Chicago TV station apologizes for Holocaust graphic

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CHICAGO (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) — A local television station in Chicago, WGN-TV, used a stock image of the yellow Star of David—the patch the Nazis forced the Jews to wear on their clothing during the Holocaust—as the graphic accompanying a story about the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur this week.

The symbol was used during the Holocaust as a way to distinguish and dehumanize Jews.

Viewers were quick to react, with one Chicago lawyer tweeting, “Holy crap, @WGNNews, this is your stock photo for a Jewish holiday?? Nobody thought that’s a bad choice of photo?”

The station was also quick to apologize, tweeting less than 30 minutes later, “We are truly sorry for inadvertently using an offensive image in our story. We apologize and deeply regret the error.”

While some viewers were unsatisfied with the apology, others blamed the education system for failing to teach “young people” about the Holocaust and its symbols.

One viewer was not satisfied with the station’s response, tweeting, “I think you owe more than an apology for the Yom Kippur ‘mistake’ last night. You owe an explanation. How and why did it happen.” Another viewer said, “I think web kids truly have no knowledge about WWII and Holocaust. Just some very general idea.”

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