Russia’s Anton Shulepov performs in the men free skating at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019/2020 NHK Trophy in Sapporo on November 23, 2019. Image by JUNKO KIMURA-MATSUMOTO/AFP via Getty Images

By Aiden Pink December 2, 2019

A Russian figure skater who recently competed wearing an outfit that is half Nazi-concentration camp guard and half-Jewish prisoner has been nominated for the International Skating Union’s award for best costume.

Anton Shulepov was listed Sunday among the 52 individuals or teams nominated for the ISU’s first annual best costume award.

Shulepov’s entry on the ISU’s online ballot originally featured an image of his free skate costume, the half-victim/half-oppressor getup that he skated in last month accompanied by the theme from “Schindler’s List.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

But after an online outcry, the image was changed to his short program costume of a dark sweater with black slacks, with the ISU claiming that he was actually nominated for his boring costume and not his flamboyant one.

“The ISU regrets that by error the wrong costume (Free Skating instead of Short Program costume) of Mr. Shulepov has been presented for voting,” the organization wrote on Twitter. “This error has been corrected and the ISU sincerely apologizes for this mistake and the bad sentiments it has caused.”

Many people on social media didn’t buy it.

You’re only making this worse, and frankly, it comes across to us Jewish fans as a crap move by a crap organization because a) we called you out, and b) people started tagging Jewish organizations over how wrong it was and is. DO BETTER.

— Isis M. Nocturne (@Isis_Nocturne) December 2, 2019

This was not an “error” or mix up. This is you rewarding Holocaust tragedy porn and not discouraging the appropriation of religious symbols and active trivialization of the dehumanization of millions of people. pic.twitter.com/97ERDGzX64

— V/M’s Umbrellas Worlds ? (@gwendalsflow) December 2, 2019

i sincerely doubt you meant to reward a black turtleneck, but regardless of your intent in nominating shulepov, he shouldn’t be allowed to perform in the FS costume. this goes beyond “bad sentiments” or appropriation, it’s turning genocide into cosplay and you’re validating it.

— hilary (@hilary___b) December 2, 2019

Shulepov has worn his Holocaust-themed costume throughout this skating season, including as recently as the NHK Trophy event in Japan on November 22-24.

Anyone is eligible to register to vote for the awards. Balloting will continue until February 10th.

Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount