Group stages lewd protest at entrance to Auschwitz

A group of people undressed, slaughtered a sheep and chained themselves together at the main Auschwitz gate.

A group of 11 people took off their clothes, slaughtered a sheep, and chained themselves together by the main gate of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz in Poland before being detained by police.

They also lit a fire and hung a sign that stated: “Love.”

A spokesman for the Auschwitz memorial, Bartosz Bartyzel, told The Associated Press their motives were unclear as they briefly stood and then sat by the notorious “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Work sets you free”) gate on Friday afternoon.

Auschwitz inmates passed through the gate when brought into the death camp and armed Nazi guards led them through the gate to slave labor sites.

Bartyzel said museum guards ordered the group to dress and called the police. Visits to the site were temporarily suspended.

According to some reports the protestors were anarchists demonstrating against the war between Russia and Ukraine.

A statement by the Auschwitz memorial’s authorities said “using the symbols of Auschwitz for any manifestations or happenings is reprehensible and outrageous” and “hurts the memory of all victims” of Auschwitz.

A local police spokeswoman, Malgorzata Jurecka, said 11 young people — Poles, Belarusians and a German — were detained for questioning on allegations they insulted a memorial site. If convicted they can face stiff fines.

During the Holocaust, the Nazis killed some 1.1 million people at Auschwitz, mostly Jews.

By: AP and World Israel News

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