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.”
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
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:
And walking on it symbolizes that we’re in a much better place right now. Let people smile. Remembrance does not mean being solemn and stern all the time.
— Ostez vostre lion ⚜️ (@OstezVostreLion) March 20, 2019
Smiling is human. There are also human stories from #Auschwitz that can make people smile. You do not have to be solemn and stern all the time. Yet, there are some things which are simply disrespectful.
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) March 20, 2019
Yeah, they are: Holocaust denial. Swastika graffiti. Hate speech. Fascist marches. But walking on a rail line? I wish everyone was just that disrespectful.
— Ostez vostre lion ⚜️ (@OstezVostreLion) March 20, 2019
We wish people were not disrespectful at all.
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) March 20, 2019
I have visited Auschwitz with my children. My mother was a Holocaust survivor. Many of her family perished. I think this tweet is unworthy and controlling. Sometimes you just need to de-stress a bit. Stop trying to manage everyone into ‘your version’ of respect.
— David Berger (@davebergie) March 20, 2019
Sometimes people need to de-stress a bit. There are however more and less appropriate way of doing this within the historical site. Walking along the rail-line of the platform where hundreds of thousands of people were sent to gas chambers is one of those not appropriate ones.
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) March 20, 2019
So say you. I disagree and I think you should chill out a bit. And if you are so particular about how you want people to behave then why not publish some guidelines instead of trying to shame young people on Twitter by publishing their photos? Very controlling.
— David Berger (@davebergie) March 20, 2019
Quote from the regulations: “Visitors to the grounds of the Museum should behave with due solemnity and respect.”
Those people make their photos public for everyone to see.
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) March 20, 2019
While not the most reverent, notice not all are doing it. Sometimes a person needs a break from all the horrors there, just taking a couple minutes to re center them selves. All mourn in different ways. From one who walks train tracks.
— aswegrow (@aswegrow2) March 20, 2019
Among over two million visitors most of them are not doing it. We also understand that people react differently to the experience and need ‘a break from the horrors’. However there are other ways of doing this. Mourning is possible in a way that is not disrespectful.
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) March 20, 2019
Other people, however, are voicing their support for the museum and its stance:
This is a very necessary post, our picture-taking habits are completely out of control. I may be visting in the summer, I will make sure I am aware of your photography policy. Thank you for all the essential work you continue to do. Without our historical memory we are nothing.
— Francesca ?? (@Just__Fran) March 20, 2019
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.
Photography at @AuschwitzMuseum will not be banned. Yet, we ask visitor to behave respectfully, also when taking pictures. See our @instagram account to see how images can commemorate victims & teach difficult and emotional history of #Auschwitz: https://t.co/QB6hodnnJe https://t.co/ISHepSqf2k
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) March 20, 2019
“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)