(JTA) — A photo of a Nazi concentration camp was removed from an advertising campaign for a Dubai gym.
The photo of the railroad leading to Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of the campaign for The Circuit Factory gym in Dubai was removed last week from the gym’s Facebook page following complaints on Facebook and Twitter, according to reports.
Printed underneath the photo of the railroad was the phrase "Kiss your calories goodbye."
Phil Parkinson, the gym’s owner, apologized for using the photo.
Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League and a Holocaust survivor, welcomed the apology, calling it "appropriate and welcome."
"However," he said, "we are increasingly troubled by both the ignorance and mind-set of a generation that appears to be so distant from a basic understanding of the Holocaust that it seems acceptable to use this horrific tragedy as a gimmick to bring attention to promoting losing weight. The lessons of the Holocaust are profound and timeless."
Meanwhile, the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial said Jan. 6 that it had a record of more than 1.4 million visitors in 2011. Most of the visitors reportedly were from Poland.
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