SWC Calls on Amazon Prime to Remove Bawaal – An Indian Film that Misappropriates the Nazi Holocaust and Auschwitz

July 25, 2023

The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), a leading human rights NGO dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Nazi Holocaust, is urging Amazon Prime to remove the film Bawaal due to its outlandish abuse of the Nazi Holocaust as a plot device. Directed by well-known Indian filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari, the film’s storyline which is set in contemporary times, leads to scenes in which the protagonists enter a gas chamber in Auschwitz and are suffocated while wearing striped clothing. Hitler is used as a metaphor in the movie for human greed, with the main protagonist, saying to his wife: “We’re all a little like Hitler, aren’t we?”

“Auschwitz is not a metaphor. It is the quintessential example of Man’s capacity for Evil,” charged SWC Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action, Rabbi Abraham Cooper.

“By having the protagonist in this movie declare that ‘Every relationship goes through their Auschwitz,’ Nitesh Tiwari, trivializes and demeans the memory of 6 million murdered Jews and millions of others who suffered at the hands of Hitler’s genocidal regime.”

“If the filmmaker’s goal was to gain PR for their movie by reportedly filming a fantasy sequence at the Nazi death camp, he has succeeded. Amazon Prime should stop monetizing Bawaal by immediately removing this banal trivialization of the suffering and systematic murder of millions of victims of the Nazi Holocaust,” Rabbi Cooper concluded. 

For further information, please email Michele Alkin, Director of Global Communications at malkin@wiesenthal.com or Shawn Rodgers at srodgers@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization numbering over 400.000 members. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS, and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).