Tourists criticized for posing for pictures outside Auschwitz

People are flocking to social media in condemnation of tourists posing for photographs in front of Auschwitz.

There's a time and a place to pose with your hand on your head, one leg bent up and bending back basking in the sun - when you're on the beach or in a holiday resort for example - but not when you're sat on a railway track which leads into a former concentration camp.

However, one tourist didn't get the memo, and it hasn't taken long for social media users to leap to their keyboards to criticise their posing.

The image was posted by GB News producer Maria and shows a woman posing on the railway track leading into Auschwitz - the largest of the German Nazi concentration camps and extermination centres operated during WW2 and the Holocaust.

Another tourist can be seen crouching down to snap a photograph of the person posing.

Maria's caption reads: "Today I had one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. Regrettably it didn’t seem everyone there found it quite so poignant."

Another Twitter user re-shared the image, writing: "Photo taken by tourists in front of Auschwitz a few days ago. Scandalous behaviour by people whose judgement has been damaged by years [of] social media-induced narcissism. One million people were murdered here. It’s not a place for selfies."

I was legitimately shocked by how some people treated Auschwitz like an amusement park when I visited last year. I took this video of a lady who posed balancing on the tracks for her boyfriend. So unbelievably disrespectful https://t.co/16yDyHF6jl pic.twitter.com/sDJF52Dq8Z

— Drew Pavlou (@DrewPavlou) April 16, 2023

A third said: "I was legitimately shocked by how some people treated Auschwitz like an amusement park when I visited last year. I took this video of a lady who posed balancing on the tracks for her boyfriend. So unbelievably disrespectful."

A final resolved: "Lived in Poland over two years. Auschwitz is just an hour away from me, drive past it each time I go Krakow and still won’t go.

"When I speak to the people, they get frustrated that the only thing most people know about their country is the camps. If you do go, please be better."

Auschwitz Memorial Twitter page also responded to the image which has been widespread on social media.

The tweet reads: "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 one million people were murdered. Respect their memory."

If you've been affected by the contents of this article, you can visit Jami UK's website for mental health support and advice or you can contact them via their online form.