Holocaust. Auschwitz concentration camp
Holocaust. Auschwitz concentration campiStock

A UK reality star known for a starring role in the long running series Made in Chelsea sparked outrage on social media after posting a selfie in striped pajama pants and appearing to make a reference to a famous novel about the Holocaust.

Oliver Proudlock, 32, issued an apology saying he was “truly sorry and mortified” after posting the photo from his vacation spot on the Greek Island of Corfu where he was posing in blue and white striped pants, reminiscent of the uniform worn by concentration camp prisoners during the Holocaust. The selfie was captioned “Boy in tha stripe pyjamas.”

The photo was part of an Instagram story, available for only one day, and was later automatically deleted by the site.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2006 Holocaust novel by Irish author John Boyne, in which nine-year old Bruno whose father is an officer at Auschwitz meets a Shmuel, a Jewish boy who is the same age and has the same birthday, and is a prisoner there. The book was made into a movie in 2008.

The selfie caused a torrent of outrage on social media, with users decrying how offensive the photo was.

Proudlock later apologized, issuing a statement as part of a second Instagram story, he said he had ““hurt a lot of people with my badly chosen words and I am so, so sorry.”

He added: ‘It was incredibly ignorant. I always want to set a good example on social media – to spread love, equality and positivity and yesterday I really let myself, and all of you down.”

"I am truly sorry and mortified by my actions," he wrote.