VILNIUS - The Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza on Jan. 3 criticized a Lithuanian television program that parodied a Nazi officer.
The program, broadcast by LNK television on New Year's Eve, shocked a Gazeta Wyborcza journalist after it showed a person dressed as an SS unit officer performing in a TV studio-turned-police station.
"He was messing about with policemen, running on stage, waving a gun. He spared no compliments for 'policemen,' praising them for doing a good job in the station, threatening them with a gun and even suggesting establishing his own order," the Polish daily wrote.
Virgis Savukynas, editor of the Omni news portal, said that "without a doubt the character is surprising, but it would be difficult to argue that its authors had hidden intentions."
"Presumably, they meant that the picture of World War II Germany still exists in the subconscious - especially in that of the older generation - as an invader rather than a force that one should fraternize with. For this reason, they tried to show the SS unit officer as a silly person," Savukynas said.
The Polish journalist noted that the authors had produced a very popular satirical program that, in his words, sometimes used anti-Semitic motifs. "Polish readers must know" that during the Nazi occupation Lithuanian police officers also participated in the massacre of Jews, the Polish newspaper wrote.
"It is still disputed as to who played a bigger role in that massacre - Lithuanians or Germans," the daily wrote, noting that over 200,000 Jews were killed in Lithuania during World War II.
"Many Lithuanians are convinced that the Soviet occupation was much worse for Lithuania than the German occupation," the Polish daily wrote.
Commenting on the article, program producer Arunas Valinskas wondered why the Polish journalist was so shocked by the show's SS parody.
"Have we done anything bad? Why can't there be such a character, especially in an entertaining broadcast?" the producer asked.
