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­Poland investigates Swedish artist's claim he used Holocaust ashes in artwork

Published time: January 08, 2013 17:38
Edited time: January 09, 2013 02:38
A pile of human bones and skulls is seen in 1944 at the Nazi concentration camp of Majdanek in the outskirts of Lublin, the second largest death camp in Poland after Auschwitz. (AFP Photo)

Tags

Art, History, Scandal, WWII

Poland has launched an investigation into a Swedish artist’s claim that he used the ashes of Holocaust victims to create a painting. If proved true, the act may land the artist in prison for several years.

­Polish prosecutors started the legal action following the artist’s recent post on a Swedish gallery’s website in which he describes his scandalous creation, Associated Press reports.

The man claims that he got hold of the ashes during his visit of the former Nazi death camp in Majdanek, Poland in 1989. Carl Michael von Hausswolff wrote that he waited a long time before he actually used the ash in his small painting titled “Memory Works”.

Beata Syk-Jankowska said Tuesday that prosecutors in the eastern city of Lublin are eager to find out whether the artist is telling the truth or is just trying to gain publicity.

It will likely prove very hard to determine whether the Holocaust victims’ ashes were really used in the artwork. If so, it would most likely cause outrage among Holocaust survivors and those who preserve the memory of the Nazi death camps victims, including thousands of Poles.

What is now a memorial museum complex, was one of the horrifying Nazi death camps, that held around 150,000 people between 1941 and 1944. About 80,000 of people, most of whom Jews, died there.

Back in 1989 some ashes were still there at the camp’s crematorium area. Removing some of it would be a crime, however there was no security at the site to register the act, a spokeswoman for the museum, told The Associated Press.

If von Hausswolff’s claim proves to be true, he may face charges of desecrating human ashes and their resting place and face up to eight years in prison according to Polish law.

Comments (9)

Europe1 (unregistered) 10.01.2013 00:04

How...how could you even test this ? More importantly, why!?
The S.S. (unregistered) wrote in #7Where did you get those? Were gonna find you and kill you. Stealing is against nazi policy. Work or die b****




^ You're not a national Socialist. No, no. You know what you are? You're a troll and most likely a Zionist JIDF stooge. You couldn't walk ten minutes in the boots of an SS man. They were crusaders, you are little more than a rogue who spends his time purposely misrepresenting a long-dormant political ideology to further the West's institutional hate-propaganda.

And guess what? I am a new breed of Crusader, and I will be the end of your kind.
=========== ==================== ==================== ==
Yeah i know exactly what breed of Crusader you are... The one who steps out of line once and has been under basic internet surveillan ce by the over power governments we have and will not stand the slightest of chances of doing a single thing in this world. Step 1. Remove head out of a$$. Step 2, realize you are being monitored at all times, not by humans but by software programs. Step 3. Attempt to still pursue your retarded crusade. Thats all the steps you are able to take... Of to prison for undisclosed time to rot like a thrown out piece of meat. The End.

0

Undo

Brasivnika 09.01.2013 23:03

How...how could you even test this ? More importantly, why!?
The S.S. (unregistered) wrote in #7Where did you get those? Were gonna find you and kill you. Stealing is against nazi policy. Work or die b****




^ You're not a national Socialist. No, no. You know what you are? You're a troll and most likely a Zionist JIDF stooge. You couldn't walk ten minutes in the boots of an SS man. They were crusaders, you are little more than a rogue who spends his time purposely misrepresenting a long-dormant political ideology to further the West's institutional hate-propaganda.

And guess what? I am a new breed of Crusader, and I will be the end of your kind.

0

Undo

The S.S. (unregistered) 09.01.2013 13:55

Where did you get those? Were gonna find you and kill you. Stealing is against nazi policy. Work or die b****

0

Undo

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