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Auschwitz visitor sparks outrage after posing for 'insensitive' photo at former concentration camp

The woman is seen posing on the railway track in front of Auschwitz Birkenau in Poland

OSWIECIM, POLAND: An Auschwitz visitor who smiled and posed for a picture while sitting on the railroad rails heading into the former concentration camp received harsh criticism. The insensitive conduct was captured on camera by Maria Murphy, a producer for GB News, on Saturday, April 15.

The female visitor, who was seen smiling and looking up at the sky while people walked toward the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, was dressed in a red flannel shirt, a black top, and black jeans. She appeared unmoved by the melancholy scene in Poland as the companion she came with stooped to take the photograph on the railway tracks where trains carried hundreds of thousands of Jews and other people to their deaths. The former Nazi building is now a research facility and an honorary memorial to the nearly 1.1 million people who died during the Holocaust in World War II.

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'Total detachment from reality'

Murphy wrote, "Today I had one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. Regrettably, it didn't seem everyone there found it quite so poignant." The unnamed pair came under fire after Murphy's tweet, which has received over 30 million views.

Murphy wrote, "Total detachment from reality. That's the only explanation," and added, "The tour had already been going for 1-2 hours. There was no possible way of claiming ignorance." She claimed that the visitors had been urged to show respect. "You would think this sort of thing wouldn’t need to be specified as a no-go for that criteria," she wrote.

'Respect their memory'

The Auschwitz Memorial tweeted, "Pictures can hold immense emotional & documentation value for visitors. Images help us remember. When coming to @AuschwitzMuseum visitors should bear in mind that they enter the authentic site of the former camp where over 1 million people were murdered. Respect their memory."

Pawel Sawicki, a member of the publicity staff for the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum, described such events as "rather isolated" in an interview with VICE World News. He claimed that the team "believe we have an obligation to react," regardless of how uncommon the occurrences may be.

"Last year, around 90 per cent of our visitors were guided. The educators sensitize visitors to the character and symbolism of the place they are in. If we see inappropriate behavior, we react. This is our duty," Sawicki stated.

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