
Stupid TikTokers are dressing up as Holocaust victims to ‘educate people’
Makeup is used to resemble scratches, cuts and burns
Teenagers on TikTok are dressing up as Holocaust victims as part of the latest idiotic trend on the app.
With makeup that resembles scratches, cuts and burns, they explain how they “died” in various Nazi concentration camps, from being beaten to death and eventually dying of hyperthermia to being gassed in chambers.
The people making these videos indulge in distasteful detail as they put on striped clothing, make improvised Jewish star badges and act in front of green-screened backgrounds of Auschwitz. There has been considerable backlash over these videos, which have been criticised for being antisemitic by many different organisations – the US Holocaust Museum said the trend “dishonours the victims’ memory”.
Patricia, who made an entire thread of TikTok videos, explained in various tweets that she felt the trend was trivialising the suffering of many people: “I’m sad this has become something people think is okay to practice their makeup and acting abilities with. This is the suffering of millions.
“The lack of understanding, sensitivity and empathy is horrifying. This #pov trend is incredibly offensive to the families of the six million murdered in the Holocaust. They are not some trend for you to jump on!”
Insider spoke to a creator who had used the trend in an attempt to “educate” people: “I’ve always been interested in the history of the Holocaust and just wanted to make a creative video informing people about it on TikTok. It was never intended to be offensive.”
Similarly, a 15-year-old creator told Wired that their TikTok following the trend was inspired by their own family history with the Holocaust: “I’m very motivated and captivated by the Holocaust and the history of World War II. I have ancestors who were in concentration camps, and have actually met a few survivors from Auschwitz camp. I wanted to spread awareness and share out to everyone the reality behind the camps by sharing my Jewish grandmother’s story.”
Although trends are usually to be followed in order to reap some of the traffic that is gained from following a popular hashtag, the users of the #holocaust hashtag insist that it teaches people about history. It appears that many of the videos under this tag have been deleted in the wake of the controversy.
TikTok has recently come under fire after they refused to remove several videos that don’t violate their policies, including a video of teenagers finding two dead bodies in a suitcase.
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