Should it be there?

On Christmas Eve, it seems as if nearly every television set in Sweden is turned in to the Sveriges Television (SVT) broadcast of ‘Sagan om Karl-Bertil Jonssons Julafton’ (‘The story of Karl-Bertil Jonsson’s Christmas Eve’).

Made in 1975, the animated movie follows a Robin Hood style theme whereby a young Karl-Bertil Jonsson takes packages destined for wealthy Stockholmers and instead hands them out to the city’s poor and destitute, much to the dismay of his father.

Karl-Bertil’s angry father takes his son around town to apologize in a taxi cab featuring an antenna decorated with string of small flags which wave in the breeze as the boy and his father ride about town.

Included among the flags and clearly visible is the flag of Nazi Germany.

As the story is set in Sweden during World War II, including the Nazi flag does lend to the programme’s historical accuracy, some might argue.

However, considering the programme was created in the mid-1970s, one could also question whether or not it was really necessary to include such a provocative symbol in a Christmas programme aimed at children.

What do you think?

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