EXCLUSIVE – Ice cream van sets up… outside AUSCHWITZ: Fury over ‘disrespectful’ shopkeeper cashing in next to Nazi prison camp’s infamous ‘death gate’
- The ice cream truck was condemned as ‘tasteless’ and ‘disrespectful’
- Van appeared outside the entrance to the Auschwitz death camp known as “Death Gate”
An ice cream van has sparked outrage after setting up outside the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz.
The van which also sells waffles was condemned as ‘tasteless and ‘disrespectful’ by the Auschwitz museum after it appeared outside the camp’s main entrance known as the ‘gate of death’.
Displaying a logo saying “Ice Love”, portable toilets have also been installed nearby.
Museum spokesman Paweł Sawicki said: “This is an example not only of a lack of aesthetic taste, but also of a lack of respect for a special historical site nearby.
“However, it is located outside the protection zone of the Holocaust Monument, so unfortunately we have no influence on it.”
An ice cream van sparked outrage after setting up outside the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz
The van which also sells waffles was condemned as ‘tasteless and ‘disrespectful’ by the Auschwitz museum after it appeared outside the camp’s main entrance known as the ‘gate of death’.
The ice cream van appeared in front of the camp’s main entrance known as “Death’s Gate”
“We hope the relevant local government authorities will resolve this embarrassing issue.”
Established by Hitler’s famous SS shortly after Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Auschwitz became history’s greatest killing machine.
By the time of his release in 1945, more than 1.3 million people had been killed in his gas chambers, executed and tortured.
About a million of them were Jews.
Since 1947 it has operated as the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, which in 1979 was named a World Heritage Site by Unesco.
Dagmar Kopijasz of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site Foundation said: “Here we care about history and education, about the memorial… the locals are upset because it looks horrible.
Pictured: Prisoners are seen inside Auschwitz during World War II
The ice cream van appeared in front of the camp’s main entrance known as “Death’s Gate”
One of the residents quoted by local media said the ice cream truck showed a lack of “respect for the dead, after all it is the biggest cemetery in the world”.
Another told MailOnline: ‘Auschwitz is not a theme park. This is not a Disney camp where people can walk around eating waffles, hot dogs, or ice cream before, during, or after experiencing the horrors that unfolded here.
“We live in the shadow of this terrible story every day. These people come here and treat it like some kind of zoo.
The controversy comes after the museum called on visitors to ‘respect the memory’ of those who died in the extermination camp after a photo of a woman posing on the camp’s train tracks went viral online on last month.
The museum wrote: “When coming to @AuschwitzMuseum visitors should keep in mind that they are entering the authentic site of the former camp where over a million people were murdered. Respect their memory.
He added that in addition to eating and talking on mobile phones being prohibited, while on the pitch “one must behave with due solemnity and respect”.
Visitors are also expected to “dress appropriately to the nature of the place”.
