Israeli parents wondered why school trips to Auschwitz cost so much. The answer may be price-fixing. [View all]
For an Israeli schoolchild, a trip to Poland to see World War II Nazi death camps can be a vital part of their education about the history of the Jewish faith and the Israeli state. For parents, however, it can be an expensive burden.
A few months ago, Israeli authorities began to covertly investigate the differences in prices between a number of tour operators offering these trips. They concluded that something was amiss. Now, the Israel Antitrust Authority has announced that nine tour operator executives have been arrested on suspicion of running a secret price-fixing ring that was aimed at artificially inflating the cost of trips to former Nazi death camps such as Auschwitz.
At least six tour operators are being investigated on suspicion of involvement in the alleged cartel. In some cases, the homes of company executives were searched and property confiscated. According to the publication Haaretz, one of those detained is also suspected of bribery.
The cost of these trips had long caused controversy within Israel. The project to send Israeli schoolchildren to Poland first began in the late 1980s, and it is estimated that about half of the Jewish schools in Israel offer the journeys to their pupils. The trips are sponsored by the Education Ministry and form part of the Holocaust curriculum, with students visiting Auschwitz and other World War II death camps, in addition to learning about the modern-day Jewish community.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/01/19/israeli-parents-wondered-why-school-trips-to-auschwitz-cost-so-much-the-answer-may-be-price-fixing/
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