Housewitz was joke, student claims

10 August 2005

AMSTERDAM — A video clip on the internet that advertised a techno dance party called Housewitz was just a tasteless joke.

MDI, a Dutch agency that deals with complaints about offensive material on the internet, revealed on Wednesday that 22-year-old economics student Dicky Thijssen has apologised for the offence caused by his video.

The video advertised a dance party called Housewitz on 4 May 2005, remembrance day in the Netherlands for the victims of World War II. No such dance party actually took place.

MDI received dozens of complaints about the use of Nazi and Holocaust images in the video. The Auschwitz museum in Poland lodged a complaint via the Dutch embassy in Warsaw on Tuesday.

The video showed pictures of ‘DJs Michel der Heidie en Adolf von Bauren’ in Nazi uniform and a woman doing the voice over uses a German accent. She talks about “7 million party people…set their bodies on fire…litterally speaking…ha, ha”.

There is a cartoon representation of Auschwitz prison camp with the inscription “Tanzen macht frei” (Dancing makes one free ), on the gate. This is a parody of the Auschwitz slogan “Arbeit macht frei” (Work makes one free). There are also images of a gas chamber, represented as “free showers” for party goers.

MDI described the video as “horrible” but said the agency’s work has been completed because several internet sites had removed the video. Weblog GeenStijl.nl has refused.

GeenStijl writes on its site: “The movie is here for archiving only (and to learn about the big gaps in Dutch WWII history education). We strongly disapprove of his actions.”

Copies of the video have been taken from GeenStijl and have provoked a strong reaction after surfacing in Poland.

Subject: Dutch news