The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), Australia’s leading organisation fighting hatred in all its forms, has called on Niantic, makers of the Pokémon Go app to remove Auschwitz and all other Nazi death camps, as well as Holocaust Museums and memorials, including in Australia, from the game. According to news reports, Auschwitz has been a PokéStop” where people can catch items and cartoon creatures.
Dr. Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC, issued the following statement:
“This is offensive trivialization and cheapening of memory of the worst kind. I really should not have to say this, but Pokémon Go should not be played in Auschwitz where more than 1.1 million people were murdered and gassed, or in any other Nazi death camps or killing fields associated with genocide. These extermination sites, locations of indescribable atrocities and suffering where men, women and children were slaughtered, should not become a gaming playground for players to hunt for cartoon creatures. It is entirely inappropriate and disrespectful, violates these sacred and hallowed grounds, and is a slap in the face of the victims, survivors and their families. Such places should serve as platforms for sombre reflection and for memorialisation of the dead, not as opportunities for recreational entertainment.”
The Anti-Defamation Commission, founded in 1979, is Australia’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through educational programs that combat bigotry, prejudice and all forms of hatred.
For further information please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on (03) 9272 5677