Dear Miriam,
Thank you for bringing up this interesting question. Your interpretation of the "sheep going to the slaughter" is something I never thought about in the context of my work. Of course, I am familiar with this figure and just as yourself I do not like it. It is also present in the way Polish nationalistic parties would talk about Holocaust and confront it with the way Poles fought for freedom. There is a very smart book debating this stereotype called: The Hero, The Conspiracy, The Death. Jewish Lectures by Maria Janion.
Of course the sheep has many more symbolic meanings.
Personally, I was closer to the "be my guest and sit on it comfortable chair" and I wanted the chair to stand out.
Rafał