A Republican congressman made an astonishingly tone-deaf video from inside an Auschwitz gas chamber
Concentration camp selfies are never a good idea, but Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) apparently didn't get the memo. The Louisiana lawmaker uploaded an ill-advised hand-held video of his visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland, in which he used the horrors of the Holocaust as a segue to promoting homeland security — all over a clichéd, mournful-sounding violin soundtrack.
Over the course of the five-minute video, Higgins attempts to express his "great sense of dread," apparently oblivious to the wildly inappropriate nature of his video. At one point, speaking from a gas chamber, Higgins details the way cyanide pellets were used to murder thousands of people, concluding, "This is why homeland security must be squared away, why our military must be invincible."
The Auschwitz Memorial responded to Higgins' video on Twitter:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"I note the two final words in Hebrew — 'al sheket,'" one Twitter user responded, "which means 'in silence.'"
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations



