Visitors to the Nazi Buchenwald concentration camp have been criticized for tobogganing over mass graves where 76,000 people died during World War II.
- The German WWII monument urged visitors to avoid pastimes
- Walking on the site has seen people enjoying themselves at the high graves.
- Buchenwald and his sub-camp were used to hold thousands of slave workers
- More than 76,000 men, women and children died there in World War II
A German monument at the former Nazi concentration camp, Buchenwald, has asked visitors to play winter sports on the site, after some spotted toboggans at its large tombs.
Criticizing ‘disrespectful’ behavior, the base urged guests to stop entertaining at Buchenwald and the former Mittelbau-Dora subcamp in central Germany.
More than 76,000 men, women and children died at Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora during World War II. They were killed by the Nazis or killed by illness, cold or hunger.
The German monument at a former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald has called for visitors to stop playing winter sports on the site, after some saw tobogganing
Buchenwald was among the first concentration camps built on German soil and was first used to hold political prisoners before being later used for crimes, Poles and others.
‘Sporting activities are against visitor rules and disturb the peace of the dead,’ the memorial site said in a statement on Thursday.
He warned that their security guards would be patrolling and that police would be notified.
The foundation’s director, Jens-Christian Wagner, told the news website Der Spiegel that ‘masses’ of day collectors had gathered at the site over the weekend and it appeared that the majority- some for fun in the snow.
‘Some of the sled tracks ended at the big graves,’ he said.
Wagner said he could understand that many families with children wanted to spend time outdoors, especially during lockouts across the country because of the coronavirus, but that the reminder was intended for appropriate behavior. from the visitors.
A World War II memorial in eastern Germany persuaded its visitors to stop recreational activities after some of them witnessed tobogganing over large graves. In this file photo, families enjoying tobogganing at Riverdale Park East in Toronto on December 25, 2020
‘As time goes on, historical sensitivity declines,’ he said.
Thousands of enemies were among the dead, but also Roma, gypsies and Nazi political opponents, gay people and prisoners of Soviet war.
In January last year, Buchenwald’s founding leader Volkhard Knigge warned that unwanted visits from non-Nazis were becoming a growing problem before 75 years of the camp’s liberation.
‘We are increasingly finding messages in the guest book that the Nazis and the concentration camps were sensible and good for the Germans,’ he told the German media.