Berlin Police Chief Apologises After Officers Do Press-Ups On Holocaust Memorial
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Berlin's police chief has apologised after officers were pictured doing press-ups on a Holocaust memorial.
Pictures published by tabloid BZ show uniformed officers leaning on the capital's memorial to the six million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust between 1941 and 1945.
The newspaper said the pictures were stills from a video apparently taken by the officers themselves on a mobile phone during a holiday weekend back in May, when they were deployed to the area because of demonstrations.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe - a field of 2,700 grey concrete slabs near the Brandenburg Gate - was inaugurated in 2005 and is open around the clock.
It is not surrounded by any barriers and visitors are supposed to refrain from activities such as running and jumping from one slab to another.
Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik said the incident will be examined internally.
"The colleagues' behaviour disrespects what this memorial stands for and also offends the memory of those who were murdered," Slowik said, as per the Daily Mail.
The GdP union, which represents police officers, also apologised and condemned the 'tastelessness' of the officers' actions, adding that there must be 'consequences' for those involved.
It said: "The behaviour of colleagues cannot be surpassed in bad taste.
"The Holocaust Memorial is not an adventure playground. This inexplicable action mocks the genocide of millions of people and tramples on the values that our Berlin police stand for."
An influencer has also come under fire for posing at the same memorial.
In a viral clip, the woman can be seen posing in a black sports bra and leggings whilst sitting on one of the concrete slabs that make up the memorial.
A passer-by can be heard saying they are 'horrified beyond words' - and that response was mirrored on social media, as you'd expect.
One said: "I'm horrified beyond words. That sums it up."
Another wrote: "I would have interrupted and told them to leave. Sorry but this is unacceptable and someone should have said something."
However, its creator, architect Peter Eisenman, has previously indicated that he has no problem with people using it in such a way.
Speaking in 2017, he said: "People have been jumping around on those pillars forever. They've been sunbathing, they've been having lunch there and I think that's fine.
"It's like a catholic church, it's a meeting place, children run around, they sell trinkets. A memorial is an everyday occurrence, it is not sacred ground."
Featured Image Credit: BZ Berlin
Topics: Police, World News, Germany
