Novosibirsk – a sauna in snowy Siberia chose the Auschwitz concentration for her advertisement and caused great anger among Jews and Holocaust survivors.
The Sauna called “Abwehr” – which is also the name of the German military intelligence apparatus – has released an advertisement on its website entitled “Auschwitz is nothing compared to the sauna.” The sauna is located next to a frozen river and swimmers are invited to use the hot sauna after spending time in the frozen river, a popular practice in Russia.
A local newspaper in Novosibirsk contacted the owner of the sauna, Вячеслав Боев, and asked him about the connection with Auschwitz and why he had published the offensive advertisement. The answer of the sauna owner did not leave much to the imagination concerning the motives of the owner: “Girl, what do you need to know? Why do not you try it? Curious? You know what Auschwitz is? What they were doing there? They burned people, yes. And my sauna is so hot that it is even hotter than Auschwitz “.
The newspaper contacted the local authorities and asked them if they will take action against the owners of the sauna but they chose to ignore the question.
Following the publication and the reactions the owner changed the name of the sauna and removed the offending advertisement. The original version of the page is available in Google’s cached version.
