Maldita la gracia

Estonian gas company uses 

Auschwitz image in ad

By JTA

08/26/2012

GasTerm Eesti publishes photograph of Auschwitz with the caption "Gas heating - flexible, convenient, and effective."

Photo by: REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

An Estonian gas company used a photo of Auschwitz to advertise their products.

The website of the Estonian company GasTerm Eesti on Aug. 23 published a photograph of the front gate of the Nazi camp Auschwitz with the famous inscription "Arbeit macht frei," or work makes you free. The caption of the photo read: "Gas heating - flexible, convenient, and effective."

The next day the photo was removed from the company's website and an apology was posted there.

Company director Sven Linros said, according to DzD.ee portal, "Hitler killed himself because he got a gas bill ... a lot of people laugh at this, but I do not. I visited Auschwitz with dread. I feel sorry for the victims and their families. The picture was intended for a narrow group of people. We wanted to clarify that the CH4 gas is not toxic and can be used to heat buildings even those with such a sad history."

This is not the first case of Auschwitz pictures being used in advertisements. In January, a gym in Dubai used an image from Auschwitz with the tag line "Kiss your calories goodbye."

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