ABSTRACT
This chapter is dealing with probably the most controversial topic: the depiction—or the lack thereof—of the Holocaust in computer games. Here, perhaps more than anywhere else, legal and moral issues are dominating the discourse. For example, the display of swastikas in games is a source of controversy. Required for historical ‘accuracy’, its showing in games is often criticised for lacking critical context. In some countries, the display of Nazi symbols is banned, although there are exemptions for artistic and educational productions; both categories may not always apply to computer games. And while Nazi insignia feature prominently in some games, such as Castle Wolfenstein or Call of Duty, Nazi war crimes and the Holocaust are not mentioned, demonstrating the lack of critical context mentioned earlier. This chapter analyses these controversies and thus implicitly asks what kind of history computer games can, and want to, portray.
