By Sophia Chang
“I thought that for someone who represents the royal family, who represents leadership, whose history is rooted in World War II and represents a nation who suffered brutally at the hands of Nazis, he showed a pretty stupid reaction,” Arthur Flug said. Flug is the education outreach coordinator for the Holocaust Resource Center at Queensborough Community College in Bayside.According to the BBC, 20-year-old Prince Harry issued a formal apology Jan. 12 “for any offense or embarrassment he has caused. He realizes it was a poor choice of costume.” The incident was first reported in The Sun, a British tabloid, that day.Flug said it was more than bad taste, however.”It shows a complete lack of understanding and education on him and the royal family,” he said. “It was not a joke. When it comes to wearing a swastika, it's never a joke.”The Holocaust Resource Center is the metropolitan area's lead agency on organizing the March of the Living, a voyage scheduled for May to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust, with a projected 18,000 people from around the world visiting Israel and German Nazi run concentration camps located in Poland. Some critics had urged Prince Harry to go on a planned Jan. 27 memorial trip to Auschwitz with a British delegation to mark the anniversary of the death camp's liberation in 1945, according to published reports.Flug said such a trip would be one way to enlighten him, but he called for the third in line to the British throne to undergo more education.”You don't do just one thing. Going to Auschwitz is the first step, but he should not only go there but should also meet with people who were there and get an understanding of how offensive his costume was,” Flug said.”We're always given this view of how the royal family is trained to lead, to set an example,” he said. “This was not leadership. This was a very poor example.”This article has been altered to reflect the correction on the phrase “Polish concentration camps” previously used. The phrase now reads “German Nazi run concentration camps located in Poland.”
Reach reporter Sophia Chang by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
