Yesterday, De Volkskrant, a major Dutch newspaper issued an apology for an illustration that appeared in an earlier edition of the paper that brought back memories of anti-Semitic cartoons drawn in Germany during the Hitler era. The image showed a Dutch pollster, Maurice de Hond, who happens to be Jewish, as a puppet master. Incredibly, the drawing made its way past the editors.
Below is an article by the New York-based Jewish news outlet, Algemeiner, which gives the background of the story.
Below is the apology by Volkskrant. Translation by Fousesquawk.
Caricature of Maurice de Hond should never have appeared in the newspaper
The illustrator and current editorial staff lacked the historical awareness to see the resemblance to anti-Semitic propaganda. Pieter Klok: "We blame ourselves for this."
Editorial Staff 19 April 2021, 17:15
On Monday, 19 April, Volkskrant published a caricature of Maurice de Hond in section V. This brings back too many memories of the anti-Semitic caricatures of the Nazi period and thus, never should have been published. Why did that happen, however?
"Creating an anti-Semitic caricature has never been my intention," says the illustrator. "Anti-Semitic aims are so far from my intentions with this cartoon, that I did not make the link, nor did I consider it. This is my fault that I did not have the historical awareness of Jewish puppeteers in Nazi propaganda."
The (artist) was chosen by the image editors of Volkskrant due to his figurative comic strip illustrations. In consultation him on Thursday, the idea arose to refer to the 1950s crime comic strips because that seemed to fit with the (ingredients) in the matter. The article was intended for V, the daily art and culture supplement of Volkskrant, in which illustrations are frequently used. Much of the inspiration for the work of this illustrator include underground comics, for example, the work of Peter Pontiac and pulp strips from the 1950s. "Those are often horror stories about crime," he says. "In this specific case, I thought of EC Comics, known as, Tales from the Crypt, for example. The books often claim to be based on police files."
Because the piece was completed shortly before the weekend, the artist only received a short explanation of the piece from the image editors: an interview with the creator of the podcast De Deventer Mediazaak. The artist also listened to the podcast. "I thought of an EC Comic by Al Feldstein," he says, "about a manipulative woman who incites a man to commit a crime. On the cover of the story, the man is pictured as a puppeteer. In thinking of this illustration, I did not consider the Jewish background of Maurice de Hond, and I didn't in any way consider this in the making of the print. For me, it was to put down an image, as we know it from the comics, of an image of dark, media manipulation."
The artist is especially upset about the Jewish stereotype that you might see in the illustration on the front page of the section. "Now that I see the countless examples of the illustrations that my drawing seems to refer to, I understand very well the disconcerted reactions of people who see in this anti-Semitic imagery, such as was spread by Nazism. In the creation of this drawing, I was insufficiently prepared (aware) that the idea of the puppet master was not only a 1950s personage. but also refers to an anti-Semitic, Nazi stereotype. In my own tunnel vision, I completely overlooked this-as did the editors as well. For this lack of historical awareness, I blame myself."
The editors who were present on Sunday, when the drawing arrived, also had an insufficient historical awareness. "We blame ourselves for that," says Editor-in-Chief Pieter Klok. "The drawing came in late, not until Sunday afternoon. Because the image editor, editor-in-chief, and designer knew the story and thus, understood how the drawing was intended, they did not see how the drawing could come across to the reader. At no time did they make a link with anti-Semitic caricatures.
Normally speaking (when a drawing for the Monday newspaper is ready earlier or is put into production on a weekday), an image of the illustration is seen by many more eyes, and the chance is much greater that such an error is intercepted. Managers have read the story but not seen the illustration. The editorial staff draws a number of sensitive lessons. First, they conclude that that articles of a serious or sensitive matter do not lend themselves to a more liberal illustration. An illustration can unintentionally steer the reader to one side or impose an opinion, in which the nuance of the story is lost. Or worse, such as in this case, create a mistaken impression, as anti-Semitic and giving strong offense. The editorial staff also draws the conclusion that in all cases, care must be taken that illustrations are seen by more pairs of eyes.
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Fousesquawk comment: I do not know the philosophical opinion of Volkskrant though they are linked on this site under the section, "Foreign News Outlets". Since they are a mainstream publication, I will take their apology on their word.
But how could it have escaped the artist and the editors that such an image of a Jew would bring back memories of how Nazis portrayed Jews (to say nothing about how they are portrayed still today in many Arab publications)? Could it be a failure of the Dutch educational system-that Dutch children are no longer taught about the Holocaust-especially since the Netherlands was occupied by the Germans during World War 2 and most of their Jewish citizens were lost in the Holocaust? I cannot imagine that. It might be pointed out here that we recently translated an article about Swedish schools, where teachers were actually afraid to bring up the Holocaust because they had so many Muslim children in their classes. But then again, Sweden was neutral in the war and was never occupied.
Or could it be that the artist and the editorial staff were all educated in my own country-the US, where Holocaust studies seemed to have gone by the wayside and many of our own people of a younger age have no appreciation of what the Holocaust was all about? Who knows?
One thing is clear: Holocaust studies need to be taught everywhere because anti-Semitism is on the march.
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