Greater Manchester Police apologises for Nazi photo tweet
- Published
GMP received complaints about this picture of two men in SS uniforms standing next to a Kubelwagen
A police force has apologised after tweeting an image of two men dressed in Nazi uniforms standing next to a German military vehicle.
The picture was shared from Greater Manchester Police (GMP)'s official traffic account on Sunday.
The tweet was captioned: "M62 J22 On the west Yorkshire border. These two likely lads trying to invade".
GMP apologised saying the "unacceptable" post had "caused offence" and had since been deleted.
One Twitter user complained the tweet was "not right".
The men had been taking part in a Second World War re-enactment event in nearby Saddleworth, the Daily Telegraph reports, external.
Shulem Stern, part of London's Orthodox Jewish community, complained about the post saying, external: "Two guys dressed in SS uniform tweeted by official @gmpolice account. Not right."
He later tweeted that the "insensitive SS uniform tweet" had been removed before re-tweeting an apology from GMP.
GMP's tweet, external read: "It has been removed and we will speak to those involved. It was unacceptable."
A GMP spokesman said: "This post was deleted as soon as were made aware of it and we apologise for its content, as it was unacceptable.
"This matter has been referred to GMP's professional standards branch".
Mr Stern told the BBC he did not think the tweeter deliberately posted it to cause offence and said "education was key".
He added: "The Nazis rounded up millions of innocent people, including my great-grandfather, great-grandmother and their two young boys aged just two and six..they were taken to Auschwitz where they were murdered, simply because they were Jewish.
"To wear the SS uniform at a show about World War Two is one thing, but to dress like that in public, is likely to cause offence to any person who lost close relatives... as well as veterans and their relatives."