ROME (JTA) — The president of the Jewish community of Rome was detained overnight by Polish police after recording an interview at the former Auschwitz concentration camp.

Riccardo Pacifici and well-known Italian journalist David Parenzo were released from police custody on Wednesday morning following the intervention of the Italian Embassy in Poland.

They had been brought in for questioning on Tuesday after conducting the interview for an Italian television station following a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the camp’s liberation. Left alone on the camp’s grounds, Pacifici and Parenzo attempted to leave Auschwitz at midnight via a side exit, according to the Italian media.