Holocaust Survivors Condemn Harris’ Depiction Of Trump As Next Hitler
Equating the former president to Hitler is a disgrace and a disservice to the Holocaust dead, survivors and their families, Litwok said.Equating the former president to Hitler is a disgrace and a disservice to the Holocaust dead, survivors and their families, Litwok said.
WWE apologizes for accidentally using Auschwitz footage during WrestleMania promo
During a promotional video for a match at WrestleMania 39, World Wrestling Entertainment accidentally used footage of the Auschwitz concentration camp in a compilation of jails and prisons, subsequently apologizing and removing the footage from future broadcasts.
According to outlet Wrestling Attitude, during "WrestleMania Night 1," the company used footage of the camp in then-Nazi-occupied Poland to promote a match between father and son adversaries Rey and Dominik Mysterio.
The wrestling website states that the match was heavily promoted in the weeks leading up to the event, with the son adopting the character called "Prison Dom" after spending a night in jail, harassing his father until he agreed to wrestle him at the WWE's biggest annual event.
\u201cSomeone in the WWE tried to find prison footage for Dominik Mysterio's "hard time" video and ended up using footage of what I'm pretty sure is the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. It ran during the WrestleMania kickoff.\u201d— Aaron Wrotkowski (@Aaron Wrotkowski) 1680394155
Despite having the "most successful WrestleMania of all time," the company apologized and removed the footage from tapings.
"We had no knowledge of what was depicted," the WWE said in statement to NBC News.
"As soon as we learned, it was removed immediately. We apologize for this error," the company added. The outlet noted that the spokesman said the WWE took immediate action once the error was flagged.
The footage was reportedly replaced with generic images of jails with barbed wire.
The Auschwitz Memorial Museum called the use of the footage into question, saying in a statement on Twitter that the WWE was "exploiting" the location.
"The fact that Auschwitz image was used to promote a WWE match is hard to call 'an editing mistake'. Exploiting the site that became a symbol of enormous human tragedy is shameless and insults the memory of all victims of Auschwitz," the museum said.
\u201cThe fact that Auschwitz image was used to promote a WWE match is hard to call "an editing mistake". Exploiting the site that became a symbol of enormous human tragedy is shameless and insults the memory of all victims of Auschwitz.\nhttps://t.co/b4bbYgWPwj\u201d— Auschwitz Memorial (@Auschwitz Memorial) 1680680849
The wrestling giant boasted about its event in a press release, citing over 500 million views over two days, a 42% increase over 2022.
The company also says the event saw over $20 million in revenue, doubling the previous record, and sold the most merchandise ever at the event, along with a record-setting gate of $21.6 million.
\u201c#WrestleMania 39 smashed records across the board.\n\nThank you to the @WWEUniverse at @SoFiStadium and around the world for helping us create the most successful @WrestleMania of all time.\u201d— Triple H (@Triple H) 1680534868
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Whoopi Goldberg tries damage control over 'incredibly ignorant' Holocaust comments — but people aren't buying it
Whoopi Goldberg apologized Tuesday after once again making eyebrow-raising comments about the Holocaust that generated intense backlash.
This is not the first time Goldberg faced criticism for controversial remarks about the Holocaust. In February, Goldberg was temporarily suspended from "The View" after she declared the Holocaust was "not about race."
What did Goldberg say?
In an interview with the Times of London, Goldberg downplayed the racial component of the Holocaust. First, she relayed an anecdote from an alleged Jewish friend.
"My best friend said, ‘Not for nothing is there no box on the census for the Jewish race. So that leads me to believe that we’re probably not a race,'" Goldberg told the newspaper.
When challenged on her claims, Goldberg then insisted that the Holocaust was not "originally" about the Jewish race and appeared to criticize Jews for having believed what Nazis, whom she called "the oppressor," told Jews about themselves.
"Remember who they were killing first. They were not killing racial; they were killing physical," Goldberg claimed. "They were killing people they considered to be mentally defective. And then they made this decision."
Goldberg doubled down when the reporter interviewing her then reminded her the Nazi regime develop tests to "prove" Jewish ancestry.
"They did that to black people too," Goldberg responded. "But it doesn’t change the fact that you could not tell a Jew on a street. You could find me. You couldn’t find them."
What was the response?
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, sharply condemned Goldberg's "deeply offensive and incredibly ignorant" remarks in a statement on Tuesday.
