Jewish Couple Asked To Play Holocaust Victims In WWII Reenactment

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A regular World War II reenactment has provoked irregular outrage after a Jewish couple was asked to wear Stars of David on their arms and 'look poor' while dress as Holocaust refugees.

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The U.K. Daily Mail reports that the Jewish couple was not happy with their roles in the annual festival:

The couple accused organizers of 'complete disrespect' after they were asked to consider wearing the yellow symbol, carrying battered suitcases and 'looking poor' for East Lancashire Railway's Wartime Weekend.

The reenactment in England's East Lancashire Railway's Wartime Weekend was characterized by a number of players dressed in Nazi and SS regalia.

Some players dressed as Gestapo and even Luftwaffe head Hermann Goering. Last year, the reenactment's organizers were pressured by Jewish organizations to ban Nazi and SS symbols. However, German Uniforms and Swastikas were allowed.

The Daily Mail shows that despite the ban, a number of impersonators were spotted with SS symbols.

The British couple told the Daily Mail that they could not understand why people would voluntarily wear Nazi symbols given the history of the ideology:

'We're British Jews and are happy to celebrate the community spirit here, but this side of it is distressing. I do wonder why people would want to dress up like that. It's worrying that they don't seem to be embarrassed to do so and some appeared to be strutting about.

'We want to celebrate the British involvement in the war as if it hadn't been for the Allies even more Jews would have been exterminated. But we can't see why at an event supposed to be about the British experience in wartime, it is necessary for some of these re-enactors to dress up in this way.

The SS weren't on British soil. The only Germans you would have been likely to have seen over here in uniform were prisoners of war.'

h/t U.K. Daily Mail

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• So the Teabag movement has migrated to the U.K.

• what?? I don't see how you see the tea party in this story at all' other than a a weird opportunity to take a cheap shot.

• This whole thing is a weird story' why are they doing this in the UK and not a re-enactment of the bombings they suffered or some other story closer to home. 

  and this:

  'Last year, the reenactment's organizers were pressured by Jewish organizations to ban Nazi and SS symbols. However, German Uniforms and Swastikas were allowed.'

  why ban certain Nazi symbols and not others? if you are going to do a reenactment you might as well be accurate, no?

  also this story reminded me of this:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyOi8PYDmJw

• The Nazis status of boogeymen never dies. 

• We have some Civil War reenactments down here, but they make a lot of sense since the actors do these really amazing real life battle scenes on the actual fields that the battles they portray are being fought' but I'm confused as to what the reenactments over there are like? Are they actually reenacting anything or just walking around in costumes?

• I wonder if the actor portraying Goering beefed up for his role, à la De Niro in Raging Bull.  Or did they just pick the fattest guy available?