A German sausage museum found itself in hot water after its plans to relocate to a site used by the infamous Nazi concentration camp, Buchenwald, were discovered. It now says it will do a “complete reassessment” of the move.
Unable to handle the volume of visitors at its current spot, millions of euro had been set aside for the planned relocation of the German Bratwurst Museum to a larger site on the outskirts of the city of Muhlhausen. Plans for the revamped attraction – which features the nation’s favorite food – boasted several restaurants, accommodation and even a “sausage theatre” for visitors to enjoy.
However, that dream came to an embarrassing halt on Wednesday when it was revealed that the site, donated to the museum by private investors, was in fact an annex camp of the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Buchenwald was one of the largest Nazi labor camps on the German soil – some 250,000 victims of the Holocaust passed through its gates. Forced to work in nearby factories with little food and summary executions commonplace, some 56,000 are believed to have perished there before it was liberated in 1945.
Up to 700 Jewish women from Poland and Hungary were housed in the annex camp where the museum was planning to establish its new premises. They were forced to work as slaves in a nearby munitions factory.
It’s no wonder outrage arose within the local Jewish community, and holocaust-memorial groups and politicians promptly condemned the plan.
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Rikola-Gunnar Luttgenau of the Buchenwald Memorials Foundation told German news agency DPA that the plan lacked “sensitivity and historical awareness.” The head of the Jewish Community of Thuringia, meanwhile, labeled the move “unacceptable.”
Replying to a request for comment from RT, the association that runs the museum, Friends of the Thuringian Bratwurst, said the site’s pre-1945 history was completely “unknown to us” before Wednesday’s revelation.
Due to the facts that have come to light, it continued, “we will clarify the historical background within the next few days, and, with the involvement of officials and public opinion, make a complete reassessment [of the move].”
While the city’s council unanimously approved the plan for the new site with little regard for its sordid history on Thursday, for its part, the museum said it always “adheres to the principles of human rights.”
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This story was originally published by RT
via USAHint.com
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