A German Jewish leader is criticizing a music awards show for giving a prize to two rappers whose reference to the Nazis’ Auschwitz death camp in a song she says harms efforts to fight anti-Semitism.

German rappers Kollegah and Farid Bang won an Echo award Thursday night for their new album, including a track that contains the line “my body more defined than Auschwitz inmates’.”

Charlotte Knobloch, former head of the Central Council of Jews, said Friday giving them an award in the hip-hop/urban national category was a “devastating sign” amid growing signs of “anti-Semitism in our society, especially in schools.”

She says “the two rappers reach millions of mostly young people with their inhuman message.”

The rappers have defended the line as artistic freedom and not political opinion.
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