Crossfit Guru Does Handstand on Holocaust Memorial, Posts to Instagram
Image by Instagram
When Crossfit “guru” Dave Driskell travelled to Berlin, he decided to go visit the city’s iconic Holocaust memorial. He didn’t know what to expect — or that he probably shouldn’t pose on it and send an uplifting fitness message to his 70,000 followers.
His caption on Instagram reads: “Hello Berlin, Germany. 15 hour layover. Checking the sites. Drinking the beers. Eating the bratwurst. #vagabond #wanderlustwods #handstands #365daysofhandstands.”
Kicking up his legs, he posed with his trademark handstand on the memorial dedicated to the victims of Nazi genocide.
Image by Buzzfeed
As you would expect, people were outraged, commenting saying things like, “Social media suicide right here…”, “WTF?”, and “You know this is a Holocaust Memorial?! #inappropriate”
The post has since been deleted.
“I feel completely terrible as I would never purposely offend or disrespect this memorial had I known,” Driskell told Buzzfeed.
The next day, Driskell posted another picture to Instagram — this time with a a message of apology.
“We walked near this memorial not knowing what it was at the time. People were walking on the pillars. Kids running around. People sitting on them,” he wrote. “I apologize for this horrible misunderstanding and any offense this might have caused… I respectfully ask your forgiveness.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
