Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky

Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. It’s not funny.

Unless you’re a fan of “The Producers,” the Broadway musical that spoofed Hitler and the S.S. to great success with Jews and non-Jews.

Jewish and Maori director and all around likable guy Taika Waititi aims for the same gracious response Mel Brooks enjoyed, with the new “JoJo Rabbit.” Based on the novel “Caging Skies,” Waititi adapted and directed “JoJo,” in which he also stars as a version of Hitler, and the imaginary friend of a new recruit to the Hitler youth. That boy, JoJo, has “blind fanaticism” for the Nazi cause, until he meets the little Jewish girl his mother (Scarlett Johansson) has been hiding in the attic.

“You’re a Jew!” JoJo gasps.

“Gesundheit!” snaps the Jewish girl.

It’s hard to tell if this is going to be an exercise in hipster tastelessness, a saccharine rehab for Germanic-looking blonde people, or something brilliant.

We’ll have to wait to see it to say, as the song in the trailer (almost) goes, “Ich bin ein Gläubiger” — “I’m a believer.”

Correction, September 8, 6:05 p.m.: [Taika Waititi is Maori, not Aboriginal, as this article originally stated.]

Jenny Singer is the deputy life/features editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief

You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.

And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.

That’s where you come in. Gifts of any size keep the Forward free and accessible to everyone and ensure we have the resources we need to power the Forward at this critical time for American Jews.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Will you support our work today?

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT