LJ Drama – Role Playing Game Named “Kristallnacht” Causes Controversy
by Latoya Peterson
Cruising through my normal blog reading, I saw posts from Willow and Coffee and Ink about a Harry Potter role playing game (not affiliated with JK Rowling) named Kristallnacht.
The word rang a bell, but I didn’t quite remember what it meant. However, there is always Wiki:
Kristallnacht, also known as Reichskristallnacht, Reichspogromnacht, Crystal Night and the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom that occurred throughout Nazi Germany on November 9–November 10, 1938.
On November 7, 1938 a young German Jew, by the name of Herschel Grynszpan, enraged by his family’s expulsion from Germany, walked into the German Embassy in Paris and fired five shots at a junior diplomat. Two days later, the diplomat was dead and Germany was in the grip of skillfully orchestrated anti-Jewish violence. In the early hours of 10 November, an orgy of co-ordinated destruction broke out in cities, towns and villages throughout the Third Reich. A total of 91 Jews were killed in the incident. The consequences of this violence were disastrous for the Jews of the Third Reich.
Kristallnacht saw the destruction in a single night of more than a thousand Synagogues, the ransacking of tens of thousands of Jewish businesses and homes, and more than 30,000 Jewish men were rounded up and taken to concentration camps.[1] It marked the beginning of the systematic eradication of a people who could trace their ancestry in Germany to Roman times, and served as a prelude for the Holocaust that was to follow.
I checked out the first link to the actual game. It appears that the community responsible for the game has changed the name in response to the outcry – the game description now lists the title as hexennacht.
Still, I decided to discuss it here because of the very familiar nature of the conversation.
All my favorite “this isn’t racist” arguments are in full effect. Let’s dive in, shall we?
The first comment is launched by kdorian, who very simply states “I find the name of this to be very offensive.”
One of the gaming mods responds, saying:
We’re very sorry for any offense, we really, really are. We discussed the name for a while before deciding on it, and whether or not it would be offensive was one of the things we worried about, so we asked anyone we could think of if they thought it was a problem. The general consensus among those people was that, because there’s a parallel with the plot, it would be okay, but I can see that it’s not the case with everyone. We really are sorry, we don’t mean to offend anyone, we swear.
Hmm…this could be offensive, but we decided to go with it anyway. Excellent! One point.
kdorian then points out some issues with this line of reasoning, and mentions that this is an odd choice considering that Saturday was the day after Holocaust Memorial Day. The mods respond:
Oh wow, my co-mod didn’t even notice the proximity to Holocaust Memorial Day when she posted this. That was a very poor move on our part.
We did notice there were many parallels JKR drew between World War II and Grindelwald, but I definitely see what you are saying. It’s a hard and very real subject, which is why we spent so long working on the name, and asked so many people. Thank you for being kind and reasonable about it, though.
(Read: Thank you for engaging on our terms. We still don’t care.)
kdorian then offers to pay for the “rename token.” (LJ users, I have no idea what this is. Please feel free to enlighten me.) Another player, marieantoinette, comments (bold emphasis mine):
That’s really sweet and nice of you, but I’m sorry, we really have no interest in changing the name of our game because it coincides so well with our plot and the canon story. JK Rowling has related the Death Eaters to the Nazis and in the last book, the way things were handled by the ministry and the way that the muggleborns were treated were parrell to the way the jews were treated. Also, for a long time, people were wondering if maybe Hitler was the same as Grindelwald, while she has stated that he isn’t the same person, he had the same mindset. The canon in the Harry Potter world that we are based on is heavily influenced by factual events. We meant no harm, and we mean no offense, but real life influences art. By the same token, the Death Eaters and Voldemort are highly offensive fictional creations. The Christians churches have fought against the point of Harry Potter and it’s connection to magic. It’s all a matter of opinion and we’re sorry that it offends you.
So, in essence, we like it, fuck you. And two points for pointedly saying “we’re sorry it offends you.”
At this point, other commenters jump in to the fray:
lavendertook
5/3/08, 06:28 pmComplaints about making fun of Jewish experience has no parallels to Christian fundamentalist attempts to sensor HP due to its celebration of and play with witchcraft–drop this comparison now.
