‘Horrific’: Dancing Nazis and concentration camp prisoners feature in Spanish carnival parade
A carnival parade “commemorating” the Holocaust was condemned as “vile and disgusting” after performers dressed as Nazi officers danced through a Spanish town.
The town of Campo de Criptana, in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, held the carnival on Monday.
Footage shows one group dressed as Nazi officers, dancing in front of a float containing a menorah placed between two crematorium chimneys.
The troupe also featured performers dressed as concentration camp prisoners who waved Israeli flags.
In response, the Israeli embassy in Spain strongly condemned the act as “vile and disgusting”, adding that it mocked the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis.
The post added that European countries ought to “actively combat antisemitism”.
The Auschwitz memorial museum also tweeted its disapproval on Tuesday, saying: “Hard to describe: memory upside-down, far beyond vulgar kitsch, without any relevance, without reflection & respect.”
The El Chaparral Cultural Association put on the Holocaust-themed display.
According to a sign on one of their floats, the association claimed it wanted to remember “6 million Jewish men, women and children who perished in the Holocaust and all those who suffered persecution and extermination because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin or political ideas”.
The town council of Campo de Criptana said in a statement that permission for the act had been given on the basis that it would pay tribute to those killed in the Holocaust.
“We share the criticisms that have been expressed. If the aim was to commemorate the victims, it’s obvious the attempt fell short,” it added.
The parade took place the day after a carnival in Belgium, which was called “hateful” by Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, after it included caricatures of Jews for the second consecutive year.
Among other caricatures, the Aalst Carnival parade featured an Orthodox Jew with a box of diamonds and people wearing fake elongated noses.
A spokesperson for the mayor of Aalst described the parade as “our humour... just fun”.
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