Photo: Contributed - Instagram

Visitors to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland were outraged by the decision of the Auschwitz Memorial to install outdoor mist sprinklers.

The sprinklers were set up outside of the memorial and had many people reeling.

“As a Jew who has lost so many relatives in the Holocaust, they looked like the showers that the Jews were forced to take before entering the gas chambers,” Meir Bulka told The Jerusalem Post.

Reactions to photos shared on social media ranged from confusion to shock.

The Auschwitz Memorial museum responded to the controversy on its Facebook page, saying “the sprinklers are installed on the days of highest temperatures and removed when the temperature drops.

“Among visitors there are many people who come from countries where such high temperatures as we have this summer in Poland do not occur.

“Something had to be done, as we have noticed cases of faints among people and other dangerous situations. Therefore we had to do everything we could to minimize the risks connected with the heat and high temperatures. The safety and health of visitors are our priority during the period of extreme heat. Cooling air have been really helpful to visitors in this difficult situation.

“It is really hard for us to comment on some suggested historical references since the mist sprinkles do not look like showers and the fake showers installed by Germans inside some of the gas chambers were not used to deliver gas into them.”

- with files from CTV