I’ve been seeing ads for this community come up on my flist every few days and every time I’d cringe, but didn’t think to speak out until I saw other people speaking out this morning. It’s time for you to stop making me cringe and others despair if you’re serious about not wanting to offend and hurt people. You are offending and hurting people. JK Rowling knew how to handle the parallel’s she was drawing with the Holocaust without drawing offense–part of how she did that is by not appropriating the very terms of that experience.
If you wish to correct your mistake, take the token you are being offered and change this community’s name-because that name has serious meaning for many of us. Then work how you are referencing real events that hurt real people who are still living today into the thinking behind your role play writing, Good role play is interactive storytelling–don’t take this subject lightly if you’re going to write about it.
And for those of us who aren’t writing in your game but see this game’s title come up in our rpg promo communities, please respect our feelings, and change the name to something less painful for us.
tzikeh
5/3/08, 07:08 pmThe Christians churches have fought against the point of Harry Potter and it’s connection to magic.
… so? How does this have anything to do with the vile offense you’ve created and are perpetrating?
And you shouldn’t be sorry that it offends people; that’s bullshit. Doing something awful and saying “I’m sorry *you’re unhappy*” is not an apology; it’s blaming the other person for taking offense rather than apologizing for YOUR ACTIONS, which are the problem.
Trust me, if you think you’re not changing the name of this community, you need to take a look at what’s churning around you. You are *beyond* vile.
So what was the response?
No, it’s saying that we understand how some people might take offense, and if they take offense we ARE sorry that we offended them, because the intent WASN’T offense, but we had very specific reasons why we chose the name, which is why we won’t change it.
Everyone has their own opinion and everyone is entitled to it, but we never asked anyone who takes offense to it to join our game and no one is under any obligation to join it, if they think so poorly of the name.
In sum: What part of “fuck you” don’t you understand?
Now, at this point, the floodgates open and a lot of different commenters weigh in to condemn the decision and the reactions by the mods.
Then marieantionette comes back for the quadruple racist score!
Yeah, been enlightened thanks. I’ve always had a deep interest in WW2. I’ve been scarred from videos on the holocaust when I was only 10 and forced to watch them. I understand the severity of what happened. I have jewish friends who have moved on and do not dwell, and jewish friends who know that we mean no harm by the game and don’t take offense.
I’m not a mod, but I support the mods and their decision for the name fully, because unlike so many others I am not going to dwell on the past and harbor ill feelings towards what happened. It’s been nearly 70 years. It isn’t a matter of not respecting the dead. We didn’t name the game “Auschwitz”, we named it after a night in history when something very horrible “began”, but the holocaust does not singularly come down to that one night.
But I’m also rather open minded and understand the difference between plays on words and fiction. It wasn’t trivialized. It all comes down to the main character, with the connections that it has to that war. Enough people around us have said that it doesn’t bother them. They’re able to look past it and see it for what it is. It is your decision to take it so seriously.
If the mods change the name, it is entirely up to them, but being harassed to do so, is no better than what you’re claiming we’re doing.
The breakdown:
1. Yeah, I already know what you’re talking about, so shut up! I’m too smart to be racist!
2. My best friend said she’s not offended! So there.
3. Fuck, it’s the past, get over it already!
4. You’re being oversensitive.
At this point, I am just amused. Seriously. Here I was, thinking it was just black people who get told to “get over” slavery (with no mention of most of the things that happened afterward and modern ramifications). Now I find out that Jewish people get it too. Hot damn, I need to invite all the Jews I know to a “we’re so not over this” party.
The commenters really pile on after that – feel free to check out the rest of the conversation.
However, I’ll end here with my favorite response quote:
machineplay
5/3/08, 08:45 pmNo, you’re not sorry. Being sorry implies a willingness to make right. And, you’re all obviously not. You did mean to offend people; you knew you were going to offend people. You just hoped to silence them with pitiful, sophomoric disclaimers. It doesn’t work that way.
You took the title of one of the most horrible, pivotal events in human history and used it for the purpose of your own entertainment. You knew you were going to hurt people and you simply didn’t care, because it was more fun and cool to use a ‘dangerous’ word for your game. Your GAME. Your pretend game based on a fictional world, that you didn’t even invent. You decided to use people’s pain and anguish and horror to have fun.
