Estonian gas company apologises after Auschwitz advert gaffe

The photograph of the inscription "Arbeit macht frei” over the gate at the site of the WW II German Nazi Auschwitz death camp in southern Poland appeared on the firm’s web site on 23 August with the slogan "gas heating – flexible, convenient and effective".

After complaints, the photograph was removed from the web site over the weekend and there is now an apology which reads: “"We sincerely apologize if anyone was offended by the photograph we published earlier."

“We wanted to clarify that the CH4 gas [which the company uses] is not toxic and can be used to heat buildings, even those with such a sad history,” company director Sven Linros told the DzD.ee web site.

Some Nazi extermination camps including Auschwitz used hydrogen cyanide in the form of Zyklon B to murder hundreds of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust.

Sven Linros added that it was not the intention of his energy company to fuel ethnic hatred.

"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 company director said. (pg)