Effects of the the Holocaust on the Jewish people

Dancing on thin ice

Picture the following scene: an ice-skating rink. The lights are dimmed, but a spotlight seeks out a couple in the middle of the ice. Instead of sequins and sparkly spandex, though, both are dressed in concentration camp striped pyjamas, with Stars of David on prominent display. Music begins slowly and haltingly to only become louder and more powerful. To the strains of the theme tune of the acclaimed Italian film La vita è bella (1997), the couple begin to perform a Holocaust-themed ice-dancing revue that features pretend shooting, guard dogs barking, and that ends with the sound of machine gun fire. Throughout the performance, both skaters smile broadly. Their emotional dance ends in raucous applause from the spectators and a perfect score from the ring-side judges.

No. This is not a tasteless imagine scenario. It is a very real performance that featured on the Russian reality show Ice Age in November 2016. The skaters were the former Olympic ice-dancer Tatyana Navka and her partner Andrew Burkovsjy – and maybe, just maybe, the performance would not have received quite so much media attention worldwide if Tatyana Navka had not happened to be the wife of Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Although studio audience and show judges seemed to ‘enjoy’ the performance – one can only hope that the judgment was based on its athletic and not its ethical value – it received strong condemnation in the international news media