Holocaust Victims Mocked in Ohio State Band Parody Songbook

A book of parody songs updated in 2012 and circulated privately by members of the Ohio State University marching band included a sendup of the Holocaust with joking references to furnaces used in Nazi concentration camps and the train cars used to transport Jews to their deaths.

The Holocaust song, called “Goodbye Kramer,” whose lyrics haven't been previously disclosed, includes lines about Nazi soldiers “searching for people livin’ in their neighbor’s attic,” and a “small town Jew…who took the cattle train to you know where.” It was written to be sung to the tune of the 1981 Journey hit “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

In a statement, Ohio State said the songbook reflected the sort of “shocking behavior” that the school is “committed to eradicating from its marching band program.”