Kiosk in front of the memorial of the Auschwitz concentration camp causes unrest

A private kiosk near the Auschwitz memorial has sparked outrage in Poland. The stall sells ice cream and waffles and there is also a mobile toilet block – all within sight of the main entrance to the Nazi death camp with its infamous train tracks.

During World War II, the German occupiers murdered more than 1.1 million mostly Jewish people in Auschwitz.

“This is not only bad taste, but also a sign of disrespect for a special historical place,” spokesman for the monument, Bartosz Bartyzel, told the PAP news agency.

“We trust that the responsible authorities will resolve this embarrassing problem,” Bartyzel continued. But that turns out not to be so easy.

Although the area around the monument is managed by the museum, the kiosk is located outside this zone on private property about 250 meters from the complex.

“The owner of the premises and the operator of the kiosk have signed a contract,” PAP quoted Oświęcim City Hall spokesman Andrzej Skrzypiński as saying. “But we are now looking at whether the kiosk can be operated at all at the moment. The local development plan requires the approval of the provincial governor»

The ice cream stand apparently also causes displeasure in the neighboring towns of Oświęcim and Brzezinka: after all, Auschwitz is “the largest cemetery in the world”, the newspaper “Gazeta Krakowska” quotes a local resident; the kiosk is a disrespect to the dead.

Inside the monument itself, eating and talking are prohibited and visitors are requested to behave “appropriately and respectfully”. Nevertheless, the museum management regularly has to admonish guests who, for example, balance on the train tracks or take cheerful selfies in front of the crematoria.

(t-online/dsc)