NationStates Jolt Archive

Rio judge bans float on Holocaust

The float trivialised the Holocaust, said the judge

A Brazilian judge has banned a group from parading in the Rio carnival with a float depicting the victims of the Holocaust and a Hitler figure.
The judge issued the injunction after a lawsuit brought by the Jewish Federation of Rio de Janeiro, Fierj.

She said the samba group could still parade but must remove mannequins meant to represent dead bodies.

But legal decisions in Brazil are often overturned and it is still not clear if an appeal will be launched.

Rio's carnival gets under way properly on Sunday when the main samba schools begin their musical parades.

"Carnival should not be used as an instrument of hatred, any kind of racism and clear trivialisation of barbaric and unjustified acts against minorities," Judge Juliana Kalichszteim said as she issued her injunction.

The ruling stops the Unidos do Viradouro samba school from parading with its planned Holocaust tableau and also having someone dressed as Adolf Hitler.

'Offensive'

The group faced a fine if it tried to go ahead.

"The monstrosity that is the Holocaust just cannot be combined with the excessively festive nature of the carnival, a festival recognised worldwide for its joy, humour, entertainment and eroticism," said Fierj's lawyer Ricardo Brajterman.

The float is one of several that Viradouro was planning to use as the group parades down Rio's sambadrome under its theme "It gives you goose bumps". The other floats are set to portray cold, fear and birth.

The Holocaust float would have shown a pile of mannequins and have had no people dancing or singing alongside it.

Viradouro's creative director, Paulo Barros, said the float was a "very respectful" reminder of the Holocaust and a reminder that such an atrocity should never be repeated.

"This an extremely serious work, and people think we're mocking," said Mr Barros, who was in tears as his team started dismantling the float.

Controversy

Fierj's president had appealed to Viradouro not to use the float "out of respect for the dead, for their families and for history".

Rio's main carnival consists of 12 separate parades over two nights by samba schools from the city's favelas, or shanty towns.

They often pick social issues as a theme for their floats or costumes and this is not the first time it has attracted controversy.

At the 1989 carnival, another samba school had to cover up a float which portrayed Rio's statue of Christ the Redeemer as a homeless person.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7220436.stm

Okay, now this is just a tad surreal. So, NSG, appropriate for Carnival or not?

Okay, now this is just a tad surreal. So, NSG, appropriate for Carnival or not?

Probably not, but it's still disappointing that they weren't allowed to do it.

Appropriate, not by a looooonnng shot. The only place this would be appropriate would be at a Klan or Neo Nazi rally.

However, I think they should have the float mainly because I am a big supporter of Freedom of Speech not only in the USA but Internationally.

Also, I believe that if the world does have Freedom of Speech, it'd separate the idiots and assholes out from the rest of society much quicker and in a more efficient manner.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7220436.stm

Okay, now this is just a tad surreal. So, NSG, appropriate for Carnival or not?Definitly not.

This is old news, I remember this on the news over a week ago...

Oops. It was still a popular story on BBC or something like that though...

Holocaust float banned

No one wants genocide with their root beer & ice cream.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7220436.stm

Okay, now this is just a tad surreal. So, NSG, appropriate for Carnival or not?huh???

the Carnaval already took place, I know because I was supposed to go , like 3 weeks ago.

unless this is for the next Carnaval?
BTW the sambodromo was not a good idea after all.

A judge should not be banning free expression, however disturbing and wrong we might find it. From the sound of it, it was not intended to trivialise the holocaust but rather draw attention to it. I am not sure if it was the right decision by the organisers to allow the float, but that is their prerogative and not the judge's.

Appropriate given the theme. "Things that give you goosebumps"
Not necessarily the right thing for a carnival but it fits the theme.

the Carnaval already took place, I know because I was supposed to go , like 3 weeks ago.

so your saying the Holocaust float never happened?

it's okay to ban it but I think its a little selfish of the jewish group that is suing the school because, though jews were a big target of the holocaust, they weren't the only target. Don't get me wrong, I'm not antisemitic, but they need to keep in mind that jews weren't the only targets.

so your saying the Holocaust float never happened?I am saying the reports are incomplete.

it's okay to ban it but I think its a little selfish of the jewish group that is suing the school because, though jews were a big target of the holocaust, they weren't the only target. Don't get me wrong, I'm not antisemitic...Yes, yes you are an.. an AntiSemantic , how dare you deny the sacred power of Jewish Lobbies. :upyours: :D :upyours: :upyours:

No one wants genocide with their root beer & ice cream.
Comedy gold.

The float itself isn't inappropriate. The context in which it is presented is.

You know, I'd ban it just because a Holocaust float would be a real fucking downer.

I don't see why folks want to parade holocaust things anyway.
wierd.
Now a Taco float would have a whole different meaning.

I don't know what those people at carnival are doing! Why would you even mention the Holocaust at something like carnival? Unless it was in an academic sense, and that's not what Carnival is for.