Holocaust Memorial Museum and Auschwitz Memorial ask to be excluded from ‘Pokemon Go’
The app has become a viral sensation, but after users started playing the game in somber places, some organizations weren’t amused.
Pokemon Go has completely taken over the mobile gaming space, but we’re quickly finding out that some places aren’t exactly appropriate locations to “catch them all.”
The game, which uses augmented reality technology that enables users to catch Pokemon characters in public areas, called “Pokestops,” has even crept into hallowed ground.
The Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Auschwitz Memorial, for example, have asked Niantic—Pokémon Go’s creator—to remove them from the list of Pokestops.
“Playing the game is not appropriate in the museum, which is a memorial to the victims of Nazism,” Holocaust Museum communications director Andrew Hollinger told The Washington Post . “We are trying to find out if we can get the museum excluded from the game.”
To make matters worse, disputed reports have surfaced that a poisonous gas-emitting Pokemon character called Koffing can be found in the museum.
The Auschwitz Memorial posted the following tweet urging Niantic to disallow the game to use its site:
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