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MINISTER FOR SOCIAL Protection Regina Doherty has said she is “very angry” that a sign reading “Jobpath Macht Frei” was placed on the entrance to one of the Department’s offices in Cork yesterday.
Images of the sign were posted on social media by the Auschwitz Memorial Museum, which called on the Department to “remove it”.
The slogan “arbeit macht frei” – a German phrase meaning “work sets you free” – is known for appearing on the entrance of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
“Arbeit macht frei was a false, cynical illusion the SS gave to prisoners of the Auschwitz camp,” the museum tweeted.
“Those words became one of the icons of human hatred hate,” it said.
“Please remove it.”
The Department of Social Protection said the sign was place outside its offices by “unknown persons”.
Minister Doherty said she is “very angry that this extremely offensive sign was placed on one of our offices yesterday”.
As soon as the sign was noticed it was “removed immediately” and reported to gardaí, according to Doherty.
“The morons who did this do not represent most Irish people,” she said.
In a statement, the Department of Social Protection said it has “confirmed that an extremely offensive sign had been placed on the outside of its offices on Hanover Street, Cork by unknown persons yesterday afternoon and was removed immediately”.
“The Department very much regrets that this happened at one of its offices and it has reported the matter to the gardaí.”
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I mean clearly it was placed there as a critique of how “Useful” the jobpath scheme is for seeking work in the long term. Like the amount of people who get full time work through job path is pretty low.
So the allusion presented albeit in poor taste, is just in its purpose of conveying the hopelessness in regards to being on job path. But it grabbed sufficient attention to have an article written about it so it does work.
@Daniel Hannon: Meanwhile 1.5 million children were murdered by the people who put that sign up. So perhaps we need to consider whether this issue is serious enough to draw that comparison, and we perhaps have to consider whether using it for such satirical purposes is quite appropriate.
@Orpuk Jones: Wow 1.5 million children, that’s an unbelievable number.
@Orpuk Jones: I’m pretty sure we would have seen more about the 1.5m children murdered by a cork prankster who put that sign up.
@Brin: He is not a ‘prankster’. A prankster lets off stink-bombs or draws a C*** and balls on the wall. This racist is an offensive anti-semitic idiot.
@Paul Whitehead: ….. its political critique. I highly doubt the intentions were racist or anti-semitic and simply using the words from there, is not in itself racist or anti-semitic. Its protest, at the inherent pointlessness of job path, as just like working in the labour camps, it will not set you free.
@Paul Whitehead: I’m failing to see how this is anti-Semitic seeing as it’s not targeted at Jews. Offensive as it may be in varying degrees to different degrees, the Dept of Social Welfare is not known for being a hotbed of Jews and Zionists.
However, it is known for being uncaring, autocratic and unreasonable. Jobpath is well known for useless jobs that serve opportunistic employers who unreasonably make people’s lives needlessly difficult while paying them SFA. Some have even likened it to slavery and that’s where the Arbeit Macht Frei analogy fits.
By invoking anti-Semitism where it doesn’t fit, you just come across as a speech-policing snowflake.
@Patrick Kearns: Paul seems to be a little delicate.
Meant to show job path for what it is. Seems to have hit the mark…
@Willy Mc Bride: I didn’t know Jobpath was a programme aimed at the industralized gassing to death of millions of people. I’d better read up on it.
@Orpuk Jones: Jobpath is just a different form of death.. overseen by a government who put the profits of the banks and developers before the welfare of it’s citizens.
Wonder how angry she would be, if it read Jobpath championed by a minister who doesnt pay her debts
@Michael Patrick Newell: She’d have the guards on you https://www.thejournal.ie/regina-doherty-garda-complaint-blogger-3482139-Jul2017/
It’s not just on the gates of Auschwitz, I was at both dachau and sachenhausen, it’s on the gates of both of those concentration camps as well. Highly disrespectful to all those that perished in the holocaust.
@Tommy Sea: It’s disrespectful only if you want it to be.
@Philip Fox: Exactly. If something is not meant with disrespect towards a particular person or group, then it’s not disrespectful. Whether or not the person or group chooses to get offended is up to them but you don’t accidentally disrespect someone. Even with a faux pas. That’s not disrespect, it’s just a language mistake.
In this case, I’d perceive the disrespect to be aimed squarely at the Jobpath scheme
@Philip Fox: And yet if one English newsreader made a joke about the Irish famine, there would be smoke coming out of your ears.
@Orpuk Jones: Oh really? Do you know me?
@Orpuk Jones: of course, because that would be directly referring to the Great Hunger.
@Tommy Sea: I went to sachenhausen too!!
This arrogant woman was forced to get rid of jobspath,it clearly doesn’t work and it’s cost the taxpayer millions going to a private company to massage the true unemployment figures,then she gives it a twelve month extension behind everyone’s back,shame on her
@dick dastardly: Why are you arguing the actual point? Didn’t you see, the way the person made it was offensive. That’s all that matters now man. It’s good, refusing to engage with ideas because you’re offended is going to fix everything.
