Ultra-Orthodox Jews Dress Children as Holocaust Victims (PHOTOS)

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox men protested on the streets of Jerusalem on Saturday in response to recent arrests and media criticism of their actions to enforce strict religious codes in Israeli society.

Members of extremist groups protested with young boys dressed as Holocaust victims of Nazi rule. Children were shown wearing coats with yellow stars stitched on them and in prison uniforms to reflect the Holocaust imagery. Organisers also distributed yellow stars with "Jude" (German for Jew) printed on them.

The protest was organised against the "spiritual holocaust," the community is allegedly facing at the hands of the government. The ultra-Orthodox groups were widely criticised for enforcing strict gender segregation and religious modesty rules for women and girls in society.

An ultra-Orthodox man was arrested recently on charges of sexual harassment after he verbally abused a woman Israeli soldier for not moving to the back seat of a public bus.

On December 28, an Israeli television channel showed footage of a frightened 8-year–old girl who was subjected to verbal abuse by the Haredim or the ultra-Orthodox Jewish extremist men on her way to school. They shouted, jeered and spat on the girl and called her a prostitute as these men felt her school uniform was immodest.

Take a look at pictures of young boys dressed as Holocaust victims during the demonstrations in Israel.