FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show The British Home Secretary Overlooking A Model Of Auschwitz?
A photo shared on Facebook allegedly shows British Home Secretary Suella Braverman overlooking a model of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.
Verdict: False
The image is digitally altered. The original photo shows a boy, not Braverman, sitting with the model.
Fact Check:
Braverman angered citizens with comments about Albanians last year by calling them “criminals,” according to the Guardian. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama condemned these comments, stating that they represent a “disgraceful moment for British politics,” Independent reported.
A Facebook image appears to show Braverman with a masked man on her right overlooking an Auschwitz model. Above the image is a map of the camp. “History never repeats itself,” text on the image reads. “But it does often rhyme,”
This photo is digitally altered, however. The original image can be found in an article titled “How I Honored My Grandfather’s Memory — With a 20-Square-Foot Model of Auschwitz.” Instead of Braverman, it shows a young boy wearing a kippah, a traditional Jewish cap.
The article, posted by Forward, a Jewish outlet, reveals that model was made by the young boy in the photo for a school project to honor his great-grandfather Edward Biderman. Biderman survived the camps by making toys for Nazi officers’ children.
The genuine image used of Braverman can be found on her verified Twitter account. She is shown here observing a model of a town, not Auschwitz. The model she is viewing represents homes that will accommodate those who relocated from the UK and Rwanada. (RELATED: Did Time Magazine Publish This Image Of The British Home Secretary Wearing A Swastika?)
I visited Bwiza Riverside Estate today to see new homes that will be available to accommodate those relocated from the UK as well as Rwandans.
Thank you to everyone working on this impressive project and congratulations to the new graduates of the scheme’s construction course. pic.twitter.com/bkhOEQSvdH
— Suella Braverman MP (@SuellaBraverman) March 18, 2023
Check Your Fact has reached out to Braverman’s office for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.
This is not the first time misinformation about Braverman has spread online. Check Your Fact previously debunked a claim that Time Magazine published a cover showing Braverman with Nazi iconography.