In Screw-up, Donald Duck Comic Book Touts Holocaust

It was just a mistake, says a comic book publisher, but no one found it funny. In the latest version of a German comic book based on Disney characters, a duck dignitary in Duckburg uses the word "Holocaust" as a congratulatory term to express kudos to hero firefighters. "Awards to our brave and always-alert fire lookouts! Holocaust!" says the top-hatted duck.

Apparently, the 1972 English version of the story used the word as a synonym for something firefighters extinguish, and it was inadvertently and inappropriately left in the German version, according to the publisher. Donald, Mickey, and gang would be horrified. They were mobilized during World War II to issue anti-Nazi messages, and Donald achieved the rank of sergeant for his wartime work, reports Der Spiegel. All the comic books have been recalled, and will be reissued with the H word blacked out by hand. (More Holocaust stories.)