'Selfies with Hitler' at Indonesian museum cause outrage.

In this Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017 photo, a visitor uses her mobile phone to take a photo of the wax figure of Adolf Hitler displayed against the backdrop of an image of Nazi Death Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau at De Mata Museum in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Rights groups have expressed outrage over the display calling it "sickening" and demanded its immediate removal.
Slamet Riyadi, AP

JAKARTA, Indonesia – The teenagers smile as they take selfies with a heroically posed Hitler, apparently unaware that the giant backdrop to their happy moment is the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp where more than a million people were exterminated by the Nazi dictator’s regime.

It’s a scene that plays out every day at a waxwork and visual effects museum in Yogyakarta, an Indonesian city better known for its universities, Javanese culture and as the seat of a historic sultanate. The infotainment-style museum, De Mata, is defending the display as “fun” for teenagers.

Human Rights Watch denounced the exhibit as “sickening” and the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, which campaigns against Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism, demanded its immediate removal.

“Everything about it is wrong. It’s hard to find words for how contemptible it is,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the center. “The background is disgusting. It mocks the victims who went in and never came out.”

The waxwork portrays Hitler as an imposing and dominant figure, a far cry from the drug-addled physical wreck who committed suicide on April 30, 1945, as Russian forces overwhelmed the German capital, Berlin.

Behind the waxwork is a giant image of Auschwitz and the slogan “Arbeit Macht Frei” — work sets you free — that appeared over the entrance to Auschwitz and other camps where millions of Jews and others were systematically killed during Germany’s wartime occupation of much of Europe.

To one side of Hitler there’s Darth Vader and directly opposite is Indonesia’s current president, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

It’s not the first time Nazism and its symbols have been normalized or even idealized in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation and home to a tiny Jewish community.

A Nazi-themed cafe in the city of Bandung where waiters wore SS uniforms caused anger abroad for several years until reportedly closing its doors at the beginning of this year. In 2014, a music video made by Indonesian pop stars as a tribute to presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto stirred outrage with its Nazi overtones.

The latest episode has surfaced during an upsurge in nationalistic rhetoric in Indonesia.

Warli, the marketing officer for the museum who goes by one name, said he was aware Hitler was responsible for mass murder but defended the waxwork, on display since 2014, as “one of the favorite figures for our visitors to take selfies with.”

“No visitors complained about it. Most of our visitors are having fun because they know this is just an entertainment museum,” he said.

Warli hadn’t heard of the Simon Wiesenthal Center but said he’d discuss its demand to remove the display with De Mata’s owner, businessman Peter Kusuma, and management.

“We will follow the best advice and the response from the public,” he said. “Let people judge whether the character is good or bad.”

Cooper said it was inexcusable that a business would intentionally use Nazism and the Holocaust to make money and deplored the “disconnect” with history.

“When Hitler was finished with Europe he was going to come after the folks in Asia,” he said.

Human Rights Watch’s Indonesia researcher, Andreas Harsono, said the waxwork and its concentration camp backdrop was “sickening” and a reflection that anti-Jewish sentiment in Indonesia is more widespread than generally appreciated.

He said the conflict between Israel and Palestine has fed anti-Semitism in Indonesia for decades but the prejudice has deeper roots in narrow interpretations of the Koran.

———

Views: 131

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Chris of the family Masters on June 28, 2018 at 5:21pm

Selfies with Netaniahu would be acceptable.

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

tjdavis posted a blog post
4 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
6 hours ago
cheeki kea posted a photo
10 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

First World Order

"Ah ha Truth hidden in plane sight. Notice the map depicted on this 'world order' book…"
10 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's video
13 hours ago
cheeki kea posted a video

Iyah May Karmageddon Lyric Music Video

While ‘Karmageddon’ has sparked significantconversation and controversy, Iyah has stood her ground. She refused to compromise her vision when asked to change...
13 hours ago
tjdavis posted a video

Steven Wilson - PERSONAL SHOPPER (Official Video)

"The song PERSONAL SHOPPER sits somewhere between being a love-letter to shopping (which I love to do!) and the uneasiness I feel about the more insidious si...
yesterday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Monday
rlionhearted_3 posted photos
Monday
Burbia posted a photo
Monday
tjdavis posted a video

propaganda: DIVIDE & CONQUER (1942) - Warner Bros. vs Hitler

Not to be confused with the much drier Frank Capra film from 1943.A "Broadway Brevity", released August 1, 1942. Vitaphone #1022-1023A.Transferred from 16mm.
Sunday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Dec 20
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

Thumbs down - ship gone.

" So this sort of stupidity has occurred before. Norway or NZ - Who did it better? Cast your…"
Dec 20
cheeki kea favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Last Meal
Dec 20
tjdavis favorited Sandy's photo
Dec 17
tjdavis favorited cheeki kea's photo
Dec 17
tjdavis favorited tjdavis's video
Dec 17
tjdavis posted photos
Dec 17
tjdavis posted blog posts
Dec 17
cheeki kea favorited tjdavis's video
Dec 17

© 2024   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted