Auschwitz accuses Russia of using faked museum pictures as propaganda

The Auschwitz museum has accused Russia of using the historic site for propaganda purposes. Last week, several Russian state-affiliated accounts began posting images of Auschwitz with poorly spelled English captions. One post, from the Russian Arms Control Delegation in Vienna said:"Labels in Auschitz June 22: 'Russia and Russians, we hate you. The only gas you and your country deserve is Zyclone B" They say: 'There is no Russophobia', they claim 'There is no threat for Russia'! They lie to your eyes Labels in Auschitz June 22: 'Russia and Russians, we hate you. The only gas you and your country deserve is Zyclone B' So, a Nazi only says truth when he says 'I'll kill you' pic.twitter.com/XSHgtnLBxY — Russian Arms Control Delegation in Vienna (@armscontrol_rus) June 23, 2022 Shortly after the incendiary claims were made, the official Auschwitz museum account tweeted that the pictures were "gross propaganda." In a statement, Auschwitz said: “The use of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial for propaganda that lends credence to alleged Russophobia and strengthens theories about the need for denazification of Ukraine should be opposed by all thinking people worldwide.” Since the beginning of the conflict earlier this year, Russia has attempted to invoke Nazism in various ways, saying that Ukraine was led by 'drug-addicted' Nazis. In May, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that Hitler was part Jewish. When asked about how Russia was "De-nazifying" a country with a Jewish leader, he said: "I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood. [That Zelensky is Jewish] means absolutely nothing. Wise Jewish people say that the most ardent anti-Semites are usually Jews." Early on in the conflict, Russian forces bombed the area of Kyiv containing the Babyn Yar memorial, a monument to the massacre of the same name that's considered to be the first major massacre in the Soviet Union's "Holocaust of bullets."

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