Dancing on (mass) graves

A YouTube video that has gone viral has many Holocaust survivors raising a ruckus … but not to the beat of the music. As the clip describes on its YouTube page: “On a recent trip to Europe, a family of three generations (a Holocaust survivor, his daughter and his grandchildren) dance to Gloria Gaynor’s pop […]

A YouTube video that has gone viral has many Holocaust survivors raising a ruckus … but not to the beat of the music.

As the clip describes on its YouTube page:


“On a recent trip to Europe, a family of three generations (a Holocaust survivor, his daughter and his grandchildren) dance to Gloria Gaynor’s pop song – ‘I Will Survive’ at concentration camps and memorials throughout Europe.

This dance is a tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit and a celebration of life. It is an affirmation that man can triumph over the darkest of circumstance and still strive to find beauty and peace. Similarly, each one of us has to face the adversary of our own lives and find the spirit ‘to survive.'”

Many Holocaust survivors, however, find the video offensive.

“Kamil Cwiok, 86, who was a child when he and his family were rounded up by the Nazis, condemned the footage. Mr Cwiok, most of whose family died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz, said: “I don’t see how this video is a mark of respect for the millions who didn’t survive, nor for those who did. “It seems to trivialise the horrors that were committed there.”

Dancing highlight at the 3:00 mark.

Is the video offensive? Appropriate? Uplifting? Feel free to leave your comments below.

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