一名美国陆军指挥官被停职，等待对发给陆军征兵人员的备忘录进行调查，该备忘录在官方信件中使用了奥斯威辛臭名昭著的纳粹口号。
1940年至1945年期间，估计有130万人被驱逐到波兰南部工业城镇奥维契姆附近的纳粹死亡集中营。该营地是110多万男女老幼的墓地。
那些被送到被称为奥斯威辛一号的主集中营的人，会从一扇写着“劳动让你自由”的大铁门下走过2019年，德克萨斯州休斯顿的美国陆军征兵人员通过了展示的座右铭，因为他们的指挥官将臭名昭著的纳粹短语作为激励计划的一部分，鼓励陆军征兵人员完成更多新兵招募合同。
备忘录在给下属的正式信函中写道:“工作会让你自由，不变”。" 1合同=蓬莱[相线剩余部分没有星期六工作日."
另一行写道:“如果你在损益表上写了6份或更多合同，你就是上帝，我会在CCG[公司指挥部为你立一座圣殿。”
官方信件是由“征兵真相”发布的，这是一个旨在审查美国陆军征兵司令部的脸书网页。该页面还为军队招募者提供了一个匿名发泄作为一名军队招募者的斗争的论坛。
联系人新闻周刊《陆军征兵真相》的管理人员说，根据陆军征兵人员和管理人员提供给本出版物的截图，截图是由休斯顿地区的一名美国陆军征兵人员发来的。
“备忘录被钉在公司公告栏上，至少从一月份开始就在那里了，”要求不透露姓名的陆军征兵真相的管理人员说。
当被问及《征兵真相》是否增加了奥斯威辛集中营前门的图片时，这位管理人员说新闻周刊这张照片是贴在公司公告板上的备忘录的一部分。
联系人新闻周刊周四，美国陆军征兵司令部表示，他们知道休斯顿地区一名征兵连长发出的备忘录。
美国陆军征兵司令部公共事务主任凯利·布兰德在一份声明中说:“指挥官已经被停职，等待我们目前对局势的调查结果。”。“一旦调查完成，所有事实都为人所知，征兵领导人将采取适当行动。当一个人参军时，他们必须遵守很高的道德和伦理标准——选择不遵守我们价值观的士兵将为他们的行为负责。”
在给的后续电子邮件中新闻周刊周四，来自美国陆军征兵司令部的官员表示，他们将在公司公告栏上张贴奥斯威辛的照片，调查备忘录。
“备忘录是以数字方式分发的，不包含任何图像。我们没有证据或理由相信连长分发了围栏的照片，但这将作为调查的一部分进行调查，”美国陆军征兵司令部发言人说。
声明中没有提到招募连长的名字。陆军征兵真相的管理人员说，休斯顿的征兵人员不久前已经实现了他们的征兵目标，但是地区指挥官仍然迫使他们工作到深夜——这个问题一直困扰着五角大楼的征兵团体。
早在2009年，美国陆军调查了NPR休斯顿征兵营的一系列自杀事件据报告的。军队包括这四起自杀事件源于“指挥环境、压力、个人事务和医疗问题”
然而，尽管工作时间很长，文书工作没完没了，军队招募真相的管理者说新闻周刊:“有些事情你不能开玩笑。”
在对...的声明中新闻周刊一位发言人周四在华盛顿的美国大屠杀纪念博物馆说，一名美军指挥官用纳粹的话来说是“对美国军方遗产的攻击，美国军方在击败纳粹暴政和解放中发挥了决定性作用纳粹集中营。"
“奥斯威辛已经成为纳粹集中营系统的象征，它曾被用来对欧洲犹太人进行种族灭绝，迫害和谋杀许多其他人。在奥斯威辛集中营和其他纳粹集中营的门口，阿尔贝特·马赫特·弗雷是一句残酷、愤世嫉俗和欺骗性的口号。华盛顿纪念馆和博物馆的传播主任安德鲁·霍林格说:“滥用纳粹的话是对大屠杀受害者和幸存者的贬低。”
詹姆斯·拉波尔塔为《新闻周刊》报道国家安全和国防部。他是前美国海军陆战队步兵和情报室主任。你可以在推特上跟踪他。
这张摄于2009年12月18日的照片展示了波兰奥斯威辛的前纳粹集中营奥斯威辛的“劳动自由”标志的复制品。一名美国陆军征兵指挥官正在接受调查，因为他将这个口号作为激励计划的一部分，以此来换取休假。
US ARMY COMMANDER SUSPENDED AFTER NOTORIOUS AUSCHWITZ DEATH CAMP MOTTO USED TO ENCOURAGE RECRUITMENT
A United States Army commander has been suspended pending an investigation into a memo sent out to Army recruiters that used Auschwitz's infamous Nazi slogan in official correspondence.
