Auschwitz officials chastise American lawmaker for video
Rep. Higgins of La. recorded from death camp’s gas chamber
Officials at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum chastised a U.S. congressman who recorded a video in which he lobbies for a strong military and tight homeland security from inside a gas chamber at the Nazi death camp in Poland.
Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins recorded five minutes of video, including some from areas of the site where Jews were gassed and their bodies burned. Higgins, an Army veteran and former police officer, briefly explains in the video how the victims were killed.
“This is why homeland security must be squared away, why our military must be invincible,” Higgins says, with some of the ovens in the background.
That drew the attention of Auschwitz officials.
“Everyone has the right to personal reflections. However, inside a former gas chamber, there should be mournful silence. It’s not a stage,” the museum tweeted Tuesday.
The New York-based Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect also condemned the video.
“Congressman Higgins, Auschwitz is not a television studio,” Steven Goldstein, the center’s executive director, said in a statement. “It is the site of genocide and tragedy for the Jewish people that you have disrespected. Not only must you apologize, but you must also get the sensitivity training appropriate for your continued service in the U.S. Congress.”
In a statement Wednesday, Higgins apologized and said he has taken down the video.
“I filmed the Auschwitz message with great humility," Higgins said in the statement. “My intent was to offer a reverent homage to those who were murdered in Auschwitz and to remind the world that evil exists, that free nations must remember, and stand strong.
“However, my message has caused pain to some whom I love and respect. For that, my own heart feels sorrow. Out of respect to any who may feel that my video posting was wrong or caused pain, I have retracted my video. ... My sincere apology for any unintended pain is extended.”
The video was posted Saturday on the conservative Lee Johnson Media’s YouTube channel. In the video, Higgins goes on to say that man’s inhumanity “can be quite shocking.”
“It’s hard to walk away from gas chambers, ovens, without a very sober feeling of commitment, unwavering commitment, to make damn sure that the United States of America is protected from the evils of the world,” Higgins said.
Higgins made news last month after a terror attack in London when he posted on Facebook that “the free world ... all of Christendom ... is at war with Islamic horror. Not one penny of American treasure should be granted to any nation who harbors these heathen animals.” That post drew an outcry on social media.