People asked to stop trying to catch Pokémon inside Auschwitz and Holocaust Museum
Obsessive Pokémon Go fans have been asked to stop playing the game inside the US Holocaust Museum and Auschwitz.
The massively popular new smartphone game, which is already a global hit despite only being officially released in three countries, tracks players’ location and allows them to ‘hunt’ for Pokémon in the real world.
The game pulls data from Google Maps, which means that Pokemon, gyms and Pokéstops are automatically generated across the entire world as you travel in real life.
However, there’s some places that you probably shouldn’t be focused on catching Pokemon – as demonstrated by appeals from the Holocaust Museum and former Auchwitz concentration camp, both of which have been listed as in-game ‘PokéStops’.
The two locations, which commemorate the millions of Jewish people who were persecuted alongside other minorities including the disabled and LGBT people, have both put out appeals asking people to stop hunting for Pokémon on their premises.
Andrew Hollinger, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s communication’s director, told USA Today that it was inappropriate for the museum to be listed in the game, appealing to developer Niantic to remove it.
He said: “Technology can be an important learning tool, but this game falls far outside our educational and memorial mission.”
Meanwhile, the memorial at the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp has also asked for people to not play the game.
They tweeted to Niantic: “Do not allow playing ‘Pokémon Go’ on the site of our Memorial and similar places. It’s disrespectful to the memory of victims!”
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