Holocaust Survivors Enraged By Ultra-Orthodox Demo

JERUSALEM (AP) — Holocaust survivors are outraged over a Jerusalem demonstration in which ultra-Orthodox Jews wore Star of David patches and uniforms similar to those the Nazis forced Jews to wear during World War II.

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered Saturday night to protest what they say is a nationwide campaign directed against their lifestyle.

The practices, which call for strict separation of the sexes, are rejected by mainstream Israelis as religious coercion.

At the protest, one child’s hands were raised in surrender — mimicking an iconic photo of a terrified Jewish boy in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial called the use of Nazi imagery “disgraceful,” and several other survivors’ groups and politicians condemned the acts.