JERUSALEM — He’s a Holocaust survivor dancing with his family on what easily could have been his own grave.
A video clip of Adolek Kohn shuffling and shimmying with his daughter and grandchildren to the sound of “I Will Survive” at Auschwitz and other sites where millions died during the Holocaust has become an Internet sensation. It’s also sparking debate over whether the images show disrespect for those who perished or are an exuberant celebration of life.
The fight — raging on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere — poses uncomfortable questions about how to approach one of history’s greatest tragedies: What’s the “proper” way to commemorate it? Can a survivor pay homage in a way that might be unthinkable for others?
Adding to the irony, Kohn and his dancing brood owe their fame to neo-Nazi groups who posted the clip on their websites and turned it viral, his daughter Jane Korman said Thursday.
Kohn told Australia’s Nine Network he didn’t think the video was offensive, because the dance was distinct from the memory of those who died.
“Why did I do that? First of all, because I came with my grandchildren,” he said from his home in Melbourne, Australia. “Who could come with their grandchildren? . . . Most of them are dead. We came to Auschwitz with the grandchildren and created a new generation. That’s why we danced.”
While the footage has become an unlikely Internet hit, the controversy it has triggered is less surprising.
Michael Wolffsohn, a German Jewish historian at the Bundeswehr Munich, called it “tasteless” and questioned Korman’s motives.
“It is simply embarrassing self-promotion,” he said.
