“We honor the memory of the martyrs of the Holocaust, and unlike [you in
the secular press] - respect our readers and bring them only what they
need and want to see."
Originally published at 8:32 pm CDT 3-27-2013
The iconic photograph, top; the censored version published in BaKehillah, bottom
Haredi Newspaper Censors Women’s Faces From Iconic Photo Of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The special Passover holiday supplement of the haredi newspaper BaKehillah blurred out Jewish women's faces in the iconic photograph of the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto after the uprising.
The photo, reproduced above, is the iconic image of Jews with arms up marching toward their deaths. In the lead is a small boy wearing shorts, a pea coat, and a cap. His hands are raised above his head. At his side is a young woman, her arms also raised above her head. Behind and to the side of the young woman is a little girl. Behind them are men and women, boys and girls, small children.
In BaKehillah’s version of the photograph, all the faces of the women and girls are blurred out, and the little girl in the front left of the original photo is completely cropped out.
BaKehillah’s editor responded to questions about the censorship by acknowledging it was done for “modesty” reasons. He also claimed the censorship “honored” the memory of the martyrs who were murdered by the Nazis.
“We honor the memory of the martyrs of the Holocaust, and unlike [you in the secular press] - respect our readers and bring them only what they need and want to see,” Avraham Dov Greenbaum told Ynet.
Haredi publications in Israel and the US have repeatedly censored out the faces – and somethimes the complete bodies – of women and girls. Many even censor "modestly-clad" female dolls and chaste female cartoon characters.