@JusticeForJoe: you can get tablets for extreme paranoia
@John Mulligan: Ya don’t think they (or she) would ever do anything underhanded, John, no? It doesn’t look like a typical graffiti job, though, does it?
@JusticeForJoe: No it doesn’t, whoever it was obviously has talent and was clearly wasted in a jobpath position.this is how creative types take out their frustration when there’s no other recourse!
Just to be clear. We’re to believe someone unknown took it upon themselves to go to a Cork Welfare office and professionally engrave or paint a sign on the glass above the door saying “Jobpath Macht Frei”. And we’re to believe that nobody noticed them doing this, or the sign suddenly appearing?
Can anyone even say with any degree of accuracy how long the sign has been there, I’m sure they’re a relaxed bunch in the Cork Welfare office, but this takes the biscuit. I’m sure the Department very much regrets this, but as they can’t say who, when or how long, even inspector Clouseau might be hard pushed to solve this one. Only in Ireland…
@Arch Angel: Its just stuck onto the glass. Made at home and could be put up there in seconds. There’s no great conspiracy here.
@Alan Wright: Yep, very easily done with a bit of vinyl and a vinyl router, application would take 5 minutes, if even. Wonder was it someone in the sign industry that did it or was it bought somewhere.
@Diarmuid Hunt: Looking at it, application was definitely done as a rush job, right hand side is higher than left hand side.
@Arch Angel: was thinking the exact same thing, thats a very professional graphic design, strategicly placed, it would of taken time to put it up there, level and exact space between each side of the window, my questions are, is it inside or outside the window, has anyone checked to see if there has been graphic design tendered for in the recent past, has the logs on the computers been checked to see if it was done inhouse, i dont think you would need clouseau to find out who the smart arse is that put it up, unless of course they dont want to find out.
@Arch Angel: It has been reported to Gardaí. What laws were broken ?
@Arch Angel: Easily done, they’ve all the time in the world at night – no guards around. My job was broken into twice in one night. A newsagents up the road was broken into, CCTV showed they came back three times. This was in the town’s main street as well and no one noticed a thing.
@Arch Angel: wasnt there last week when I was there at 9am on wdnesday
To the best of my knowledge the words are used in modern day German language. Perhaps there’s alternative German words that mean the same thing and maybe the poster could have explored that alternative.
Of course when a political point is being made in the Dail theres not much heed paid to the wording of insults and digging up the past. Not much effort made to use alternative less inflammatory words.
Goose and Gander comes to mind with Ms Doherty and her colleagues.
@Gerry Ryan deG: apologist
@Matt Connolly: what? I
@Gerry Ryan deG: there are loads of taboo words in German because of their association with the Third Reich. But buying VW or Hugo Boss or any other massive Nazi corporation products is fine!
Bad joke at the expense of the highly questionable job path system or antisemitic hate speech?
@john doe: Jobpath is just jobs for the pals of pals of those in government, that is what I found out about that scam, I mean scheme…
Regina … The truth hurts….Remember your predecessors wore blueshirts. Even Franco hated them.
Sorry, but I love it! I am usually a bit of a PC Brigade member, but . . . . .
People here are really missing the point. It’s not anti semetic hate speech, it’s drawing a parallel between the lies told to nazi concentration camp victims and jobpath participants. The maker is acknowledging that the camps were awful but comparing jobpath to them. It may be hate speech but it’s hate speech against jobpath not jews. The awfulness of the camps is the entire point! But everyone is choosing to ignore the message (how terrible jobpath is) and concentrate on the wording of the message.
@Colm de Cleir: Indeed, I’m not one to throw the term snowflake around but it’s like a blizzard in here.
@Patrick Kearns: That blizzard has been upgraded to a full on snow storm.
True in a bad way?
It’s a reference to the fact that Slavs were forced to work for below subsistence for private German corporations like Hugo Boss, VW etc who could well afford to pay wages but preferred to exploit Untermenschen. Most major German brands today made fortunes during the time and were able to monopolise Europe based on those fortunes.
The camps weren’t just for extermination. Only troublesome populations were exterminated. The more placid ones were destined for slavery.
PBP?
This woman is an arrogant bully who should be cast out of office and Dáil Éireann at the next election, please do NOT vote FIANNA GAEL .
Maybe some of the commentators here should focus on why at a time of ‘full ‘ employment are there still so many so called unemployed, who are they, where are they from,, are they workingoff the system. Tax payers are too generous in this country, they are now coming from Eastern Europe to join our own hangers on. This group have no conscience about gaming the system. Forget the grgraffiti on the wall, thats a distraction from the real issue.
Drawing the dole and working is/was normal.
I’d say the sign writer has been given jobpath and it doesn’t suit him.
The country is full of fakers on the look out for racism, antisemitism anti-anything and they have be faked themselves.
I think it’s quite funny, I tend to appreciate sarcasm. I know, I know…….but at least I’m not a hyper sensitive modern Irish fanny.
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