Berlin police apologize after officers do push-ups at Holocaust memorial

Berlin’s police chief is apologizing after officers were pictured doing push-ups in front of a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in the German capital.

Pictures published by German tabloid B.Z. showed police officers leaning on one of the slabs at the memorial to practice push-ups, The Associated Press reported.

The publication said the pictures were stills from a video apparently taken by officers in May when they were stationed in the area due to ongoing demonstrations.

“The colleagues’ behavior disrespects what this memorial stands for and also offends the memory of those who were murdered,” Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik said in a statement, according to the AP.

Slowik said her department will examine the incident internally. 

The GdP, Germany’s police union, has also apologized and condemned the incident, calling it “tasteless” and saying there should be consequences for the officers involved.

“The Holocaust memorial is not an adventure playground,” the police union said in its statement. 

The memorial, which opened in 2005, includes a field of 2,700 concrete blocks. Visitors are told not to run and jump in the area, the AP noted.