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Benjamin Forant
Published on
Nov 6, 2024 at 6:02 p.m.
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The Versus Skatepark in Saint-Jean de Maurienne has attracted a lot of attention. Inaugurated a few weeks ago, the play park is at the heart of a controversy, as our colleagues from Dauphiné Libéré point out.
The site “Balance your anti-Semitism” accuses the creators of the place “an apology for Nazism”. They mention several points, including the frontage which would resemble “the entrance to the extermination camp d’Auschwitz ».
A “bad taste joke” according to the creator
In its argument, the site mentions the entrance to the skatepark. In addition to the form which uses the same font and the same form of writing, the site denounces the potential quote which should have been on the portico. If today we can read “Yachting Club Mauriennais”, this was not always the plan.
In the Polish camp, we can read ““Arbeit macht frei”, which means “work sets you free”. In Savoy, we could have seen “Skaten macht frei”, which therefore means “skateboarding sets you free”.
In addition, the site highlights how to write VERSUS, with two “S” which could recall the font used to write SS, short for Schutzstaffel, one of the main Nazi armed forces.
Faced with all these criticisms, Jérémy Durand responded with a long text of apologies and justifications on his Facebook.
He first returns to the history of the criticisms made against him and the genesis of the project: “It was at that moment that the joke (in bad taste, I grant you) “Skaten macht frei” was born. Because we had, even more than usual, the impression of having found – or should I say rediscovered – freedom thanks to skateboarding (literal translation of “Skaten macht frei”). […] The idea was quickly forgotten, and we probably should have left it at that. »
Then, he explains that he understands that he made a mistake:
“Simply because repeating Nazi iconography does not make you a Nazi, nor does it mean that you are promoting it. It is often the opposite. On the other hand, to the question, “is it smart to do it?” “or” don’t you think you’ve gone too far? “well yes, surely, because it is clear, given the number of messages I have received, that we screwed up. That all these bad taste jokes that we made between us were very poorly received outside our little bubble, by a good number of people, including some friends, who unfortunately are no longer friends today. today. […] I hope now that people will understand and accept my apology. »
The storefront has now been removed from the skatepark entrance.
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