Defunct German synagogue hosts gas chamber exhibit, sparks outrage
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER

The German Jewish community is outraged at a controversial performance artist who has turned a synagogue into a gas chamber.

Santiago Sierra, a Spanish artist, set up an exhibition in which automobile exhaust is channeled into the sanctuary of the defunct Pulheim-Stommeln Synagogue. Visitors must don gas masks and be accompanied by a fireman to take a tour of the building, which hosts art exhibits but not longer serves as a house of worship.

"The art project of Santiago Sierra is a scandal. This is a base provocation at the expense of victims of the Holocaust," declared Stephan Kramer, the secretary-general of the Central Committee of Jews in Germany, in a statement.

He called the exhibit a "shameless abuse of artistic freedom" and a "tasteless artistic spectacle that insults the dignity not only of victims of the Holocaust but also the Jewish community, [and has] absolutely nothing to do with the culture of memory and memorials." The rest