"Whoopi Goldberg’s comments about the Holocaust and race are deeply offensive and incredibly disappointing, especially given that this is not the first time she had made remarks like this," Greenblatt said. "In a moment when anti-Semitic incidents have surged across the U.S., she should realize that making such ignorant statements can have real consequences."
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, meanwhile, responded by tweeting a passage from a letter that Adolf Hitler wrote in 1919. In that letter, Hitler declared that "Jews are definitely a race," condemning them as an "alien race, unable and unwilling to sacrifice its racial distinctiveness."
\u201cExcerpt from Adolf Hitler\u2019s letter on \u2018the dangers currently presented by Jewry to our nation\u2019 from 16 September 1919. \n\nThis text is one of the first major statements made by Hitler with regard to the Jewish question.\u201d— Auschwitz Memorial (@Auschwitz Memorial) 1672080884
Did Goldberg apologize?
Goldberg claimed in a statement on Tuesday that her words were essentially taken out of context, saying she was only recounting the comments that earned her a suspension — not doubling down on them.
The statement said, according to Rolling Stone:
It was never my intention to appear as if I was doubling down on hurtful comments, especially after talking with and hearing people like rabbis and old and new friends weighing in. I’m still learning a lot and believe me, I heard everything everyone said to me. I believe that the Holocaust was about race, and I am still as sorry now as I was then that I upset, hurt and angered people.
My sincere apologies again, especially to everyone who thought this was a fresh rehash of the subject. I promise it was not. In this time of rising antisemitism, I want to be very clear when I say that I always stood with the Jewish people and always will. My support for them has not wavered and never will.
Greenblatt, however, did not buy the excuse.
"We appreciate Whoopi’s apology and acknowledgment of the hurt her words caused," he responded. "But this is the 2nd time she's made spurious and offensive remarks about the Holocaust and race, and after reading @thetimes interview, it’s hard to imagine her words were being taken out of context."
\u201cWe appreciate Whoopi\u2019s apology and acknowledgment of the hurt her words caused. But this is the 2nd time she's made spurious and offensive remarks about the Holocaust and race, and after reading @thetimes interview, it\u2019s hard to imagine her words were being taken out of context.\u201d— Jonathan Greenblatt (@Jonathan Greenblatt) 1672241930
Players from high-powered HS football team reportedly utter 'Auschwitz,' 'dreidel,' 'rabbi' for on-field play calling — now head coach is fired
Following reports that his players used words like "Auschwitz," "dreidel," and "rabbi" for on-field play calling during a game earlier this month, the coach of high-powered Duxbury High School in Massachusetts is out of a job, the Associated Press reported.
What are the details?
Dave Maimaron — who has led the the team to five state football titles since taking over the program in 2005 — issued an apology.
"On behalf of the staff and players of the Duxbury High School football team, I want to extend my apology for the insensitive, crass and inappropriate language used in the game on March 12th," Maimaron wrote, according the AP, which added that he called the language "careless, unnecessary and most importantly hurtful on its face -- inexcusable."
He also has been placed on administrative leave from his position as a special education teacher, WBZ-TV reported.
Massachusetts high school football is being played in the spring this year after the season last fall was moved over the coronavirus, the AP said.
Robert Trestan, president of the New England Anti-Defamation League, said Duxbury Public Schools Superintendent John Antonucci told him that words like "Auschwitz," "dreidel," and "rabbi" were used in Duxbury's game against Plymouth North, the AP said. Plymouth school officials alerted Duxbury about the matter, the outlet added.
The words were not directed at the opposing team or at a particular player, Antonucci said, according to the AP.
"It's deeply hurtful to the Jewish community to learn that the plays somehow connect to the Holocaust and Judaism," Trestan said, according to the outlet. "This is a really serious situation. There are indications of a systemic failure both on and off the field."
The district hired Edward Mitnick of Just Training Solutions LLC to assist in its investigation, the AP said, adding that Mitnick is an attorney and investigator with 30 years' experience in such matters.
Duxbury High School's administration said in an emailed statement that "the outrage is real, warranted, and we hear it. The fact that members of our school community used such offensive language, including anti-Semitic language, is horrifying and disappointing," the AP said, adding that Duxbury canceled this Friday's game against Hingham.
"It is important to note that while the players clearly demonstrated poor judgment, the responsibility for this incident also lies with the adults overseeing the program," Antonucci also noted, according to the Patriot Ledger. "In short, this was a systemic failure."
The paper added that Duxbury won the Division 2 state championship in 2016 and lost last season's state final at Gillette Stadium.
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