Re/code apologizes for Holocaust 'joke' tweet

Apple blog Re/code has pulled, and apologized for, a tasteless tweet about the Holocaust. The unfunny gag was cracked after a consortium of German car manufacturers has bought Nokia's maps business.

Linking to a story by senior reporter Ina Fried on the purchase, Re/code's official twitter account emitted this about 0645 PT on Monday:

Yeah, now my BMW has a star on it and keeps saying "TURN LEFT NOW!" when I drive past Birkenau.

Birkenau is, of course, a reference to the largest concentration camp that the Nazis operated during the Second World War. It was the largest camp within the broader Auschwitz facility, and about 90 per cent of those that died in Auschwitz were killed there, 90 per cent of whom were Jews. Roughly one million people were murdered at Birkenau.

Which has traditionally made it a tough topic to make light-hearted jokes about, even ones arrived at through a specious tangent.

Twitter twits immediately started protesting, sparking Re/code to pull the tweet, and apologize two hours later.

We are sincerely sorry for the offensive tweet. It was sent in error from this account.

— Re/code (@Recode) August 3, 2015

Which makes us wonder: does Re/code, a stablemate of Microsoft's external PR agency The Verge, have a second Twitter account where it makes tasteless jokes based on the day's tech news?

Now, we're not saying people shouldn't be allowed to make jokes about any aspect of history, not matter how terrible. Or that there isn't a funny Holocaust joke out there somewhere. But it has been 70 years and none leap to mind.

Best to stick with the fawning tech coverage, Re/code. ®