Jews for Jesus recruitment film entitled 'That Jew Died for You.' Photo: Screenshot / YouTube.

The Anti-Defamation League on Thursday condemned a recruitment video produced by the missionary group Jews for Jesus as a “cynical abuse of the Holocaust for purposes of proselytizing.”

The video has already garnered more than 1.1 million views on YouTube, where it was posted three weeks ago.

In the black-and-white, three minute film, Jesus is portrayed as being among those in the selection line at the entrance to what appears to be the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, the ADL said. Jesus is then shown carrying a cross as a Nazi officer standing at the infamous gates of Auschwitz sends him to the gas chambers. The video’s tagline is, “That Jew Died for You.”

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor, said, “The Jews for Jesus video is a cynical abuse of the Holocaust for purposes of proselytizing. It is deeply offensive not only to Jews who lost family members in the Holocaust, but also to Christians who would not want to see images of Jesus used for propaganda or shock value.”

Foxman added, “Jews for Jesus has taken their abuse of Holocaust imagery to a new low. This is an outrageous cheapening of the tragedy of the six million Jews and millions of others who perished in the Holocaust for the purpose of gaining attention to the Jews for Jesus missionary cause, which is to convert Jews to the belief that Jesus is their Messiah.”

In April 2001, ADL spoke out after Jews for Jesus launched an advertising campaign that used the Holocaust as a tactic to convert Jews. The campaign featured ads in national magazines such as Newsweek, TIME Magazine and Rolling Stone featuring people identified as Holocaust survivors who were quoted as saying that they were Holocaust survivors who “truly believe in Jesus.”

See the Jews for Jesus recruitment film, below.