The management of the Auschwitz memorial museum, installed in what was the largest Nazi extermination camp in German-occupied Poland, denounced this Friday the installation of an ice cream stall and a portable latrine 250 meters from the emblematic main door of the enclosure.

Speaking to the Polish press, the museum’s spokesman, Bartosz Bartyzel, stated that this is “not only bad aesthetic taste, but also disrespect for a special historical place.”

The museum authorities acknowledged that the place where both items are located is “outside the protection zone of the Holocaust Memorial designated by law” and is privately owned, so they turned to local authorities to “resolve this embarrassing business.”

For his part, Andrzej SkrzypiÅ„ski, councilor for the city of Oswiecim, in whose municipal area the museum is located, explained that the city’s urban development plan indicates the need for a prior permit for a business of this type, even if there is a private contract between the owner of the land and the owner of the ice cream stand.

“We are investigating this problem,” the councilor emphasized, “we will inform the appropriate authorities and urge them to take action,” he said.

Dagmar Kopijasz, from the Foundation that manages the Auschwitz museum, stressed that “there is a tourist service center near the museum, where visitors can eat, drink or go to the bathroom”, which makes it inexplicable that “suddenly a ice cream cart that looks terrible” in front of the entrance to Auschwitz.

It is strictly forbidden to introduce and consume food or alcohol in the entire area of ​​the memorial, as well as smoking cigarettes inside the Auschwitz-Birkenau compound.

The ice cream stand is placed in front of the main gate of the former Nazi Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp, a brick building with a tower almost 15 meters high in the center, which is considered a symbol not only of the camp, but also of the Holocaust, inscribed since 1979 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

It is estimated that more than a million people were murdered during the Nazism in Auschwitz-Birkenau.