West Germans will have an opportunity to see “Holocaust” the American made four part television series dealing with the Nazi murder of six million Jews, which begins tomorrow night. But they will have to tune in to one of the regional stations which, collectively, attract only 1. 5-3 percent of the viewers. The decision to shunt the series to the regional channels instead of one of the national networks has aroused angry debate here.
Critics contend that while the Germans felt morally obligated to purchase the series from NBC which gained record ratings when it was aired in the U.S. last year — they are burying it. The networks respond that they could not pre-empt the many hours of national channel programs for the purpose of showing “Holocaust.” But this has not prevented them from pre-empting regular shows for soccer games.
The debate has been aggravated by violence. A documentary on the Nazi persecution of Jews that was being shown on regional channels last Wednesday night as a prelude to “Holocuast,” was knocked off the air when a bomb destroyed transmission lines leading to an anteing. The authorities blamed rightwing extremists for the outrage. A group calling itself the Independent Circle of Friends is circulating leaflets urging “Every decent German . . . to prevent the transmission of “Holocaust.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
