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Is it legal/ethical for a Jewish youth camp to do a simulation of the Holocaust with its campers?

I'm in my 20's now, but back in my preteen years, I went to a Jewish youth camp in NY where they (the counselors) woke us up at 3 AM and chased us through the woods pretending that we're they're the Nazis and we're the Jews during the Holocaust. This exercise lasted until about 5 AM and they gave us some coffee and we went back to sleep. When we woke up, they tried to convince us that Israel no longer existed. I definitely didn't take it as a joke and if it was one, I think it went way too far to the extent that it became somewhat traumatic (especially since I remember it so vividly). What do you think about all this in an ethical and legal sense? Should the camp be reported even though it happened 15 years ago? I'd appreciate any of your feedback.

Public Comments

1. I don't think they broke the law, and I'm not sure if what they did even crosses into unethical territory, but I agree with your sentiment that they certainly used unusual and frightening tactics to illustrate a point.
2. Yes, it is both legal and ethical, and the fact that you still remember it to this day proves it served it's purpose, as a Jew you should never forget the horrors that your ancestors endured no matter how many nut cases try to convince you it never happened. You just got a scare, they lost everything, if you ignore history it is destined to be repeated. Honor those people that died by never forgetting them or their suffering.
3. If you developed some mental problem due to the event, you may have a civil legal case. But the exercise in it self is not against the law or unethical. They were just giving you a small taste of reality. Often reality is traumatic to someone living a shelter life. It would be same to many individuals that never lived on a farm, that witnessed an animal being slaughtered for food or someone that never hunted wild animals for food/sport.
4. I think it is appropriate for various "educational" organizations to help youth understand important events of history, and threats to the future. However, sometimes well meaning people are not particularly skilled when it comes to creating an effective simulation, appropriate to the age group in which it is used, managing it in a way that does not place the mental health of the participants at any risk. Designing educational games and simulations is an art. Not everyone has the appropriate skills to do it well. Designing them so they are effective for various children age groups is further something that needs many talents including mental health, child development, game design, and how best to train the people who will condust the simulation, so that they do not screw up. Coffee is a stimulant. It is not good to take if next you want to go to sleep. It is highly addictive and inappropriate to give to minors, although not illegal. This is further evidence of lack of competence by the people running your camp. There are problems with statute of limitations vs. seriousness of the crime. i.e. something that is considered relatively trivial, compared to say rape and murder, the crime has to be reported pretty soon, like within a few months, or memories fade and the cops can't do much about it. If the camp is still being conducted, probably by different people, and still doing the same kind of activity, you might try reporting them to an organization like http://www.bnaibrith.ca/ which I understand is in the business of protecting Jews from various abuses, of which I sincerely regret there are many in our world.
5. I'm pretty sure that's illegal. We had a (somewhat) similar situation happen at a school in my region where the faculty had hired a man from downtown (obviously homeless or something), gave him a fake gun, and made him do a 'stage' school shooting. We had cases of parents getting the faculty into legal trouble because of the lack of warning and compliance. If one of the students had hurt himself or anyone else because of the situation (just as some students, [or in your case, campers] commit suicide, or hurt others when then believe they're going to die), it would've gone horribly wrong. It shows that the faculty had shown blatant disregard for the student's well being, mentally and physically. Half of the faculty was let go and charged for disregard for well being and negligence, or whatever you could call it, because of that situation. Ahh, I don't really have a head for legal terms, but I'm sure you can get those guys in trouble if you got other people to testify.
6. That is sick and unethical. You should report it. Also report it to the news media, though I doubt they will cover it. P.S. You should try and find out if they are still doing it. You could probably bring a lawsuit against the camp if it is still in existence. If you can find others that were there that it happened to that were traumatized, then it would strengthen your case.
7. Wow, the things people do to control other people. No, it's not ethical.
8. Its a harsh way to do it- and I have been involved in a similar exercise, but we waited till the kids were older (we did it to fifteen year olds). It isn't illegal or unethical- but I disagree with doing it to children at that age- in my opinion they need to be older to clearly understand and assimilate the message. Another exercise we did was the following: divide the children into groups- give them matches and tell them to build a wall, houses etc. Of course the kids put a lot of effort into it- only to have us stamp on them. You know the exercise is succesful when they all gather around the last one to keep us out! The point? We use it to show what the British and Arabs did to the early settlements in Israel- the British knocking them down, the Arabs going so far as to kill every single person in them (such as Tel Hai where Ze'ev Jabotinsky died). that one remaining settlement, the kids protecting it- is illustrative of the few that survived because of the Jews and how they banded together to protect their settlements. Once again its a harsh lesson, but it makes them feel, and understand, what the early Zionists went through instead of it just being a lecture or yet another movie/play whatever that is easily forgotten.
9. It's sick. I take it you've been to Birkenau & those places (I have)? Those incidents happened a long time ago. They should never be forgotten, but the method you mentioned isn't the best way to keep it in peoples memories.