An Israeli high school student was arrested and fined in Poland after allegedly performing a Nazi salute at Auschwitz-Birkenau while on an educational trip with his school.
The Polish government prohibits the public display of Nazi symbols, including gestures like the Nazi salute, under laws banning the promotion of fascism.
On Sunday, a 12th-grade student from a school in northern Israel allegedly made the salute near the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign at the camp's entrance, Ynetnews reported. Security guards, who monitored the act via surveillance cameras, detained the student and alerted Polish authorities.
The student was questioned for two hours and later fined 1,500 zloty, or approximately $370, before being released.
While some students on the trip claimed he was simply waving, the Israeli Education Ministry and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum condemned the act as deeply offensive and unacceptable.
"Committing such an act at the historical site, where Nazi Germany murdered approximately one million Jews, along with tens of thousands of Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and others, is not only deeply offensive and morally reprehensible but also a violation of the law," the museum told the outlet.
The student remains with his school group in Poland and is expected to return to Israel with them in the coming days.
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