'Yolocaust' Death camp memorial selfie snappers shamed into apologies
Tourists who took selfies at Berlin's Holocaust Memorial have apologised after being shamed on German-Israeli satirist Shahak Shapira's site – Yolocaust – where he used the pictures of the visitors to expose the disrespectful behaviour.
Shapira, who started the Yolocaust photo project on his website – "Yolocaust.de", had combined selfies, often with the participants grinning or striking poses at the memorial with graphic images from Nazi concentration camps, including piles of bodies.
He also displayed social media photos on the website, which depicted tourists jumping, climbing and striking yoga poses at the memorial. Shapira overlaid the smiling figures onto old photographs taken at concentration camps.
The disturbing photos also showed a couple taking a selfie in front of two starving young men.
Through his project, the satirist conveyed the message to the visitors, saying, "I'm watching you. Stop doing it."
According to reports, all 12 people whose selfies Shapira used in the project had contacted him and apologised for their discourteous behaviour. They had also removed inappropriate photos from their social media sites and private websites.
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"It's about fighting ignorance, making people realize where they are, what this place stands for," the German-Israeli satirist, who lost half his family in the Nazi genocide, said.
He added that for now, he has halted the shaming project after receiving apologies.
However, Peter Eisenman, the US architect who designed the memorial, said he loved the fact that people picnicked at the site.
"It is not the camp itself. It is not the sacred ground. It is a ground of remembrance and you can choose to remember in many ways, or not remember.
"It's become part of the fabric of the city," Eisenman said, and added that rather than this we should concentrate on growing power of the German right-wing, and such a memorial might not be approved in the first place now.
The Holocaust Memorial also known as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
The monument – which is built on the former location of the Berlin Wall – where the "death strip" once divided the city, is situated near the Brandenburg Gate. It comprises 2,711 tombstone-like slabs of granite of varying heights. It is often used by visitors for picnics, yoga and other activities.
