Mauthausen staff call police after dispute erupts over teen wearing ‘Free Palestine’ shirt

Police were called to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial in Austria due to a dispute over a teen who wore a shirt reading “Free Palestine” that also featured the Palestinian flag and an apparent picture of a terrorist.

A video circulating on social media shows the teen touring the site of the Nazi concentration camp in Austria. The picture on his shirt is apparently of Dalal Mughrabi, who took part in a brutal 1978 terror attack that killed dozens of civilians.

The person filming, who is not identified, berates him over the shirt and confronts staff about whether the shirt or other political messaging is allowed in the camp. The teen does not respond to the criticism. The tour guide also does not respond to the questions about the shirt and attempts to continue her tour.

When the person filming says the shirt sends the message that “It’s OK to murder Jews,” a person on the tour responds, “No he is not. He is saying it’s not OK to murder Palestine people [sic].”

Another participant in the tour says the shirt opposes Israel committing genocide in Gaza.

The person filming vehemently objects to that characterization and tells the group, “Do better, your teachers have to do better. This is a fucking genocide here, what you’re learning about. Don’t fucking call other things a genocide. This is a genocide. Shame on you.”

Visitor to concentration camp wears Palestine t-shirt featuring terrorist who murdered Jews.

A video circulating online appears to show a visitor at the Mauthausen concentration camp wearing a shirt featuring a Palestine flag and an arch-terrorist responsible for the deaths of…

— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) August 7, 2026

The memorial site says in a statement that the teen in question was on a large tour from an anti-fascist camp, and that staff had not noticed his shirt.

“An incident occurred during a visit by around 600 participants from an international anti-fascist youth camp,” the statement says. “One participant was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Free Palestine.’ Our staff had not noticed this whilst supervising the large group. Nor was it initially possible to make sense of the vociferous reaction from one female visitor.”

The statement adds, “Once it became clear what the issue was, our staff reacted immediately. They tried to de-escalate the situation and, at the same time, called the police for assistance. However, the situation had already been brought under control by the time the police arrived.”

The statement adds that the site does not allow materials that “promote anti-Semitic, racist or generally discriminatory views, and do not undermine the dignity of the victims.” It does not say whether the shirt falls into that category.

The statement adds, “Currently, there is an increasing number of situations where political matters are associated with these sites, matters which are diametrically opposed to one another. The history and dignity of this place demand that such conflicts be resolved objectively and with mutual empathy. Provocative behaviour by other visitors is not welcome, and the memorial reserves the right to issue warnings in such cases.”