Three girls spark outrage after doing Nazi salutes outside Auschwitz
Tanveer Mann for Metro.co.uk
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Three girls have sparked outrage after a picture emerged showing them doing Nazi salutes outside Auschwitz.
The picture showing the girls standing outside the ‘gate of death’ at the WW2 concentration camp was posted on Instagram by the girls on Tuesday but was deleted shortly after.
But not before museum authorities at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial spotted the picture and called in prosecutors.
Though giving a Nazi salute is not banned in Poland, the law does forbid hate speech based on religion, with prison sentences of up to three years.
The image was spotted after it was re-posted on Facebook group ‘Racist and Xenophobic Behaviour Monitoring Centre’.
The caption said: ‘The girls’ “prank” proves how education about the horrors of the Holocaust and totalitarian systems is needed, especially with anti-Semitism growing in Poland.’
It added that ‘young people unknowingly absorb hateful content’.
Polish officials are currently in the process of identifying the girls and will be in touch with their school to inform them about the incident.
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Local authorities are in the process of identifying the teenagers and their school will be informed about the incident.
This is not the only case of Nazi gestures being carried out by ignorant visitors of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp.
In 2017, a group of Swedish teenagers were filmed making inappropriate gestures and remarks while visiting the memorial complex.
Meanwhile, an Israeli student ended up in hot water when he dropped his trousers at the Majdanek concentration camp close to the Polish capital Warsaw.
In that case, the Israeli Ministry of Education intervened and made the culprit pay a 250 GBP fine.
