Ronald S. Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), today criticized the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow (MOCAK), Poland for reinstating an art installation that features a video of naked men and women playing tag in a gas chamber. Lauder said: “Despite the many protests from Shoah survivors and others, Jews and non-Jews alike, the museum continues to show an exhibit that hurts many people’s feelings. We urge the MOCAK to immediately remove this exhibit.”
He went on to say: “We are very disappointed that a distinguished museum like the MOCAK would screen a film that causes extraordinary anguish to Auschwitz survivors and many others to whom the Holocaust is not a remote event in history but rather serves as an enduring warning about the dangers of anti-Semitism, racial hatred and xenophobia.
“Whatever the legality of that decision, we can only express shock that sensationalism in the guise of freedom of artistic expression should trump sensitivity and goodwill, and of all places Krakow should show some sensitivity to the feelings of survivors,” Lauder declared.
The controversial video exhibit is called “Game of Tag” and was earlier this year on display at an art museum in Estonia before being pulled following protests. The film was initially screened as part of an exhibition that enjoyed the patronage of the Israeli Embassy in Warsaw. The embassy eventually withdrew its support and the exhibit was discontinued, but later reinstated by MOCAK.
