Norway public broadcaster apologizes for Holocaust spoof

Norway’s public broadcaster apologizes for referencing Nazi death camps and the Jewish genocide in a satirical cartoon about the financial situation of university students.

“This cartoon should not have spoofed the Nazi genocide, and we’re sorry this reference obstructed what the sketch is really about,” a spokesperson for the NRK broadcaster writes on Facebook following complaints about the video, which today remains accessible on NRK’s online satirical section.

The video shows three young characters who are taken by an older character on a tour of what appears to be a Nazi concentration camp similar to Auschwitz. When the group reaches an oven full of ashes and the remains of a human ribcage, one of the students enthusiastically inquires whether the oven is for making pizzas.

“The animated video is about the student economy, which often has students in desperate situations,” NRK writes. “To make this point, we used visual references to a concentration camp.”

— JTA