Harvard student magazine sorry for ‘insensitive’ Anne Frank with bikini cartoon
The Harvard Lampoon offered an apology following backlash to a doctored photo of the Jewish diarist
The Harvard Lampoon has apologised for printing an “insensitive” cartoon depicting the German-born Jewish diarist Anne Frank wearing a bikini.
The satirical university magazine published a doctored photo of Anne Frank’s head over a bikini-clad body.
It carried the caption“Gone Before Her Time: Virtual Aging Technology Shows Us What Anne Frank Would Have Looked Like if She Hadn’t Died.
“Your list of reasons the Holocaust sucked.”
The image was included in an issue distributed around campus at the weekend, prompting immediate backlash from students and beyond.
The Harvard Lampoon is garbage pic.twitter.com/q4BAUS4ibI
— Cat Zhang (@CatZhang1) May 13, 2019
Over 250 students demanded the Lampoon be held accountable in a petition circulated on social media, The Harvard Crimson reports.
Robert Trestan, the director of Anti-Defamation League’s Boston branch, also expressed his concern on social media.
“At a time of surging global #antisemitism @Harvard @harvardlampoon publishes outrageous, insensitive, sexualised #AnneFrank meme that is shameful and harmful,” he wrote.
“Line between humor & #antisemitism has been crossed – apology needed @AnneFrankCenter @annefrankhouse @HolocaustMuseum.”
Frank perished in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp of typhus at the age of 15 shortly before the camp was liberated by British troops in April 1945.
Her father was the only surviving member of her family after the Franks were discovered hiding in Amsterdam in August 1944.
Her diary, published posthumously in 1947 and later published in English, has been translated into at least 60 languages.
A new translation and edition was published in Germany, Austria and Switzerland earlier this month.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
