Nearly everywhere you turn, it seems like people have their eyes glued to smartphone screens playing Pokemon Go. This week, however, it also became the home to a trio of “Pokestops”, where players of the immensely popular augmented reality game Pokemon Go can collect items and power-ups.
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That would be enough to irritate the museum curators who seek to maintain a somber atmosphere.
Several images are circulating online showing creatures in the museum, including one with a poison gas-type Pokemon called Koffing next to a sign for the Helena Rubinstein Auditorium. Millions of Holocaust victims were of course executed using poisonous gas. In fact, there are actually three different PokeStops associated with various parts of the museum.
‘We are trying to find out if we can get the museum excluded from the game’.
In Pokémon Go a player take the role of a “trainer”, travelling to real locations to “catch” virtual Pokémon that can be found using a smartphone’s Global Positioning System and camera. Still, the museum is “aware of and concerned” Koffing could potentially make an appearance.
The Pokémon Go craze is sweeping across America. There’s no word from the creators of Pokemon Go on removing the Holocaust Museum from the game yet, but here’s hoping it happens soon.
Several of the attractions at Crystal Bridges are featured in the game as Pokestops, and the museum, upon discovering this, made a decision to use them to attract visitors.
Although the museum is uncomfortable with its Pokemon infestation, most of the players building up their digital critter collection inside the building at least didn’t seem to mean any disrespect.
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Dustin, the player who planted the lure, bragged to Washington Post about catching the crablike Krabby in the lobby while waiting for a tour.
