In an age where more and more people seem to be forgetting the past, the WWE crossed a huge line when looking for prison images for a video package for Dominic Mysterio’s WrestleMania 39 match.
While there are countless images they could have used, it looks like someone decided to use on of the infamous prison camp that was the largest run by the Nazis and saw over a million Jews and others murdered during the course of its existence.
Auschwitz Memorial Museum Calls Out WWE for Using Auschwitz Footage for Promotional Use
There’s been no word on how this happened, though it’s been labeled as an “editing error”.
The fact that Auschwitz image was used to promote a WWE match is hard to call "an editing mistake". Exploiting the site that became a symbol of enormous human tragedy is shameless and insults the memory of all victims of Auschwitz.https://t.co/b4bbYgWPwj https://t.co/Xud4rbhEUS pic.twitter.com/tuJrzmK6mQ
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) April 5, 2023
Taking a stand
While we’re reminded on television and social media about the hate crimes committed against the Jewish people in America in the last year, this could be a critical mistake on someone’s part.
The Auschwitz Memorial Museum called out the WWE for the use of the footage on social media:
“The fact that Auschwitz image was used to promote a WWE match is hard to call “an editing mistake”. Exploiting the site that became a symbol of enormous human tragedy is shameless and insults the memory of all victims of Auschwitz.”
This is the second time in the last couple of years the WWE has made a misstep as they trademarked GUNTHER’s new name as Gunther Stark, who happened to be a German U-Boat commander during World War II.
Granted, given the current shape of Imperium, the WWE may have purposely intended for GUNTHER to be a Nazi-esc character with an Axis of Evil behind him, but those plans were changed after an outcry.
The decision was done without much conversation and the WWE kept its collective head down throughout the name change.
Exploiting anything for a gain
To be fair, pro wrestling’s history is littered with all types of heel gimmicks meant to elicit feelings of anger and hate since a heel’s best weapon is pissing fans off and making the face look even better.
But the world has changed and having characters or using images of events as horrible as the Nazi’s actions doesn’t leave a lot of room for either side.
As we mentioned in the beginning, a number of reports claim a growing number of people don’t know about the genocide the Nazis committed, and the word Nazi is thrown around casually anymore shows a growing problem with society and trying to exploits those events for a match or characters can be problematic at best.
What do you think about the situation? Let us know in the comments below.
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