German Soccer Club Bayern Munich Apologizes For Tweet Evoking Auschwitz

Image by Getty, Twitter

By JTA March 17, 2016

Bayern Munich apologized to anyone who saw Holocaust imagery in a graphic the German soccer club posted on Twitter.

Replying to the original tweet hours after posting it Wednesday, Bayern said it had not meant to “hurt feelings” and was only trying to promote its match later that day against Juventus.

The graphic shows train tracks running toward Munich’s Allianz Arena. A crossed-out sign above the tracks reads, “Fino alla fine” – Juventus’ motto, which means “Until the end” in Italian.

“‘It’s an all-or-nothing game,’ says skipper @philipplahm. We’re ready,” one tweet read.

The graphic drew comparisons on social media to images of the railroad tracks leading to Auschwitz, where almost a million Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

Bayern said the sign refers to the fact that the losing team will be knocked out of contention for the Champion League title. The German club went on to win the match 4-2 and move onto the quarterfinals.

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