A British woman has faced criticism after posting videos complaining about the price and quality of drinks available to tourists at the Auschwitz concentration camp. The TikToker, whose account has since been made private, described a strawberry smoothie as "very watered down" and compared a bottle of lemonade to "toilet cleaner" in footage that has now been taken down.
In the video, the woman also criticised the prices, saying: "Nine pound for the two and its just a little bottle. It's very expensive." The clips attracted millions of views before being removed from public view.
Backlash over tone at memorial site
Many online condemned her attitude, pointing out that the quality of the beverages should not be the main takeaway when visiting a site of such tragic historical significance. Approximately 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz, of which 90% were Jewish.
In a follow-up video, the woman appeared to address the criticism and double down on her view, asking: "Do you feel that the café at Auschwitz is at fault for making money out of a death camp? should they be doing that. I've had a load of abuse at the poor quality and expensive price of things in the café. Surely the people in the café are making money ...out of a death camp."
Museum response
She also said: "They're charging 50 pounds for a tour of it. its all a money making thing. You say it goes back into maintaining it but those buildings... people have got to have drinks, people have got to eat. some of those tours take hours."
A spokesman for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum told The Sunday Times that the cafeteria was outside the visitor services centre and was operated by an external provider with prices clearly displayed. He said: "For us, the essential point remains that people come to the Auschwitz Memorial to learn about the history of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, to confront the fate of its victims and to commemorate them."
The account, labelled Freespirit666, has since been made private. The Daily Star has made efforts to approach the user for comment.
