Jewish groups slam British tourists for 'unbelievably crass' photographs taken at Auschwitz, where Nazis murdered 1.1 million people

ewish groups have lashed out at 'unbelievably crass' selfies taken by young British tourists at a former Nazi death camp where over a million people were murdered.
The photographs, which appeared on social media, show visitors smiling and posing at Auschwitz-Birkenau museum in Poland.
One of the images shows a woman lifting up her leg and taking a selfie in front of a display showing hundreds of pairs of shoes taken from children before they were murdered at the camp.
Another features a smiling man wearing sunglasses and standing on the camp's railway track - which was used to transport victims in cattle cars - with his hands in his pockets.
In the caption, the man - posting as sam.long24 - explained: 'Getting a bit of culture before the Stag Do Starts #auschwitz #birkenau #worldwar2.' 
After being attacked by a fellow Instagram user for wearing 'cool shades' and 'celebrat[ing] 6 million dead', he replied: '*1.3 million'.
That number is close to the estimated 1.1 million inmates murdered at the camp, rather than the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust as a whole.
Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest Nazi concentration camp operated during the Second World War.




Another picture features a smiling man wearing sunglasses and standing on the camp's railway track - which was used to transport victims in cattle cars - with his hands in his pockets




One girl was photographed crouching down to take a selfie on the train tracks that were used to ship hundreds of thousands to their deaths on the site in Oswiecim, Poland
From 1942 until 1944, cargo trains delivered Jews and other victims to the camp from across German-occupied Europe, with many being gassed to death with the pesticide Zyklon B. 
Lilian Black, chair of the Leeds-based Holocaust Survivors' Friendship Association (HSFA), said she found the pictures 'deeply hurtful' and 'very wounding'.
Her own father, Eugene Black, was sent to Auschwitz before being transferred to Bergen-Belsen, the same camp in which Anne Frank died aged 15.


Eugene was freed when he was 17, but he had lost his entire family.
Lilian said: 'People need to think about where they are and take themselves back to that point in time when these camps were the sites of murder and genocide.
'Think of the thousands of dead emaciated bodies that lay where you are stood.




Lilian Black, chair of the Leeds-based Holocaust Survivors' Friendship Association (HSFA), said she found the pictures 'deeply hurtful' and 'very wounding'. Pictured: A couple post a picture from outside the infamous 'Arbeit Macht Frei' ('Work Will Make You Free') sign at the camp
'It is offensive to people such as myself, whose grandparents and aunties actually perished in these horrible places. There is no sense of dignity about a selfie.
'My father and his family went through those gates in cattle trucks. He was fortunate to survive, but his family didn't.'
'There is no understanding of just how terrible these places were. I think the people taking these pictures should stop and reflect on where they are and what happened in these camps. I find it unbelievable.'
Board of Deputies of British Jews vice president Marie van der Zyl, meanwhile, said: 'The selfies are unbelievably crass.
'If these people had taken some time out first to absorb the absolute horror of Auschwitz, they may have thought twice before posting.' 
The camp was first constructed to hold Polish political prisoners, who began to arrive in May 1940, following the Nazi conquest of Poland.
The Nazis later presided over the extermination of those arriving, with the first inmates executed in September 1941.




The photographs, which appeared on social media, show visitors smiling and posing at Auschwitz-Birkenau museum in Poland




The camp was first constructed to hold Polish political prisoners, who began to arrive in May 1940, following the Nazi conquest of Poland. The Nazis later presided over the extermination of those arriving, with the first inmates executed in September 1941. Pictured: Tourists talking about ticking off 'our bucket list' 




About two million people visit the camp every year and tourists are advised to be as respectful as possible. Pictured: One of the photographs that sparked the fury 



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5124425/Jewish-groups-slam-Brits-unbelievably-crass-selfies.html

Young people today are not educated on what happened more than 50 yrs ago, and if told could not give a shit, as long as they have their ipads, Phones and Computer games they'r happy. Todays Teachers don't teach history as such.
Perhaps Eilzel could comment?

Tacky. And gross.

By all means take pictures but not smiling selfies.

Nicko, yes they still teach it as I have to help children with projects and resources and books. But not as in-depth as perhaps you or even I had in school. History is made every day and you could teach that every day and nothing else and you wouldn’t be able to get beyond the surface of it all. Impossible. There’s simply too much of it.

The second world war affected most of the world and should be taught in depth, its impact is still felt today in many ways, even these young people should be thankful for what was done 1939 -45.

nicko wrote:Young people today are not educated on what happened more than 50 yrs ago,     and if told could not give a shit, as long as they have their ipads, Phones and Computer games they'r happy.     Todays Teachers don't teach history as such.
Perhaps Eilzel could comment?

I can't speak for individual history teachers in England today, but I was certainly taught about the Holocaust and I do know that WW2 and Hitler's rise to power make up a huge part of the GCSE History curriculumn. It is also extensively taught before that in year 9. In fact, as a student, in spite of history being my favourite subject, I remember wishing we could focus more on the British Empire and less on WW2 since it was done so much. So yes, nicko, kids are taught what happened.

These people are just insensitive. The thought that what they are doing is tasteless probably never crossed their stupid minds. Similar things happened in Bangkok recently. The last King's funeral was not long ago, and some Thais were reported taking cheesy selfies at the memorial building where he was creamated. They rightly got a lot of flack for it.

Some people, especially the shallow, vain, self absorbed types, just cannot comprehend death and the weight of tragedy.

Those smiling twats in those photo's are all so dogs-arse fugly !!!

Whatever makes them think that putting their ugly mugs in those photo's will add anything to the experience ???

Braindead dumbfuck fugglies, they be..

Cass wrote:Tacky. And gross.

By all means take pictures but not smiling selfies.

Nicko, yes they still teach it as I have to help children with projects and resources and books. But not as in-depth as perhaps you or even I had in school. History is made every day and you could teach that every day and nothing else and you wouldn’t be able to get beyond the surface of it all. Impossible. There’s simply too much of it.

100% agree