Piece representing naked Auschwitz inmates playing tag was part of exhibition sponsored by Israeli embassy.

A controversial piece of video art representing naked Jewish inmates playing tag at the Auschwitz death camp was removed by the Polish museum where it was exhibited after sparking outrage.

The video, by Artur Zmijewski, a Polish visual artist, filmmaker and photographer, was part of the “Poland – Israel – Germany. The experience of Auschwitz” exhibition which opened in May at Krakow's Museum of Contemporary Art.

The exhibition, endorsed and sponsored by Israel's Embassy in Poland, is devoted to the impact the former Nazi death camp has had on public discourse.

“The embassy has learned of criticism regarding the video in question and has contacted organizers with a request that the parts deemed offensive be removed,” anembassy’s spokesperson was quoted by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as saying.

Efraim Zuroff, a well-known Nazi hunter with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, was quoted by the Jerusalem Post as saying he was “very pleased that sanity prevailed and that this highly offensive exhibition was removed.”

“I want to make clear that this is only a partial victory since the video will be exhibited on the website of the museum along with a comment of the curator who saw nothing wrong in exhibiting it in the first place,” Zuroff further added. “At the same time, the whole episode raises very serious questions as to the role of our Foreign Ministry and the embassy in Warsaw.”

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