TV producers in the Czech Republic have been criticized over a history-themed reality show featuring a family trying to live in the era of Nazi occupation.
Actors playing the role of German soldiers and Gestapo informers will feature in “Holiday in the Protectorate,” a show that will attempt to recreate 1939 household life in the puppet state set up by Hitler's advancing Third Reich.
On a farm fitted out with furniture from 76 years ago, the family will have to deal with everything from “milking cows to interrogation by the Gestapo,” according to the show’s website.
They will also have to cope with food shortages and intimidation by German soldiers.
The show, which airs from Saturday, has already been vociferously attacked.
“What’s next? Big Brother Auschwitz?” wrote one infuriated viewer in the Czech Republic, where the state broadcaster is funded by a mandatory license fee for TV owners.
Another called the show "a perversion,” saying it was "an insult to those who really suffered through [World War Two].”
The show’s creator, Zora Cejnkova, has defended the program, telling the Czech newspaper Blest: "The entire production team is aware of the controversy about returning to such a precarious period,”
By “maintaining specific ethical rules and historical accuracy,” she said it was an appropriate way of presenting the period.”