Operators of the historical Auschwitz concentration camp site set up misting showers outside prison gates, angering Israeli tourists who were shocked by the insensitivity.
Nazis used showers to kill millions of Jewish prisoners during the Holocaust, so modern-day tourists were taken aback when they saw an outdoor sprinkler shower system — installed to cool down summer visitors – on the solemn grounds in Poland, according to the news Web site Ynet.
“As soon as I got off the bus I walked into the shower contraption,” said Israeli tourist Meyer Bolka. “I was in shock. It was a punch to the gut. I walked up to the reception and asked the worker there about the showers, she said it was a hot day. I told her: ‘With all due respect it reminds me of the gas chambers.’ She told me she is very sorry.”
Temperatures in the area were in the high 90s over the weekend.
Bolka said the imagery and context of Auschwitz should have been obvious to museum operators.
“I think that places like this need to think of the connotations these types of things can inspire,” Bolka said. “If you want to cool the people down, you need to find another solution. It was not a pleasant sight to see those sprinklers.”
The infamous death camp slaughtered more than a million Jews, Gypsies and Soviet prisoners of war between 1942 and 1945.
Many victims believed they were being led into shower facilities — which pumped poison gas instead of water.
Bolka, the tourist, admitted many younger visitors took advantage of the outdoor showers to cool themselves.
“Youth groups that were there didn’t really notice [the cruel historical connection] and treated it like fun, but for me it was deja vu of the selection and extermination in the showers,” Bolka told Channel 2 of Israel. “People came by and had a shower.”
A museum rep said Monday that operators had to do something to keep tourists cool and keep them from fainting.
“Because of the heat wave in Poland, sprinklers which cool the wait were placed near the entrance,” according to a statement by museum spokesman Pawel Sawicki. “We must do everything possible to [minimize] the risks connected with the heat and high temperatures and take care of the safety … of our visitors. The health of our visitors is for us the priority during the time of these extreme [high temperatures] and the sprinklers have been really helpful.”
He said the misting showers will be removed when the temperatures fall.