File this under “I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.”
You’d think that when visiting a place that will be indelibly associated with the absolute depth of human suffering and cruelty, people would take it seriously. And yet, I guess we can’t be too surprised by how insensitive people are.
The Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland is a site where over 1 million people were murdered during the Holocaust. I had the opportunity to visit it as a young lad with my parents, and the feeling you get there is indescribably sad. Indeed, the very air around the place is still thick with the misery of all those lost souls, to the point that even decades after my visit I still start to choke every time I think of it.
Unfortunately, due to the fact that visitors have been posting inappropriate photos from Auschwitz to social media, the memorial site had to put a tweet out admonishing that kind of ridiculous behavior.
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 infamous train tracks of Auschwitz carried untold numbers of people to their deaths, and to see people acting this way has upset many. People on Twitter were taken aback by the trend and weighed in with their own opinions.
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
I don’t understand why people use Auschwitz as a photo op or how they take cheerful selfies in front of a site that saw the murder of thousands of innocent people. I just can’t wrap my head around that one.
— Morgan Blythe (@tippotate) March 20, 2019
Amazing. How anyone could crack a smile within miles of that place is beyond me.
— Take a stand (@dailypaint) March 20, 2019
We visited on Monday, but couldn’t believe how many individuals took it as an attraction rather than a memorial. This is a site of mass extermination of many people. It’s a completely harrowing experience. pic.twitter.com/8QSFIuT1Vg
— Martin (@mdjcrimmins) March 20, 2019
There are simply no words for this kind of disrespect
— Ricky Edwards (@spongelover90) March 20, 2019
The Auschwitz Memorial later added these tweets.
It's simple: be respectful. https://t.co/qqb5rbwZur
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) March 23, 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
If you’re visiting a place where unfathomable atrocities took place, have some respect and be aware enough not to take cute selfies. Thank you.
The post The Auschwitz Memorial Actually Had to Ask Visitors to Stop Taking “Playful” Selfies appeared first on UberFacts.