ADL Says Whitney’s Decision to Exhibit "Sanitation"
Contributes to the Trivialization of the Holocaust
New York, NY, March 9, 2000 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said the
Whitney Museum of American Art is contributing to the trivialization of the
Holocaust by choosing to exhibit "Sanitation," a work that uses Nazi
imagery to make a statement on contemporary issues.
The following is the text of a letter from Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National
Director, to Maxwell L. Anderson, Director of the Whitney Museum:
We are extremely disappointed that you have chosen to feature
"Sanitation," by Hans Haacke, in the 2000 Biennial exhibit
opening on March 23. Mr. Haacke’s use of Nazi imagery in
"Sanitation" trivializes the horrors of the Holocaust and
denigrates the memory of the six million Jews and others who were killed
by the Nazis.
No matter what statement the artist intended to make about contemporary
issues, there can be no comparison to the Nazi’s Final Solution for the
extermination of European Jewry. By choosing to exhibit "Sanitation,"
the Whitney becomes a party to the debasing of the Holocaust. We do not deny Mr.
Haacke the artistic freedom to create what he chooses. We would, however, have
expected that the leadership of the Whitney would have chosen not to contribute
to his trivialization of the Holocaust.
The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
