Katarina Witt Defends German Olympian for Skating to 'Schindler's List' Music

German two-time Olympic gold medal figure skater Katarina Witt never competed in the social media era. If she had, she might've ended up in the same boat as German figure skater Nicole Schott.

Schott set her 2018 Olympic free skate performance to the music from the Oscar-winning 1993 movie "Schindler's List," and many viewers did not approve:

NO ONE SHOULD BE SKATING TO SCHINDLER'S LIST!!!!!!!

— Nancy Armour (@nrarmour) February 23, 2018

trying to imagine the discussion when someone says "hey how about skating to music from Schindler's List? That'll really get the crowd pumped up"

— Sara Koenig 🐑 (@sara_koenig) February 23, 2018

German figure skater performing to music from Schindler's List. Thats...not the choice I'd go with. pic.twitter.com/0B0B3YK9uS

— Sarah (@BookishFeminist) February 23, 2018

German figure skater, Nicole Schott, decided to skate to the score of Schindler's List...

In case you've never seen it, Schindler's List is a gut-wrenching movie about the Holocaust, and Nazi Germany.

...did I mention that she's German?!?

I think I'm about to throw up. pic.twitter.com/WkeFUItDNj

— Brenna Simon (@BrennaSimonSays) February 23, 2018

The German figure skater is skating to music from Schindler's List...ABORT ABORT ABORT!

I repeat, do NOT skate to that! What are you doing Germany!

— David Struve (@GrvyStruvey) February 23, 2018

Just tuned into Olympic figure skating and the German figure skater is skating to the theme song from ... Schindler's List. No joke. Call me crazy but that doesn't seem right.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 23, 2018

Well, many figure skating routines aren't designed to "get the crowd pumped up," they're meant to be emotional. And Schott wasn't the first skater to perform to "Schindler's List." She wasn't even the first German.

Whether this was the choice you'd make or not, Katarina Witt defended Schott by pointing out that she has skated to the same music. She also said "Schindler's List" director Steven Spielberg responded kindly to her performance:

Please guys,don't be so harsh on Nicole Schott´s Music choice&keep olympic spirit.She did a very elegant choreography to this extraordinary emotional violin piece.I skated to the music of "Schindler´s List" too&Steven Spielberg himself send me the most touching letter afterwards

— Katarina Witt (@Katarina_Witt) February 23, 2018

A few other voices also spoke out in defense of the choice:

As s Jew who has studied the Holocaust for decades and visited death camps, I applaud Nicole Schott for her Schindler's List performance. With the rapid rise of antiSemitism in Europe, it was brave and wholly appropriate.

— Ken Ferber (@theferbergroup) February 23, 2018

Figure skater Nicole Schott can't use this piece because she is German? Ludicrous! It's been used before...no problems. STOP FINDING PROBLEMS WITH EVERYTHING! https://t.co/dC9vp8stcZ

— ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Nachoz! (@flyinggreencows) February 24, 2018

Here's Witt skating to the music in 1994:

Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya also performed to the "Schindler's List" score in 2014.

"Schindler's List" stars Liam Neeson as real-life German businessman Oskar Schindler, who is credited with saving more than 1,000 Jewish people during the Holocaust. The film won seven Academy Awards in 1994, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Score.

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