A number of Americans were arrested for unlawfully entering the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp in Poland on Monday, police said.
Museum guards detained nine Jewish tourists – eight Americans and one Canadian aged 18 and 19 – at around 3 p.m. local time on Monday, the Małopolska Police said.
The tourists had been denied entry to the camp because they did not have tickets, the museum guards said. Around 15 minutes later, the guards noticed that the individuals had pushed aside a fence and entered the grounds.
The men were apprehended by officers and taken to the Auschwitz Police Headquarters on suspicion of entering the museum ground unlawfully. The offense is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to one year.
The tourists later admitted to the offense, and each faced a fine of PLN 3,000 ($834), along with another fine of PLN 1,000 ($278) to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, the police department said.
What To Know
The police said in a statement that Auschwitz-Birkenau is “a special place of remembrance where absolute respect and honor should be maintained for the murdered.”
During World War II, around 1.3 million people were sent to Auschwitz, and 1.1 million were murdered. The majority of the victims were Jews, who were killed in gas chambers. The lives of many Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, disabled people and LGBTQ individuals were also claimed at the camp.
Today, Auschwitz-Birkenau is open to the public as a museum and memorial. Admission to the grounds is free of charge, but entry cards are required.
This is a breaking story. More to follow.