Israeli Teen Who Urinated On Memorial At Auschwitz Ordered To Pay $1,350
A woman walks through snow near the entrance to the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau with the lettering “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work makes you free”) in Oswiecim, Poland. Image by JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images
(JTA) — An Israeli teen who was caught urinating on a memorial commemorating the victims of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp has been ordered to pay a fine.
The Israeli man, 19, in March urinated on a monument located near the ruins of the crematoria in the former Birkenau camp. The museum’s guide saw and notified guards, who in turn called the police. He was questioned for several hours and released at the time.
“The court found the accused guilty as charged and imposed a fine of 5,000 zloty ($1,350),” Daria Pichorz from the district court in the southern city of Krakow told the AFP news agency on Tuesday.
According to Polish law, those who desecrate a monument or other public place commemorating a historical event or a person can be punished with a fine or imprisonment.
The teen reportedly had accepted the fine as punishment at the time of his questioning. The fine was ordered this week by the regional court in the town of Oswiecim where Auschwitz is located. The teen, who has been identified as Zeev K., was not present for the verdict, according to AFP.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
