Ohio University Wipes Out Holocaust Song from Playbook

Photo: Marching Band

Ohio State University recently removed "Goodbye Kramer," a song making light of the Holocaust from a songbook updated three years ago.

The students responsible were part of the marching band and began circulating the song around privately. “Goodbye Kramer” features lyrics such as “small town Jew… who took the cattle train to you know where” and “searching for people livin’ in their neighbour’s attic”.

It was set to the tune of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”. The song also features jokes about the furnaces used in concentration camps, Wall Street Journal reported. They also reported that an introduction to the book stated the following: “Some of these [songs] may be offensive to you. If so, you can either ignore them, or you can suck it up, act like you got a pair and have a good time singing them.”

The university was quick to respond to the actions, immediately releasing a statement condemning the “shocking behaviour” and saying that they are “committed to eradicating [the song] from its marching band program.”

B’nai B’rith International, the Jewish human rights and advocacy group joined in on the disgust for the song, calling out the author but thanking the university for their fast acting. Their statement said that “it is never acceptable to trivialize Holocaust imagery. To do so in a jovial tone and completely for the sake of offending is even more abhorrent.”