WWE Apologizes for Depiction of Auschwitz in Video Promo at WrestleMania 39

WWE issued an apologetic statement regarding the use of imagery from the Auschwitz concentration camp in a promo package for WrestleMania 39 last weekend.

According to David K. Li of NBC News, a WWE spokesperson said: "We had no knowledge of what was depicted. As soon as we learned, it was removed immediately. We apologize for this error."

The statement was in response to a critical tweet from the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum, which called WWE "shameless" for "exploiting" a symbol of suffering and tragedy:

In the initial video package for the WrestleMania match between Rey Mysterio and his son, Dominik Mysterio, an image of Auschwitz was used in an apparent attempt to show a prison yard.

During the storyline between Rey and Dominik, Rey had Dom arrested at one point, which led to him adopting an ex-convict character. At WrestleMania, Dominik entered SoFi Stadium inside a police vehicle while wearing handcuffs.

Rey went on to win the match when Grammy-winning musician Bad Bunny prevented Dominik from using a chain against his father.

WrestlingInc's Shaun Ranft confirmed WWE's assertion that while an image of Auschwitz was in the video package for Rey vs. Dominik at first, it was eventually removed and not featured in the promo that played during WrestleMania.

Of the several concentration and extermination camps built and run by the Nazi regime during World War II in the 1940s, Auschwitz is among the most infamous—of the estimated 1.3 million people sent there, 1.1 million were murdered.

Auschwitz played a significant role in the Holocaust, which was the Nazis' attempt to kill every Jewish person in the world.

From 1941 through 1945, an estimated 6 million Jewish people and at least 5 million non-Jewish prisoners of war were killed by the Nazi regime, its allies and collaborators.