Drowning Man With Swastika Tattoo Saved by Jewish Teens

Four Jewish high school students in Boston say they didn't see a man's swastika tattoo before they saved his life—but they would have rescued him anyway. The students at an Orthodox Yeshiva high school in the Brighton neighborhood spotted the man floating in the Chestnut Hill Reservoir during a late-night walk last week and rushed to flag down a police officer, MassLive reports. Boston College Police Officer Carl Mascioli says that after the students raced to alert him, he pulled the partially submerged, motionless man from the water and discovered he had the Nazi symbol tattooed on his hand.

Mascioli tells NBC Boston that the students told him they had no regrets about saving the man, but they "wanted just to let him know that it was four young Jewish boys that helped save his life." "I kind of let the gentlemen know sometimes some deeds have a funny way of turning around," Mascioli says. "Their good deed had a little bit of a twist to it." He adds: "A good deed is a good deed and that's part of life. We should be helping everybody out." It's not clear how the man ended up in the reservoir, but he is expected to make a full recovery. Police say he would probably have died if the students hadn't spotted him. (These boots were pulled from stores after wearers discovered they were leaving a trail of swastikas.)