THE producers of a controversial new reality television show which features a family living under Nazi occupation have been accused of insensitivity.

Criticism is mounting against Holiday in the Protectorate, produced by Czech Television, which purports to recreate life under the Nazis in a mountainous region in the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia between 1939 and 1945.

The eight-episode show takes one modern family (selected from among 200 candidates) of three generations and places them on a farm in an attempt to shed light on the brutality ordinary people had to endure during German occupation.

The family’s struggles range from daily farm tasks, including harvesting crops and milking cows, to more specific wartime challenges — dealing with food shortages, intimidation from Nazi soldiers, interrogation by the Gestapo and simulated air raids.

The program makers employed historians and a psychologist to ensure their recreation of events was authentic. But many viewers have accused the show of trivialising the tragedies of the wartime era and disrespecting the millions who were murdered.

A Times of Israel columnist wrote: “Fortunately for the family, they will not be treated like the 82,309 Jews who lived in the protectorate and were deported by the Nazis to concentration and death camps or were killed by Czech collaborators.”

Another critic asked: “People know what went on and how bad it was. What are they going to do next? Big Brother Auschwitz?”

Director of Holiday in the Protectorate Zora Cejnkova told the CTK news agency: “The authors are aware that it is controversial to return to so turbulent a period. However, we believe that it is a correct attempt to present it, providing that certain ethical rules and historical reality are observed.

“When starting the project, we knew that it may provoke a discussion on how far such a genre may go. I tried to show that period with utter seriousness and with respect for its tragic character,” Cejnkova added.

The family will receive 1 million Czech Koruna ($50,000) at the end of their “holiday”, provided they can endure two months of intimidation, interrogation and starvation.

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