Sometimes it’s blatantly obvious when not to take a picture; other times, the line is blurred. But unfortunately, this girl got it horribly wrong and has gone viral for all the wrong reasons.
Her little photo shoot in front of the infamous gates to Auschwitz-Birkenau – the former Nazi death camp where, during World War II, some 1.2 million people are thought to have been murdered – has caused quite a stir, while reminding us of knowing when to put the camera away.
Recorded by a bystander and shared on TikTok, people in the comments have been lambasting her for her “shameless”, “disrespectful” behavior. Although there have been some coming to her defense, claiming that everyone’s “making a fuss over nothing.”
I’m definitely not a fan of this kind of behavior and agree with those giving the girl a reality check. In my eyes, historic sites like Auschwitz are not for self-centered, social-media-driven photography, but rather for reflection and learning.
And believe it or not, when I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau in 2014, I even saw a pair of Orthodox Jews doing the same. Unbelievably, they were posing with their hands on their chins as if philosophers pondering deep thought.
It was an unreal sight: to think that these people may well have lost ancestors in this very place. But like the girl in this viral video, these guys were young – although I’m not sure it excuses such a lack of awareness.
However, I don't want to jump on the bandwagon and tear into this girl. Enough people have already done that, and she’s now probably well aware of the viral backlash her offensive behavior caused.
But it’s a stark lesson that, sometimes, it's best to think twice before pressing the shutter.
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