Auschwitz memorial site closed due to threat of flooding

Auschwitz memorial closed due to flood threat

WARSAW, Poland — A spokesman says the site of the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau has been closed indefinitely due to a threat of flooding.

Jaroslaw Mensfelt said Tuesday that the memorial site is threatened by high water in two nearby rivers, the Vistula and the Sola, following days of heavy rain.

Archives and some exhibits, including brushes and bowls that belonged to victims, have been moved from ground level to upper floors of buildings that house them.

Mensfelt said it is the first time that Auschwitz, which gets about a million visitors a year, has closed due to the threat of flooding.

During World War II, Nazi Germany killed more than 1 million people at the death camp. The overwhelming majority of the victims were Jews.