German hard rock group Rammstein is being criticized for a video promoting the release of its new single “Deutschland” that features band members dressed as concentration camp inmates standing on a gallows with nooses around their necks.
Jewish groups and others called the video tasteless and unacceptable, while the government’s anti-Semitism official, Felix Klein, told the Bild newspaper in comments published Thursday (March 28) that the band had “crossed a red line.”
Klein says “it’s a tasteless exploitation of artistic freedom.”
The band and its label refused to comment on the 35-second clip, and it’s not clear what message it is intended to convey, nor how the lyrics of the unreleased song tie in with it. The clip itself only has instrumental audio, and ends with the word “Deutschland” in old Germanic lettering; the full single is reportedly slated for release on Thursday.