An alarming new TikTok trend in which users role play as Holocaust victims has caught the attention of the Auschwitz Memorial, and it is, rightly, not pleased.
According to the Guardian, the gist is that users make themselves up like victims by creating fake bruises, wearing striped inmate outfits or armbands marked with the Star of David. In its statement, the museum gave the TikTokers the benefit of the doubt, saying that in some cases, the posts seemed to be motivated by “the need to find some way of expressing personal memory.” Nevertheless, this form of expression veers “dangerously close or already beyond the border of trivialization of history.”
Still, the museum, which is located at the site of the former death camp where more than a million people died, said its goal is not to shame anyone, but raise awareness that “not every social media activity can commemorate the Holocaust.” Words to live by.
“In social media, there are far more outrageous issues, like algorithms promoting antisemitism or the presence of Holocaust denial that is a dangerous & hideous carrier of antisemitism and hatred,” the statement says.
In February, the Memorial condemned the Amazon Prime show Hunters, saying its depictions of brutality are so exaggerated and historically inaccurate, they constitute “dangerous foolishness.”
