T-shirt companies promise to stop selling ‘Holocaugh’ T-shirts
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By David Ian Klein December 2, 2020
Jewish groups have spoken out against online T-shirt companies Teespring and Redbubble who were selling shirts with the phrase “I survived the Holocaugh” on them, a white supremacist meme. Both Redbubble and Teespring responded to the StopAntisemitism.org’s tweet and acknowledged that the shirts broke their community guidelines and would be removed.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. This is prohibited under our policies and we have removed the content. We apologize for any distress this may have caused.
— Teespring (@teespring) December 1, 2020
According to the Daily Beast, the phrase ‘Holocaugh’ has gone through several permutations in the white supremacist community. It began as a threat by extremists who wanted to weaponize the virus against the Jewish community: “COVID-19. If you have the bug, give a hug. Spread the flu to every Jew. Holocough,” said a popular meme.
Disturbing #antisemitic clothing is being sold on @redbubble and @teespring
The attire references ‘Holocough’, a white supremacist meme that was circulated in May – “If you have the bug, give a hug. Spread the flu to every Jew. Holocough”
More: https://t.co/j8Lu2kHKNm pic.twitter.com/E0IzyJklM4
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) December 1, 2020
It later became a rallying cry for conspiracy theorists either alleging that the pandemic was a deliberate Jewish invention, or denying it outright, just as Holocaust deniers deny the Holocaust.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The nature of this content is not acceptable nor is it in line with our Community Guidelines (https://t.co/i9QomrA7Dx) and has been removed.
— Redbubble Help (@RedbubbleHelp) December 1, 2020
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