Stop saying you’re sorry, because you aren’t. You don’t have any remorse, or guilt, or intent to make reparations to the people you’re harming. You are appropriating the destruction of human lives and the horror that followed so that you can have more fun in your GAME. This is who you are. You are that kind of people.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
klgaffney wrote:
A rename token must be purchased through the site before a name can be changed; on LJ it’s $15.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 7:57 am ¶
Mary wrote:
Also notice how this douchebag can’t be bothered to capitalize “Jews” despite capitalizing fictional proper nouns like Death Eaters, Grindelwald, etc.
Nothing like a big steaming cup of angry to wake me up in the morning!
Posted 05 May 2008 at 8:06 am ¶
Linda wrote:
It’s really not that serious.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 8:06 am ¶
Cynthia wrote:
So Marieantoinette isn’t a mod is that what I’m getting?
Maybe I’m starting to think old school but in history, I believe there are some things that handle respectfully. Anything involving a mass destruction of a group of people (regardless of race), I believe would fall under this category.
You don’t try to parallel it to a fictional story. I love Harry Potter too but I’m sorry, the author didn’t come out and start using event or character based facts concerning WW2. There might be influences that some may or may not Which, of course they did…I’m sure they didn’t realize HOW upset people would have gotten
Posted 05 May 2008 at 8:13 am ¶
AB wrote:
Thank you so much for covering this. It’s horribly offensive, and yes, I’ve been getting the “get over it, you weren’t there, some Jews are cooler than you because they don’t get offended” line for pretty much my whole life. Coincidentally, there was a Kristallnacht joke on Family Guy last night, which was very hard for me because (1) I had just returned from Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) Services and (2) I love Family Guy. Sigh.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 8:13 am ¶
Cynthia wrote:
My post got jacked up. So here is the second paragraph.
You don’t try to parallel it to a fictional story. I love Harry Potter too but I’m sorry, the author didn’t come out and start using event or character based facts concerning WW2. There might be influences that some may or may not pick up. Still, she didn’t go out and blatantly use the real names or events. So, the story they are trying to spin doesn’t wash.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 8:16 am ¶
Maggie wrote:
I read over most of the time line for the RPG and it seems like that mods are trying to create a universe in which the Muggleborns (code for a racial minority, usually Jewish people) in Harry’s world fight back against a type of Kristallnacht and win. The moderators probably feel like their whole point in doing this game is that it’s about how we as a society should have fought more against the Holocaust earlier and that the atrocities shouldn’t have happened. Their main protagonists (the members of the Order of the Phoenix) are fighting against the Death Eaters (code for Nazis). While I understand why their choice of names is offensive, I can see why they feel that they’re being attacked unfairly. They mean to be saying the Holocaust was wrong, but, because of their insensitivity, are being portrayed as antisemitic.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 8:48 am ¶
Persia wrote:
The game’s name has been changed (I’ve been following this one too). A big wrapup is here at Journalfen, another journalling service.
The whole thing boggles my mind.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 8:49 am ¶
Kmoney wrote:
I noticed Jews wasn’t capitalized either. What a cowardly, backhanded move. People are amazing.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 9:30 am ¶
Feminist Punk! wrote:
Douche-bag cowards, you know, typical losers who sit behind their computers all day so they don’t gotta face the real world.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 9:50 am ¶
Lizzie greeneyed fem wrote:
I can’t read through the comments now — I only have a couple of minutes before I have to go to campus — but I had to put in my .02.
First, I’m glad the name’s been changed. But that doesn’t excuse the blatant ignorance and insensitivity that came before, in choosing the name and in defending it. A very dear family friend of mine lived through Kristallnacht in Germany — I interviewed her about her experiences during WWII for a school project once, and the thought of playing a GAME that in any way touched on what she LIVED THROUGH is so extremely offensive to me.
I think machineplay said it exactly right: “You are appropriating the destruction of human lives and the horror that followed so that you can have more fun in your GAME. This is who you are. You are that kind of people.”
This isn’t about race, and so is slightly different, but my anger over this game feels parallel to the anger and helplessness I feel about video games that take place in WWII (Medal of Honor, etc). My grandfather LIVED THROUGH what is now treated as entertainment — he had nightmares and PTSD and even 50 years later couldn’t watch any of the anniversary stuff on TV. To then listen to high school boys whoop and laugh about their ‘kills’ in a way that is totally detached from the reality of a historical event just makes me crazy. And these video games have a huge industry behind them — it’s not a small group of idiots on livejournal.
