arts & culture
‘Swastika Boards’ and ‘Surf Nazis’:
New Documentary Explores Surfi ng’s
History of Antisemitism
Jacob Gurvis | JTA
W hen he was 13 years old,
Josh Greene moved with
his family to San Clemente,
California, a city known as one of the
best spots for surfi ng on the West
Coast. Greene quickly fell in love with
the sport, even holding his bar mitzvah
party at a local museum dedicated
to it.

As a “skinny, very unathletic” teen,
Greene said he endured a signifi cant
amount of bullying, including some
that “extended itself into antisemitism.”
Students at his school would compare
his physique to that of a Holocaust
survivor. Surfi ng provided refuge.

“Surfi ng was my way to really carve
my own niche and fi nd the confi dence,
courage and physical strength I
needed,” he said.

But years after his bar mitzvah,
Greene learned that his parents had
arranged for the Surfi ng Heritage
and Culture Center to remove
swastika-engraved boards that were
on display, to avoid disturbing the
partygoers. Wanting to learn more,
he discovered that the sport’s history
is full of Nazi imagery: Particularly
in the 1960s, seeing surfb oards with
swastikas or surfers giving “Sieg heil”
salutes was commonplace. Serious
surfers called themselves “surf Nazis” as
a way to signal their intense dedication
to the sport.

An aspiring fi lmmaker — he received
his fi rst “real camera” as his bar mitzvah
present — Greene decided to combine
his two passions and delve into the
dark history.

The result, completed before he
graduated from the University of
Southern California in May 2022,
is a documentary called “Waves
Apart,” which chronicles the history
Josh Greene: Courtesy of Greene; Shaun Tomson: Courtesy of Tomson
Josh Greene directed “Waves Apart,” a documentary about the antisemitic
history of surfi ng.

of antisemitism in surfi ng. Directed
by Greene, the student-produced
fi lm was a fi nalist in the fall for a
Student Academy Award, given by
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences.

“Waves Apart” made its global debut
at the Santa Barbara International Film
Festival last week, before heading to
other Jewish and documentary fi lm
festivals in California, Denver, Toronto
and Maryland.

After chronicling his own journey with
surfi ng and the bar mitzvah incident
in the fi lm, Greene interviews surf
writer Dan Duane and Jewish history
Shaun Tomson is a former world champion surfer.

See Arts, page 35
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