An ice cream stand set up outside Auschwitz has been described as “tasteless” and “disrespectful” by managers of the historic site.
The stall, which has the words “ice love” on it, appeared in front of the former concentration camp’s famous ‘death gate’ late last month, local media report.
A spokesman for the Auschwitz Museum told the Gazeta Krakowska newspaper they were unable to have it removed as the plot is private land – despite the offence caused.
“This is an example of not only aesthetic tastelessness, but also a lack of respect for a special historical place located nearby,” Bartosz Bartyzel from the museum, said in a statement.
“We trust that the competent local government authorities will solve this embarrassing problem,” he added.
Dagmar Kopijasz, of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site Foundation, said nearby residents were also “upset” and believe it “looks awful”.
Images of the ice cream stall have been circulating on social media this week, with people condemning the “inappropriate” location.
‘Respect their memory’
More than a million people are estimated to have died at the Nazi death camp in less than five years during the Second World War.
The site, near Krakow in Poland, receives up to two million visitors a year.
Last month site managers tweeted to remind people to “respect the memory” of the people who died there after a picture of a woman posing on the train tracks went viral.
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The museum posted: “When coming to @AuschwitzMuseum visitors should bear in mind that they enter the authentic site of the former camp where over 1 million people were murdered. Respect their memory.”
The woman who posted the image of the tourist, uploaded it with the caption: “Today I had one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. Regrettably it didn’t seem everyone there found it quite so poignant.
“We were asked repeatedly to be mindful and respectful. You would think this sort of thing wouldn’t need to be specified as a no-go for that criteria.”
