Riccardo Pacifici, the leader of the Roman Jewish community whose grandparents died in Auschwitz, became locked in the Nazi concentration camp, while filming a TV show dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the camp’s liberation.
The leader, host and rest of the film crew realized they were trapped in the camp around 11 PM, with temperatures swiftly dropping to subzero levels. With no guards to let them out, the group attempted an escape through the box office window and ended up being arrested by local police.
Roman Jewish community spokesperson Fabio Perugia gave CNN an account of what happened:
“‘Riccardo Pacifici then pushed through a window that was in the ticket sales building, and the window opened up,’ Perugia said.
‘He entered and then opened the door for us. At that point, the alarm went off. And we thought, ‘Good, finally someone from security will come to let us out.'”
After this point, there have been conflicting accounts as to how the film crew and leader were treated by local law enforcement. Some claim there was a lack of cooperation by the crew, while others claim the the officials treating the crew “roughly,” like criminals.
The spokesperson for Auschwitz gave CNN his account of what had happened, defending the actions of the guards and the officers:
“He said CCTV footage shows they finished early and went to the gate a few minutes past 11 p.m. Rather than waiting for the security guards to come at the agreed time, one of them broke into the visitor center and let others in, too, he said.
This triggered an alarm, so the security guards came to the building, which houses cash registers and an ATM.
According to protocol, they asked the men to show ID, but they refused to do so, Sawicki said. The police had to be called since they can only demand that people show ID documents, he said.
The police then arrived and took over the matter, he said.”
Pacifici and the film crew were quickly released after the intervention of Italian diplomats.
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