Two Turkish students detained in Poland for Nazi salute at Auschwitz

ISTANBUL

Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon visit the former Auschwitz concentration camp during avisit at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial site on Nov 18, 2013 in Oswiecim, Poland. Two Turkish students have been detained in Poland for allegedly making a Nazi salute at the Auschwitz museum. AFP PHOTO

Two Turkish students, who have been detained in Poland for allegedly making a Nazi salute at an Auschwitz museum, may face up to three years in prison under Polish law, Israeli daily Haaretz has reported.

A man and a woman, both 22 years old, were seen taking each other’s pictures in front of the gate of the former Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau museum in Oswiecim, with their right hands raised in the air as in a Nazi salute.

They were standing in front of an iconic Nazi sign which means “Work makes you free.”

The two were reportedly studying history in Budapest and will be accused of public promotion of Nazi symbols, which is illegal in Poland.

They could face two years in prison if found guilty, according to a police spokesman who talked to a local newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.

Two other Turkish students also faced similar accusations after making the same gesture before a group of Israeli students at Majdanek museum in Poland in October.