Previous post
Ice cream is a welcome treat for visitors after they have spent hours visiting cultural sites on vacation. But a pink-and-white ice cream stand outside the “Death Gate” at the Auschwitz Birkenau death camp near Krakow, Poland? Who thought that was a good idea?
Yet there it is, a trailer with the words “ice love” hawking treats just a few hundred yards from the notorious tower where trains carrying prisoners entered the camp. And the Auschwitz Museum can’t do a thing about it, since the ice cream stand is on public land.
Bartosz Bartyzel, a spokesman for the museum, expressed his disgust to a local newspaper after the stand opened last month:
This is an example of not only aesthetic tastelessness, but also a lack of respect for a special historical place located nearby.
He added that he hopes the local government will solve the “embarrassing problem.”
maybe auschwitz isn't the best spot for an ice cream stand pic.twitter.com/7NJcfNI4Dx
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) May 8, 2023
Unfortunately it’s not just an ice cream stand that sullies the solemnity of Auschwitz.
Screenshot: @MariaRMGBNews
Nor is she the only one to use the Holocaust as a social media prop. A Jewish artist named Shahak Shapira has used photoshop to shame other disrespectful tourists in a project called “Yolocaust.”
Some might brush this off as no big deal, especially because this controversy is in Poland, not the United States. Besides, if you’re not Jewish — well, as the Polish saying goes “not my circus, not my monkeys.”
I have no Jewish heritage at all, not even any DNA markers from some long-ago Jewish ancestors. However, I am the daughter of a World War II veteran who served in the European theater in 1944. Ice cream stands and glamour shots diminish what he and his fellow servicemen fought for.
My father was like other vets of that war, brushing off his service as “well, it was a job we had to do.” He also told me “we had to get rid of Hitler,” calling him a horrible “son of a gun.” (Always the gentleman, he used the word “gun” when speaking to his daughter). Dad understood they needed to rid the world of the monster whose evil delusions spawned a war.
If you’ve ever watched the 2001 HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers,” you will remember the episode when Easy Company liberated a concentration camp. It was one of the most gut-wrenching scenes in the intense historical series.
But now, 80 years on, some people think it’s okay to hawk ice cream and pose for glamour shots near a death camp that a generation of men fought to liberate.
Money and self-promotion at Auschwitz are a symptom of the 21st century zeitgeist: disregarding history and those who went before and replacing it with worship of money and self. Now add to that the quest for social media attention.
Ten years ago the “Selfies at Serious Places” Tumblr page was a Thing on the internet. Sort of a precursor to “Libs of TikTok,” the page searched Twitter and Instagram to find pictures of teenagers and young adults taking pictures of themselves at somber places.
And find them they did. Followers of the site would find images like “Basic Asian selfie in the Pearl Harbor submarine,” and “Selfie at the 9/11 Memorial #hungover.” And yes, there was a “Selfie from the gas chamber in Auschwitz.” The teen boy in that selfie was making melodramatic faces in the death chamber.
Fortunately, “Selfies at Serious Places” has shut down. But that doesn’t mean the disrespect has.
Last year I visited Washington, DC, with a conservative women’s group. We toured the Capitol building, as well as the memorials on the Mall. Our group also visited the smaller monuments at West Potomac Park which lies along the Tidal Basin.
Others were visiting, too, including groups of teenagers, some of whom thought that climbing on the FDR Memorial and taking selfies was hilarious. Fortunately their adult chaperones put a halt to their horsing around.
You’d expect such shenanigans from five-year-olds. But teenagers? You’d think they’d know better. Yet sadly, here we are in the midst of Generation Self, for whom nothing is sacred other than their social media presence.
No wonder an ice cream stand perches at the gate of Auschwitz. No wonder a tactless woman thought the train tracks which took 1 million to their deaths would be a great place for a glamour shot. Money and fame have replaced honor and memory of the history which changed the world.
Featured image: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Poland/flickr/cropped/CC BY-ND 2.0.
NTSOG says: “But teenagers? You’d think they’d know better.”
Unfortunately the majority of today’s youth know little of the history of the world outside their own little bubble. Even world geography is a mystery to some college students. Over 40 years ago I travelled to the USA to complete further studies. I had to take certain undergraduate courses in non-professional courses including German before commencing my M.Sc. at IU – Bloomington. On the first day all students had to introduce themselves ‘auf Deutsch’. During discussion the term ‘VFW’ arose – one student whose father was in the US army mentioned the term, but did not know what it meant. In fact neither the lecturer nor the twenty-five other US students knew what it meant. I did – ‘Veteran of Foreign Wars’ – but I [in Australia] had studied histories from Modern European, especially WW II, back to ancient Greek and Roman. The lack of knowledge of the world in general by US college level students was incredible. I, having an English mother, was often asked about my accent and from where I came. I would answer “Australia.” On five occasions the questioner responded “Oh that’s near Germany isn’t it?” It doesn’t surprise me that the elite soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the USA often have to reprimand rowdy or intrusive visitors who behave like they’re at Disneyland or the tourists playing the fool outside Buckingham Palace who run afoul of the Grenadiers on guard duty. Ignorance is truly bliss for many, even so-called educated fools, nowadays.
Scott says: Agreed NTSOG.. sadly, a great many of todays teenagers are just toddlers with multiple years of experience.. Same level of critical thinking skills, impulse control (or lack thereof), and self centeredness, just bigger bodies..
GWB says: On five occasions the questioner responded “Oh that’s near Germany isn’t it?”
Well, you did name the place something really similar. You made up for it with attitude and accent, but it was kinda like naming a new country “Chili”. 😉
But you are very correct in naming the ignorance. I don’t think it’s just Americans now, but I think we’re at the forefront of the Progressive “Year Zero” phenomenon, wherein nothing before you were born matters. It’s why I often look around me and say, “I tried to warn you, but you didn’t want to hear the old tales.”
NTSOG says: GWB: “I don’t think it’s just Americans now, but I think we’re at the forefront of the Progressive “Year Zero” phenomenon, wherein nothing before you were born matters.”
Agreed. It seems world-wide and common for those of the Internet ‘Age’ who, having immediate access to information on a grander scale than ever before at their fingertips, are actually more shuttered in their minds and actually know less than previous generations. Perhaps the immediacy of information available through their electronic devices has led to superficiality devoid of any deep thought and use of reason.
NTSOG says: A further thought on the confusion between Austria and Australia by US students in the late 1970s and why I was so surprised at that confusion: I live and farm in a rural area about 15 miles south of the country city of Ballarat in Victoria. During WW II there was a very large US military camp established in Victoria Park close to the middle of Ballarat. It was at that camp that troops who had fought in Guadalcanal came for R & R after securing Guadalcanal. There were very many such US military bases/encampments all around Australia [and in New Zealand also], army, navy and air force. One large camp was at the very large Melbourne Cricket Ground in the middle of the capital city. It was on the playing field of that cricket stadium that John Basilone was presented during a parade with his Medal of Honor in May 1943.
When I met those US students in the 1970s who could not tell the difference between Austria and Australia I was astounded because their parents and grandparents had fought through the Pacific yet they knew little or nothing about that theatre of war let alone the broader conflict around the World and in Europe. It still astounds me and I suspect that general ignorance is increasing rapidly amongst the young.
Deborah B says: “A sense of place.” Back in the mists of time when I was growing up it was a term my mother used. “Think about where you are”. While Prince Andrew is not a favorite apparently someone noted that as he enter the Abbey for the coronation he stopped and bowed at the tomb of the unknown warrior which is embedded in the floor of the main aisle. Prince Harry skipped right over it. Both military men but clearly a generational difference. We have to do better to impress the next generations with a sense of place and of history. I am not sure how.
