A stand selling ice cream and waffles has opened a few hundred metres from the entrance gate to the former Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz. The Auschwitz Museum has called upon local authorities to investigate the issue, which it sees as a sign of “disrespect for a special historical site”.
“Here we care about history and education, about the memorial…the residents are upset because it looks awful,” Dagmar Kopijasz of the locally based Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site Foundation told state news agency PAP, calling the appearance of the ice cream kiosk in the proximity of the camp “embarrassing”.
Auschwitz was originally set up by Nazi Germany as a camp to house Polish “political” prisoners, before later becoming primarily a site for the murder of Jews. At least 1.3 million victims were transported there, with at least 1.1 million of them killed at the camp. Around one million of those victims were Jews, most of whom were murdered in gas chambers immediately after their arrival.
Today, Auschwitz is seen as a symbol of the Holocaust and is one of the most visited places in Poland.
I remember the first time I visited Auschwitz. I got back to Kraków that evening and the only thing I wanted to do was sit in my hotel room. Turns out some people want to eat ice cream. pic.twitter.com/Wi72lswYm3
— Ben Stanley (@BDStanley) May 5, 2023
According to PAP, the ice cream stand appeared near the site of the museum “a few days ago”. It was set up approximately 200-250 metres from the historic main gate of the former German Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. A portable toilet was also set up nearby.
Auschwitz Museum spokesman Bartosz Bartyzel called it “an example not only of aesthetic tastelessness but also of disrespect for a special historical site”.
The kiosk stands outside the protection zone of the Holocaust Memorial as designated by law, so the museum has no influence over it. “We trust that the relevant local authorities will solve this embarrassing problem,” Bartyzel said.
When you come to @AuschwitzMuseum remember you are at the site where over 1 million people were killed. Respect their memory. There are better places to learn how to walk on a balance beam than the site which symbolizes deportation of hundreds of thousands to their deaths. pic.twitter.com/TxJk9FgxWl
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) March 20, 2019
Meanwhile, the local authorities in Oświecim reported that the stand was built on private property. “A contract…has been concluded between its owner [of the land] and the owner of the stand,” said Oświęcim municipality mayor Andrzej Skrzypiński, as quoted by PAP.
“However, we do not know whether the owner of the stand can operate at this location. This is because the local zoning plan requires the consent of the governor of the province. We are investigating this issue.”
Local newspaper Gazeta Krakowska reported that the ice cream stand has also sparked anger among residents of Oświęcim and Brzezinka, where the complex is located. One resident, quoted by the newspaper, said it was a sign of a lack of “respect for the dead, after all this is the biggest cemetery in the world”.
Eating and talking on mobile phones are not allowed in the museum. According to the museum’s by-laws, while on the grounds “one must behave with due solemnity and respect”. Visitors are required to “dress in a manner appropriate to the nature of the place”.
Main image credit: Lāsma Artmane / Unsplash
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