But even the video game industry wouldn’t base historical games on genocide, would they? That’s what these people did. How can they not see it?
Posted 05 May 2008 at 10:00 am ¶
thesciencegirl wrote:
This is horribly offensive, and the “apology” offered is laughable. Just ridiculous. I’m not Jewish, but I find it offensive myself, just having studied the Holocaust and knowing the significance of Kristallnacht..
My best friend from college is Jewish, and we talked a lot about the parallels between the prejudice we experienced (I’m black and white), and found many similarities in our experiences. It does not surprise me that Jewish people are confronted with the same old tired responses to bigotry that black people are. My friend also often got the “You’re not like other Jews” or the “You’re my token Jewish friend and now I know all Jews aren’t evil” comments.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 10:17 am ¶
F Craye wrote:
Anyone interested in anti-Semitism in the Harry Potter series might want to check out the treatment and characterization of the goblins in that series.
These problems aren’t all in fanmade RPGs. Some of them are actually in the books…
Posted 05 May 2008 at 11:24 am ¶
Sarah J wrote:
Can I come to the big old “we’re so not over this” party? Pretty please?
I love when people pull the “Well I talked to a REAL JEW about this and he/she wasn’t offended, so you’re just a jerkface,” line. It’s so much fun.
Although I never noticed until right now (thanks, F Craye) that the goblins in the Potter books are a pretty recognizable stereotype…damn.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 12:33 pm ¶
AB wrote:
One more thing.
This comment:
“Yeah, been enlightened thanks. I’ve always had a deep interest in WW2. I’ve been scarred from videos on the holocaust when I was only 10 and forced to watch them. ”
I find that many times people are very resentful and angry that they are “forced” to learn disturbing things/watching disturbing videos re: the Holocaust (also slavery!) in school. Like “How dare you upset me by inflicting your trauma upon me?”
Posted 05 May 2008 at 1:10 pm ¶
vodalus wrote:
…probably feel like… it’s about how we as a society should have fought more against the Holocaust earlier … I can see why they feel that they’re being attacked unfairly. They mean to be saying the Holocaust was wrong
However, there are two problems with this defense:
1) Most portrayals of “early resistance” to Holocaust-esque events boil down to Steve-McQueen sort of “well, if I was being herded into a cattle car to a concentration camp, I would have fought back” or “I would have known better than to think everything would be fine!” It’s a type of victim-blaming. No one except for a handful of people realized the Nazis were perpetrating genocide on a mass-scale.
2) Recognizing that the Holocaust was bad is like stating that the sun is hot. It doesn’t earn you points to agree, but you lose points for denying it.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 2:04 pm ¶
Lizzie greeneyed fem wrote:
AB, thank you for pointing out maybe the most offensive part of this defense. Not only is this person upset about being “forced” to learn about the not-always-peaches-and-sunshine lives of OTHER PEOPLE, they then use how “scarred” they were to defend themselves against people suggesting that maybe they weren’t as scarred as, say, the folks who actually LIVED IT.
Blerg. That came out convoluted, but I mean, really: It’s okay for you to play Holocaust because you were scarred by videos about the Holocaust? What about the people who are scarred from the actual events?!
The self-righteousness and . . . can’t-see-past-the-end-of-their-own-nose-ness is astounding.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 3:05 pm ¶
Numa wrote:
I’m not entirely sure what to think of this situation.
As Latoya says, they’re obviously not sorry about the name and thus apologizing like that was rather insincere, but I think they did not use ‘Kristallnacht’ to offend people, as in ‘this is me trying to hurt your feelings’.
I don’t know the details of this RPG but I don’t think that one should be dismissive of role-playing games as a way of gaining an understanding into historical events like the Holocaust.
Reading books and watching films about the event can sometimes provide an insight into the experiences of those involved, even if the films feature actors who did not experience the events directly or the books are written by authors who weren’t there.
Just because something is entertaining does not make it trivial, superficial or without value.
I think that if done correctly, playing an RPG that centres around a situation similar to the Holocaust can increase an awareness among its players about issues concerning such events. It may make them think about things they had not considered before. I think it’s an interesting way to engage with the topic, kind of like writing/acting in a play.