GWB says: If you can ignore those in history, then you can ignore that you only got where you are by standing on the shoulders of giants. You can amuse yourself with the fiction that you are the giant.
It’s part and parcel of Progressivism.
GWb says: well, as the Polish saying goes “not my circus, not my monkeys.”
I laughed so hard I was crying. Because I thought it was a Portuguese saying. (I think I learned it from Sarah Hoyt.)
“Selfies at Serious Places”
One of the things I loathed about Japanese tourists ever since I was in high school, at least, was the need for every photograph to be a selfie, and to not give a rat’s behind about spoiling anyone else’s photos. They were the first “Selfie Generation.” I have places I’ve visited that I never did get a photograph of because there were Japanese tourists in the way. For the Japanese, it was about you being there and not about the place or thing itself. And then I saw Americans beginning to do it. Ugh. And now the whole world is more about ME being there than about the place or thing. I don’t mind the occasional group photo to commemorate your trip. But let’s have some respect for the place and for everyone else visiting, so they can take pictures to refresh their memories, too.
Having said that, I will wade into the ice cream truck bit and ask the question: How far is far enough?
The land for the memorial was bounded there because that was thought to be far enough. But, unfortunately, some people are very vested in being victims for eternity. And if it is within view, then it is too close.
(I have not been to Auschwitz. I have been to Buchenwald. I have said prayers over the graves and in the place where the ovens stood, I have read and memorialized the names. And I will never forget.)
Howard Hirsch says: Thank you so much, Kim, for your courage in writing this. As one of the Hirsches with all of those DNA markers, I am perpetually grateful for the sacrifices that both your father and mine (D-Day + 9) made back then in what we now recognize as an existential threat.
Kim Hirsch says: What kind words — thank you Howard. Good to hear from you again.
I marvel at how young our fathers were when they served; my dad had just turned 20 when he was flying missions over Europe as part of a B-17 crew. The things they saw and experienced are mind-boggling. But “well, we had a job to do … “
Dennis says: GWB, I was about to make a similar point. Fortunately, it is a Pole who manages the place making a fuss about this. This is a matter then of city planners and the site management reaching an agreement.
I have lived in Poland for 15 years, and have worked in the town that the camp is named after. Outsiders forget that the town itself has thousands of residents and all the things that they need and want there, from shops to factories to, yes, entertainment. The town existed before the camp. And suburban sprawl is a reality in the area. The surrounding areas have developed/modernized. Perhaps because our picture of history is from 80 years ago, people think the place should remain sterile. I have been there. It IS a horrible place, and we must remember what happened there. However, life goes on and time marches on, like in Hiroshima. I would ask how close is the nearest hot dog stand to Ground Zero these days?
Cameron says: Atomic Bomb Dome to 7-11: 150 meters
Scott says: Could also look at the Alamo (yeah, I know, far different scale, but hallowed ground just the same).. smack dab in the middle of San Antonio..
Cameron says: Can’t really see the restaurants while you’re in there.
Liz says: My uncle was a paratrooper in WWII, and his unit was the first to “liberate” Dachau, as well as other concentration camps.
My Dad was on the other side of the world at that time, the Pacific theatre… and only about 1 out of every 10 pilots from his class survived. But in the 80s, he was the first to buy a Japanese car. In spite of objections from his war buddies.
I don’t think either my dad or uncle would object to this ice cream stand. I think they would place it on the “small stuff” list, and let folks walk through one part of history…then relax and have an ice cream. Celebrate that the world has moved on, and hope we never see that kind of thing again.
Rick554 says: Me and my Son who was stationed in Germany spent an afternoon at dachau. The quiet there was astonishing! Maybe a visit to a death camp should be mandatory for these “youths”. But maybe not
Taylor says: In 2008 I visited the Theresienstadt Concentration camp in the Czech Republic and there were some Danish school kids (they looked like High Schoolers) who were acting like jerks there.
17 Comments