Homophobic teen turns into Hitler in anti-hate speech ad — VIDEO
A graphic video showing a homophobic young woman morphing into Adolf Hitler is being used to highlight the dangers of hate speech in Poland.
The video was prompted by an “alarming” report showing the extent of hate speech among young Poles, according to the group behind it, the Stefan Batory Foundation, a pro-democracy nongovernmental organization.
The video, posted on YouTube, shows a teenage girl engaged in trivial chatter with her friends, when two men walk into her line of sight.
“Did you see them? Wusses (a term often used in Polish to refer negatively to homosexuals) or what?” she comments, becoming more furious.
“They can do whatever they want at home, but walking together like that is too much! I see faggots everywhere! I want to puke when I look at them!”
Gradually, the girl’s blond hair is replaced by the World War II Nazi leader’s dark sweep, her modern clothing becomes a brown shirt and she is shown with Hitler’s mustache.
A male voice is heard asking: “Really? You want to look like that?” and the girl curses with the German expletive “scheisse.”
The Batory Foundation says Poland has a problem with hate speech, with Polish teens particularly exposed to it.
Batory Foundation spokeswoman Agata Szypulska told CNN that the video is just part of a “Stop Hate Speech” campaign that launched on September 14.
“We’re targeting young people aged 15-18, and the reason we did that is because last year, we published the first nationwide report, called “Hate Speech in Poland,” which indicated that young people are more likely to accept hate speech to specific minority groups than adults,” she said.
Szypulska said that while Polish media reaction to the campaign had been 80% positive, some “extreme right-wing” commentators had argued that detesting homosexuals did not make someone a Hitler and that its message was an exaggeration.
An estimated 6 million Poles were killed during World War II — including around 3 million Polish Jews — as Hitler targeted minorities across Europe.
But Szypulska said the campaign was targeting young people and needed to be strong.
“We also wanted to use a person and symbol that would be recognizable. We wanted to show that hate speech is not just words — that words can lead to actions.”
Check out the video above.