By Oliver Farrimond
EASYJET have been forced into an embarrassing apology after printing a Holocaust gaffe in their in-flight magazine.
The budget airline published racy photographs of models posing in the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin – without permission from the memorial’s owners.
The saucy shoot sees models in sultry poses leaning against sculptures erected as a memorial to the genocidal massacre of the Jews in the Second World War.
The red-faced airline have now pulled the magazines from their flights after being contacted by the left-wing magazine The New Statesman this morning (Friday).
An Easyjet spokesperson said: “EasyJet profusely apologises to anyone who may be offended by the inappropriate fashion photo shoot at the Holocost Memorial in Berlin featured in this month’s issue of the in-flight magazine.
“The magazine is produced by INK, an external publishing house, and EasyJet were not aware of the images until they appeared in print.
“As a consequence we are now reviewing our relationship with the publisher and are withdrawing this month’s issue from all flights.”
The body which oversees the memorial, The Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, has said that it will be in contact with the airline over the Bruno-style fashion snaps.
The Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe said that it “does not support commercial shoots, and fashion photography is considered to fall into this category.”
It added: “Due to the sheer size and complexity of the memorial, it is not possible to simultaneously observe all sections of it and the thousands of visitors taking pictures in the Field of Stelae.”
Labour MP Denis MacShane, who heads the European Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism, said: “This is further evidence of the banalisation of anti-Semitism and the trivialisation of the genocidal massacre of the Jews in the Second World War.”
See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel, Deadline TV.
