Influencer posing for photos on Holocaust memorial sparks outrage

The internet is divided

A now-viral TikTok clip shows an influencer posing at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, leaving both onlookers and TikTokers 'horrified beyond words’. Influencers in the Wild (@influencersinthewild) is a TikTok account known for posting videos of influencers behaving badly but even for them, this video has enraged social media users. The video shows a blonde woman sporting athleisure wear sitting on one of the concrete slabs and adjusting herself to post for the photographer that accompanied her. The photographer then instructs her on various positions, with the woman obeying every command as if at a real fashion shoot.

@influencersinthewild Don’t do this, ever #influencersinthewild ♬ original sound - Influencersinthewild

Since its posting in late October, the clip has since been viewed over 12m times, liked 1.5m times and received almost 30,000 comments. “I would have interrupted and told them to leave. Sorry but this is unacceptable and someone should have said something,” one viewer wrote. However not everyone is disgusted by the photoshoot, with many saying she is spreading awareness and using her social media following to promote the memorial. “Umm she’s using her platform to bring awareness to the memorial? I don’t see the issue,” writes one supporter. Another said: “Maybe she’s a tourist and didn’t know that?” “The memorial encourages adults, children etc to literally use it however they want. That was the whole point by the architect,” another added. But in 2017, the architect behind the memorial came to the defence of those choosing to do anything other than just stand and stare. He said: “People have been jumping around on those pillars forever. They’ve been sunbathing, they’ve been having lunch there and I think that’s fine.” He added: “It’s like a catholic church, it’s a meeting place, children run around, they sell trinkets. A memorial is an everyday occurrence, it is not sacred ground.” Related links: 

• Horrific pictures show what happened after woman defends man ‘attacked for being gay’
• Tory MP says his colleagues Nadhim Zahawi and Sajid Javid ‘look the same to me’
• Demi Lovato claims term ‘alien’ is offensive to extraterrestrials