--- title: "Elon Musk Visits Auschwitz, Twists Holocaust Into Excuse to Make Money" description: "Elon Musk is using a visit to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau to clear his name and promote his social media network." date: "2024-01-23" modified: "2024-01-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-visits-auschwitz-holocaust" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "holocaust" - "Israel" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk Visits Auschwitz, Twists Holocaust Into Excuse to Make Money ![Elon Musk is using a visit to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau to clear his name and promote his social media network.]() *\Image: Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images\* Multi-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk is no stranger to [spreading conspiracy theories](), giving [neo-Nazis a platform]() on the internet, and [endorsing vicious antisemitic propaganda](). After landing in hot water for an "abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate," as the [White House put it]() in its statement last year denouncing him for promoting horrid antisemitism, Musk is continuing on his apology tour. First, he [flew to Israel]() in an apparent attempt to quell a [growing advertiser exodus]() fuelled by his hateful antics. Now, he's using a [visit to the Nazi death camp]() Auschwitz-Birkenau to clear his name. Worse yet, he's spinning the trip into a self-serving and asinine argument for why his social media company X-formerly-Twitter is important. According to a video presentation that played before Musk took the stage at an event in the nearby Polish city of Krakow, had social media existed in the 1930s, the Holocaust would've never happened — a blindingly ignorant argument. Musk was joined by right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro for a conversation following the video. The pair even went as far as to show photoshopped pictures of [fake tweets](), showing verified accounts alerting people of the atrocities taking place in Auschwitz in the 1940s. One fake Community Notes [comment]() pointed out that the "Jewish community in Auschwitz is striving for food, not thriving" — an inconceivable attempt to make light of one of the darkest chapters in history. And no, we're not making this up. "There are a million things you can say here but the most obvious one is before Nazi Germany built death camps they revoked the rights of free movement for Jewish people," author Aaron Gordon wrote in a [post on Bluesky](), "and even if they could leave most countries barred all but a token number of refugee Jews from entry." "Cartoon history shit," he added. Beyond spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories on his social media network, Musk has also argued that Black students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) [shouldn't become pilots](), as he claimed their IQs aren't high enough. "It will take an airplane crashing and killing hundreds of people for them to change this crazy policy of DIE," he [tweeted]() earlier this month, intentionally mixing up the letters of the acronym for "diversity, equity, and inclusion." The [racist outburst]() was met with outrage from civil rights groups. "The only thing anyone needs to hear from Musk about diversity in the workplace is an apology," Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, [told *NBC News*](), calling his statements "abhorrent and pathetic" at the time. Meanwhile, Musk is still fumbling in trying to clear his name. "Two-thirds of my friends are Jewish," he told audiences at the event in Krakow, as [quoted by the *New York Times*](). "I’m Jewish by association. I’m aspirationally Jewish." According to Musk, he had never heard about antisemitism "at dinner conversations" and called it "like an absurdity — at least in my friend circles." That's rich, coming from a man who's thrown his considerable weight behind antisemitic conspiracy theories. **More on Musk:** *[Elon Musk Cosigns Racist Claim That Black Students Have Low IQs]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()