Contrary to appearances, this isn't some perverse computer game that lets would-be Nazis re-enact one of the most shocking tragedies to occur on Czech soil. It's an ad campaign.

Before killing can start, the screen goes black and bold white letters ask: "What are you playing at?" The shocking statistics of the massacre follow.

"Young people are so jaded these days," said Lidice memorial director Milouš Červencl. "It was meant to shock them into paying attention."

The Web site aims to raise awareness among young Czechs and prompt them to visit the Lidice memorial, located just 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) west of Prague, where the original town once stood. On this site, in June 1942, Nazi troops razed the town to punish the Czechs for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia and a favorite of Hitler's credited with drafting the Final Solution. In total, 340 people were killed; only 143 women and 17 children survived.

The campaign has certainly garnered the desired attention: For the past week, Lidice Mayor Václav Zelenka has had to field calls from dozens of Czech and international reporters, and some 24,000 Internet users visited the Web site four days after it was launched. But it has also provoked the anger of the handful of survivors still living in Lidice, which was rebuilt next to the original town site after World War II.

Zelenka, who called a town meeting to discuss the campaign Sept. 6, remembers the killings. He was just a small child when the town's men were gunned down and the women and children sent to concentration camps.

"You probably want to hear how I support this campaign and how happy I am that people are trying to raise awareness about this," he said. "But I'm not."

"Just imagine what it feels like for someone who has seen this village burnt to the ground, when he visits this Web site. It's absolutely tasteless."

A charity gone wrong

Jan Binar, director of McCann Erickson, is sorry to hear that. The agency, the clients of which include Siemens, H&M, L'Oréal and CzechTourism, created the campaign as an act of charity.

"A lot of people on our team are interested in history, and we thought we would help raise awareness about war tragedies," said Binar. "It was never meant to offend anyone."

During the summer, the McCann Erickson team visited several memorial sites in the Czech Republic, including Lidice. There, he says, they saw lots of potential, but very few visitors, so they approached Červencl, the memorial's director, and offered to create a promotion free of charge that would help persuade people to visit.

At first, Červencl said using a faux computer game to get people's attention was too sensational. "Then I saw that it was the only way," he said. "Kids today aren't really interested in history."

In his excitement, Červencl didn't think to consult with the town's survivors. And that proved to be a mistake.

Just days after the Total Burnout of Lidice Web site (www.totalburnout.cz) was launched, locals raised an outcry, calling the campaign "tasteless" and "disrespectful."

What's more, a pirate version of the ad, in which visitors can actually play the game, has appeared online, much to Červencl's chagrin.

Eighty-three-year-old Miloslava Kalibová, who was 19 at the time, said it bothered her that no one consulted survivors. "It's just too drastic," she said. "And, anyway, I don't think it will work. The kids are so violent these days. They will only focus on the game part. I'm sure they'll lose interest as soon as they learn it's not an actual game."

Are Czech youngsters really all that jaded?

Šárka Helmichová, spokeswoman for the Association of Czech Freedom Fighters, says part of the problem lies in the public school system.

"Teachers today are afraid of controversy," she said. "They only cover World War II on a very superficial level. It's no wonder, then, that kids aren't all that interested." The association released a statement Sept. 5, criticizing the Lidice campaign.