CNS NEWS
Holocaust Cartoon Contest Organizer: Ayatollah’s Office Called the Event ‘Excellent’
by Patrick Goodenough
June 1, 2016

As Iran’s controversial Holocaust-themed cartoon contest ended this week, the organizer disclosed that he had received a call of congratulations from the office of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Massoud Shojai-Tabatabai said Monday Khamenei’s office told him in a phone call that the event “was appreciated,” and described it as “excellent.”  Two months ago, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, in a message aimed an American audience, tried to distance the regime from the contest. He told the New Yorker it was organized by non-governmental groups and was neither “controlled” nor “endorsed” by the government. Contesting Zarif’s claims, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum noted that organizations associated with the contest were “sponsored or supported by government entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Ministry of Islamic Guidance.” READ MORE

The winning entry depicted an old-fashioned cash register, designed to include the façade of the entrance to Auschwitz, and bearing the words “Shoah Business.” Filled with banknotes, the cash register has rung up the figure 6,000,000 – a reference to the number of Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II.