” Berkowitz listed a number of immediate steps the school would take to address the incident, including a virtual meeting on Monday with the DCPS hate and bias response team for parents and caregivers of children in the class that was impacted, and a school-wide meeting on Wednesday.

Berkowitz did not respond to an email requesting comment.

Meanwhile, numerous D.C. lawmakers have written to DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee with outrage, and a long list of questions.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson called the event “shocking and beyond belief.”

“What happened cannot be undone, but what DCPS does about it now is critical,” Mendelson wrote in a statement.

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, who represents Capitol Hill where the school is located, wrote a lengthy letter to Ferebee. “The antisemitism and hatred described by students has no place in the District of Columbia and the hate and harm caused by these actions are difficult to put into words,” wrote Allen.

Allen wanted to know whether DCPS conducted a full background check on the employee, whether DCPS was aware of her criminal charges, convictions, and licensure revocation, and how DCPS made the decision to hire the individual, if the information was known.

The Watkins parent whose child came home crying Friday says that besides this incident it’s been a great school, with a “wonderful, nurturing environment.” She wants to see a full and transparent investigation from DCPS, and accountability. “We need to make sure that this individual is not around children again,” she says.

At Watkins, she would like to see school-wide education on the Holocaust, “to set the record straight on what the history is.”