I don’t think creating an RPG with the Holocaust as a theme in itself trivializes the events, even if the RPG isn’t about the actual Holocaust but an event of ethnic cleansing from a fantasy book. I think that kind of judgment can only be made once the content of the game has been examined.
This is my first comment on this blog and I hope that it makes sense!
Posted 05 May 2008 at 4:05 pm ¶
DivergentDana wrote:
Wow… that’s an amazing feat of assholery + some good representing from the dissenters — go team geek! It’s always been amusing to me how on one hand, defenders of offensive themes in entertainment will claim “OMG, it’s not that srs!”, but will somehow still claim that their activities are beyond censure and critical analysis, simply because they enjoy them… if they’re deemed sacrosanct and protected like wedding china, that seems like they’re taken pretty seriously to me. And for the “70 yrs./you weren’t there comments,” there are many, many people who suffer from the effects of the Holocaust and weren’t there. I know a girl whose family is spread out all over the Western world, scattered to the four winds and largely unknown to her because they had to flee Poland. *Wonders if there will be food at the “We’re so not over this” shindig*
Posted 05 May 2008 at 6:11 pm ¶
Mhari wrote:
@Numa: that’s true, but as far as I can tell, the game didn’t do that. Here are some sample posts.
Ironically, now some LJ pagans are angry about the new name.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 8:50 pm ¶
Mogs wrote:
i did notice a lot of parallels between ww2 events and some things in the potter books, so i think the original name was appropriate, if i understand the premise of the RPG correctly.
i don’t think it’s disrespectful to incorporate historical events into our everyday culture- even the bad events. it happened, and it’s part of our shared history. remembering, and relating the mistakes (well, that’s really too mild a word) of our past to stories that everyone is more familiar with, is far preferable to just forgetting, in my opinion.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 9:44 pm ¶
jen* wrote:
an awful, awful choice for a name, but I could see redemption for those involved had they then responded by saying -
Oh wow, we didn’t think about how terribly this could hurt people. We are SO sorry and we’ll change the name now.
Instead, flimsily veiled F-U’s were hurled in a retaliation that seemed to convey that the perpetrators view themselves as the victims. Eh. I think I see this too often.
Posted 05 May 2008 at 11:09 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:
But I’m also rather open minded and understand the difference between plays on words and fiction. It wasn’t trivialized. It all comes down to the main character, with the connections that it has to that war.
So, basically he/she told us that people name things “Battle of Hastings” and “Third of May” all the time, and that, since he/she is rp-ing as a Nazi we should all just overlook that fact.
Rp-ing as a Nazi. And his/her journal wasn’t banned again how?
Posted 06 May 2008 at 1:35 am ¶
Erica B. wrote:
Oh, there’s plenty of things that can be casually dismissed
Black people: get over slavery, haven’t you been free for more than a hundred years? Christianity: get over that whole crucifixion thing already, it was two thousand years ago! Mexico: get over that whole war thing, California is ours now…
Tragedies are not things to be forgotten or trivialized. Over time the pain may decrease, but that does not give license to insult the memory of the victims. The suggestion that anyone should be able to “get over” mass slaughter of humanity is appalling — whether you’re a member of any of the disliked minority groups slaughtered by the Nazis is irrelevant.
If some Jews are fine with the name, great, but they don’t speak for me, and their endorsement doesn’t make the name acceptable. Listening to only the opinions that you want to agree with is NOT the way to make an informed, rational decision!
Posted 06 May 2008 at 7:46 am ¶
Matt wrote:
Thanks, everyone. And thanks for pointing out those who cared on LJ. It’s heartening.
Posted 06 May 2008 at 9:21 am ¶
bug_girl wrote:
W. T. F.
This is so amazing. And depressing.
Thanks so much for writing about this.
Posted 06 May 2008 at 6:56 pm ¶
kakodaimon wrote:
I’ve read racialicious before, but this post made me a regular – just wanted to say! Thanks a million; I love your work.
Posted 06 May 2008 at 7:38 pm ¶
Aoede wrote:
I very much doubt that they were /making fun/ of the Holocaust, from the sound of it. If the emphasis is put on “game” it definitely sounds like they’re making /light/ of it, which isn’t particularly sensitive of them, but (and I don’t know the situation of this particular one) RPs can be legitimate literary expressions. Just sayin’.
Posted 30 Aug 2008 at 3:14 pm ¶