A Labour activist was suspended today after tweeting a mocked-up image of the notorious Auschwitz 'Arbeit Macht Frei' sign on a job centre.

Marianne Tellier is facing a formal investigation over the offensive post as the party's anti-Semitism crisis continued to rage.

The fervent Corbynista, who has served as a ward secretary in Sheffield Heeley, sent the message in response to a jokey cartoon about how work stops people having a life.

The image she tweeted shows a job centre sign, with the normal logo replaced with the words: 'Arbeit Macht Frei.'

Marianne Tellier is facing a formal investigation over the offensive post (pictured) as the party's anti-Semitism crisis continued to rage

The German phrase means 'Work Makes You Free', and it was used on the infamous iron gates at Auschwitz (pictured) and at other Nazi concentration camps

The row erupted as Jeremy Corbyn (pictured at his London home today) faces questions over why it took four days to sack his hard-left disciplinary chief for defending a Holocaust denier

The German phrase means 'Work Sets You Free', and it was used on the infamous iron gates at Auschwitz in Poland and at other Nazi concentration camps.

Author and comedian David Baddiel was among those who condemned the post online.

Amid a wave of criticism today, Ms Tellier complained she was 'being harangued by apartheid deniers'.

She retweeted messages suggesting that she was justified in using the Nazi phrase to highlight how the Tories were treating deprived members of society.

MailOnline has contacted MsTellier for comment.

Prisoners at Auschwitz were forced to make the five-metre sign, and it remains an enduring symbol of the Holocaust.

More than a million people - 90 per cent of them Jews - were murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz during the Second World War.

According to the Sheffield Star, the tweet was reported by a fellow Labour member from Sheffield Heeley CLP.

A Labour Party spokeswoman said: 'The Labour Party is committed to challenging and campaigning against antisemitism in all its forms.

Labour MP John Woodcock considering quitting party over Corbyn John Woodcock (pictured in Parliament this week) MP for Barrow and Furness, is contemplating quitting the Labour whip and spending the rest of his time in Parliament as an independent A leading Labour moderate is on the brink of quitting the party over Jeremy Corbyn's failure to tackle anti-Semitism and his response to the Salisbury attack. John Woodcock, MP for Barrow and Furness, is contemplating quitting the Labour whip and spending the rest of his time in Parliament as an independent. Mr Woodcock is an arch Corbyn critic and has previously said that he could not back him as Prime Minister. He is furious at the way Mr Corbyn has failed confront the anti-Semitism that has plunged Labour into crisis. The Labour leader stands accused of not confronting the abuse and anti-Semitic tropes peddled by his supporters and in his name. Advertisement

'Any complaints of antisemitism are taken extremely seriously.

'These are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate disciplinary action taken.'

The Liberal Democrat leader on Sheffield Council, Shaffaq Mohammed, told the Sheffield Star: 'This is absolutely appalling imagery and I expected better from the Labour Party.

We look to those in power to set an example. 'Anti-Semitism cannot be tolerated and it's clear from this Labour member's Twitter profile that action needs to be taken now.'

The row erupted as Jeremy Corbyn faces questions over why it took him four days to sack his hard-left disciplinary chief after she defended a Holocaust denier.

Christine Shawcroft was forced out of her post after it emerged that she had e-mailed colleagues to demand the activist be let back into the party.

The activist, Alan Bull, had been suspended for posting a link on Facebook to a fake news article titled: ‘International Red Cross report Confirms the Holocaust of Six Million Jews is a Hoax’.

But yesterday it emerged she would continue to sit on the panel, meaning she will still be able to pass judgment on people accused of anti-Semitism.

But Labour MPs are now calling for her to be kicked out of the Labour Party - and warn that if she is not then Mr Corbyn will be seen as a 'hypocrite'.

Ruth Smeeth, a Jewish Labour MP who sits for Stoke-on-Trent North, said that stepping down as chair was ‘not enough’.

She said. ‘Christine Shawcroft should not be on our NEC.’ Labour MP Ian Austin agreed: ‘Of course she shouldn’t be on our NEC.’

Others went further, including John Mann, a Labour MP who tweeted: ‘She needs expelling instantly.’ He added that she should also be sacked as the director of the Corbyn-backing campaign group Momentum.

Jewish groups also weighed in. Jennifer Gerber, director of the Labour Friends of Israel, said: ‘Christine Shawcroft should be suspended from the Labour Party and kicked off the NEC.’

But Miss Shawcroft received support from another member of the NEC, Peter Willsman, who called for activists to stand in support of Mr Corbyn and the ‘unjust attacks that are being made on him and the Labour Party’.

The Jewish Chronicle also said shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott insisted the anti-Semitism crisis was a ‘smear campaign against Jeremy’.

It came as Mr Corbyn revealed that 300 claims of Labour anti-Semitism had been received within the past three years, leading to 150 resignations or expulsions and Labour’s outgoing general secretary Ian McNicol accused the leader’s office of blocking measures to get tough on anti-Semitism.

Some 2,000 activists also signed an open letter blaming the anti-Semitism row on a ‘very powerful special interest group’.

Meanwhile, the Labour leader sparked fresh fury today by refusing to apologise for talking to banned terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

And his close ally John McDonnell was slammed for trying to shift the blame for the failure to tackle anti-Semitism on Labour's outgoing General Secretary Iain McNicol.

Commenting on Ms Shawcroft, Labour MP John Mann told Mail Online: 'She should be removed from the NEC immediately and expelled from the Labour Party...

'If Jeremy Corbyn does not do this then he has demonstrated his inability to lead if he doesn't sack her.'

But shadow chancellor Mr McDonnell toured the TV studios to defend Mr Corbyn's handling of the case and say Ms Shawcroft should not be sacked from the NEC.

Labour is in meltdown over anti-Semitism after its disciplinary chief Christine Shawcroft (pictured) resigned for opposing the suspension of an apparent Holocaust denier