A wave of TikTok users are pretending to be Holocaust victims in videos that are attracting thousands of views and likes.

Examples of footage posted on the social media platform include users wearing Stars of David, sporting make up to look like bruises, and role-playing the horrors of the Shoah.

Auschwitz is used as a backdrop in some videos.

The videos have been associated with the term “trauma porn” – which exploits traumatic events to generate attention and notoriety.

According to the Daily Mail, some of those behind the videos claim they are educating others about the Holocaust.

One unnamed creator, who has since removed her video, said: “I've always been interested in the history of the Holocaust and just wanted to make a creative video informing people about it on TikTok. It was never intended to be offensive.”

Another said she wanted to “spread awareness” of the “reality behind the camps by sharing my Jewish grandmother’s story.”

However, these defences were criticised by Karen Pollock MBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, who said that “these sick videos are an insult to the victims and the survivors of the Holocaust.

“Whatever the supposed rationale behind these videos, the undeniable reality is that dressing up as, and imitating, Holocaust victims, does nothing to educate, and everything to offend and abuse the memory of the six million Jews brutally murdered by the Nazis.”

The Chinese social media giant has not publicly commented on the clips, but said in a recent blog post that it had acted on content that amounted to racial harassment and had a zero-tolerance policy on content that denied tragedies such as the Holocaust.