Misstep on social media: Poland complains about EU leader von der Leyen's post about Auschwitz

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EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

Photo: Markus Scholz/dpa

Poland has complained about an error in a social media post by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. The post on the social network X, formerly Twitter, suggested that the Auschwitz extermination camp during World War II was Polish.

Ursula von der Leyen's post on X was later corrected, clarifying that Auschwitz was a German Nazi death camp.

In the posting, von der Leyen and European Union commissioners pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Saturday. They write and say the names of some of the victims. The added text states her place and date of birth and death. In the original post, the Auschwitz camp was referred to only as “Poland.”

Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on

He demanded that “information posted on the European Commission’s social media be clarified.”

On Saturday, a group of Holocaust survivors and state officials held a ceremony at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and museum to mark the 79th anniversary of the camp's liberation by the Soviet army.

ktz/AP