Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Urban Dictionary Criticized for ‘Hurtful, Disrespectful’ Definition of Auschwitz
Error: Contact form not found.
by JNS.org
The main gate at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.
JNS.org – Urban Dictionary, a crowdsourced online dictionary for slang words and phrases, was condemned by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum for publishing “hurtful and disrespectful” definitions of the word “Auschwitz.”
Among the website’s 20 different definitions of the Nazi concentration camp are “a summer camp for Jews, “a disneyland for its time” and “the happy resort for Jews during WW2.”
Another entry states that Auschwitz means, “When in a place there are too many Jews, like it would be in Auschwitz.” Or when used as an adjective, Auschwistic: “An adjective to describe some one so stupid they deserve to be put in Auschwits [sic].”
Urban Dictionary, founded in 1999 by American computer-science student Aaron Peckham, attracts as many as 65 million visitors a month and has more than 8 million slang definitions, according to The Jewish Chronicle.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum tweeted on Monday, “Hateful language should not be promoted and given platforms like that,” and accused the online dictionary of promoting “hurtful and disrespectful ‘Auschwitz definitions’ that mock & instrumentalize human death and suffering.”
The museum added that Urban Dictionary’s “definition of antisemitism gets some things right: ‘The discrimination and degrading treatment towards the Jewish people.’ Shameful, that antisemitism is accepted by the dictionary.”
The museum also shared a screenshot that shows an entry on the website for the word “Jews,” defined as: “The people who hold all the world’s power, and who are responsible for everything bad that’s ever happened. If things aren’t going your way, it’s the Jews’ fault.”
