Auschwitz: Railway Into Concentration Camp is NOT a Balance Beam for Pics

The Auschwitz Museum is reminding the public to be respectful when taking photos at the infamous former Nazi concentration camp. It seems that in recent days there has been an increase of people using the railway tracks leading into the camp as a balance beam for social media.

“When you come to @AuschwitzMuseum remember you are at the site where over 1 million people were killed,” the museum writes in a Tweet. “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.”


The Tweet also included a few examples found on social media of what NOT to do.

But it seems that not everyone agrees with the museum’s views. The tweet has sparked a back-and-forth regarding whether or not this type of photo is appropriate:










Other people, however, are voicing their support for the museum and its stance:


The museum says it has no plans to ban photography, and it points to its Instagram account as an example of how to respectfully use photos to honor victims and teach history.


“The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe,” a Holocaust memorial in Berlin that features 2,711 concrete slabs spread over 4.7 acres, is another memorial that often sees visitors shooting disrespectful photos. Social media photos shot there became so bad that Jewish artist Shahak Shapira created a project called Yolocaust that cut-and-pasted disrespectful picture-takers into Nazi extermination camp backdrops to speak out against the practice.

(via Auschwitz Museum via Business Insider)

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