Americans Arrested For Breaking Into Auschwitz

A number of Americans were arrested for unlawfully entering the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp in Poland on Monday, police said.

Museum guards detained nine Jewish tourists – eight Americans and one Canadian aged 18 and 19 – at around 3 p.m. local time on Monday, the Małopolska Police said.

The tourists had been denied entry to the camp because they did not have tickets, the museum guards said. Around 15 minutes later, the guards noticed that the individuals had pushed aside a fence and entered the grounds.

The men were apprehended by officers and taken to the Auschwitz Police Headquarters on suspicion of entering the museum ground unlawfully. The offense is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to one year.

The tourists later admitted to the offense, and each faced a fine of PLN 3,000 ($834), along with another fine of PLN 1,000 ($278) to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, the police department said.

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This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 2:16 AM.