An estimated 1.3 million people were deported to the Nazi death camp near the industrial town of Oświęcim in southern Poland between 1940 and 1945. The camp is the graveyard of over 1.1 million men, women, and children.
Those sent to the Main Camp, known as Auschwitz I, would pass under a large iron gate bearing the words "Arbeit macht frei," or "Work sets you free." In 2019, U.S. Army recruiters in Houston, Texas, passed by the displayed motto after their commander included the infamous Nazi phrase as part of an incentive program to encourage Army recruiters to complete more enlistment contracts of new recruits.
"Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Will Set You Free) NO CHANGE," the memo said in official correspondence to subordinates. "1 Contract=No Saturday work days for the remainder of the PL [phase line]."
"If you write 6 contracts or more in a PL you are a god and I make a shrine to you in the CCG [Company Command Group]," another line said.
The official correspondence was posted by "Truth of Army Recruiting," a Facebook page aimed at scrutinizing U.S. Army Recruiting Command. The page also provides a forum for Army recruiters to vent, anonymously, about the struggles of being a military recruiter.
Contacted by Newsweek, the administrator of Truth of Army Recruiting said the screenshot was sent in by a U.S. Army recruiter in the Houston area, according to screenshots provided to this publication between the Army recruiter and the administrator.
The memo was pinned to the company bulletin board and had been there since at least January, said the administrator of Truth of Army Recruiting, who asked not to be named.
When asked if Truth of Army Recruiting added the image showing the front gate of Auschwitz, the administrator told Newsweek the photograph was a part of the memo that was pinned to the company bulletin board.
Contacted by Newsweek on Thursday, U.S. Army Recruiting Command said they were aware of the memo sent out by a recruiting company commander in the Houston area.
"The commander has been suspended pending the outcome of our current investigation into the situation," said Kelli Bland, the director of public affairs for U.S. Army Recruiting Command, in a statement. "Army recruiting leaders will take appropriate action once the investigation is complete and all facts are known. When an individual enters into the military, they are held to high moral and ethical standards — Soldiers who choose not to live up to our values will be held accountable for their actions."
In a follow-on email to Newsweek from U.S. Army Recruiting Command on Thursday, officials said they would look into the memo with the Auschwitz image being hung on the company bulletin board.
"The memo was distributed digitally and did not contain any images. We have no evidence or reason to believe that the company commander distributed a photograph of the fence, but this will be looked into as part of the investigation," said a spokeswoman for U.S. Army Recruiting Command.
The statement did not identify the recruiting company commander by name. The administrator of Truth of Army Recruiting said the recruiters in Houston had achieved their recruiting goals not long ago, but area commanders were still pushing them to work late into the evenings—a problem that has plagued the Pentagon's recruiting community.
Back in 2009, the U.S. Army investigated a collection of suicides in the Houston Recruiting Battalion, NPR reported. The Army concluded that the four suicides stemmed from "the command climate, stress, personal matters, and medical problems."
Yet, despite the grueling hours and never-ending paperwork, the administrator of Truth of Army Recruiting told Newsweek: "There are some things you just don't joke about."
In a statement to Newsweek on Thursday from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, a spokesman said, a U.S. Army commander using the Nazi phrase was, "offensive to the legacy of the U.S. military which played a decisive role in defeating Nazi tyranny and liberatingNazi camps."
"Auschwitz has come to symbolize the Nazi camp system that was used to perpetrate genocide against Europe's Jews and persecute and murder many others. Arbeit Macht Frei was a cruel, cynical, and deceptive slogan at the gate of Auschwitz and other Nazi camps. Misusing Nazi phrases is demeaning to Holocaust victims and survivors," said Andrew Hollinger, the director of communications for the Washington memorial and museum.
James LaPorta reports on national security and the Defense Department for Newsweek. He is a former U.S Marine infantryman and intelligence cell chief. You can follow him on Twitter @JimLaPorta.
This picture taken on December 18, 2009 shows a replica of the "Arbeit macht frei" sign at the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz in Oswiecim, Poland. A U.S. Army recruiting commander is under investigation for using the slogan as apart of an incentive program to keep military recruiters working hard in exchange for days off work.
