(CNN) When the management at the Auschwitz Memorial installed sprinklers outside the former Nazi concentration camp in Poland, they thought they would create some cool comfort for visitors. Instead, it sparked a red-hot controversy.

Offended Jewish visitors over the weekend likened the misting stations to the "showers" used to exterminate members of their faith at the camp during World War II , Israeli media reported.

That was never the intent, museum management said.

"Because of the extreme heat wave we have experienced in August in Poland, mist sprinklers which cool the air were placed near the entrance to the Museum," the Auschwitz Memorial Facebook page said . Temperatures soared to the low 100s over the weekend.

The misters were placed near a ticket line at the entrance of the museum.

Miejsce przed Auschwitz stworzone dla ochłody. Choc w taki upał zbawienne, wygląda nieco przerażajaco. #auschwitz #oswiecim A photo posted by Nikola Tkacz (@nikolatkacz) on Aug 30, 2015 at 3:39am PDT

"As a Jew who has lost so many relatives in the Holocaust, they looked like the showers that the Jews were forced to take before entering the gas chambers," Meir Bulka told the Jerusalem Post

"All the Israelis felt this was very distasteful," he said. "Someone called it a 'Holocaust gimmick.'"

Photos: Liberation of Auschwitz Photos: Liberation of Auschwitz A doctor, center, with the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army, walks with a group of survivors at the entrance to the newly liberated Auschwitz I concentration camp in January 1945. The Red Army liberated the camp on January 27, 1945. Above the gate is the motto "Arbeit macht frei," which translates to "Work sets you free." Hide Caption 1 of 9 Photos: Liberation of Auschwitz Children are seen just after the liberation by the Soviets. About 7,000 prisoners were in the camp when the Soviets arrived. Those left behind were too weak or sick to move when Nazi SS officers forced nearly 60,000 prisoners to march west as the Soviets approached. Hide Caption 2 of 9 Photos: Liberation of Auschwitz Ivan Dudnik, a 15-year-old Russian, is rescued. The teen was described as insane from the treatment at the camp. Hide Caption 3 of 9 Photos: Liberation of Auschwitz Civilians and soldiers recover corpses from common graves shortly after the liberation. Historians estimate more than 1 million Jews, Gypsies, Soviet prisoners of war and Poles were murdered at the camp. Hide Caption 4 of 9 Photos: Liberation of Auschwitz Three prisoners talk with Soviet soldiers who liberated them. Hide Caption 5 of 9 Photos: Liberation of Auschwitz Female survivors in the barracks at the camp. Hundreds of prisoners were housed in the crowded quarters. Hide Caption 6 of 9 Photos: Liberation of Auschwitz Survivors of Auschwitz stand behind a barbed wire fence. Some of the children are seen wearing adult clothing they were dressed in by Soviet soldiers. Hide Caption 7 of 9 Photos: Liberation of Auschwitz Soviet soldiers are seen with liberated prisoners. Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: Liberation of Auschwitz Prosthetic limbs taken from executed prisoners are seen in a pile at the camp. Hide Caption 9 of 9

While some say museum management should have been more sensitive, officials at Auschwitz don't see a connection.

"It is really hard for us to comment on some suggested historical references since the mist sprinkles do not look like showers and the fake showers installed by Germans inside some of the gas chambers were not used to deliver gas into them," the Facebook page said.

Auschwitz was the largest of the Nazi concentration camps. It was here that the Nazis perfected their method of mass murder, using Zyklon B gas pumped into rooms that had fake showers.

Estimates vary, but about one million Jews are believed to have been executed at Auschwitz.