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Painfully Misguided Fashion Shoot Held at Berlin Holocaust Memorial
By Lindsay CutlerNovember 23rd, 2009, 5:23 pmComments (3)
Ink Publishing just released a formal apology for their string of ads depicting models posing in front the the Field of Stelae, a.k.a. the Berlin Holocaust Memorial. In case you were thinking this showed a particularly obvious amount of disrespect, don't worry: the spread was displayed in one of Ink's many signature in-flight magazines, EasyJet, which is the a serious and appropriate location.
The ads were meant to bolster tourism to the area, heralding the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, in celebration of past achievements and whatnot. Since the monument is also called the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, I can see how that makes sense. Nothing says "family vay-cay!" like genocide.
After causing outrage from important-sounding Jewish organizations like European Institute for the Study of Contemporary anti-Semitism, and being called things that would be impressive in any other instance, like, "crass to the extreme," Ink apologized and pulled the November issue from all flights. While this particular Jew is often bothered by the the quiet yet pervasive wave of anti-Semitic propaganda present in most major airline publications (I'm looking at you, Skymall!), this sounds more or less like a stupid, enormous oversight (also, a stunning lack of sensitivity). Not Jew-hate. Agreed?
Commentarium (3 Comments)
Can't speak from a Jewish person's perspective, but this particular photo shoot does seem like a concept that sounded great during the pitch meeting, but went horribly awry. This may also be a generational issue. With fewer and fewer survivors around to pass on first hand experiences to pass on to the current generation, the immediacy and impact of the Holocaust's experience may be eroding away among the younger generation of Jews. Overall, it seems more insensitive than antisemitic.
Oops! please ignore the second "to pass on".
I live in Berlin and the locals call the monument "the could try harder" as in you could try harder to make a better holocaust memorial and a photo shoot it was really was only a matter of time. It has a sea of holes quality to it I can't wait to see the rock video that will be made there one day. Its not called the Field of Stelae my anyone it is called the monument to the 6 million murdered jews of Europe or holocaust memorial. Hitler's bunker is just under the south east corner of it.