Auschwitz, the site where some 1.1 million people were killed between 1942 & 1944, is often described as a haunting & heartbreaking walk through the unimaginable evils of the past.
Auschwitz Memorial, the site of the former Nazi death camp, is a place where death surrounds you and leaves you feeling ever grateful for having skipped the fearsome 40s, as many TripAdvisor reviewers have said.
It’s most certainly NOT a place to practise balancing on railways beams, which were used to transport millions of unsuspecting victims.
Image: Alexey Soucho/Unsplash
Apparently, a few tourists didn’t get the memo because Auschwitz Memorial was forced to turn to Twitter this week to ask future visitors that they leave their balancing acts for another time and place.
In the tweet, @AuschwitzMuseum reminded tourists of the significance of the site and to respect its history.
When you come to @AuschwitzMuseum remember you are at the site where over 1 million people were killed. Respect their memory. There are better places to learn how to walk on a balance beam than the site which symbolizes deportation of hundreds of thousands to their deaths. pic.twitter.com/TxJk9FgxWl
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) March 20, 2019
“When you come to @AuschwitzMuseum remember you are at the site where over 1 million people were killed,” the tweet read.
“Respect their memory. There are better places to learn how to walk on a balance beam than the site which symbolizes deportation of hundreds of thousands to their deaths.”
Image: Erica Magugliani/Unsplash
This isn’t the first time the memorial site has had to come down on tourists. Last year, several tourists were fined 1,500 zloty (AU$550) for attempting to ‘souvenir’ bricks from the crematorium.
Auschwitz was one of over 40 concentration camps used by Nazi Germany during World War 2 to imprison, starve and torture millions of Jews, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, gypsies and more.
- READ: Tourists fined for stealing bricks from Auschwitz
- READ: Tourist attempted to board a plane with a WW2 bomb