Anne Frank Center calls GOP lawmaker’s Auschwitz video a ‘global disgrace’
The Anne Frank Center on Wednesday slammed a GOP lawmaker for filming a video inside a former gas chamber in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, calling his action “a global disgrace.”
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) already had faced criticism for his video from officials at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.
“Congressman Higgins, Auschwitz is not a television studio,” Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, said Wednesday in a statement. “It is the site of genocide and tragedy for the Jewish people that you have disrespected. Not only must you apologize, but you must also get the sensitivity training appropriate for your continued service in the U.S. Congress.”
.@RepClayHiggins Get sensitivity training or get a new job. Your informercial at Auschwitz is hideous. #NeverAgain to any people.
— Anne Frank Center (@AnneFrankCenter) July 5, 2017
{mosads}“The world’s a smaller place now than it was in World War II,” Higgins said in the almost 5-minute video. “The United States is more accessible to terror like this, horror like this.”
Memorial officials also called the video disrespectful, noting that there was a sign in the building that asks visitors to “maintain silence,” the Associated Press reported.
“Everyone has the right to personal reflections. However, inside a former gas chamber, there should be mournful silence. It’s not a stage,” the museum’s main account tweeted Tuesday, along with a link to the congressman’s video.
The Anne Frank Center pointed out Wednesday that Higgins did not mention Jewish people or the Holocaust.
JOURNALISTS: @RepClayHiggins Auschwitz video makes no mention of Jews or Holocaust, and has his campaign reelection logo at the end. pic.twitter.com/hr8g2GNOWr
— Anne Frank Center (@AnneFrankCenter) July 5, 2017
Shortly after the Anne Frank Center’s denouncement, Higgins retracted the video.
Memorial officials had also called the video disrespectful, noting that there was a sign in the building that asks visitors to “maintain silence,” the Associated Press reported.
“Everyone has the right to personal reflections. However, inside a former gas chamber, there should be mournful silence. It’s not a stage,” the museum’s main account tweeted Tuesday, along with a link to the congressman’s video.
Updated 5 p.m. E.T.
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